Before the cataclysm, the governor of the state that ruled this region, Loozana, had become desperate. As new developments in technology caused the world to switch to alternative methods of energy, the once-mighty demand for fossil fuels dwindled.

Loozana's economy, of course, depended heavily on the oil industry. The automotive industry, which had several assembley plants in the state, closed these aging plants as they ceased production of internal combustion vehicles rather than re-tool them for new vehicles. The new high-tech factories were once again clustered around Troyt, reviving that area in the north.

As higher-paying jobs disappeared, or left the state, the governor needed to ease the tax burden on the citizens so they could keep more of their meager pay.

He looked at what was in demand, and found that other states with booming industry, more than ever before, were in need of waste disposal and were willing to pay handsomely for it. Environmental laws had stopped dumping in the oceans, and it would be 50 years or more before rocketing dangerous waste into far space, and deep mine core taps to vaporize the waste in the magma of the earth's core would be developed and become affordable means of disposal.

While strict laws kept the governor's misguided plan from extending into nuclear waste, he set up programs to take as much biological and chemical waste as possible from the rest of the country. The governor succeeded in turning the area into the most hellish dump ever.

At the time, what is now Turkey Creek Lake, was a huge hole in the earth. Sulphur, plentiful in Loozana, was mined from the area. The sulphur here was in ore-form (the rest of the sulphur in Loozana and Texus was far below the surface beneath beds of quicksand and had to be drilled for like oil and extracted by forcing steam into the well and trapping the sulphurous vapor emitted). Once the sulphur-ore was gone from the area here, the orifice was ready and waiting for the waste.

The cataclysm changed the flow of several rivers and routed them into the low marshy area that was the old mines and the dump. Because the dumping was stopped by the new governor, the old mine was never completely filled and formed a natural spot for a lake to collect.

As the huge nuclear devices (planet-busters, hellburners, etc) were unleashed in the cataclysm, most of Loozana disappeared below the rising waters of the oceans. The Chalk Hills area in the north of the state, however, survived as earthquakes formed hills..actual hills in what once was Loozana. Also, the great quicksand and sulphur beds were forced closer to the surface in places as the earth groaned and heaved. Geothermal activity is now prevalent in the lake, doing naturally the job of what the old steam-sulphur mining processes of the Ancients did. Sulphurous vapours arise from hot spots in the lake, however, there are no Ancient miners to trap them and reduce them to solid form, so the surrounding area is bathed in toxic dust as the vapours cool.

Turkey Creek that flows south of the lake and Bowman is poisoned as much as the Lake itself.

Surprisingly, fiendish creatures survive and even thrive in the foul waters of the lake. Tales of evil haunt the region, and no one but the Yellow Ghouls of Sulphur dare to be near the area. Fortunately, for the citizens of Jigger, these creatures rarely make the long journey up the clean, northern stretch of Turkey Creek to their city.

By controlling the Fort, the Ranks control the busy river port where Black Bayou crosses the High Road. This also enables them to ferry troops to the Fort via the Black Bayou from their larger cities in the north. The entire region is alarmed at the troops massing here. Everyone now fears that the Ranks merely wanted a strong toehold to act as a staging area for more invasions to attempt to take the wealth of the region for themselves. More details to come.

With the fall of Jigger (to the Iron Society) and Fort Necessity (to The Ranks of the Fit) in the north, the remaining Free Cities of Extension, Enterprise, Sulphur, and Hotwells have signed a compact to come to each other's mutual defense. These cities are the strongest economic powers in the region, and have long been dependent on each other for trade.

Bowman was once a major shipping channel. An ancient city on the site of what is now Fort Necessity was a great trading partner with Bowman, and the Black Bayou's deep channel allowed for heavy barge traffic between the two cities.

Bowman survived the cataclysm virtually untouched by radiation. Biological weapons used during the cataclysm (anthrax, nerve agents), as well as the earthquakes and the bio-chemical waste carried by the new Turkey Creek devastated the city. Great plagues ravaged the survivors, and the city died. No one knows why the ancients did not target Bowman with nuclear weapons, but then, who understands much of the Ancient's logic.

A worse fear than the great glow keeps visitors away from Bowman. Widespread rumors of live metal are true, but not many have witnessed this and lived to escape and tell the tale. Now, very few people wish to dare the vast poisoned swamps just for a chance to be killed by live metal.

Several tall structures are intact. There are two standing bridges over Black Bayou, and of course, none over new Turkey Creek.

More details of the Ancient installations and dangers of Bowman to come.