Editing Welcome to Freedom (section)

==Strands of the Hegemon==
Polities are within the Thracian Hegemony through their connection to, support of, and dependence on Strands, the interrelated non-governmental organizations that form the back bone of the Hegemony.  Strands are extremely diverse, though each is organized around a specific mission that somehow promotes an element of CCH or a vision of how CCH is best managed and balanced.

=== The Gates ===
Gates are Strands that approve or accredit a nation as being acceptable for entrance into the Hegemony.  Gates periodically re-examine nations both inside and outside the Hegemony to see if their CCHR should be revised.  Different Gates have different methods for evaluating a polity.  For example, the Combine of Clouds begins its analysis with the indigenous beliefs and ideals of the polity, how they acted upon, and how these ideals may or may not lead toward a higher and more sustainable CCHR.  Wellspring, on the otherhand, focuses on the polity's political economy and its consequences on the lower classes as the starting point for its CCHR.  Gates are constantly surrounded by ideological conflicts over the best way to operationalize CCHR, and political conflicts over which Gates are assigned to evaluate which polities.  A shift to a radically different Gate will have dramatic consequences for a polity.

=== The Technocrats ===
Technocratic Strands are strands that offer assistance to a polity in maintaining the social infrastructure necessary for a high CCHR.  Economists to manage fiscal policy, civil engineers to lay out a modern capital, cultural managers to ensure the Hegemony takes notice of a polity's distinctive voice... there are countless Technocrats who endeavor to keep societies running smoothly and peacefully.

Technocratic Strands are most active within new hegemonic territories (as they require the most assistance) and the core of the Hegemony (where the Strands are the state in practice if not in fact).  Established yet non-elite polities often have a faction of varying strength that is concerned with maintaining the "distinctiveness" of the polity, and therefore limit the role of Technocrats to a degree.  In some cases, this seems to work well.  In others, it appears to stunt the development of the polity.  Since the Hegemony is generally non-coercive, it does not impose Technocrats on a society, though more than one polity has found itself politically or economically trapped into allowing a greater Technocratic presence.

===The Thracian Exchange===
The Thracian Exchange is the central administrative organization of the Hegemony.  Once, it was a trading company of human serfs.  Then it became an association of merchants, and now it is the lynchpin of the Hegemony.  The Thracian Exchange relies on the greatest technologies and magics possible to manage an incredible amount of information to constantly push the Hegemony toward greater CCHR and toward constant expansion.  Its leadership, the Brokers, are those who have been selected for a near monastic life of service to the cause.  The exchange chooses its own from through all the Strands and polities.  The Chief Officer of the Exchange is elected by the Strands every five years, and the COE is served faithfully by the Brokers.