Cave Strategic Air Command's old headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base is the home of the Twisted Cross. Now some of the great hangars have been rebuilt and SAC's old catacombs reoccupied. A new general has come, with men in strange uniforms. A reverse swastika flag flies, its spider-like black-and-white design stark and forbidding against the blue of Omaha's skies. Chicago Chicago is a Kurian stronghold. Chicago is not only one of the most secure and best organized Kurian cities, it is also the most corrupt. It is the only Kurian Zone where one may buy a Brass Ring. Also, Chicago is one of the trading hubs of the Kurian empire where goods are traded for humans, which are the only commodity that the Kurians recognize. New Columbia The city of Little Rock never recovered from the nuclear blast inflicted on it in the death throes of the Old World. Though the fires went out and the radiation dispersed, the only life to return permanently was nonhuman. The new rulers have a grand vision of a rail, road, and river traffic hub built on the ruins of the old. The Rocks (Little Rock and North Little Rock) have been renamed New Columbia with the motto "Crossroads of the Future". Omaha The Old World transportation hub set in the wide, wooded valley of the Missouri is a sad shadow of its former self. Like its sister St. Louis farther down the wide Missouri River, Omaha is now the breeding ground for assorted Grogs and human scoundrels. Character types Kurians The Kurians are a branch of an alien race known as the Lifeweavers. They naturally have very long lives of thousands of years and have learned to increase their lifespan indefinitely by absorbing vital aura from other living beings. This was discovered from the remnants of a civilization known as the Pre-Entities. After a civil war with the other Lifeweavers, the Kurians launched a large scale invasion of earth with an engineered virus known as "ravies" and triggering several natural disasters during a time of economic breakdown known as the New Depression. National governments quickly collapsed and the Kurians set up a new form of government, similar to feudalism, with Kurian lords controlling specific areas and maintaining their status quo through fear and intimidation. Though they have some interest in culture, their main goals are survival and power. Often they are compared