Allied Southern Territories
Overview
The southern hemisphere of Terra Nova is geographically more diverse and harsher than the North. While grassy plains, stark alpine heights and forests can be found, the South is also home to huge expanses of tropical jungle and endless swamps. Generally tropical in climate and teeming with indigenous and adapted species, the South seemed attractive to early colonists and became home to Port Oasis, Terra Nova’s oldest spaceport.
The South as a whole was settled by a diverse group of corporate and private colonists that initiated a program of selling lands to citizens. This has left the hemisphere with a laudable legacy of diversity and a bloody history of conflict. The hemisphere is now officially united under the flag of the Allied Southern Territories (AST). The AST is dominated by the South’s largest league, the Southern Republic (SR) that uses it to effectively control the other Southern leagues, namely the Mekong Dominion (MD), Humanist Alliance (HA) and Eastern Sun Emirates (ESE). Like the North, the AST also has several border protectorates: Westphalia and Azov in the Western Desert and New Baja in the Karaq Wastes. AST troops are also currently occupying Lance Point, an important petroleum source for the Republic that is officially allied to the New Coalition in the Badlands.
The AST is officially ruled by the Curia, an assembly made up of Lord Councilors appointed by the government of the Southern Republic. These posts are usually given as rewards to loyal Republican officials and a few prominent members of the so-called “vassal leagues” who have not rocked the boat. The Curia is chaired by Lord Protector Jacques Molay. While the Lord Protector is usually seen as nothing but a mouthpiece for the Prime Minister of the Southern Republic, Molay has been very independent. A former director of the dreaded Southern Republic Intelligence Directorate, Molay seems free to act as he sees fit. Few people in the South realize that this freedom of action goes back to a secret deal between Molay and Republican Prime Minister deRouen. Molay could ruin deRouen by releasing details of his rise to power, so the Prime Minister has little choice but to let him act as he wishes — at least until he can be dealt with.
Southern Life
Life in the South is far more varied than in the North. Radical cultural differences separate the various leagues and even regions within them. The AST counts scientist-philosophers, wealthy emirs, slaves, merchant princes, soldiers, industrial workers and many more as citizens. With the notable exception of the Humanist Alliance, the southern states generally leave their citizens free to choose their beliefs and act as they will. Personal freedom is appreciated, and short of harming anyone, most Southerners may do as they please. The one taboo area is political expression, especially in the Southern Republic.
The media and the individuals may discuss any topic they choose, but criticizing or opposing the government is extremely dangerous. The Republican government has eyes everywhere and dissidents have been known to vanish overnight without a trace. Southerners in general (and again, especially in the Republic) have a very supremacist attitude and openly express great pride in their society and in their achievements. They tend to despise the Northerners’ repressed attitude, in particular their religious zeal.
The official language of the Southern Republic is Universal French, a derivative of French, Italian and Spanish, although Anglic is also taught in schools and used for international affairs. By force of absorption, the smaller leagues have also adopted some Universal French, but the Eastern Sun Emirates still cling to their original Mandanese. In the Humanist Alliance, the majority of people speak Intralingua, a “constructed” language which is extremely easy to learn and is spoken here and there over the world.
The currency in the South is the dinar, which is worth about the same thing as a mark in the North. Despite occasional fluctuations, the two currencies have remained fairly comparable ever since they were established. Dinar notes have different size but are invariably deep red. Northerners often refer to it as “blood money.” As a habit, most southerners keep their larger bills on the outside of the smaller ones to give the impression of wealth.
While perhaps more repressive than the North in many respects, the South is host to several cultural wonders which do not find their equivalent in the northern hemisphere. For instance, the Yang Dancers from Atsi in the Mekong Dominion never cease to amaze their audiences, regardless of their origins.
Body sculpting, also an art form originating from Atsi, combines plastic surgery and esoteric aesthetic concepts, using the body as a canvas and sometimes resulting in alien-looking humans. The alternative shock music bars of Newton feature erotic and exotic performances which would seriously disturb any Northerner. In the Eastern Sun Emirates, the excesses of the Patriarchs may have trampled the human rights of their citizens, but they have also led to wondrous constructions and architectural feats. Without a doubt, being a Southerner often means having been in touch with the most colorful cultures of Terra Nova.
A Lord and Its Vassals
The Allied Southern Territories are in fact nothing more than a convenient way for the Southern Republic to dominate its neighbors. Any pretense of equality between the member-states is at best naive and usually the product of Republican propaganda. Not only are the members of the Curia named by the Republic, but it includes three Lord Chancellors — AST officials whose job is to oversee the vassal states and ensure they conform to a Republican agenda. The AST was formed in conquest and remains an instrument of bondage, although one that seems to be cracking at the seams.
Indeed, the structure of the AST is currently under a great deal of stress. Lord Protector Jacques Molay has been acting extremely independently from Republican Prime Minister deRouen, using leverage dating back to a secret deal between the two men. This has caused great strain within the AST. Resistance is also growing from the vassal states. The Mekong Dominion has used corporate means to remain powerful in its own right, while the Humanist Alliance has used its opaque social system to resist Republican social control. In the Eastern Sun Emirates — where the aristocracy is largely corrupted by the Republic — armed revolt is spreading.
The Southern MILICIA
The Southern counterpart to the Northern Guard is the Southern MILICIA (MILitary Intervention/Counter-Insurgency Army). Unlike the Guard, however, the MILICIA is not a prestigious volunteer army that leads the charge during a war. The MILICIA is a conscript force made up of citizens of the three vassal states (and some Republicans) pressed into service. It is generally considered the poor cousin of the far more prestigious (and larger) Southern Republican Army and so is assigned to menial duties and given poorer equipment. In peacetime, the MILICIA acts as a border guard, ensures peace in AST member states and deploys in the Badlands to defend Southern interests and harass the Northern Guard. During a war, the MILICIA becomes a pool of expendable forces to be used by the Republican Army and is absorbed into its command structure.
Currently, the worst assignment for MILICIAmen is the city of Basal in the ESE. In the midst of an armed revolt, Basal is a hellhole where rebels and ESE troops fight a life and death battle in the streets. The MILICIA has been instructed to only defend military targets for the time being, but the conscripts inevitably find themselves under fire from both sides.
Perhaps the best assignment in the MILICIA is to the elite Special Intervention Unit (SIU). Created by Commandant Aristide Lazarus, the SIU groups together a wide variety of troops with special skills for dangerous missions. Most SIU operations are commando-style missions (often using Gears), but Aristide is thought to have deep cover agents under his command as well. Lazarus is reputed to have the most loyal troops in the army; indeed, most of his agents were personally recruited, often from troubled backgrounds, and given the chance to shine.
Web of Intrigue
The South is sometimes called the Land of the Snakes because of the legendary amount of backstabbing, espionage and assassination that takes place in the halls of power. Although many Southerners lead perfectly respectable and peaceful lives and the North has its fair share of shadowy organizations, the South’s intelligence agencies are truly legion. Every politician, business leader or power broker worth his salt will have at least one source of covert information and “special operations” resources. Those who do not make easy targets for their more resourceful enemies.
The king of all Southern shadow empires, the Southern Republic Intelligence Directorate (SRID) is a gargantuan body with its tentacles across the hemisphere. SRID is responsible for federal policing within the Republic, but also for intelligence gathering and political security. SRID directs many operations in the vassal states and the North and uses its puppet Allied Southern Intelligence (ASI) in the Badlands. The Republic also counts Les Témoins (the secret police), Military Intelligence and the Légion Noire (military special forces) among its shadow-players. The Humanist Insight and Regulatory Authority (HIRA) is the Humanist Alliance’s own intelligence organization and it carries out a surprising number of illegal operations inside the Republic and other states. Most major Mekong corporations have their own intelligence wings as well, as do several prominent emirs in the ESE.
The Wildlands
The South has a proportionately much higher ratio of wild and largely unexplored lands than the North. In 1900 cycles of inhabitation, almost all regions have been at least charted, but many of the deepest jungle areas have been largely left alone and are still considered dangerous territory. The chaos of the colonial times and Reconstruction also saw the development of isolated and even “primitive” tribal cultures in remote areas as people lost contact with “civilized” centers. Because of the contrast between highly modern citystates and areas of nearly untouched wilderness, Southerners often divide themselves between urban “drylanders” and rural “wildlanders.”
The roughest wildlands include the deep jungles of the Yung An Basin and the depths of the Okavango Swamp. The jungles of the Mekong Dominion are home to a bewildering variety of tribal communities, bandit legions and dangerous creatures. The jungle has been known to swallow up whole cities and the number of ghosts towns still sought after by treasurer hunters in legendary. The Okavango Swamp in the Eastern Sun Emirates is a huge marshy area that hides a thousand dangers. Eastern traders and rebels ply the murky waters in shallow craft, while vicious beasts lurk just under the surface.