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=== NICEVILLE, PARADISE BY THE SEASIDE === This charming, polished city in the far northwestern Panhandle is essentially one tremendous gated community. It is the remnants of multiple small towns that all once possessed their own particular character (including as its namesake town, Niceville, a pre-existing locale dating back to 1910). The ravages of sea level rise threatened many of the famous beauties of the area, such as the white sand beaches of Okaloosa Island – but it was delivered by two unlikely bedfellows. The U.S. Air Force had long established a heavy presence in northwest Florida, using it as training grounds for special forces and testing grounds for novel aircraft. They allowed much of the land to flood, but took steps to preserve portions of the existing islands, creating a complicated network of sounds, straits, and channels. At the same time, a league of big developers formed the Seaside Beautification Corporation (SBC) in order to push forward a proposal too ambitious for any individual company. As a whole, they invested in the land that their projections showed would become the new waterfront, and bought sand by the truckload. Out of swamps and marshes, perfect manicured beaches were created – and breezy pastel mini-mansions erected to line them. Niceville now stretches over the southern edge of four entire counties from what was once Pensacola to Panama City Beach, a narrow strip of seaside paradise for those with the money to afford it. It is ‘protected’ by intense armed security forces, usually quietly working hand-in-hand with the U.S. Air Force to ensure the safety of the local rich citizens. Why is safety such an issue? The more northern parts of those counties have fallen into deep poverty, with the land becoming even harder to live in and economy and business all draining southward; most of the residents work in the service economy to keep Niceville going. Old southern culture thrives in those backwoods and bayous, having experienced a resilience given the rise in hardships. Hunting, fishing, and subsistence farming are common ways to make ends meet, even if it means braving heatstroke and mosquito-borne diseases that have migrated north from the tropics. Still, for the more privileged Americans, Niceville provides a beautiful utopia against some of the prettiest beaches left in the world – if you don’t mind the fact it’s all completely artificial. And if you’re careful to stay south of the backwoods, where rumors would have it the swamp takes back what it’s owed… ==== Notable Landmarks ==== * The Okaloosa Reef – What was once Okaloosa Island, a long and narrow barrier island, has largely been swallowed beneath the Gulf. It was officially abandoned in the 2070s when sea rise made it untenable, and all buildings above two stories razed. By 2120, the water had risen enough that the area was largely covered, albeit by very shallow water in places. SBC seized the opportunity to invest in the idea of an artificial reef that could be enjoyed by snorkel rather than scuba, and seeded the ruins with life. By 2140, it had blossomed into something of a genuine success, albeit with frequent touch-ups required to keep it flourishing. * The Great Wall of Florida – A tongue-in-cheek name for a massive retractable seawall erected just outside of the Reef in the 2120s by the SBC, at the cost of unimaginable billions of dollars. If and when hurricanes threaten, the Great Wall is erected to hold back the storm surge so that the citizens of Niceville need never worry about the safety of their precious homes. Outside of hurricane season (which now runs May–November), the Wall reaches to just below usual sea level – allowing the SBC to keep out undesirables and regulate their patch of ocean. ==== Notable Local Organizations ==== * The Air Force – Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Islands Special Operations Command comprise the largest Air Force facility in the US. The Air Force’s extensive meddling with local politics has given them considerable governance over everything off the coast, owning much of the land not bought up by developers. They also quietly lend a great deal of support to the paramilitary security forces of the SBC. * The Seaside Beautification Corporation – The intrigues of the Seaside Beautification Corporation, one of the first true megacorporations, would put the Vatican to shame. The combined assets of the eight founding companies number easily into the trillions, but each maintains its own separate stake even to this day – and hence, its own agenda. Some of them want to expand Niceville’s footprint; some of them want to prioritize shoring up the existing land; some of them support genuine investment in conservation; some of them would pave the whole area in asphalt for a song. Board meetings have been rumored to be, at times, literally cutthroat. * The Krewe of Bowlegs – A rumored organization of hard-bitten, old-timer rednecks who bitterly resent the commodification of the land in which their families long lived. Once just a group of locals jokingly celebrating the history of a legendary local pirate, the Krewe has evolved into an almost paramilitary gang operating against the interests of the Seaside Beautification Corporation. They’ve been blamed for extortion, arson, kidnapping, and even murder… but their members are so notoriously closed-mouthed neither their friends nor their enemies can be sure of their reach or their deeds.
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