The sky is continually overcast and the air smells of smoke. It is always cold and violent weather frequently (much more frequently than before the war) sweeps across the countryside. The frequent rain is like mud as it washes ash from the sky. The sun is seen only rarely and even then it is pale and wan through a high layer of ash and smoke.
The sea is continually rough and appears dull and muddy from all the ash which has fallen into it.
What plants there are look sick and bedraggled, with wilted leaves eaten by disease. Few trees remain, most of them having been burnt for fuel during the nuclear winter.
People live in the remains of small towns, and there are many abandoned settlements. Even if they were left intact in the initial bombings, most towns were wrecked in the fighting between refugees and locals, so almost all dwellings are built out of rubble and the remains of older buildings. In most places the people are too busy trying to survive to rebuild any further.
Most surviving towns are surrounded by shanties full of refugees, and in many larger towns beggars with various afflictions are a common sight. Occasional madmen and women wander the streets, having been driven insane by their experiences in the War. Originally there were many more, but most of them died or were killed.
Crude mass graves scatter the landscape around the remains of many towns. In less inhabited areas bodies have simply rotted where they died.
The people are all half-starved and dirty. They all cough from the ash in the air. Many show the scars of disease or old wounds. Some have limbs missing. The children are especially pathetic. In general the people are hostile to strangers, especially ones who appear to have powers resembling those of members of the Host of Heaven. However, doing obviously friendly things, like saving people, will tend to change the attitude of the majority of people. Displaying religious symbols is also frowned upon by most people.
In areas controlled by the Papacy people walk with fear in their eyes and their heads down. In these areas concentration camps where heretics are rounded up prior to interrogation are frequent sights. Groups of soldiers and occasional members of the Host of Heaven patrol the streets in their distinctive red and black uniforms.
To PC's from the Overman 1994 universe the general level of pre-war technology appears to be equivalent to that used from about 1910 to 1920. Compared to the real world, the level of technology is equivalent to that of the early 1950's.