| From: | GKoth2258 <GKoth2258@***.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | NERPS: Introduction & Africa |
| Date: | Sat, 24 Jan 1998 18:34:19 EST |
Since the Awakening, there have been many changes wrought upon the world, not
the least being the political structure and atmosphere of this "Awakened"
world. Some nations have collapsed while many others have been created. It
is a time of chaos and flux for the Sixth World. What follows is a brief
summary of the many players in the year 2058.
(>) Before you doze off or turn that channel, hang on for a second. It's been
over a year since President Dunkelzahn was assassinated. And as everyone in
the shadows can attest, things have been jumpin'. Just look at Detroit (all
the Ares action) and Boston (just what the frag is Richard Villiers doing?).
And of course, the good old fashioned gang war right here in Seattle. Some of
us have more biz than we can handle. There's a lot of profit to be made. So
much so that some runners are forgetting to look into the "why" part of the
equation; and with all the drek going on, it's critical to know why certain
'runs are being commissioned.
It's not just the streets or just the UCAS; it's the whole world. Everything
has become more chaotic and if we down here on the streets want to know what
the frag is going on, why we are doing certain runs, we need to know what the
big picture is. The synopsis (Which I stole, of course, from various boards
we monitor here. Does any Shadowland sysop ever write anything themselves?
Not fraggin' likely!) will help. Included in the appropriate places are some
additional files on some specific areas, like Siberia or Israel, written by
locals to provide some additional intel.
(>) St. Stan
(>) St. Stan is correct. If you're accepting work outside your usual
territory, lack of knowledge about current world events and trends can get you
killed just as fast as only bringing a knife to a gunfight. Just remember
what the man said, this is only a synopsis - not the end-all source of
knowledge you'll need. Do your own research - take more than that knife with
you when you go.
(>) Asmodeus
(>) A nice armor set is useful in many places, too.
(>) Arti
(>) Even if you aren't planning on running in darkest Africa or deepest China,
it helps to have a clue what is going on there. Sometimes the things we do
right here in Seattle have far-reaching affects outside our neighborhoods, and
vice-versa.
(>) Wildsmasher
AFRICA
The African continent is divided into four major regions, those being the
Confederated Azanian Nations (also known as the Azanian Confederation, or
simply Azania), Egypt, the Algerian Theocracy, and the Tribal Nations of
Africa. By far the most powerful and influential nation on the continent is
Azania.
Encompassing almost everything south of the tenth parallel, this is a large
and dynamic nation. All other nations on this continent take a back seat to
Azania in almost every respect. Ethiopia, Morocco and Liberia are all minor
players and the Tribal Nations is just a convenient way of classifying the
thousands of tribal government, corporate enclaves and ruthless warlords that
operate in most of Africa. The Algerian Theocracy is something of a rabid
dog, with many enemies and very few friends. That leaves Azania as the only
true "first world" nation on the African continent, a position they intend to
keep.
Confederation of Azanian Nations
The Azanian Confederation is @#$%*}
+++++SYSTEM ERROR
+++++FILE CORRUPTED
+++++EXTERNAL SOURCE
(>) Frag it! Sorry about that folks. As soon as I started the download, what
should appear but what looked like a highly experimental semi-autonomous
hunter program. It, or one of it's brothers, seems to pop up every time we
try the download, so we're gonna back off...for the moment. Should have known
better after all the trouble we had with na nOg and Tairngire. Those elves
just hate giving anything away, especially about themselves. Guess we'll just
have to try again some other time, with bigger guns...in the meantime, if you
know something, post it.
(>) St. Stan
(>) Azania isn't an African Tir. Or at least that's what I hear. Apparently
got more in common with Amazonia, despite the fact elves are in charge. Very
ecology minded, very "green" if you will. How about this: I hear persistent
rumors they have their fingers in various environmental poli-clubs, even ones
like Sierra and Terra-First! Hear the same rumors about Amazonia. I also
hear rumors about them not really being unified. According to these rumors,
the various factions and states within Azania frag each other over just as
much as anyone else.
(>) e.e. leavings
(>) Bah, don't let the elves smoke screen fool ya. I've said it before and
I'll say it again. There's a few elves in each of the Elf Nations that know
too much and are more than just Spike Babies. Watch 'em closely.
(>) Ollie da Stone
(>) Those stupid Elves! I've been to Azania. The elves there are all
paranoid of humans! Even the LDS Church has to send elvish missionaries into
Azania and they aren't well received! The elves in Azania says that the
Church is a North American church ran by humans and won't even deal with the
Church! Stupid elves, I wish I could just belt them in the brain!
(>) Paradox
(>) Get over it. It shouldn't be any surprise that Azania doesn't take too
kindly to missionaries of any kind. There's a long history all around the
world of not treating missionaries well; after all, they are foreign
operatives bent on overthrowing the state, aren't they? At least as far as
the gov is concerned...And hey, isn't the Mormon church based in North
America? So what they said is true as far as it goes...
(>) Splice
Ethiopia
The nation of Ethiopia is a dream come true for followers of Rastafarianism.
With the collapse of most African governments following the Awakening and the
VITAS plagues, a number of wealthy Jamaicans (some of whom were powerful drug
lords) and other followers of the Ras Tafari faith saw their chance to reclaim
"Heaven" (Ethiopia) and escape from "Hell" (Jamaica). With
mercenaries, Rasta
magic and the chaos of the years immediately following the Awakening, these
Rastafarians were able to claim Ethiopia as their own nation in 2015, with the
relatively peaceful assimilation of Eritrea in 2018.
Ethiopia is a nation of contrasts. Powerful magic has been used in an attempt
to make the land green and fertile again, which, despite the lack of
assistance from Amazonia and Azania has been largely successful in most areas.
The inner city, however, is as much of a wasteland as Kingston, Jamaica or the
Barrens of Seattle are. The gangs of Addis Ababa, the capitol, have a
reputation as the most violent in the world.
The nation of Ras Tafari is largely peaceful however. Most of the inhabitants
are devout followers of Rastafarianism and live a peaceful, rural life,
farming the magically rejuvenated fields.
(>) Food for thought here folks: no magic is without its price. The
rejuvenation rituals mentioned here worked like a dream to revitalize the
land, and return it to a better time. So what was the price? Who paid it?
Amazonia did much the same sort of thing, and they were forced to trade off
the continuous, uncontrolled expansion of the rain forest in order to get it
back. What price did Ethiopia pay for a more controlled revitalization - and
when is the bill going to come due?
(>) Asmodeus
(>) Good question. All the intel indicates that the Rastas did it themselves.
So where did they learn those rituals? I mean, Azania and Amazonia guard that
info under about a dozen layers of the blackest ICE you'll never recover from.
(>) J. Cliff@*****.hell.net
(>) Don't get too excited mon. Amazonia wanted rain forests, fast. Like a
few weeks fast. The Rastas only wanted to be able to farm their land. Big
difference in scale mon.
(>) Bob55@******.net
Liberia
This small African nation was originally founded by American slaves after the
Emancipation that followed the American Civil War. Despite decades of
military coups and juntas starting in the 1990's, Liberia has stabilized in
the last two decades, enough so that it has been able to remain independent.
It's primary source of wealth, and therefore independence, is it's
surprisingly rich deposits of various mineral resources. Of course,
continued, if small, aid from both the UCAS and CAS have been a tremendous
help.
(>) Those mineral deposits have the corporations sniffing around like wolves,
though. In particular SK is after cheap resources and manufacturing plants.
When the corps want something there's usually a job for a runner in there
somewhere. Pack your assassination kit and explosives.
(>) Thane
(>) Why do you think both the UCAS and the CAS give precious nuyen to Liberia?
Liberia gives them both preferential treatment when it comes to buying their
mined minerals, some of which are critical for certain advanced military
systems...
(>) Missile Man
(>) The corps, like Saeder-Krupp and Ares, are focusing on other parts of
Africa, like the Ivory and Gold Coasts. It's a lot easier for them to get
their minerals out of the Tribal Nations where there aren't any rules.
(>) ZeeJet
Morocco
The western African nation of Morocco so badly wants to be considered a part
of Europe and the Western world that it has spent the past several decades
being the brunt of bad, often nasty, European jokes. Morocco, which now
includes what was Western Sahara, has become a shameless proponent of Free
Enterprise and the Almighty Nuyen. Which is fine for those that have money.
But life for the poor has only gotten worse over the last hundred years.
Exclusive corporate vacation enclaves on choice beach property are common.
Factories in the mountains down south, belching horrific fumes and toxic
liquids, are far too common a sight, as are war zones for corporate war games
including "Desert Wars."
All this has made Morocco very unpopular among the rest of the African
continent. The Algerian Theocracy has made several military incursions, but
Morocco, with the help of it's corporate allies, has managed to repulse all
invasions.
(>) Which serves only to put Morocco deeper into the pockets of the corps.
BTW, almost all of the megas are involved in Morocco. Only Aztechnology isn't
a major player, maybe because they would rather frag up other parts of the
environment, like their own. Who knows?
(>) Wildsmasher
The Tribal Nations of Africa
See CyberPirates for additional information and an example.
The Tribal Nations is little more than a Western illusion. It refers to the
rest of Africa that is dominated by literally thousands of tribes, corporate
enclaves and rogue warlords. With political alliances, wars, new resource
finds and the greed of the local leaders, the boundaries (fuzzy and amorphous
at best) can change dramatically overnight. There is no central government
and large portions of the region aren't under the direct control of anyone,
especially in the Saharan and sub-Saharan zones. Certain tribes, such as
several of the Nigerian tribes, have been able to acquire a certain amount of
power and stability, enough so that they have established official diplomatic
relations with other African nations. Even these regional powers are
relatively small though, and subject to many of the same pressures and
problems that plague the rest of the area.
(>) If you have to run in the Tribal Nations, make sure you know what tribes
are in control of the area you'll be in. And make sure it's up to the second
intel. Slotting the wrong linguasoft can actually mean death if you are
speaking a rival tribes language.
(>) Supraspeak
The Islamic Republic of Algeria.
In the 1980's, militant Islamic rebels began a revolution in the nation of
Algeria when the election they seemed to be winning was declared null and void
by the ruling regime. Up until 2009, the reigning government was able to hold
on to power through a combination of brute force, French assistance, the
support of its citizens and the relatively small numbers of Islamic rebels.
The rebels had few supporters, even among other militant Muslims because of
their notable penchant for extreme violence, such as butchering entire
villages. But in 2009, that penchant for violence is what brought the rebels
into power. With one carefully placed bomb in the capitol at a presidential
party, virtually the entire upper tier of the government and the military was
killed. Several years of violence and chaos ensued, with what was left of the
government desperately appealing to France for help. The French had enough
problems of their own, and fearing another "Viet Nam," declined. By 2012, the
rebels had a firm grip on power and began the harsh process of turning Algeria
into a rigid Islamic theocracy.
Economically, the Algerian Theocracy is in shambles. While it has abundant
oil fields, only a few nations or corporations will buy from them.
Politically, it is isolated with the exception of North Korea (simply because
they are both renegade nations). Border clashes with Morocco and the African
Alliance are common, with both nations attributing many terrorist actions on
fundamentalists sent from Algeria. It should be noted that much of Libya was
absorbed in 2019 when that government collapsed with the death of Colonel
Moammar Khadafi, and Tunisia was taken by in a relatively short war in 2027.
Neither action was viewed favorably by world powers.
(>) Translation: shadowrunning is just about out of the question here. Not
only will you have trouble getting paid, since nobody has any money, you'll
also have to deal with the religious aspect of it all
(>) ASDF
(>) Not entirely true. Algeria does have some mineral resources that the
corps would love to get their hands on, like the oil. Not to mention other
groups that would kill, literally, to topple the theocracy. Sure, there isn't
any money inside Algeria. But if your job comes from outside, there could be
a lot of nuyen coming your way if you are willing to take some substantial
risks.
(>) TCG
(>) Wait a minute. I don't understand why most corps won't buy from Algeria.
It's not like the corps have morals or something.
(>) bob@***.net.ucas
(>) It's actually a two way street. One, Algeria doesn't like big business,
and so they make it very difficult on any corp trying to buy their oil. And
two, Algeria is a hot bed for terrorism; Big Biz is hit by their suicide
bombers just as often as any government. That doesn't exactly build good will
you know.
(>) Greenlight@********.org
(>) Hey! Wait a minute! Where's Egypt? There on the African continent, so
why aren't they listed here?
(>) RC@***.com
(>) That's because culturally they are considered a part of the Middle East.
That is where Egypt has relevance; they don't consider themselves a part of
Africa anyway and ignore it for the most part. So go over to that part of the
doc for Egypt.
(>) St. Stan
