Written by Steve Nibbelink
DRIVE President
vulcanstev AT hotmail.com

Web Posted February 10, 2008
Updated February 10, 2008

This map is full scale and can be pasted on top of your Autoduel America map. Click on the thumbnail image above to expand it to full size. It is current with regards to the updates presented below.
 

AADA Advisory: The Amana Ruins along I-80 are very radioactive. Avoid the area at all costs. If you must travel through the region, use radiation detection equipment.
 

Description: After a violent coup in the state of Iowa drove the Amanites from power (and also left the Amana colonies a smoldering radioactive hole in the ground). The state legislature rescinded the ban on autodueling. DRIVE (Dueling Regulators Iowa Vehicular Enforcement) was officially sanctioned by the same bill. Dueling arenas in Knoxville, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Newton and Uni opened soon after.
 

Government: Democratic but disorganized.
 

Dueling Climate: Dueling as a sport is legal in the state and betting on the sport is legal at the many state run casinos. Dueling on the highway is officially illegal; having weaponry on your vehicle of a "defensive" nature is legal for Iowa vehicles as long as you have the proper tags on your vehicle. Out of state vehicles are not hassled if not involved in highway dueling. Weaponry is no longer confiscated at the border.
 

Major Cities: Des Moines (pop. 100,000), Cedar Rapids (pop. 62,000), Council Bluffs (pop. 25,000), Ames (pop. 24,000), Uni (pop. 45,000), Iowa City (pop. 30,000), Dubuque (pop. 28,000). Waterloo is now an abandoned city. Davenport and Bettendorf have banded together with Rock Island and Moline, Illinois to form the autonomous region known as The Quad (pop. 100,000).
 

Description: After the coup which removed the Amanites from power in 2045, the government was briefly a dictatorship. The Iowa National Guard fought back and restored the democratic state legislature.  Most Iowans pay no attention to what the state legislature actually does. The influence of the government is most strongly felt in and around Des Moines.
 

Police:  Still look unfavorably on dueling but only prosecute the aggressor. Police are quick to assume that out of state vehicles are the aggressors in highway duels. The Iowa National Guard has the authority to patrol the state highways.
 

Bribery Rating: +1 to vehicles with Iowa tags -1 to out-of-state vehicles. There's a one in four chance of running across a National Guard patrol on the highways and a one in six chance of encountering cops in any of major cities.
 

Major Roads: I-80, I-35, I-380, U.S. 20, U.S. 30, U.S. 63 and U.S. 218 (part of the famed Avenue of the Saints). I-280 is now a toll road patrolled by the Quad Militia. Major roads are fair to poor. Two-lane County blacktops are poor at best. During the spring, summer, and fall you may encounter slow moving farm vehicles and their escorts. Farmers will leave duelists alone but will defend themselves and call for help from the local CO-Ops.
 

Dueling Facilities: What was once billed as "I-80: The World's Largest Truck Stop" is now a full service fortified truck stop just west of The Quad on I-80. Any service your vehicle needs can be done here. Uncle Albert has a store on the premises. The other full service fortified truck stop is just outside of Des Moines on I-35. You are never more than 50 miles away from anyplace to recharge your vehicle. Repairs to the vehicle's mechanical parts and armor can be had for 90% of national average. Repairs to your weapons systems and replacement ammo can be had for 110% national average. There are many local dueling areas across the state. Most county fairgrounds have dirt tracks and there is an avid following of figure-eight duels. Amateur dueling arenas are near most of the major cities. The Dome in Uni, Iowa Duelway in Newton, and State Fairgrounds Dueltrack in Des Moines are all part of the AADA L'Outrance Circuit.
 

Gang Activity: Heavy, especially on the outskirts of the fortress cities. See individual city listings in the RASG for detailed reports.
 

Violence Frequency: The average Iowan will be involved in violence once a week if they venture outside of the Fortress Cities as the cycle gangs have yet to be eradicated. Inside the Fortress Cities the average is once a month. The "Back to Earth" communes at the Amerind Burial Grounds near Marquette are supposed to be pacifist in nature. They are very zealous in protecting themselves and there are rumors of tourists to the burial mound who have never returned.
 

Organizations

Iowa National Guard. Patrols the major highways. Military trained. Military surplus weaponry. Quick to assume that out of state vehicles are the aggressors in any duel.

DRIVE (Dueling Regulators Iowa Vehicular Enforcement). State agency in charge of regulating dueling in the state. Issues license plates and weapons permits for vehicles. Also in charge of keeping gambling on dueling honest and above board. DRIVE has no authority in the autonomous region known as the Quad.

State Police. Do not intervene in highway dueling. They will pull you over for "unsafe" driving and call in the National Guard to handle duelists.

CO-Ops. Will come to the defense of any member farmer. CO-Ops are very well armed and many have access to military weaponry as many farmers serve in the National Guard. If you plan on taking on a lone farmer make sure you take out both him and his escort vehicles before he calls in the cavalry.

Corporate Farms. The former seed companies have taken over a lot of abandoned family farms. They don’t need to call in the cavalry for their vehicles. The cavalry is already there escorting them.

The Harpies. A group of female vigilantes, they are quick to protect the innocent. With the repealing of anti-dueling laws they were no longer an illegal organization. Their efforts are concentrated more around they Des Moines area and radiate out from there. They have no "official" standing within the state government. Local law enforcement agencies are quick to point out that the Harpies can often get to a problem area faster than they can.

Back to Earth. A radical off-shoot of the Green Party of the late 20th and early 21st century, this group believes that the Grain Blight was a natural occurrence and Mother Earth is trying to kill off a species hostile to her. They believe that they will be saved by communing with nature. Their group has no "base" of operations as they believe that buildings are an unnatural affront to Mother Earth, but they believe that the Amerind Burial Mounds near Marquette are sacred. During the winter months it is believed that they take shelter in the many caves in the region. Tourists groups to the area have reported attacks by unseen forces. There are some verified instances of lone vehicles venturing into the area and never returning.
 

Uni is the largest city in northeastern Iowa. It is the result of the citizens who stayed after the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls fortified itself and downtown Waterloo was abandoned. Waterloo and Cedar Falls were originally two separate cities whose borders eventually touched as the cities grew. Cedar Falls was the University town and home to the wealthier portion of the population. Waterloo's population was more working class as the city’s economy was based on the food production and manufacturing jobs in the area.
 

History

When the Grain Blight hit in 2012, Waterloo's economy took a nosedive as many of the food production facilities shut down. The manufacturing jobs were mainly agricultural and that portion of the economy took a hit as well. Waterloo faced a similar situation in the 1980s when a major food producer went bankrupt. Many citizens left but the city eventually recovered. The Food Riots however took a far larger toll and the downtown was eventually abandoned (use City Blocks 2 for any duels in downtown Waterloo).

Cedar Falls, being a university town fared much better. However, the university began beefing up the defenses of their agri-business department in an effort to stave off raids by the rapidly forming gangs based out of Waterloo's Eastside.

The fortifications at the University were expanded and built upon until most of the remaining citizens in the area were protected. The fortifications are not always a wall there are pace where the streets are open but protected by fortified bunkers and gates. Eventually most of the well-to-do-neighborhoods of both cities are now protected. The citizens decide to carve a new identity from the old.
 

Today

Uni is haven for those that can afford the housing within the fortifications. Those who cannot afford to live within the fortifications enjoy the semi-protection afforded by living on the outskirts of the fortified city limits or the Outer Zone (O.Z.) as the area is known to the locals.

After a brutal Darwinian process that has culled the weaker gangs, there are only two left. The gangs do not prey on each other rather they engage in a friendly competition preying on convoys entering and leaving Uni. They also prey on the citizens and business that are outside the city fortifications. Uni's security forces do not patrol outside the limits of the fortifications.
 

Road Conditions

The main route to get to Uni is U.S. 218 north of U.S. 20, Unfortunately, you need to run through the Waterloo ruins to get there. Gang activity is very heavy along this corridor of U.S. 218.
 

Dueling Facilities

There is one fortified truck stop two miles west of the I-380/U.S. 20 junction. The mechanics at this facility are not the best. The garages and repair facilities in the O.Z. are substandard. Facilities within the fortified city are better but charge 50% more to non-locals. The Dome Dueling Arena is part of the AADA L'Outrance Circuit.
 

Other Facilities

There are three hospitals in the Uni region. One is located within the fortified city complete with Gold Cross facilities. One functioning hospital is located in the O.Z. It does not have Gold Cross but it can handle most mundane emergencies. There is an abandoned hospital on Waterloo's Eastside. Rumors of strange goings on at the hospital have never been confirmed due to the gang activity.
 

Points of Interest

University of Northern Iowa. The third largest college in the state. The research facilities in their agri-business department are trying to cure the Grain Blight. They have also been very successful in making many different food types from soybeans, the state's other main cash crop, which was not affected by the Grain Blight.

Dome Dueling Arena. Located on the grounds of the university, this used to be the football field where the UNI Panthers played until the demise of college sports in the 2020s. It was converted to a full-fledged dueling arena in 2040 after the legalization of autodueling in 2038. The Dome Dueling Arena has a prestige modifier of 0.5.

John Deere Manufacturing. The site of the famed tractor maker's factory in downtown Waterloo did not survive the implosion of the farming economy. The factory just south of Cedar Falls did survive and shifted the focus of its construction to soybean based agriculture. Tours of the factory and testing grounds are given on an appointment basis only.

Waterloo Greyhound Dueltrack. This used to be a greyhound racing facility until it went bankrupt in the 1990s. It sat vacant and unused until 2038 when the reconvened Iowa Legislature legalized autodueling. Investors bought the unused facility and had it operational for amateur events within six months.
 

Gang Activity

The Flaming Skulls and the CRUD are two cycle gangs based out of the Eastside. They are surprisingly well-funded for cycle gangs. Rumors that these two gangs are connected to strange goings on at the abandoned hospital have never been proven.
 

Organizations

The AADA has a branch office in downtown Uni. Other than the storefront office, there is no official AADA organization within the city.

Campus Security is the nominal police force. They are well armed, well trained, and well funded. They only patrol within the fortified borders and never venture into the O.Z. Only the fact that the O.Z. has nothing of value keeps them free from attacks by the Skulls and CRUD.

Vulcan Transport is a Brotherhood certified transport and courier service. They have the contract for transporting vital research out of the university and other items of value past the cycle gangs. VT is a highly successful business and has never lost a shipment. The corporation is currently sponsoring two up-and-coming drivers on the pro-dueling circuit.