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Message no. 1
From: Les Ward <lward@*******.COM>
Subject: [NAGTTW] Siberia (Facts at a Glance - 3 of 5)
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 21:58:30 -0500
Neo-Anarchists Guide To The World
Siberia (part 3 of 5)
Wordman (wordman@*****.com)
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FACTS AT A GLANCE
Population: 45.3 million (3 persons/square kilometer)
Dwarf: 26%
Elf: 3%
Human: 2%
Ork: 43%
Troll: 19%
Other: 7%
Average Life Expectancy: 10% above racial norms
Per Capita Income: 20,000¥
Population Below Poverty Line: 20%
On Fortune's Active Traders List: 3%
Megacorporate Affiliation: 40%
Annual Crime Rate: 0.4 felonies/100 inhabitants
Education:
High school diploma or equivalent: 35%
University degree or equivalent: 8%
Religious Affiliation:
Roman Catholic: 35%
Pagan (Poytheist/Pantheist): 15%
Buddist: 13%
Atheist/Agnostic: 10%
Protestant: 8%
Russian Orthodox/other Catholic: 6%
Shinto: 6%
Muslim: 4%
Other: 3%

When dealing with Siberia, statistics can be misleading. For example,
the official human population figures deal only with citizens; human
slaves are not counted, but may number near a million. Income is also
uninformative, as many citizen's (especially those of non-metahuman
stock) do not make any official income at all. In addition, a barter
economy flourishes in many of the more rural portions of Siberia and
such economies are difficult to quantify in nuyen.

Geography and climate

The world's largest land mass governed by a single body, the Awakened
Siberian Confederation spans more than seven time zones. Covering
nearly 14 million square kilometers, the ASC is bordered by the Ural
mountains on the west and the Arctic Kara, Laptev and East Siberian
seas on the north. To its south are Kazakstan, Mongolia, the warring
states of old China, and Korea. In the east are the seas of Japan and
Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and the Bering Strait.

Siberia is predominantly flat, rarely reaching 1000 meters above sea
level. Of its 53,000 rivers, four drain two-thirds of Siberia: the Ob,
Yenisey and Lena, which drain north into the Arctic, and the Amur,
which flows east into the Pacific. The world's deepest lake, Lake
Baikal, is the largest of Siberia's over one million lakes.

Siberia possesses a slightly undeserved reputation for being a frozen
wasteland. While January nights can hover around -20°C to -25°C (with
occasional dips to -35°C), July and August average 15°C to 20°C
(sometimes climbing as high as 30°C). In addition, Siberia has low
levels of humidity and lots of sun, which tend to mitigate the cold.
Naturally, temperatures drop when moving northward.

Making up Siberia's vegetation are four main climatic regions. The two
largest form broad east-west bands across most of Siberia. The most
northern band consists of icy tundra, a cold desert. Running 60 to 240
km southward from the Arctic coast, the permanently frozen ground
supports few species of life. Only animals adapted to the cold can
survive here. These include mosquitoes, gnats, reindeer, lemmings,
arctic foxes and the occasional wolf.

Just south of the tundra is the taiga, the world's largest forest.
This wide band covers most of Siberia. Filled with wildlife of all
sizes, the tiaga is still cold in the winter. The forest floor, while
not dense, is wiry and difficult to pass on foot.

Kamchatka, a peninsula in the far north-east, hosts numerous volcanos
and eerie terrain, sometimes called "moon-like". The geothermal
processes in Kamchatka produce extremely fertile land, on which
strange, large plants grow at accelerated rates. The rich earth
supports a large variety of life, and has been compared to the Garden
of Eden. A surprisingly high number of Awakened species have been
discovered on Kamchatka.

Monsoon rainforests cover Ussuriland, the last of the four climatic
regions. Far to the southeast of Siberia, Ussuriland's lower latitude
hosts higher temperatures and heavy rainfall. Plant life and animals
in this region are exotic and include the Siberian tiger.

Getting there

The main point of egress to Siberia is still the Trans-Siberian
Railroad. This legendary rail route travels from Moscow to Shiro and
forms the bulk of shipping between Siberia and Europe. This line also
connects with the Trans-Mongolian and Manchurian lines, connecting
with Beijing. The Turkestan-Siberian line also connects with the main
line, allowing access through Kazakstan and western China.

Run by the Siberian Railway Corporation, the lines are well maintained
and reliable. The SRC enjoys extraterritorial status within the ASC,
and therefore all lands within 50 meters of the tracks of the
Trans-Siberian Railway are under the jurisdiction of the SRC.

(>) A storm's brewin' around the SRC. Seems that the major
stockholders are all from Khakassia, and all dwarves. The fact that a
Khakassian company controls all the train routes seriously slots off
Jotenheim and Serdstevina.
(>) Yagoda

(>) Guards crawl all over the trains and stations. Me, I think they
take their jobs a bit too seriously. Don't know what they think
they're protecting me from.
(>) Hark

(>) They're there to protect the equipment, not you, slot. They don't
mind if you (or anyone else) gets blown up, as long as their precious
train is intact.
(>) Myra

No other land routes exist for mechanized travel into and, for the
most part, within Siberia. Roads cost far to much to maintain. In
addition, the political climate in Siberia is quite green, so internal
combustion in the wilderness is somewhat frowned upon.

(>) Wrong. Panzer runs are relatively common in Siberia, especially
into the more northern reaches. And you guessed it, such traffic
usually carries cargo expensive enough to make the trip worth it. This
includes standard fare like alcohol, chips and medicine, but also
stuff that can fetch a high price in a frozen wasteland, like sugar
and fresh fruit. If you're lucky, you might be able to leave with
holds full of Siberia's mineral bounty. Especially diamonds and gold.
(>) Annihilatrix

Siberia has only one public nautical port, which is in Shiro. When
Shiro was called Vladivostok, most of the sea traffic into and out of
the port connected with Japan. With the city now run by Japanese
metahuman refugees, connection with Japan is stopped altogether. Very
little passenger sea traffic comes into Siberia, though BarTours runs
a luxury liner between Shiro and Hong Kong.

Most people enter (and travel within) Siberia by air. Building an
infrastructure of airports and aircraft was one of the ASC's first
goals. Due to the environmental policies of many member nations, most
air traffic within Siberia consists of LTA craft. Most large cities do
have a serviceable conventional airport, however, generally linking
with either Moscow or Hong Kong. Siberia contains only two truly
international airports, in Irkutsk and Shiro, though neither of these
allow semi-ballistic flights. Both can land sub-orbital craft,
however.

Getting In

With its modern, efficient transportation systems, metahumans from all
over the world may enter some part of Siberia for any reason and for
any duration. Immigration and visitation restrictions are set by
individual member nations, however, so certain metatypes may not be
allowed into some nations without the proper paperwork, if at all. We
have listed such restrictions with the descriptions of individual
member states.

Humans, on the other hand, will find it nearly impossible to get into
Siberia through official channels. Humans are allowed only into
Tourism Zones (after paying the 100¥ application fee), and then for
only 10 days at a time.

Fortunately for the shadow community, Siberian border defenses are
aimed more at keeping out invading armies than individuals, at least
for now. When complete, the ograda promises to tighten such security,
but for now wide portions of the border remain permeable to small
groups.

(>) Your best shot is through Kazahkstan or from the north. Take a
pass on the southern half of the Urals, 'cause the Russian and ASC
armies have heavily mined the whole place, what with them still
pointin' tanks at each other and all. I ain't had to deal with the
ograda yet, but I'm bettin' its a bunch of drek anyway.
(>) Hark

(>) Neg on that, Hark. The ograda is weak at the edges, but around its
current center, like in Kakureba, it's a lot like the descriptions
I've heard about the Veil, in Tír na nÓg.
(>) Chase

(>) What you been slottin', chummer? The Veil is supposed to confuse
you and what not. The ograda isn't as active. It is just a detection
system. From what I understand, it works a lot like a continuous
detect enemies spell. Cross the line with hostile intent, and mages in
Chita know, and send spirits and troops after you.
(>) Crosshair

(>) Neboken-ja neyo! "A continuous detect enemies spell"; what a load
of warm drek. The ograda is nothing more than a sophisticated sensor
array, all fed into a highly trained rigger who can sort out false
positives by "feel". The magic is all just window dressing, far as I
can tell.
(>) Shiva

(>) Not exactly.
(>) Harbinger

Laws and Law Enforcement

The Awakened Siberian Confederation, in general, claims to place a
high emphasis on freedom from oppression. In practice, this is mostly
true, with the glaring exception of allowing human slavery in some
places.

(>) Figures. Another "land of the free (as long as you're like me)".
(>) Meatboy

Weapons

The ASC recognizes that they have a fairly low number of people to
defend a very large area. Reasoning that an armed population offered
more good than harm, the ASC as a whole has no laws governing weapons,
allowing member states to make their own laws in this area. Each
country passed its own laws but, for the most part, citizens can own
any small arm they like. Many countries also allow ownership of
heavier weapons, up to and including auto-cannon, rocket launchers and
assault cannon.

(>) YES! Siberia, here I come!
(>) Beast

(>) Calm down, son. The man said "citizens", not "tourists", and
unless you grow tusks anytime soon, I doubt their gonna let you bring
in the Panther.
(>) Myra

Actually carrying weapons is a different matter, however. Generally,
citizens are allowed to carry, in public, concealed personal firearms
(even submachineguns) and any weapon reasonably used for hunting
without restriction. Carrying heavier weapons "at the ready" requires
a permit in some places and is banned in others.

(>) So, lemme get this strait. I can own a minigun, but I can never
bring it anywhere?
(>) Beast

(>) That's about the size of it. The idea is that you will have ample
firepower to stop an enemy invasion, but you can't use it on fellow
citizens.
(>) Archon IV

(>) Wrong again, chummer. Mostly, the law is set up to allow
installations (read: corporate sites and mines) to legally own serious
firepower. As long as the weapons don't leave the property, anything
goes.
(>) Myra

Importing any sort of firearm into the Confederation without an import
license is illegal throughout Siberia.

We found that the laws were mostly equivalent throughout the ASC, but
were only really enforced near urban areas and strategic sites, like
mines. Out in the wilderness, it seemed almost expected that you would
carry an assault rifle. Three of our operatives, on separate
occasions, were questioned by patrols while hunting in the wilds. In
all cases, the patrols ignored their blatantly illegal weaponry, but
demanded to see hunting licences.

While weapons laws are reasonably uniform throughout Siberia,
shadowrunners should acquaint themselves with local variations. Of
particular note are the laws of Evenki (banning weapons, hunting and
most people) and large cities like Irkutsk (restricting more tightly
the types of weapons which may be carried in public).

Hunting

Hunting without a licence is a very serious offense in most of the
ASC. Strict control is maintained of various animal populations,
particularly carnivores like wolves and bears, and the ASC limits the
number of hunters and what they can kill almost religiously. Hunters
are required to present any animals killed to local authorities for
recording.

Hunting licences are administered at a local level, so vary widely
across Siberia. Generally, a licence is purchased to hunt a single
species for a season, and costs about 25¥. Some nations, however,
allow no hunting at all.

The following Awakened species are active somewhere within Siberia:
agropelter, bandersnatch, banshee, barghest, birdman, bulldog stoat,
burrowing beaver, cockatrice, corpselight, dakkaryne, devil rat,
domovoi, dracoforms, dzoo-noo-qua, elementals, fenrir wolf, fideal,
firebird, foulmart, gabriel hound, gargoyle, ghosts, ghouls, goblin,
golden boar, grandfather elk, greater unicorn, greater wolverine,
griffin, harpy, hell hound, icedrake, incubus, jauchekafer, knocker,
leshy, leviathan, loup-garou, man-of-the-woods, megalodon, merrow,
nature spirits, nomad, phoenix, protean, salamander, sasquatch, sea
drake, serpent, freshwater, shadowhound, shapeshifter, siren, snow
moose, snow snake, stormcrow, talis cat, toxic earth spirit, toxic
water spirit, unicorn, unicorn fish, vampire, vampiric pawn, wendigo,
wild hunt, wraith.

Cyberware

The ASC places laws restricting body augmentation entirely in the
hands of member nations, but member nations nearly universally place
no restrictions on cyber and bioware. Though there is substantial
minority of purists opposing anything but the natural body, the
prevailing opinion in Siberia is that metahumans should take any
advantage they can get. Even so, there has been little call from the
Siberian public for many of the systems favored by the shadow
community (high level reflex augmentation, for example). Very little
cyberware is produced in Siberia, and because many systems are taxed
or otherwise controlled by their nation of manufacture, cyberware is
hard to come by. Bioware is easier to find, however, as much of it is
produced in Taymyr.

(>) This place is a dream!
(>) Pachka

(>) Only if your ears are pointed.
(>) Blitzen

(>) Realize that Siberia has one of the lowest population densities in
the world, contributing to a very low crime rate. Right now, weapons
and augmented criminals are just not problems. As the population
grows, and Siberians see more crime, you can bet that cyber and
weapons laws will get tougher.
(>) Dr. Love

Siberia allows all but military cyberware into the country, but any
cyberware detected is recorded by the ASC military.

Language

Because refugees from many different places comprise the population of
the ASC, many different languages are spoken by the population. Most
in the central and western portions of Siberia speak Russian, while
most in the east speak Japanese. Some Arabic speaking regions also
exist in the southwest.

The founders of the ASC, however, had a strong desire to part with the
customs and traditions of their past cultures and create a new sense
of national identity, especially the Japanese among them. For these
reasons, the ASC founders named as their official language the one
closest to being an international (and, more to the point, corporate)
standard: English.

(>) For the first few years after this decision was made, most of the
urban population became real snobs about speaking nothing but English.
Most wanted to get as far away as possible from the culture, language
and customs of the nations that had oppressed them. This was probably
more true of the ex-Russians than the ex-Japanese.
(>) Rhinopalooza

(>) No way. Definitely the other way around.
(>) Shiva

(>) Years of mixing Japanese- and Russian-accented English birthed the
most groovalicious accent ever heard.
(>) Sweet Dr. Funkenstein

Currency

Being newly created, the ASC uses the international Nuyen standard. It
is important to note, however, that portions of rural Siberia still
run on barter economy. Corporate script of one form or another is also
common in mining towns.

Costs

Siberia covers a wide array of cultures and economic conditions,
making it difficult to summarize costs. Siberian society tends to be
either urban high-tech or rurally naturalistic, with little in
between. We therefore provide one cost column for each type.

Most of the costs in Siberia are influenced significantly by the cold
weather. Also, keep in mind that while vast, Siberia has fewer people
than California Free State and this also effects the economy.

Item Rural Urban
Weapons
Ammunition (1) 90-150% 100-150%
Explosives 70% 110%
Firearm Accessories (2) 80-200% 90-150%
Firearms (2) 70-150% 90-125%
Melee Weapons 90% 90%
Projectile Weapons 90% 100%
Throwing Weapons 80% 100%
Armor and Clothing
Armor 150% 100%
Fur/Leather 50% 75%
Fashionable clothing 500% 200%
Security and Surveillance
Communications 75% 110%
Security Devices 150% 150%
Surveillance Countermeasures 300% 150%
Survival Gear 75% 90%
Vision Enhancers 90% 100%
Lifestyle (3) 50-300% 90-120%
Technology
Cyberdecks 250% 100%
Electronics 200% 125%
Programs 100% 100%
Cybertech
Biotech 200% 80%
Bodyware (4) 200% 150%
Headware (4) 200% 120%
Internals (4) 200% 200%
Magical Equipment
Hermetic Library 200% 80%
Magical Supplies 50-200% 80%
Magical Weapons 200% 75%
Power Foci 200% 75%
Ritual Sorcery Material 200% 80%
Spell Foci 200% 80%
Vehicles
Aircraft 90% 90%
Boats (5) 150% 200%
Ground Vehicles (5) 200% 150%
Military Vehicles 150% 95%
Appropriate Fuel 80% 75%

1. Standard ammunition is at the low end, with more exotic stuff at
the high end
2. Anything normally used for hunting tends to be cheaper in Siberia.
Everything else costs more.
3. Real estate is cheap in Siberia, but many amenities are missing.
For example, in the far north, it is usually to cold for running
water. This translates into lower costs at the lower end of the
lifestyle spectrum and added costs for more luxuriant lifestyles.
4. These costs apply to all but the most popular items in Siberia.
Common items can be had at 95% cost. These are: comm systems,
datajacks, limbs, memory, muscle augmentation, smartlinks and low
level skillwires.
5. These costs are for electric boats, cars and standard 4-wheel drive
vehicles. Less rugged vehicles, like sports cars, and internal
combustion engines can cost up to twice as much, depending on
location.

Matrix

On the whole, the Siberian Matrix is not impressive. A single RTG
serves the entire confederation. Siberia's terrain and weather limit
the cost effectiveness of traditional fiber optic networking, so the
Siberian Matrix relies heavily on satellites. In many parts of the
Matrix, LTGs within a given RTG are often physically connected by
fiber, but in Siberia this is the exception rather than the rule. Most
urban areas have a central LTG station that uses satellites to
communicate with the rest of the Matrix. A physical network expands
from this LTG to serve the city, but usually does not extend much
further.

Siberian RTG (SIB)
Security: Green-3
Access: 6
Control: 7
Index: 7
Files: 6
Slave: 6

(>) Heavy satellite makes decking a bit more sluggish into, out of,
and often within Siberia. On the plus side, personal satellite
technology is advanced and easy to come by in Siberia. One of Fuchi's
main purposes in Serdtsevina is to make satellite equipment, and they
usually beta test locally.
(>) Archer

Visually, Siberia's Matrix is sparse. What icons are present are
generally small, private systems. Megacorporations maintain only a
token presence in the Siberian Matrix, as their Siberian computers are
either not asked to do much work, or are used in maximum security
research stations and kept off-line.

The Mothers of Metahumans world headquarters dominates Matrix around
Tomsk, its giant, internally illuminated crystal orb protecting a
beating heart. Other icons of note are the Khakassia's public access
petition database, the ASC's central system and Irkutsk University.

(>) There is a site in Mithral that runs a home-brew game called Shi,
and it is becoming very popular. At first it sort of looks like your
average VR, multi-player, interactive shoot-em-up, but it is much
cooler. First the graphics are better, as close to being real as I've
ever seen. Second, you only get one life; you die, you have to wait a
week to play again. Third, the bad guys are extremely smart, and will
capture rather than kill you. They'll make deals for your freedom,
sending you against other players or other bad guys. Fourth, the world
is huge, roughly the size of Mars. I hear some players are building
armies.
(>) Tinker

(>) I'm hearing some strange rumors about Shi. Some of the "bad guys"
that Tinker mentions are so smart that I'm beginning to think that
they are actually metahumans, maybe even those who designed the game.
I'm hearing a number of stories about players getting captured and
only released on the condition that they perform some action in the
Matrix outside of the game. One story involved a money transfer and
the other a datasteal. This has all the stink of an urban myth, but I
know Shi players who are so into it that they would do this sort of
thing to keep their character.
(>) Zokin
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Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about [NAGTTW] Siberia (Facts at a Glance - 3 of 5), you may also be interested in:

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