The Essex City-State Treaty Organization(ECSTO)

	After the Chaotic times Essex county was a practically empty region, void of population and resources after the infection. For over 50 years, it stayed the same, degrading. The first trace of life appearing in this region dates back to 2075, according to one of the tribes that lived nearby in the past, the region was mostly populated by savages and various raider gangs struggling to maintain at least a small amount of civilization. Around 2112, a traveler from the Red Confederacy first documented the existence of civilization here. He described the towns of Ipswich, Haverhill, Peabody, and Essex itself as “A barbaric and hellish place, where people live in shacks and wage war with one city against another, occasionally uniting to repel barbaric attacks from the west.” He was the first one to establish official contact with these cities and established a trade route with Ipswich. From this point, the history of the Treaty Organization begins.

	This region was regularly raided by barbaric tribes from the west, who killed and enslaved dozens of people. As the reader might consider, almost nobody wanted to live here in such harsh conditions. However, as people migrated and spheres of influence shifted, the region started filling up with people again, who organized cities and formed societies. In this book, we will take a glance at the history of every city that the modern Treaty Organization is composed of.

	Let’s start off from the city, whose existence was documented first. Ipswich, a coastline city became a major center of trade and democratic movements in the region, forming the Ipswich Democratic Republic. They were the first ones to contact outsiders, as this is the city visited by the Red Confederacy explorers most. When the other cities were only rising, this one had already established a trade route to the Confederacy. It thrived off Confederacy imported goods and it’s citizens specialized in scouting and sailing. Ipswich citizens were the most liberal and progressive ones, the city has not sustained any major damage at all since it’s recreation after the Chaotic times.

	Then there was Haverhill. Strong influence of the Confederacy in Ipswich caused many people migrate from there, along with some born in the Confederacy itself. It became very industrialized thanks to a minor group of Red Confederacy engineers who settled there and modernized the aging factories and industrial blocks, bringing the city back in shape. It became the place of weapon production, and while Ipswich had to use weapons and equipment imported from the Confederacy, Haverhill militia had it’s own new weapons and equipment manufactured in mass numbers. The city still suffered from the barbaric tribes though, as there wasn’t nearly enough trained manpower to efficiently repel the attacks. Years after the city was established, a revolution took place to throw off the regime of the confederacy engineers they brought with themselves, freeing the slaves they used in hard labor and officially declaring the city a socialist city-state.

	The third city, Peabody, had a monarchy dating back to the 2104, still being the monarchy state it was back then  nowadays. The city wasn’t very industrialized, and mostly focused on gathering food and growing crops when it’s population went through a starvation after their crops and their city sustained major damage from rampaging mutants. Only with help from Ipswich they were able to repel the attack. Since that day, the city is known for it’s mass food production and it’s mutant hunting squads, often called “The Peashooters” because of their city’s name and the fact that every mutant is almost resistant to bullets, arrows  and very hard to take down. The city is ruled by the Shersons dynasty, who are often called “Shepardsons” because of their unwillingness to reform or change the current farming policy.

	Let’s also not forget Essex. This one is a completely different story.  The city suffered the most losses from the barbarian hordes from the west, being looted and pillaged many times. Only after the newly formed socialist Haverhill provided supplies and military aid the city was able to fully repel the attack of the barbarians. After that, a government independent from Haverhill was formed, even though the city still was largely dependent on the weapon and aid shipments from the socialists. To all of the Treaty is it known as the Hell’s Gates, being the hardest place to survive, where only the strongest can live and work. Essex had bred the best warriors the Treaty Organization ever had, the entire Treaty Organization Armed Forces consisting mostly of men from this city. This city needed the Treaty, and the Treaty needed it.

	Ever since these cities signed the “Peace and Prosperity Treaty” in 2155 in Ipswich(which included the unification of the economical space and the militias), they have well fought and repelled the western barbarians each time they attacked. They have a well established trade system with the Red Confederacy, and have contacted the Haskellan Republic before, but apart from that, they are yet to explore and meet the leaders of other local powers. Now, the Treaty Organization presents itself as a union of city-states, having a unified military, economical space currency named the Treaty dollar(often referred to as T-dollars or tollars), though each city still maintains it’s own government and political system. Currently, the Organization is experiencing  a somewhat golden age, with the barbarians not showing anywhere for at least six years. They currently seek expansion and new trade routes, trying to find new allies to battle the western barbarians.