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These are setting essays by Nick the Nevermet for the [[The_Wyzard_Setting_Essays|Wyzard's fantasy setting]].  It is currently written "in character" from one standpoint.  Over time, I hope to write from other standpoints.
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These are setting essays by Nick the Nevermet for the [[The_Wyzard_Setting_Essays|Wyzard's fantasy setting]]
  
[[Welcome_to_Freedom|Welcome to the Thracian Hegemony.  Welcome to Freedom]]
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Welcome to the Thracian Hegemony.  Welcome to freedom.
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Long ago, humanity did not dream of freedom.  Rather, its leaders
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dreamed of power.  This hubris caused the downfall of the Amaranthan
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Empire, a downfall that was as inevitable as it was disasterous.
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The sorcerer-kings were replaced by Vampire Princes, demonic patrons,
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and alien intelligences who erected the Dark Kingdoms on the backs of
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humanity.  The Dark Kingdoms were the natural conclusion to the
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vicious pursuit of power began by the Amaranthans: sectarian, war,
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suffering, alienations, and hopelessness reigned supreme.  Humanity
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dreamed of little beyond survival.
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The rise of the Thracian Hegemony was a successful rejection of this
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social order.  There was no revolution creating a new kingdom, as that
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would merely continue the cycle of oppression.  The Hegemony was
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something new and distinctly, wonderfully human.
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The Hegemony can be thought of as a web, though not for prey like a
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spider’s web.  Freedom is a product of the Hegemony’s collective
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effort, and through integration into the Hegemony a nation’s people
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gain access to freedom in ways it could not have dreamed of before.
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The Hegemony can be thought of as fabric that clothes humanity,
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helping to protect it from a hostile world.
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The Hegemony it is a network of organizations and institutions
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dedicated to helping humanity transcend the provincialism.  The
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Hegemony is composed of combines, formal organizations with specific
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missions (“threads”) in accordance with the Hegemonic worldview.  Some
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promote particular industries, others general economic growth, or a
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political concern, a form of government, or any number of countless
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other matters.  However, each combine is defined by an interest it
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promotes in the name of the Hegemony: humanity shall be free to have a
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full life of opportunity to be assembled as they see fit.
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The Hegemony is not a government, and it does not serve governments.
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It is not the market, nor does it serve the market.  It serves
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humanity in all its infinite possibilities.  Markets and governments
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are inevitable and necessary, but they must serve humanity, rather
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than force humanity to serve them.  The Hegemony calls its attitude
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toward governments and markets “parameterism:” a few key ideals
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regarding universal human rights must be recognized by all nations
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within the Hegemony.  Beyond these core ideals (“The Parameters”),
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humanity is allowed to self-organize as it sees fit.  Two of the most
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basic are democracy, the will of the people directs the nation’s
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course, and functionalism, societies are to be sustainable and
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efficient.  The Hegemony sees these as interrelated, and offers
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assistance in the form of experts and technocrats to ensure integrated
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nations can be maintained within the acceptable parameters.
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Life in the Sunrise.
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The Sunrise Realms, also known as the Selvaged Realms or
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(derogatorily) the Salvaged Realms, are those nations which have been
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newly integrated into the Hegemony.  They exist in a thick, long arc
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beyond which the Dark Kingdoms still stand, dominated by dark and
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inhuman rulers.
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More than in the Core, the people in the Selvaged  feel the continuing
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threat of the Dark Kingdoms.  The Vampire Princes range from
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inscrutable to alien to mad, and the general populace thus finds their
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attacks and plots utterly beyond comphrehension.  Hegemony technocrats
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manage the situation best they can, but perfect security is simply not
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possible.
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The technocrats do everything they can to keep the Dark Kingdoms at
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bay.  Intelligence operatives track and predict attacks.  Military
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officers constantly adjust forces to repel the enemy where they can.
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Not all threats, however, can be correctly met by cold, impersonal
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efficiency.  For all others, the Sunrise turns to heroes.
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==Heroes==
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“Hero” is a generic term for individuals who, through whatever means,
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have amassed a great deal of power attached to their person and
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personality.  Some have powered armor.  Some are wizards.  Some are
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even genetically modified.  All, however, are spectacular: powerful in
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a way that demands attention.
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There are a number of descriptive categories heroes can fall into.  If
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a hero is employed or sponsored by a nation, the hero is a magistrate
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or a magisterial hero.  If, however, a hero is primarily attached to a
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Combine or combines, then the hero is a champion.
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Most heroes are retained or attached to a particular government or
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Combine.  The Free City of Ion retains the Maul of Comets to defend
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their city from whatever demonic monsters come its way.  Jessica the
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Windguilder, on the other hand, is attached to the OVDA, the Outer
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Valley Development Authority, a Combine organized to re-populate and
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develop a region decimated by the Dark Kingdoms.  They are well funded
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and have a predictable mission.  Retained heroes are very different
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than freelance, or less politely, mercenary heroes, who move from one
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patronizing entity to another.
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Eccentric heroes are those who do not fit cleanly onto the retained –
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mercenary spectrum.  Lord Rail funds his personal vendetta against the
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Dark through the spoils of war.  Brother Break, on the other hand,
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primarily makes draws his wealth from his exclusive sponsorship deals
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and his regular video specials.  There are even a few, like Faithful
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William, who scrape together enough resources through amassing
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Hegemonic development grants.
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===Magistrates===
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Magistrates are heroes associated with a particular nation’s
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government, a situation that creates certain inevitable tensions.  On
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the one side, there are faceless, expert technocrats keeping society
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running.  On the other, there are the heroes, walking spectacles that
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defy formalization by their very nature.  And in between, there is the
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public.  The public may want many things, but more often than not, it
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rejects the idea that there is an irreducible tension between heroism
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and technocracy.  This dynamic exists throughout the Sunrise.
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Meanwhile, the Technocrats constantly attempt to minimize the role
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heroes play within ‘real’ government matters, and the heroes in turn
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are constantly fighting for either more freedom in their actions, more
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influence over the government, or both.
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Different nations have attempted to balance this tension with various
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political institutions.  One nation may have a select group of
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magistrates with life-long terms selected by its parliament.  In
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another, they are the cream of the military, given a chance to become
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more than human in the name of the nation.  One nation is even ruled
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by an aristocracy of genetically enhanced humans who form various
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political parties which are then elected by the voting normal
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population.
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Magistrates generally have a “built in audience” in their homeland.
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Simply by representing the nation, they are worthy of adoration.
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===Champions===
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Champions are, if anything, even more diverse than the Magistrates.
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All champions are defined in part by two questions: what is the thread
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of their Combine, and how much autonomy they have from the Combine.
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Some Champions are nothing but agents of the Combine, others are
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part-time agents, and part-time supporters of the public good (often
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in the name of good public relations).  The popularity of a Champion
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varies widely depending on what its Combine’s interests are.

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