refugee camps around Salem. Second, the Oregon state government prevented refugees from foraging in the rural areas without government approval. This protected the rural areas from losing their food and supplies, especially since rural citizens tended to fight off the foragers successfully. Third, large numbers of people living in refugee camps with limited medical supplies became susceptible to disease, including the bubonic plague. Thanks to strict quarantine methods, the rural communities in Oregon were spared the worst effects of the plague. Post-Change Oregon history is then marked with the PPA's attempts to conquer the entire Willamette Valley, but the southern communities—led by the Bearkillers and Clan Mackenzie—successfully opposed them. The last attempt was called the War of the Eye, or the Protector's War, and ended with the mutual deaths of Lord Protector Arminger at the hands of Lord Bear Havel, who died shortly thereafter from his own wounds from the duel. The end of the war saw the end of the PPA's attempts at southern conquest, and the creation of "The Meeting", a United Nations–like organization dedicated to keeping the peace among the different factions in the valley. A decade later, the nations of the Meeting became embroiled in a war with the combined forces of the Church Universal and Triumphant and the United States of Boise. Portland Protective Association (PPA) The Portland Protective Association is a neo-feudal absolute monarchy founded by history professor and Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) member Norman Arminger and his wife Sandra, aided by former urban gang members and members of the SCA. The nation follows medieval Norman customs and practices. The nation builds castles to protect its farming communities and serve as the centers of regional government. The PPA aristocracy often refers to its members as Associates. For a time, the PPA had an antipope, Leo XIV, and operated an Inquisition, but this ended after contact was re-established with the real Pope in Badia, Italy. Knights are the strength of the PPA military, and are trained from childhood to fight as armored horsemen, often on barded horses. Since the death of Norman Arminger at the end of the War of the Eye, Sandra rules for her daughter Mathilda as a regent. The national heraldic symbol adopted by the PPA is the Lidless Eye, an allusion to the Eye of Sauron from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The PPA is ruled