The Republic of The Forge

The Republic of The Forge (RTF) is one of the dominant powers in the post-war wasteland of Tennessee. They rule over several pre-war major cities, including Knoxville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg. The country has been ruled by a dynasty of presidents from the Parton family, descended from the pre-war country star Dolly Parton.

History
The Republic of The Forge used to be a loosely organized collection of settlers hiding out in the ruined theme park of "Dollywood". Settlers had been fortifying the run down rides and stands against the horde of raiders and mutants. A notable group settling in there was the Parton family, the great-grandchildren of Dolly Parton.

Connections between settlers slowly strengthened, trade runs became common place. The ride the Partons were hunkered down in slowly became the epicenter of the small trade system in the park. Slowly, with the growth of trade, people began to become more coordinated. Groups often worked with eachother and joined eachother to form larger groups.

After a long period of intense coordination, the groups formed one larger group and began to clear out the abandoned Dollywood amusement park of mutants and raiders. After reclaiming most of the park, excluding The Forbidden Zone, the group formed The Republic of The Forge. They then elected the Patriarch of the Parton family, Ulysses Parton (2109 - 2124) as the first official president.

For a long period of time, they isolated themselves in the park, not letting anyone in and secluding themselves from outside trade. Ulysses's isolationist policies outlasted his own life, his term having ended in 2124. 3 presidents after his own death kept his policies, and it was only in the Republic's 4th president when the Republic opened up and began to trade with the outside world and expand.

The 5th president, Eric Parton (2155 - 2169) introduced new deals with tribes dwelling in the nearby cities of Gatlinburg and Knoxville. He began to work with the outer settlements after the 4th president, Issac Parton (2140 - 2154) united Pigeon Forge under the "The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend" program. Eric Parton expanded the EEF program, negotiating with outer cities to unite for survival against raiders and mutants. On December 8th, 2162, the "Smoky Mountain Unification Act" was passed, uniting the cities of Knoxville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg under a united Republic.

Each city had 4 representatives in the congress, 12 representatives in total. The Pigeon Forge congress remained traditionally dominated by the Parton "dynasty", although the family had less of a strangle on the elections to congress than they did in the elections.