Gubin

Gubin/Guben was a single town divided by the Oder river until the east bank was annexed by Poland after World War II. The town was one of the very first to be occupied by NATO troops during the NATO invasion of Poland. The town lost large numbers of its citizens due to starvation and illness, as NATO soldiers were very aggressive about confiscating food and medicine. A West German company was left to secure the bridge across the Oder, but a year ago the locals drove out the West Germans and took their weapons. The two towns are now unified, but they have relocated to the eastern bank of the Oder largely for security reasons. The Polish town is completely deserted, while the German town is three-quarters inhabited, with the inhabited buildings clustered around the bridge. The bridge is always heavily defended. The town has a full time defense force who are quite heavily armed, with a Marder IFV parked in the middle of the bridge and three PZF3s. Most of the adult townspeople are able to fight if necessary. The town uses German as its day-to-day language (many of the Polish inhabitants of Gubin spoke German), but Polish is used for trading purposes.

Despite its heavy defenses, the town is welcoming to travelers, largely because the townspeople make a living by trading. Marauders generally leave Gubin alone, but they are known to linger near it in the hope of attacking a merchant convoy.

The town is officially governed by a city council that uses German as its governing language. The council has eight members, four representing each of the old towns. Despite this facade of democracy, the town is really governed by its three wealthiest traders, Olga Kowalski, Matias Dubowca and Joakim Fessling, who directly pay the town defense force their wages. Some of the townspeople are unhappy about this improvised oligarchy, but the dissatisfaction has not gone far beyond grumbling.