The largest and most populous region in Post-Burnout America. Home to the Great Clans, the Guild, and everyone caught in between their struggles. 

The geographic domain of the Passage-Lands is simply everywhere that isn’t considered part of the Verdant Delta, the West Range Federation, the Swells, or the Strets. This leaves the entirety of Middle-America and most of the Midwest as the Passage-Lands. The name is derived from The Widow’s Passage in the winter following the Burnout. 

When considered at the highest possible level, groups within the Passage-Lands fall into one of three categories:

• Great Clan. Great Clans are political bodies made up of many “lesser clans” that are bound by economic ties, mutual defense, or military dominion. The nomenclature varies depending on the clan. Often the most powerful/influential Clan within one of these alliances will call themselves a “Great Clan”. Great Clans typically have interdependent or complementing economic niches amongst their component clans. Depending on these niches and the political situation, a Great Clan may hold a set territory, or behave nomadically for a given season. 
• The Guild. The Guild is an industrial consortium of urban cities and highly developed settlements. In order to be “admitted” to the Guild, a City must focus exclusively on the production of one basic resource, and share its trade with the rest of the alliance. With this model, the Guild has absolute control over almost all heavy-industry. Their Cities are the sole producers of all newly forged steel, wire and concrete. 
• Backdrop/ “Feral”. Factions that are too small, too weak, or are generally disinterested in politics are considered part of the “backdrop”. These include trading posts, mercenary companies, indigenous tribes, or communities that are so remote that no one bothers with them. Many of them are solely focused on their day-to-day survival and often don’t pick sides in conflict or care to acknowledge regional power-balances. 

Production and trade in the Passage Lands is “fed” by either the agricultural outputs of the region’s many farms, or the yearly influx of strip from the Federation. Factions will process and manufacture these resources according to their niches and then trade to meet their resource-needs. Conflict occurs when factions are unable to meet their resource-needs through trade and must obtain them by force— which is a guarantee for almost every group in America. Because crops are harvested and strip is exported in the fall, most trade (and armed conflict) occurs during the winter. Factions typically spend the warmer months working on their industrial output, repairing damaged materiel, training personnel, and making plans for the winter. The logistics in the Passage-Lands are also a peculiarity. Factions construct specialized vehicles, called Frostships for moving their people, trading, manufacturing and waging war across the snowy terrain. Fighting in the Passage-Lands is a hybridization of naval piracy, tank battles, siege warfare, and the vehicular madness of the Locust-Era. e-Lands are also a peculiarity. Factions construct specialized vehicles, sometimes called for moving their people, trading, manufacturing and waging war across the snowy terrain. Fighting in the Passage-Lands is a hybridization of naval piracy, tank battles, siege warfare, and the vehicular madness of the Locust-Era.