| From: | Les Ward <lward@*******.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | [NAGTTW] Siberia (Member States - 4 of 5) |
| Date: | Mon, 1 Dec 1997 21:58:50 -0500 |
Siberia (part 4 of 5)
Wordman (wordman@*****.com)
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MEMBER STATES
All men whilst they are awake are in one common world: but each of
them, when he is asleep, is in a world of his own.
-- Plutarch, Morals
Population breakdown
Dwarf Elf Human Ork Troll Other
Almaz 22% 1% 37% 28% 12%
Bashkir 98% 2%
Evenki 80% 20%
Jimen 5% 3% 32% 44% 14% 2%
Jotenheim 100%
Kakureba 30% 3% 42% 25%
Kamchatka 5% 3% 57% 10% 25%
Khakassia 63% 37%
Mithral 100%
Okhotsk 8% 1% 66% 16% 6% 3%
Oni 100%
Serdtsevina 42% 2% 44% 11% 1%
Svoboda 100%
Taymyr 20% 79% 1%
Throolmak't 100%
Ussuriland 100%
Almaz
Dominant Race: Mixed
Government: Hereditary monarchy
Capital: Yaktusk
Population: 2.8 million
Dominant Corporation: DeBeers
Resources/Industry: Diamonds, natural gas, gold, coal, lignite,
timber, wheat
Named after its best known product, Almaz is one of the world's
largest diamond exporters. Though technically controlled by King
Dimitry Gorelik and his family, most of the real power in Almaz is
held by the DeBeers diamond cartel.
(>) DeBeers publicly claims that it's independently owned, but there
is no fraggin' way they could have avoided being eaten by a megacorp
this long. On paper, an outfit called Americorp owns DeBeers, but
bizarrely, also on paper, DeBeers owns Americorp. This setup has
something to do with DeBeers being setup by Germans who needed
American investors after World War I or something. Anyway, point is
that no one seems to be able to find who really owns these jokers.
(>) Yagoda
(>) That's 'cause they are not owned by a megacorp. I'm 100% sure that
a dragon owns DeBeers, and about 85% sure that the dragon is Sirrurg.
(>) Myra
(>) Well, no matter who really owns them, DeBeers is still up to the
same odious drek of keeping the price of diamonds -- one of the most
common minerals on earth -- inflated by keeping the supply under iron
control. They manipulate culture through trid and simsense as well.
Example: if you're a man from most of the Americas, supposedly long
standing tradition demands that you buy an expensive diamond ring when
you ask a woman to marry you. This "tradition" is really the result of
some brilliant cultural manipulation in the early 20th century by
DeBeers.
(>) Dr. Love
Almaz has always been known for keeping the areas near the border
wild, but after what was perceived to be a terrorist attack, Almaz
mysteriously sealed its borders from most incoming traffic, including
Matrix signals. Lumber, coal and other resources continue to travel
out of Yilmaz on the rail line to Tynda. The border is as wild as
ever, complete with rumors of tibes of goblin, and is now patrolled by
aircraft and ground drones 24 hours a day.
Much speculation surrounds the border lock out, with theories ranging
from simple paranoia to secret civil war. None of the ten operatives
sent to gather information on Almaz returned, leading the Advocate to
believe that something important is indeed happening within its
borders.
Almaz is one of the countries rumored to utilize human slave labor.
One of the Advocate's operatives communicated finding proof of this,
but disappeared shortly after.
Bashkir
Dominant Race: Ork (including hobgoblin and ogre)
Government: Clan-based oligarchy
Capital: Tyumen
Population: 4.5 million
Dominant Corporation: Yamatetsu
Product: Cattle, refining, corn, oats, wheat, chemicals, steel,
non-ferrous metals.
Considered the breadbasket of the ASC, Bashkir hosts most of Siberia's
farm and grazing land. Populated mostly by an even mix of orks, Middle
Eastern hobgoblins and European orges distributed almost equally
between urban and rural lifestyle, Bashkir culture is complex and
robust.
Seventeen family dominated military clans govern Bashkir, each clan
controlling a region or city. Each clan is lead by a Chief, with the
Chiefs in turn answering to a Khan. Since its creation, the Khan of
Bashkir has been Ashish Saxena, leader of the clan controlling Tyumen.
In his late forties, Saxena is one of the oldest known orks and is
expected to die of old age in the near future. When that happens,
control of the Saxena clan will fall to Ashish's son Alex. While Alex
is considered an able leader, the Advocate does not believe that he
will have enough backing to become the next Khan of Bashkir. Whether
the other clans will use violence to back their own claims to the Khan
seat, and its corresponding seat in the First Circle, remains to be
seen.
(>) Bashkir has a very militarily-minded culture, so it's no surprise
that nearly 35% of the ASC army is from Bashkir.
(>) Matador
(>) Most Bashkirans harsh on people from Serdtsevina ever since
Seipolt got bumped by Shen. I hear it is even worse in the high levels
of the government.
(>) Pachka
(>) That's one weird thing about Bashkir. When people hear that its
run by military clans, they picture Huns in tents or some such drek.
Sure, these guys are basically warlords, but they use computers, have
central heating, and head bureaucracies just as confusing as any other
country.
(>) Umidajin
Evenki
Dominant Race: Dryad
Government: Assumed to be monarchy
Population: 1.3 million (estimated)
Dominant Corporation: None.
Product: No exports.
No one but dryads are allowed in or out of Evenki, so information on
this area is sketchy at best. From comments made during the few times
Evenki representatives have been present in the First Circle, it seems
clear that Evenki is ruled by a queen, though her name is not known.
Satellite surveillance shows few large towns, no roads and little
evidence of technology. Evenki does have a multitude of small villages
- -- many more than expected -- scattered evenly throughout the nation.
Because astral space around the border is guarded by spirits and other
entities, presumedly magic is heavily used in Evenki. The Advocate
made a limited number of attempts at border crossing, but none could
penetrate more than 12 kilometers into the forest before being
terminated.
(>) Saints, how many people got themselves perished for this post?
Seems like you Advocate guys are doing something all wrong with this
high a body count.
(>) Tanner
We did determine that Evenki's forests are heavily populated with all
manner of mundane and awakened creatures. From what little we could
see, Evenki is almost totally wild. The untamed forest come right to
the edge of the villages, and often right through them.
(>) Dryads're all women, right. So how the frag do they reproduce?
(>) Eldritch
(>) They steal men! Mostly kids. They raise them until they hit
puberty, then they use them to, you know, do their business, then they
kill 'em.
(>) Blitzen
(>) I slotted that sim once, too Blitz. I think it was called Paranoia
for Total Morons.
(>) Lovebead
(>) I dunno. If you look at the missing persons figures around the
area, they are a bit higher than normal. Coming from thereabouts, I
also know that a lot of people believe exactly what Blitzen said.
(>) Zapal
Jimen
Dominant Race: Ork
Government: Theocratic oligarchy
Capital: Egvekina
Population: 0.9 million
Dominant Corporation: Unfettered Software
Product: Tungsten, antimony
As one of the only Confederate members with a human presence, Jimen is
looked upon with a certain degree of distrust by the rest of the ASC.
Of more concern to others, especially those outside Siberia, are
Jimen's secular and spiritual rulers, a council of free nature spirits
and elementals. Though the rule of these spirits has been equitable
and fair, it has nonetheless been absolute and unalterable; citizens
of Jimen have no say at all in the law of their country.
Members of the Jimen government are by definition part of the
priesthood of the Primal Church -- the national religion of Jimen --
and
vice versa. Though possessing many Western trappings (especially its
hierarchy), the Primal Church is closer in flavor to Eastern
religions. The Primal Church focuses on environmental harmony and
personal ethics rather than the worship of a specific deity.
Jimen is peopled by a mix of races fitting into two distinct
categories: traditionalist and modernist. Though dramatically
different culturally, these two groups share a higher than average
rate of magical capability and most seem very committed to the tenants
of the Primal Church.
Traditionalist tribes eshew technology, living as their native
Siberians lived centuries ago. Generally living in tents,
traditionalist tribes herd reindeer and hunt whale and seal to stay
alive. Respected and protected by Jimen society, traditionalists are
thought to walk a higher spiritual path than moderniststs, but hold no
real political power.
Modernists embrace technology and generally live in Egvekina, most
working for Unfettered Software, a large Matrix firm wholly owned by
the Primal Church. All mining in Jimen is done by Modernist people,
who are required to have special spiritual training before allowed to
be miners.
Jimen cultivates magically active citizens with state/church sponsored
schooling. These schools teach extremely advanced techniques in
physically manipulative magic, giving Jimen magicians well-deserved
reputations as powerful transformative sorcerers.
Jotenheim
Dominant Race: Giants
Government: Corporate democracy
Population: 3.1 million
Dominant Corporation: Mitsuhama
Products: Timber, oil, natural gas, cod, furs, cattle.
Organized along the same lines as the Pueblo Corporate Council,
Jotenheim is theoretically led by CEO Vivek Sertdlov. Mitsuhama,
however, by virtue of controlling many of Jotenheim's oil and gas
resources, is one of the nation's largest employers. As such, it can
significantly influence elections. Reportedly, Sertdlov made some sort
of deal with them and with their backing was swept into the CEO
position. The Advocate has been unable to determine the nature of this
deal, but it can be assumed that Mitsuhama has a great deal of control
over Sertdlov and his government.
Jotenheim culture is extremely warm and friendly to metahumans, though
the country itself is bitterly cold most of the year. Humans also get
a chilly reception in Jotenheim, allowed only into Maskimin Yar. One
in four female children born to giant mothers is human and Jotenheim's
intolerance of humans causes a social problem for giants experiencing
such genetic reversion. When this happens, there is much social
pressure to abort the child before birth or expel it from the country
after. Recently, the wife of Vivek Sertdlov's predecessor announced
that her unborn daughter would be human, and because she and her
family would not follow the social norm, they would leave Siberia. In
the aftermath, apart from new CEO elections, the media was filled with
people, mostly women, claiming to be emotionally scarred because they
chose not to have a human baby. Nearly as many rabidly supported the
other side of the issue, some suggesting forced abortion in cases of
genetic reversion. Divisions over this issue may be enough to sway
elections and/or covert actions in the future.
Of all of Siberia, Jotenheim bears the most scars of the environmental
abuse of the Soviet and Mikhailovich eras. Jotenheim hosts a number of
toxic areas, some of them the results of leaking radioactive waste.
Rumors of toxic shaman activity could be neither confirmed nor denied.
Kakureba
Dominant Race: Japanese metahumans.
Government: Federal republic
Population: 4.5 million
Dominant Corporation: Ares
Product: Algae, vegetables, electricity, gold, coal, iron, timber,
vehicles, ships, fish, food additives.
With a name meaning "shelter", Kakureba is passionately nationalistic,
peopled largely by those who escaped Yomi and their descendants. The
most urbanized nation of the ASC, Kakureba also boasts a strong
military presence. This military is outfitted almost entirely with
Ares hardware, and Ares influence is visible throughout the country.
This is especially true in Shiro, where Ares maintains a large,
extraterritorial shipyard, building everything from speedboats to
fusion submarines.
Hosting most of the Confederation's major sea ports, and being the
first line of defence against Japan, Kakureba receives a higher per
capita portion of ASC defense funds than any other Siberian nation.
Combined with its high technology base, this makes Kakureba easily the
most affluent nation in Siberia. In addition, its algae cultivation
plants provide Siberia with a large percentage of its protein, giving
Kakureba a great deal of political influence over the Confederation.
(>) This is the real reason people like Philo hate us; everyone likes
to see the colossus fall.
(>) Shiva
Like many of the urbanized regions of Siberia, Kakureba has had to
clean up several toxic zones left by the Soviet and Russian
governments. Though the problems inherited in Kakureba were not as
severe as those in western Siberia, Kakureba has had to clean up more
toxic area. Several independent toxic shamans wreaked havoc over
Kakureba and western Serdstevina for a number of years until finally
hunted down in 2051.
Kamchatka
Dominant Race: Various
Government: Dictatorship
Population: 1.7 million
Dominant Corporation: None
Product: Salmon and other fish, coal, lignite, foci, alchemical
radicals, banking
Of all the nations of the ASC, Kamchatka is the most difficult to
classify. Technically a dictatorship governed solely by an
unidentified great dragon, in practice this dragon provides very
little direction to the nation. More like a guarded preserve hosting
vast amounts of wildlife, Kamchatka boasts very little technology.
Various low-tech, mostly orkish, tribal bands populate the surreal,
volcanic landscape. These same lands are also known habitats for a
number of lesser dragons and tribes of "animals" like leshy and
merrow, considered by many to be sentient.
Many of the orkish tribes work in coal mines, using little other than
muscle power. Among these tribes, a bear cult has grown very popular,
and most rural orks are members in one form or another.
In stark contrast to this is the only real Kamchtkan city:
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Home to over two-thirds of the Kamchatkan
population, Petropavlovsk contains a major Confederation naval base,
second only to Shiro. Around this base, a service economy grew to the
point where it began creating new industries. The most notable of
these are a banking system featuring services similar to the Swiss and
Pueblo banks and a number of alchemical "factories" which produce foci
and alchemical materials on a relatively large scale.
As the official national leader does not involve itself with the
day-to-day workings of Kamchtka, Petropavlovsk possesses an efficient,
elected local government and functions similar to a European
city-state.
(>) 150 klicks north of Petropavlovsk is the Valley of the Geysers.
You gotta see this place for yourself. Definitely worth the hike.
(>) Krov
Little is known about the dragon who maintains Kamchatka as its
fiefdom. Most assume that this is the same dragon who led the assault
on Magadan. Almost certainly an eastern dragon, the dragon has never
offered a name. Most in Kamchatka refer to it only as "the leader".
(>) The Leader doesn't say much, but if he does, he always uses
intermediaries, almost all of which are elves.
(>) Toge
Khakassia
Dominant Race: Dwarf
Government: Participatory democracy
Population: 6.7 million
Dominant Corporation: Saeder-Krupp
Product: Coal, zinc, tungsten, wheat, oats, iron, steel, railroad
equipment, mercury, asbestos, cattle, manganese, aluminum, heavy
machinery, textiles, chemicals, flax
The most industrialized nation of the Confederation, Khakassia is
dominated by the mining, refining and end use of its natural resources
and is widely regarded as the heart of Siberia's rail system.
Khakassia also uses the most pure form of democracy currently
employed: all citizens vote on everything. As a participatory, rather
than representative, democracy, Khakassian government has some
peculiarities. The Khakassian President exists mainly to represent
Khakassia to other countries, and has very little real power. An
office of law enforcement exists, complete with elected sheriffs and
judges, but there is no office, group, branch or department that makes
the laws themselves.
Along with law enforcement, two other offices form the entirety of
Khakassia's slim bureaucracy. The Administration Office is staffed by
elected officials whose only task is to manage the nation's budget.
Though in charge of submitting budgets for ratification by the
electorate, once the nation accepts a budget, the AO cannot change it
without another national election. The AO is in charge of seeing to it
that the budget is spent properly, dealing with contractors of all
kinds for everything from police work to power generation to trash
collecting.
The Election Office is in charge of managing the numerous daily
elections and the hundreds of petition submissions. Lacking a law
making body, votes in Khakassia can only be made on issues that have
"passed petition". Unsigned petitions are submitted to the EO, who
must post all of them in a database available to any citizen, where
they can be signed. Once a petition has signatures from 5% of the
national population, an announcement is given that the petition will
be voted on. The voting takes place 21 days later, for a period of 24
hours.
(>) The petition system gives the media a lot of power to shape
politics, as they can call attention to a specific petition. About 65%
of the advertisements on local trideo are for one petition or another.
(>) Myra
All elections take place on Gidra, a national fiber-optic network that
is isolated from the Matrix. The household of every citizen is
equipped with a Gidra terminal, consisting of little more than
keyboard, fingerprint reader and display. Gidra terminals hide much of
the complexity of the Owaru 54 election algorithm used to make the
elections secure, but citizens are still responsible for generating
their public keys with Gidra. For security purposes, keys used on the
Gidra system expire after 30 days. Gidra's public key changes every 30
minutes.
(>) Any deckers out there wanna change an election?
(>) Yagoda
(>) Good luck, chummer. Owaru published this election algorithm in
2054, though much of it is based on Fujikota, Okamoto and Ohta's work
from 1992. A really slick, though complex, idea, the algorithm has
been proven to be logically as secure from undetectable tampering --
including from those that run Gidra -- as the keys are. The keys are
long enough that cracking them within 30 days would pose a significant
problem. I'm still not convinced that Khakassia's implementation is
fully correct, though.
(>) Starch
(>) As always, the human factor is the key to breaking the system.
Unfortunately, about the best you can hope for is to forge the votes
of a mere handful of people. There are a number of ways to change the
result of an election, but as Starch said, all of them would be easily
detected and most would be traceable.
(>) Pinkerton
(>) For what it's worth, I've determined that Gidra is not entirely
disconnected from the Matrix. Each day around 6pm, a one-way
connection opens from Gidra to a Matrix host for three seconds.
Through this connection, Gidra sends the results of that day's
election to the Matrix host, and from there the results are made
public. Unfortunately, these results are not considered official, but
provide a convenient way to update news services, daemons and the
like. Official results can be retrieved by a Gidra terminal.
(>) One-of-One
(>) One other tidbit. Gidra terminals are manufactured by Rhetoric
Systems, a secretly owned subsidiary of Saeder-Krupp.
(>) Tiara
Because of this governmental system, Khakassia may not be dominated by
dwarves much longer. Though more dwarves emigrate to Khakassia yearly
than any other race, by virtue of birth rate the percentage of orks in
Khakassia is rapidly increasing. At the current rate, orks will form
the majority of Khakassia by 2063.
(>) A bit of grumbling is starting over this. So far, no major
fallout, but a couple of shops have opened recently hyping their
"dwarf-friendly" ergonomics. Small doors, lower counters, that kind of
drek. Naturally, this is about as "ork-unfriendly" as you can get.
(>) National Acrobat
Mithral
Dominant Race: Koborkoru
Government: Representative democracy
Population: 1.9 million
Dominant Corporations: Manadyne Corporation, The Gunderson Corporaton,
Telestrian Industries, Universal Omnitech
Product: Coal, gold, lignite, tin, orichalcum, software, bioware
Unlike other parts of Siberia, the population of Mithral is spread
somewhat uniformly throughout the country, consisting of a network of
small towns encircled by forest-surrounded houses on large plots.
Transportation between these small towns is problematic, especially in
the winter, so most cultural interaction, and even employment, occurs
in the Matrix. Over 70% of the population of Mithral have datajacks,
even in non-data industries like mining, which makes up a large part
of Mithral's economy.
(>) BTLs are starting to cause some problems in Mithral as well.
(>) Annhilatrix
Mithral programmers have a reputation for being highly skilled,
dedicated and honest, though not always creative, and many companies
to hire them as consultants working out of their homes. Companies like
Manadyne also pay enchanters handsomely to produce alchemical radials
and orichalcum in the comfort of their own home, often providing
security to guard such homes.
Only koborkoru are allowed to become Mithral citizens. Other metahuman
races are allowed into the nation on both tourist and work visas, but
no Japanese citizen is allowed in. At the time of this writing the
Mithral Legislature is debating allowing non-Japanese humans in for
business purposes.
(>) This proposition failed, but it was close enough that it's only a
matter of time.
(>) Nirami
The Mithral government is dedicated to keeping megacorporations out of
its country, but economics has forced it to deal with several second
tier corporations. Some of these deals have led to the formation of
several corporate stations that deal with potentially hazardous
research within Mithral's borders. These stations are generally far
away from populated areas to prevent exposure to accidental release of
experimental biological agents (Universal Omnitech), magical
phenomenon (Manadyne) and chemicals (Gunderson).
The only real city in Mithral, Magadan, is not heavily populated.
Controlled almost entirely by elements of the Gunderson Corporation,
Magadan serves as a port for export of the output Mithrals mineal
treasures and not much else. Though it suffered through several large
fires, Magadan has not changed much since it was the center of the
largest group of metahuman extermination camps on earth. Most of the
camps outside of Magadan have been destroyed, but some remain as
monuments to those who were killed there. The astral background count
on the site of these camps and, to a lesser extent in Magadan, is
extremely negative.
(>) A number of these camps were around mines, so its not uncommon to
see a miner react to the astral bruises with depression and even
insanity.
(>) Kitsune
The Manadyne Corporation, with some financial donation from the
Mithral government, is investigating methods of reducing this
background count.
Okhotsk
Dominant Race: Human
Government: Thaumatocracy
Population: 0.9 million
Dominant Corporation: Aztechnology
Product: Orichalcum, spell formulae, foci, alchemical radicals,
fetishes, magical services
Only magically active people, be they full magicians or any sort of
adept, are allowed into Okhotsk, the smallest and least trusted nation
in the Confederation. The Order, a hierarchy determined solely by
magical ability, rules Okhotsk, with a single Archmage at the top. The
whole country is essentially a mystic brotherhood, with every citizen
as a member occupying some level of the hierarchy. Promotion within
this hierarchy occurs only through magical combat, either with the
current holder of a higher position or, if an office is vacated by
death of natural causes, with other contenders. Generally this combat
is nonlethal, more like a judged competition, but at the higher levels
participants tend to continue to the death.
(>) Most mages in Okhotsk guard themselves well against being poisoned
by up-and-comers. Since everyone is in the system, Okhotsk is pretty
much a free-for-all of political back-stabbing, assassination, scandal
and power.
(>) Kitsune
(>) It's even worse than you think, chummer. The higher levels of the
Order are initiates and most people know by now that its easier to
initiate as part of a group. Trouble is, the Order itself is just too
huge to be an effective group for initiation. Result: thousands of
very small magical groups and sub-orders, most of which are secret.
With all of the extra motivations, allegiances, and hidden allies in
high placesŠ well, it gets messy.
(>) Sorrow
Little is known about the current Archmage of Okhotsk, except that he
is a male human in his fifties. He is thought to be a snake shaman,
which is unusual, as the vast majority of spell-casters in the country
are hermetic. The Tower of Okhotsk, housing the Archmage and the upper
levels of the Order, dominates the skyline of Okhotsk's capital, also
called Okhotsk. It is surrounded by several city blocks containing a
large part of the Order's political system. Nearby is the Crucible, a
magical university rapidly gaining respect in the thaumaturgic
community.
(>) The tower is right out of the movies, man. Huge granite blocks, no
detail. In deference to the modern age, it lacks battlements, using
strange angular cuts for flourish.
(>) Dr. Love
(>) The "flourish" cuts are geomantic constructs, my good doctor.
(>) Lilibet
As might be expected, Aztechnology has a certain degree of influence
here. Like most megacorporations, Aztechnology maintains a research
facility here; however, unlike their competitors, Aztechnology mages
hold positions in the upper-middle levels of the Order. Aztechnology,
through subsidiaries, also provides many vital goods and services to
Okhotsk, including food, electricity and mundane security. Though we
looked, Advocate agents found no signs of the blood magic mentioned in
the Aztlan file on Shadowland.
(>) I think you can assume it's there, but hiding. Most of the mages
of the Order would be first in line to geek a blood mage.
(>) Sorrow
Oni
Dominant Race: Oni
Government: Representative democracy
Population: 3.8 million
Dominant Corporation: Kazunori Matrix Technologies, Azimuth Software
Product: Salmon, sheep, coal, Matrix software
Named after its sole inhabiting race, Oni is currently the most
unstable nation in the ASC. Many modern governments are highly
influenced or controlled outright by powerful corporate interests, and
Oni is no exception. Oni acts as centerpiece to a corporate battle
that, though it began covertly, is so prevalent that it may start a
civil war. This conflict is very difficult to predict or analyze,
because the three major players hold vastly different goals.
The most straightforward facet of the battle is a struggle for control
of Oni's government between its two largest companies, rival software
firms Kazunori Matrix Technologies and Azimuth Software. Fast growing
newcomers to the Matrix industry, these two firms began as a single
company Mind's Eye software. Mind's Eye formed in 2055 to develop
breakthroughs in certain forms of psychotropic IC patented by its
co-founders, the husband and wife team of Hiroyu Kazunori and Izumi
Nishino. In early 2057, the two went through a bitter and public
divorce. Both had claims to the IC patents, and rather than tie up the
patents attempting to gain sole control of them, the two agreed to let
each other take full advantage of them. Kazunori immediately founded
KMT while his wife started Azimuth. The two companies became instant
and bitter rivals, finding themselves in frantic competition for
trained Oni programmers. In addition to competing for market share,
the two secretly vie for influence and possibly total control of Oni
government, most likely in an attempt to create national policies
which will give one a competitive advantage of the other.
(>) That's a bit to simplistic. It's not public knowledge, but Nishino
came down on the losing side of the recruiting war. With her hoop in
the flames, she needed some backing and got it by selling certain
rights to the patents to a bigger corporation. I'm not totally sure
yet, but I'm pretty sure the bigger corp is the Pueblo Corporate
Council. They unveiled some psychotropic IC four months after the
Kazunori/Nishino divorce that had a more than passing resemblance to
Azimuth's.
(>) The Chromed Accountant
(>) If that's true and hit the public, Bad Things might be in store
for Azimuth. The PCC is really friendly with Japan, and no one in Oni
will like that very much.
(>) Muzai no Ketsueki
(>) Cuts both ways, chummer. I've got reason to believe KMT is in bed
with Mitsuhama. Can't prove it any more than the Accountant can,
though.
(>) Mistral
Such positioning does not sit well with the man who previously had the
most influence over the Oni government: coal baron Tadaki Kanuchiwan.
Head of Oni Sekitan, Kanuchiwan is a hero to most lower class Oni
citizens, and opposes Kazunori and Nishino both publicly and covertly.
Maintenance of his influence over Oni government is an obvious motive
for this, but his actions seem to indicate an interest in settling a
personal score as well.
Oni soldiers are renowned throughout the Confederation for their
tactical skill, iron discipline and combat ability. Apart from the ASC
army itself (to which, like all other Siberian nations, Oni donates
military units), the Oni military is probably the best in Siberia.
Many in the military feel that they should be given a greater say in
the politics of the nation, a sentiment vocally shared by Hiroyu
Kazunori, giving him strong support for segments of the Oni national
army. Kanuchiwan also commands a loyal following in the national army.
Nishino does not, but has many contacts in the ASC military.
(>) The scan is that Nishino has dirt on a high percentage of the
higher ups in the Sixth Circle which run the ASC military.
(>) Myra
None of the local political experts feel that the mixture of three
antagonistic power brokers with military backing is cause for alarm;
however, the Advocate's political simulations indicate a 10% chance of
civil war in Oni in the next five years, and advise shadowrunners to
be prepared for such an eventuality.
Serdtsevina
Dominant Race: Mixed
Government: Parliamentary democracy
Population: 8.2 million
Dominant Corporation: Fuchi
Product: Coal, iron, mica, gold, aluminum, asbestos, uranium,
tungsten, molybdenum, wheat, sheep, beryl, zinc, antimony, lead,
cattle, machinery, refining, leather, lumber, textiles, hydroelectric
power.
Living up to its name, which means "heart", Serdtsevina's wide variety
of industries comprise a large chunk of Siberia's GDP. It's population
is both Siberia's largest and most diverse and it hosts the center of
the Confederation's government, Irkutsk.
A one hundred member High Council, acting primarily as a legislative
body, rules Serdtsevina through a unique governmental system. Each
member of the High Council represents a specific region of the nation
and is elected for a period of six years. Elections are staggered so
that half of the High Council seats are up for re-election at three
year intervals. After each such election, the High Council elects
three Officers who become the primary leaders of the government. The
High Council can choose any three Serdtsevinan citizens who are not
members of the High Council for these offices. High Officers are voted
on as a group, and the entire group must be accepted by a two-thirds
majority of the council.
(>) Since the Council has to choose the officers as a group, it
usually takes eight or nine tries before a majority is reached, often
including some of the same candidates.
(>) Lex
(>) Preventing council members from being officers creates some
interesting politics. Since the officers hold the real power in
Serdtsevina, ambitious politicians generally build support in the
Council, then drop out, counting on their allies to get them into
office. It's a dangerous game though, because there is no real
assurance that such a move will work, and even if it does, it is
difficult to control who the other two officers are. The result for
the last nine years has been that the same three men are in office.
(>) Sociopat
Each Officer has his or her own function, but points of national
policy must be agreed upon by all three. The High Officer known as the
Tela deals with internal civil matters, including law enforcement. The
Kist' Ruki is the chief military officer, administering defense and
intelligence. The Litso represents Serdtsevina's interests to other
countries, including the ASC, and deals with foreign policy matters.
The strongest rumors of human slavery name Serdtsevina as the locale,
but indications corroborating this are so tenuous as to be
unmentionable. The most popular rumor places a slave camp near an
asbestos mine between Krasnoyarsk and the Mongolian border, but
careful searching of this mine yielded no evidence of this.
(>) Even if some Siberian countries did enslave humans after the
revolution, wouldn't they all be dead by now? It's been over 25 years,
and slave labor doesn't usually live that long. Me, I think the slave
thing is pure jet wash, but if it were true, it means that they are
getting humans imported from somewhere.
(>) Scarlet
Siberia is generally free of organized crime, but what there is of it
is centered in Serdtsevina. As might be expected, the triads -- as the
only one of the "big three" crime organizations to readily except
metahuman members -- hold the strongest position in the Serdtsevina
underworld. Two other major organizations are starting to coalesce,
one stemming from old Russian crime syndicates and the other trying
hard to shake its yakuza roots. A variety of gangs thrive in the
cities and the Oni-do are rumored to operate in the area.
(>) The triads run panzer traffic through China between Hong Kong and
Chita constantly. If you don't mind owing the triads, this is good way
to penetrate the Siberian border, since the triads have invested some
major nuyen to make sure the panzers make it into Siberia unharrassed.
(>) Annhilatrix
Svoboda
Dominant Race: Ghoul
Government: Representative democracy
Population: 0.5 million
Dominant Corporation: Hannibal Nanotechnology
Product: Biotechnology, salmon, perfume
After years of nearly continuous lobbing of by charismatic ghoul Kyle
Alvarez, the First Circle created Svoboda, the first nation governed
and populated entirely by ghouls, September 1, 2057. Though
Dunkelzahn's will brought the concept of ghoul sovereignty to the
public eye, Svoboda owes its existence almost entirely to the tenacity
and skill of Alvarez, who became Svoboda's first president. In theory
a democracy, Svoboda has only one party and it is unlikely that
President Alvarez will be voted out of office for a long time to come.
(>) Kyle isn't really the main man in Svoboda. Someone is definitely
pulling his strings. It seemed to start up right after Chicago, so a
lot of people think it's Tamir Grey.
(>) Marquis
(>) Not unless Grey's a vampire or wendigo or somethin'. 'Cause it's
one of them callin' Alvarez's shots. Kind of makes sense, if ya think
about it. They're all HMHVV and plus wendigos're cannibals, too.
(>) Yagoda
(>) You are both fools. The man behind the scenes is a woman. She's a
shaman. Best I can do on a name is Eva, and of all things, she's an
ork. No clue what an ork wants with a bunch of ghouls, though. Stay
tuned.
(>) Archon IV
Capitalizing on the public sympathy for ghouls created in the wake of
Operation Extermination in Chicago, a group calling itself the
Ghoulish Morality Preservation Society launched a campaign to secure a
voluntary food supply. Essentially, the GMPS requested that people of
the world donate their bodies to the Svoboda government after death,
arguing that such donations would prevent ghouls from grave-robbing to
secure their basic nutritional needs. Though vocally condemned by
many, this program has been surprisingly successful.
(>) Rumors have been kicking around that groups in Siberia, from gangs
to corps to governments, use Svoboda as a dumping ground for
dissidents, prisoners, criminals, enemies and what not. Dunno if it's
true, but I can tell you from my time in Chicago (this was before the
bugs came) that having a group of ghouls around was pretty handy
sometimes.
(>) Markov
Local startup Hannibal Nanotechnology has grown explosively over the
last year, now employing thousands of ghouls. It's primary announced
goal is the creation of synthetic flesh, but fuels this research with
genetic engineering, bioware and nanotechnology products, largely
marketed under a different nameplate.
Taymyr
Dominant Race: Troll
Government: Parliamentary monarchy
Population: 2.9 million
Dominant Corporation: Shiawase
Product: Coal, nickel, copper, platinum, jade, cobalt, biotechnology,
mining equipment, industrial lasers, fusion reactors.
Though Ekaterina Umanski refused the role of Prime Arc, she did act as
the sole ruler of Taymyr until her death (of natural causes) in 2046.
In the final months, Umanski set up a parliamentary democracy which
would take her place when she died. She named seven trusted friends to
govern the nation until the first elections could be held. Hours after
Umanski's death, however, these seven men and women were beheaded by
Konstantin Izhevsky, Umanski's liaison to the First Circle. Izhevsky
immediately named himself as king of Taymyr and eliminated Umanski's
new government.
Taymyr immediately erupted into civil war, with Taymyr's military
evenly split between Izhevsky and forces loyal to Umanski. Well versed
in dealing with the First Circle, Izhevsky had many allies, and
managed to prevent any ASC intervention into the war. As the war
rapidly progressed to a stalemate, Izhevsky ejected all corporations
with headquarters in Japan from Taymyr. While this gained him popular
support, in reality it had little effect. Nearly all corporations in
Taymyr were headquartered in Europe or North America (though many were
owned, secretly or otherwise, by Japanese megacorporations).
The stalemate continued for several months until both sides
simultaneously and unexpectedly announced truce negotiations. Lasting
only three days, the negotiations ended the civil war and birthed the
Noril'sk Compact, outlining a new government ruled equally by an
elected parliament and a monarch. Under the terms of the Compact, both
the parliament and the monarch could pass laws, but these laws could
be vetoed by the other, requiring a two-thirds majority in the case of
a parliamentary veto of the kings law.
Later, many of those involved in the creation of the Compact publicly
indicated that the Compact was facilitated by the Shiawase
corporation. Several suggested that Shiawase used threats, bribes and
other tactics to get the sides to agree, but this has never been
proven. Whatever the truth is, it is an open secret that Shiawase owns
most of the corporations operating in Taymyr, and did at the time of
the Compact as well. Shiawase now employs, either directly or
indirectly, easily over 60% of Taymyr's work force. Shiawase
Envirotech runs a huge research station in the north and Shiawase
Atomics runs and builds the fusion reactors powering much of Siberia.
(>) The Shiawase Envirotech research station is protected by some
major tech and juju. As far as I can tell, the station, called Omicron
6, is a level 4 biohazard containment facility, so its a good bet that
this is where Shiawase Envirotech perfects bioweapons.
(>) Prohodimka
Within the last two years, several important mineral discoveries have
been made in Taymyr. Platinum was found near Khatanga, creating a
prospecting rush in the area. More startling was the uncovering of
vast pockets of silicates, including huge deposits of high quality
jade.
The strongest lead the Advocate found for human slavery in Siberia
comes from Taymyr. On February 14, 2058, Advocate operatives claim to
have taken several hours of trideo footage inside a human slave labor
camp near Noril'sk. They burst transmitted this footage via satellite
to an Advocate data station in Quebec, but the transmission was
terminated after only several seconds. We are still investigating
this, but it appears as if unknown parties instructed the satellite to
terminate or reroute the message. We did get some of the message, but
it is what we refer to as an "alien autopsy": "proof" of such poor
quality that only the most feeble-minded would believe it. Our
operatives, though pursued by unknown forces, managed to get out of
Taymyr with the evidence, but during a firefight on the Yenisey, their
boat capsized. All but the team's native guide were either killed by
the pursuing team or claimed, like the trideo proof, by the icy river.
The guide lived long enough to relate the above to an Advocate team in
Jotenheim. Therefore, the Advocate cannot officially place stories of
human slavery in Siberia as anything more than rumor.
(>) Alright, I've had enough of these Advocate cretins. I sort of
believed them at first, but this is 100% pure bison drek. We do not
keep human slaves. Period.
(>) Hark
Throolmak't
Dominant Race: Sasquatch
Government: Tribal
Population: 1.1 million
Dominant Corporation: None
Product: Tin, handcrafts, deer, walrus, fetishes
One of the ASC nations governed by non-metahuman species, remote
Throolmak't is largely left alone by the rest of the world. Most of
Throolmak't is wild, but there are occasional towns and some trading
does occur. The only corporate presence to speak of is Renraku, which
controls the tin mines and maintains several research stations in the
Laptev Sea.
(>) They may also have some sort of top secret research station there
somewhere, related to their AI research.
(>) Orpheus
No official census has been done on Throolmak't, but most natives
guess that only about 40% of the entities in the nation are what are
normally called sasquatch. Another 30% are pesvastus asiaticus, the
Asian sasquatch, also called yeti. The remaining 30% included in the
population figure are species considered by many to be sentient, such
as merrow, leshy, shapeshifters, and so on.
Throolmak't maintains an elite group of shamans whose name translates
roughly as "torch-bearers". The Torch-bearers' sole purpose is to hunt
down insect spirits and insect shaman operating within Throolmak't.
They have been called upon more often in the last four months than in
the preceding five years, leading many to suspect a hive has been
established in Throolmak't. Many mundane insects cannot live above the
Arctic Circle, but mosquitoes are legion. It come as no surprise,
therefore, that the Torch-bearers have generally opposed mosquito
spirits.
(>) This just in: Throolmak't First Circle leader Rool'karmatha'r
stunned the world recently by speaking! Apparently, he'd been working
with some egghead named Rosioreau who taught him.
(>) Rog
(>) Dr. Rosioreau's research was based on the idea that since
sasquatch have language ability (they can use sign language) and
sophisticated vocal chords (they can reproduce nearly any sound), it
should be possible to teach them to speak. What he found was that,
unlike metahumans, the sasquatch auditory center is not connected to
the parts of the brain used for communication. In a paper released
after Rool'karmatha'r's speech, he compared the task to a metahuman
learning to read, write and type. You think of a word, internally
access how it's spelled, perform several actions (hand motions) and
the word is on paper. For the sasquatch, they think of a concept,
internally access a word for it and how it sounds, perform several
actions (making certain sounds happen) and the word is pronounced.
According to Rool'karmatha'r, this takes a good deal of concentration,
so while metahumans can (though usually don't) understand spoken
conversation and talk at the same time, sasquatch cannot. Again Dr.
Rosioreau compares it to a human trying to type one sentence and
listen to another at the same time.
(>) Doorman
(>) Most anthropologists mocked Rosioreau when he published the
finding about the disconnection of the auditory center and language
center, because it doesn't make evolutionary sense. Now that he is
seeing results, some of the doubters are eating their words. The magic
side of things clouds the whole picture of course, but it's starting
to look like sasquatch may have some sort of extra-sensory ability to
communicate to members of their own species.
(>) Psion
Ussuriland
Dominant Race: Shapeshifter
Government: Tribal
Population: 0.5 million
Dominant Corporation: None.
Product: None.
Very little is known about the organization and culture of Ussuriland,
a land populated by shapeshifters. The Ussuriland has no active urban
areas. Several Russian-era cities still stand in Ussuriland, but are
mostly abandoned, being reclaimed by the monsoon forest making up most
of the country.
The forest is filled with a fascinating battery of wildlife, including
wolves, black bears, Siberian tigers and a number of Awakened species.
Ussuriland allows hunting with hand weapons, but not with any form of
ranged weapons, including a bow or javelin. Ussuriland's
representatives made this abundantly clear by displaying the heads of
transgressors at a recent First Circle meeting. No hunting licence is
needed.
Having no official military or police, Ussuriland's border with
Kakureba is open to any who wish to cross it; however, natives will
take matters into their own hands if they witness a violation of their
way. In particular, anyone bringing a vehicle into the nation is
killed.
(>) Just because there's no guards, don't assume you weren't seen.
There are eyes everywhere in Ussuriland. I'd been in Ussuriland for
about a week and hadn't seen a soul, just the way I like it. While I
was resting after hiking all morning, a fox strolls out from behind
some trees, turns into a woman, and shoves a granola bar wrapper into
my mouth. She said, in English, "you dropped this three days ago" and
pounced off. I still carry that wrapper with me.
(>) Arborian
Contrasting the undefended Kakureban border, Ussuriland's coastline is
patrolled ferociously. This is largely at the request of the ASC, who
have long been concerned with a possible Japanese invasion.
Ussuriland hosts many types of shapeshifter with bear, wolf and seal
being the most common. The population of tiger and fox shapeshifters
is thought to be growing, fed both by immigration from China and the
reduction of many natural threats, including metahumanity, found in
Ussuriland.
(>) I think there may be shark shapeshifters there as well, patrolling
the shoreline. I had reason to be sneaking around the Sea of Japan,
and I ran into something I can't explain any other way.
(>) Grave
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