Who the Technocracy IsCurrently the sixth iteration of its kind, few of the meta-empires are as mutable and constantly changing as the Borealis Republic, which is currently known as the Borealis Technocracy or the Borealis Technocratic Republic. The Technocracy was originally known as the "Mad Science Republic" in its fifth iteration, but it quickly unraveled and in its wake, the Technocratic Party has managed to sweep the elections and instigated a number of major changes, centralizing it into a more state-like entity and pursuing a government that is more focused on governing and finances. The current government combines aspects of a partocracy (the Borealis Technocratic Party is one of the last parties standing), with an technocratic oligarchy and a representative democracy to produce an odd hybrid government. While it has proven successful so far, the government is barely 5 years old, and so it has yet to weather a major shock, economic or otherwise. Outsiders and some insiders are quick to point out unsettling parallels with Nariac's government.
Technocracy IdealsThe Technocracy promotes a federalist form of government, with each territory have a high degree of autonomy. Compared to previous iterations, however, this autonomy is markedly less; previous iterations were technosocialist flat-governments that, while capable of working on a small scale, have a very hard time working on a large scale. This was one of the reasons why it fell, and so for some citizens, despite their territories retaining a high degree of autonomy, it is much less autonomy than they held in the past, a fact that unsettles members of the Black Bloc (one of the few remaining parties, and the most openly supportive of an anarchist form of government). Still, the Technocracy justifies this by pointing out that states need central authority in order to run, and that the matters of deciding solutions to problems shouldn't be left up to uneducated politicians and the people who vote for them, but left in the hands of experts (and avowed party members) who have spent their live studying their field.
StructureThe Sixth Republic has a simple structure; unlike the Fourth and Fifth, the Sixth is a federal structure, with each state having a fair degree of latitude. Each member entity elects a representative who attends the People's Assembly, which is the legislative body. However, unlike a conventional legislative body, the People's Assembly votes on what problems go on the agenda and once the People's Agenda is drafted, it gets handed off to the Directorate, also called the Board of Directors, which then break the Agenda into pieces and hand them of to the proper Committee of Experts. Each Committee of Experts is staffed by individuals who are appointed by the Technocratic Party and are selected vis-à-vis a meritocratic process that involves IQ tests, problem solving and creative thinking tests, and tests that prove they are capable of thinking non-laterally and grasping complex problems. Only the upper 99th percentile are selected. Once the Committees have their solutions, it is handed back to the member entities, who are then expected to implement them with help of a Communications Commission, which act as the liaison between the directorate and the members.
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Technocratic taoismThe majority of the Borealis Republic is Buddhist, follows some folk religion, or is atheistic; Taoism is not a common religion. However, Chan Keo himself is a Taoist, and he isn't above making appeals to his belief system when justifying a technocratic form of government. According to Keo, wuwei, a concept that loosely translates as "doing not-doing," "inaction," or "inexertion," is only possible for a government and state once the people who live in that government or state are all skilled maters enough in their field that they can perform as easily as they can breath, calling on knowledge and understanding effortlessly. Technocracy, rather than impede the government, helps the government - and with it, the society - flow forward, and this ability to flow and change while still providing for the people is part of an emerging ideology referred to as the "Tao Mandate," which is a belief that a government is mandated by Tao and thus, is just, when that government is working with Tao. It goes beyond life, although Keo is quick to point out that Tao includes all living things but not necessarily cybershells - likely an olive branch to the biochauvinstic wing of the Technocracy, which still has a huge amount of power and is quick to point out that the Technocratic Party was founded by a cybershell - and not just any cybershell, but a cybershell from Nariac. The precise details of this technocratic Taoism are still in the makings, but a large number of individuals who study religion are watching curiously and wondering if Keo isn't attempting to borrow from the Imperium in addition to borrowing from Nariac. |
Borealis History
While Nariac is the oldest continually existing meta-empire - in that it's existed in a state similar to the one it currently occupies for the longest - the Borealis Republic is the oldest meta-empire, having existed in some form or another since before the Utopian Period. However, it often doesn't qualify given that it's changed its cloak and government so many times; Nariac has only arguably changed its government once, and Saminov will insist that Nariac still has the same government that it had when he took power, promoting many a flame war online. In any case, the thing that can't be denied is the the Borealis Republic is ancient, even if each iteration is functionally a different country.
The first Borealis Republic formed shortly into the Interstellar Era, unifying Alpha Centauri, Arcas, Hulunbir, Ranjan, Chi Bootis, 41 G Arae, Serendib, and a few others. This was called the Centauri Union but many historians recognize it as the first Borealis Republic, since it would later expand to add Rho Corona Borealis, which is the modern capital of the Borealis Republic, although at the time it was a backwater colony that was just being established. The First Borealis Republic lasted until the Utopian Era, when the God AIs rose up in the solar system and began to exert their influence on Alpha Centauri and the surrounding territories. Alpha Centauri, Arcas, Hulunbir, and Ranjan left the Union shortly after that, and the capital temporarily shifted Sinbad, the older of the two inhabited worlds in Serendib. During this time, Sino-Civ Influence took root on Ti-Lung (Chi Bootis) and eventually influenced Utopia and Shangzai. Ranjan, Hulunbir, and Arcas joined the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization. This was the Second Borealis Republic, and it became known as the Borealis Republic after the capital shifted to Borealis. The Second Republic was short-lived; Sino-Civ influence lasted but the stars eventually joined the Second Republic, and the new wave of members - which included Eden, Eta Coronae Borealis, 44 Bootis, Shangzai and others, lead to reforms that created the Third Republic, which was a unitary state. Thai, Burmese, Indonesian, and Chinese influence were pronounced during this period, and remain pronounced. The Third Republic ran for much of the Utopian Era, only coming to an end after Eilon, a major center for production, broke off ties. This shifted to the Fourth Republic, which was even larger and included Arcturus, Cordoba, Aracuna, and many systems that are currently run by the Australis Union. the Fourth Republic didn't last and the Ascension Crisis and Swarms brought it crumbling down. The size dramatically shrunk and for a time there was a spot between the Fourth and Fifth Republics where there was no Borealis Republic. It was under the support of President Chomanan Paowsong that the Fifth Republic was born.
The Fifth Republic lasted for much of the modern era, but the cracks were there from the start. After the Verge Consortium Civil War began, shockwaves caused the Borealis Fifth Republic to crumble economically, and the Black Bloc was voted out of power in favor of the Borealis Technocratic Party, which had been reformed by an immigrant from Nariac named Ebrahim Najalfi and his companion the "Mighty Yig." Najalfi trained Dr. Chan Keo in the art of politics and Chan Keo would later go on to become the Chairman of the Directorate, a position that he created. Keo's reforms would usher in the beginning of the current Republic, the Sixth Republic.
The first Borealis Republic formed shortly into the Interstellar Era, unifying Alpha Centauri, Arcas, Hulunbir, Ranjan, Chi Bootis, 41 G Arae, Serendib, and a few others. This was called the Centauri Union but many historians recognize it as the first Borealis Republic, since it would later expand to add Rho Corona Borealis, which is the modern capital of the Borealis Republic, although at the time it was a backwater colony that was just being established. The First Borealis Republic lasted until the Utopian Era, when the God AIs rose up in the solar system and began to exert their influence on Alpha Centauri and the surrounding territories. Alpha Centauri, Arcas, Hulunbir, and Ranjan left the Union shortly after that, and the capital temporarily shifted Sinbad, the older of the two inhabited worlds in Serendib. During this time, Sino-Civ Influence took root on Ti-Lung (Chi Bootis) and eventually influenced Utopia and Shangzai. Ranjan, Hulunbir, and Arcas joined the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization. This was the Second Borealis Republic, and it became known as the Borealis Republic after the capital shifted to Borealis. The Second Republic was short-lived; Sino-Civ influence lasted but the stars eventually joined the Second Republic, and the new wave of members - which included Eden, Eta Coronae Borealis, 44 Bootis, Shangzai and others, lead to reforms that created the Third Republic, which was a unitary state. Thai, Burmese, Indonesian, and Chinese influence were pronounced during this period, and remain pronounced. The Third Republic ran for much of the Utopian Era, only coming to an end after Eilon, a major center for production, broke off ties. This shifted to the Fourth Republic, which was even larger and included Arcturus, Cordoba, Aracuna, and many systems that are currently run by the Australis Union. the Fourth Republic didn't last and the Ascension Crisis and Swarms brought it crumbling down. The size dramatically shrunk and for a time there was a spot between the Fourth and Fifth Republics where there was no Borealis Republic. It was under the support of President Chomanan Paowsong that the Fifth Republic was born.
The Fifth Republic lasted for much of the modern era, but the cracks were there from the start. After the Verge Consortium Civil War began, shockwaves caused the Borealis Fifth Republic to crumble economically, and the Black Bloc was voted out of power in favor of the Borealis Technocratic Party, which had been reformed by an immigrant from Nariac named Ebrahim Najalfi and his companion the "Mighty Yig." Najalfi trained Dr. Chan Keo in the art of politics and Chan Keo would later go on to become the Chairman of the Directorate, a position that he created. Keo's reforms would usher in the beginning of the current Republic, the Sixth Republic.
Borealis Culture
The Borealis Republic doesn't appear to have a unified culture at first, but unlike other entities with no unified culture, there isn't extreme division between the different components; much of this has to do with the history, which involves the integration, secession, and re-integration of different systems; this trade of systems between meta-empires has produced unique cultures that have left a lasting mark on the Republic. Most sociologists tend to organize these planets along the lines of the original civilization they belonged to, so there's a Sino-Civ Bloc which includes a handful of planets, an Indus-Fomalhaut Bloc, which includes a handful of planets and systems, the Lakhgail and Manavadhoo Blocs, which form the majority of the culture, and the Phanompong and Thai Gong Blocs, which are the cultures of Sapphire and Emerald. This approach has its problems, though - the fact that each planet seems to have a culture distinctive is part of that - which has lead to other models, such as the assimilationist model.
Sociology of the TEchnocracyFrom an economic perspective, the Technocracy is staunchly post-scarcity communitarian; the general culture of the Borealis Republic tends to reject urbanization as a sign of civilization and so planned meta-villages and small, organized communities of no less than several thousand are the order of the day. These communities are often organized along pseudo-anarchist lines, with every community owning the intellectual property they produce and keeping up their own public access fabricators. These communities form larger groups that are the basis for the various Departments. However, it is not New Urbanist.
Culturally, the Technocracy is ontologically conservative; they reject the idea that digital realities are like real realities, although opinion on whether AGIs and AIs count as "real" is mixed, inspiring heated debate from a number of different sides while the question of whether ghosts are real is simply adding fuel to the fire. The Technocracy has yet to decide, but there are a number of cases working their way through the court system that will likely define the ontological position of the Technocracy soon enough. |
TEchnocratic TheologyWhile it's not immediately apparent, religion plays a tremendous role in the day-to-day affairs of the average individual in the Technocracy; the only major exception is that the religions at play aren't typically regarded as religions by western traditions and as a result, they are not necessarily two opposing forces within Borealis culture and never really have been, despite some attempts to paint them as such. The two major religions in the Technocracy are Buddhism and Zyraism. Buddhism is obviously the older of the two, given Zyraism is a recent one, but Zyraism has lent a number of concepts to the Technocratic culture that Buddhism has subsequently adapted as its own. The largest and most prevalent of these is the Platonic idea of forms, which is a difficult concept to explain. The idea of forms characters the Technocracy insomuch as the technocrats who run the state tend to believe that there's an absolute "perfect form" of a state that they can attempt to achieve through scientific and materialistic means, they just have to figure out what that form is. This is where much of the infighting within the Technocratic Party emerges; the shape of the forms and the their nature. The idea of a Buddhist Technocracy may seem rather odd, but when combined with the idea of forms and a belief that suffering is the result of desires and the best way to remove desires is through scientific progress, one begins to see where the overlap between the two emerges. While it's still inchoate, although some worry that the rising Technocratic Buddhism movement may give rise to a type of techno-theocratic fascism that seeks to erase human desires. Time will tell if this is the direction it takes or not. |
Technocracy CUlture and Memes
While not as widely studied as the Regency, the Technocracy has just as many colorful movements, cultural features, and memes that have arisen with in its borders. Much of this has to do with the lack of cultural hegemony that the Regency has; the rest is just the general nature federalist nature of the Technocracy, making it appear more uniform than it actually is.
Atamadunism
Type: Historiographic Movement
Atamadunism derives its name from the Greek prefix a- (meaning without) and the Indonesian word tamadun, meaning "civilization." Functionally, this is a method of viewing history that sits civilizations aside and attempts to apply a systematic analysis to the space where civilizations have never been able to reach, and where what Marx called "primitive communism" reigned supreme. Atamadunism rejects the Hegelian synthesis, much like Red Dirigisme, so it can't be considered Marxist, but it does analyze history from the perspective of the people caught between civilizations when they clashed; the mountain folk, the desert folk, the cold and isolated folk far away from the major urban centers who lived in tribes and small communities, struggling to maintain their cultural traditions.
Biocyberism
Type: Fashion/Artistic Movement/Architectural movement
Biocyberism (and it's related philosophy, biointegrationalism) is similar to New Wave Synthetic Naturalism in that it seeks to blur the lines between the "natural world" and the "human world", and often co-exists with New Wave Synthetic Naturalism. As an artistic movement, it promotes art that serves to erase distinctions between different areas, such as between species, while as an architectural style, public spaces, private spaces, and natural spaces are all blurred in terms of both utility and the like. As a fashion it tends to blur the difference between types of clothing or simply reject clothing all together, promoting a naturalist existence. They are often considered to be the artistic, fashion, and architectural movement to the NWSN movement's political ideology. Rianths, a widespread meta-clade in the Technocracy, are a part of biocyberism, since they blur the line between species.
Indus Revivalism
Type: Political Movement/Artistic Movement/Fashion
Indus Revivalism was kick-started by the ascent of Shangtao to minor power status for the first time since the end of the Utopian Era. Many in the remains of the former Sino-Civ saw this as perhaps a chance to revive their former, historical meta-empire, and with this, some within the remains of the former Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization saw their chance to revive their long lost civilization as well. As a political movement, it encourages Indus liberation and the spread of Indus culture (or in the worst cases, Indus secessionism), and seeks to push policies that make classical Indus genotypes like the Apsara and others available and desirable. As a fashion movement, it seeks to revive the older fashions of the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization, and this includes food as well.
New Wave Synthetic Naturalism
Type: Political Ideology
Called "Naturalisme Sintetis Gelombang Baru" in the Technocracy, New Wave Synthetic Naturalism is the dominant but not uniform cultural ideology, and often goes hand in hand with New Urbanism. Synthetic Naturalism, the original belief, held that there was a synthesis between the "natural" world and the "human" world that humans should endeavor to find, and that striking this balance would lead to a good and productive civilization. New Wave Synthetic Naturalism takes this a step further, holding that there should be a balance between all spheres of existence, from the human sphere to the natural sphere to the digital sphere to the various knowledge spheres, and it seeks to erase the distinctions between knowledge categories and categories in general. Synthetic Naturalist Parties tend to promote policies that would promote this balance of spheres, and that would help work towards erasing distinctions between categories in general, ripping down barriers between groups of people to try and unite everyone.
Primitivism
Type: Political Ideology/Social Organization
Primitivism, as a broad ideology, rejects concepts like modern technology and modernism and instead opts for a more simplistic life as a matter of philosophical course. Most primitivists are also anarcho-primitivists and seek to turn the clock back to a time when there was no nation, no money, no hierarchy, and no technology, as they see these things as inexorably linked with one another. However, an off-shoot on Eden known as techno-primitivists appear to adopt a primitivist lifestyle, but they blend this with technology that seamlessly merges with the natural world, usually following the design specs of biointegrationism or biocyberism.
Red Dirigism
Type: Academic Movement/Historiographic Movement/Economic Theory/Political Theory
Red Dirgists are a political party that has emerged within the last five or so years in the Borealis Technocracy that reject a number of core ideals that the Technocracy holds - the foremost among them being the idea of progress - and instead adopts an approach to history and academics similar to the Nariac Dialect. In brief, the Nariac Dialect is a nationalist historiographic method that rejects modernism, Whig history, and Marxist history, and instead posits that nations arise out of specific historical events that allow a population to give shape to their history, but since the nation is actually history in the shape of an organization, the nation can never escape its history. Progress is not guaranteed and technological growth is not necessarily a good thing. Red Dirigism tends to overlap with anarcho-primitivism and other primitivist groups (except techno-primitivist groups), although Red Dirigism doesn't reject technology outright and isn't bioconservative; rather, it promotes a type of post-scarcity dirigism or post-scarcity communitarianism with a heavy emphasis on New Urbanism, all of which seek to minimize the nation-state.
Sinism
Type: Artistic/Fashion Movement
Sinism is a burgeoning movement that expresses interest in Neo-Sinociv, with the revival of Shangtao. There has always been a large Sino-Civ population in the Technocracy, although with Shangtao ascending to its current height, there is a revived interest in Sino-Civ and Shangtao. It encourages expressions of art that are like the art found on Shangtao, as well as dress and fashion like that found on Shangtao, as well. At its worst, it rejects democracy and pushes for a sort of constitutional monarchy, with the Imperial State as the the model that the Technocracy should work with, but these are relatively rare given the strong history with republicanism that the Technocracy has.
Atamadunism
Type: Historiographic Movement
Atamadunism derives its name from the Greek prefix a- (meaning without) and the Indonesian word tamadun, meaning "civilization." Functionally, this is a method of viewing history that sits civilizations aside and attempts to apply a systematic analysis to the space where civilizations have never been able to reach, and where what Marx called "primitive communism" reigned supreme. Atamadunism rejects the Hegelian synthesis, much like Red Dirigisme, so it can't be considered Marxist, but it does analyze history from the perspective of the people caught between civilizations when they clashed; the mountain folk, the desert folk, the cold and isolated folk far away from the major urban centers who lived in tribes and small communities, struggling to maintain their cultural traditions.
Biocyberism
Type: Fashion/Artistic Movement/Architectural movement
Biocyberism (and it's related philosophy, biointegrationalism) is similar to New Wave Synthetic Naturalism in that it seeks to blur the lines between the "natural world" and the "human world", and often co-exists with New Wave Synthetic Naturalism. As an artistic movement, it promotes art that serves to erase distinctions between different areas, such as between species, while as an architectural style, public spaces, private spaces, and natural spaces are all blurred in terms of both utility and the like. As a fashion it tends to blur the difference between types of clothing or simply reject clothing all together, promoting a naturalist existence. They are often considered to be the artistic, fashion, and architectural movement to the NWSN movement's political ideology. Rianths, a widespread meta-clade in the Technocracy, are a part of biocyberism, since they blur the line between species.
Indus Revivalism
Type: Political Movement/Artistic Movement/Fashion
Indus Revivalism was kick-started by the ascent of Shangtao to minor power status for the first time since the end of the Utopian Era. Many in the remains of the former Sino-Civ saw this as perhaps a chance to revive their former, historical meta-empire, and with this, some within the remains of the former Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization saw their chance to revive their long lost civilization as well. As a political movement, it encourages Indus liberation and the spread of Indus culture (or in the worst cases, Indus secessionism), and seeks to push policies that make classical Indus genotypes like the Apsara and others available and desirable. As a fashion movement, it seeks to revive the older fashions of the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization, and this includes food as well.
New Wave Synthetic Naturalism
Type: Political Ideology
Called "Naturalisme Sintetis Gelombang Baru" in the Technocracy, New Wave Synthetic Naturalism is the dominant but not uniform cultural ideology, and often goes hand in hand with New Urbanism. Synthetic Naturalism, the original belief, held that there was a synthesis between the "natural" world and the "human" world that humans should endeavor to find, and that striking this balance would lead to a good and productive civilization. New Wave Synthetic Naturalism takes this a step further, holding that there should be a balance between all spheres of existence, from the human sphere to the natural sphere to the digital sphere to the various knowledge spheres, and it seeks to erase the distinctions between knowledge categories and categories in general. Synthetic Naturalist Parties tend to promote policies that would promote this balance of spheres, and that would help work towards erasing distinctions between categories in general, ripping down barriers between groups of people to try and unite everyone.
Primitivism
Type: Political Ideology/Social Organization
Primitivism, as a broad ideology, rejects concepts like modern technology and modernism and instead opts for a more simplistic life as a matter of philosophical course. Most primitivists are also anarcho-primitivists and seek to turn the clock back to a time when there was no nation, no money, no hierarchy, and no technology, as they see these things as inexorably linked with one another. However, an off-shoot on Eden known as techno-primitivists appear to adopt a primitivist lifestyle, but they blend this with technology that seamlessly merges with the natural world, usually following the design specs of biointegrationism or biocyberism.
Red Dirigism
Type: Academic Movement/Historiographic Movement/Economic Theory/Political Theory
Red Dirgists are a political party that has emerged within the last five or so years in the Borealis Technocracy that reject a number of core ideals that the Technocracy holds - the foremost among them being the idea of progress - and instead adopts an approach to history and academics similar to the Nariac Dialect. In brief, the Nariac Dialect is a nationalist historiographic method that rejects modernism, Whig history, and Marxist history, and instead posits that nations arise out of specific historical events that allow a population to give shape to their history, but since the nation is actually history in the shape of an organization, the nation can never escape its history. Progress is not guaranteed and technological growth is not necessarily a good thing. Red Dirigism tends to overlap with anarcho-primitivism and other primitivist groups (except techno-primitivist groups), although Red Dirigism doesn't reject technology outright and isn't bioconservative; rather, it promotes a type of post-scarcity dirigism or post-scarcity communitarianism with a heavy emphasis on New Urbanism, all of which seek to minimize the nation-state.
Sinism
Type: Artistic/Fashion Movement
Sinism is a burgeoning movement that expresses interest in Neo-Sinociv, with the revival of Shangtao. There has always been a large Sino-Civ population in the Technocracy, although with Shangtao ascending to its current height, there is a revived interest in Sino-Civ and Shangtao. It encourages expressions of art that are like the art found on Shangtao, as well as dress and fashion like that found on Shangtao, as well. At its worst, it rejects democracy and pushes for a sort of constitutional monarchy, with the Imperial State as the the model that the Technocracy should work with, but these are relatively rare given the strong history with republicanism that the Technocracy has.
Behold, the All-Mighty Yig!Of all the figures in Borealis History, few are as controversial as Ebrahim Najalfi and All-Mighty Father Yig. Both of them arrived together in the Fifth Republic and it was through the work of both of them that the Technocracy Party really gained traction in the political sphere. Ebrahim is an odd enough individual on his own with plenty of questions regarding him, but All-Mighty Yig is far and away the most colorful figure to ever slither into Borealis politics. Claiming to be the Father of All Snakes, the All-Mighty Yig resembles a large snake with a human like head - an actual Naga from Hindu mythology. Yig is not a cybershell, and Yig almost certainly isn't an android, leading some to suspect Yig is a specialized pod. Whatever the case, the All-Mighty Yig was almost single-handedly responsible for flipping Naga in the favor of the Technocrats with his colorful rhetoric and odd-ball appearance that was weird even by the standards of the Fifth Republic. This victory was enough to give the Technocrats an edge and become a major player. Yig is almost certainly a native to Borealis, but who he is remains unknown. However, it's Ebrahim Najalfi who gets less attention than he arguably should. Najalfi is a cybershell, which alone makes him unusual, but he's also an immigrant from Nariac. Anti-Saminov in an extreme fashion, Najalfi speaks like a man with leadership experience, acts like a man with leadership experience, and makes references few outside of a devoted circle of historians and antiquarians understand. He also seems to oppose terraforming, although nobody is quite sure why and he won't articulate the reason beyond "it's a waste," which is an unusual position to take, but Najalfi is nothing if not an unusual character. He reorganized the Technocracy Party so it is like it is today - which is, close to how the Nariac Republican Party operates when Saminov isn't dictating over it. Despite having a Persian name, he only speaks a variety of Turkish. These two figures have long since retired, allowing Chan Keo and his less colorful board to take over. However, few are likely to forget the "All-Mighty Yig" and his cybershell friend anytime soon. |
Federal Departments
Each of the federal departments of the Borealis Republic have their own unique personality and history, which helps to characterize them. Departments are semi-autonomous regions, many of which run on directly democratic model without any sort of supervisory position. Unlike other federations, the Departments are all on a roughly equal footing with one another, with no specials administrative districts singling one or more out. Like most other federal republics, the Borealis Republic awards each inhabited planet its own department states, even if there are multiple to a system.
Borealis Union
Best known for: Arguably the Titanomachy; being a March region Emerald
Best known for: Being the first capital; its vast diversity of alien life Kurys
Best known for: Its possible alien megastructure Mintaka
Best known for: The Whispergrass, a possible sapient organism Sapphire
Best known for: Being the second capital; it's diverse array of life Ti-Lung
Best known for: Its population of genetically engineered dragons Zeppelin
Best known for: Being the heart of the Technocracy military |
Eden
Best known for: Its technoprimitivist subculture Kintara
Best known for: Its vast diversity of different life Mandala
Best known for: Its smart material living cities Naga
Best known for: Its thriving "naga" subculture Sinbad
Best known for: Its aquatic (both floating and underwater) cities Winterjewel
Best known for: Its thriving cold-adapted ecosystem Zyra
Best known for: Being the birthplace of Zyraism |
Borealis Union
Current Events: The Borealis Union is home to the last remaining anarchist hold outs in the entire Technocracy, and they are in the process of licking their wounds and trying to figure out how to get back into power now that the BTP has taken almost total control over the state. The Black Bloc holds a great deal of sway here, and is shifting its focus to the Titanomachy, where they hope to build a power base. Kintara
Current Events: The Technocratic Party has recently opened this paradise world up to outsider investment, albeit in a heavily regulated form, which is a major shift from the Fifth Republic's policy of blocking all outside investment in the name of ensuring only the Post-Republic could capitalize on the Xenopharming potential. This hasn't been without its critics, though, although they are few and far between. Mintaka
Current Events: While the whisergrass organism has taken up a great deal of effort and energy by the local government, there's a brewing division between the leaders of Mintaka University, the largest government on the planet and supporters of the New Urbanist Party, and the Red Mintaka Movement, which is a separatist movement and party that wants to split Mintaka from the Technocracy. Sinbad
Current Events: There has recently been a major political upset; for years, Sinbad had a reputation for being the most conservative of the various departments, but the most recent upset saw the LibSoc Party gain a huge number of seats, dethroning the Oligarchs, or the supporters of hypercapitalism and similar ideologies. Given this was a staunch Oligarch stronghold and their last refuge, they are not happy. Zeppelin
Current Events: Zeppelin is one of the few pure orbital habitats in the Technocracy, and it orbits around a helium planet, or a nebulous gas giant, an exceptionally rare type of gas giant. There are always rumors of Zeppelin working on some new military project, given it's the center for the Technocracy military, but it has certainly received a great deal more money and attention than it did in the Fifth Republic. |
Eden
Current Events: Eden has recently become the major focus for a Technocracy redevelopment plan. Prior to this, Eden was known as a relatively under-developed world home to a loose network of anarcho-technoprimitivsts. However, the Technocracy sees utility in Eden, and so the Board recently approved of a major infrastructure expansion that would bring more money, and attention, into the backwater system. Kurys
Current Events: Kurys is possibly home to an alien megastructure - recent seismic data suggests that the planet itself may be hollow and home to a black hole. if the Kurys Phenomenon is indeed an alien megastructure, its one of the oldest ever found, possibly even predating the glassmakers and stoneburners based on some uranium-lead dating methods, and this has drawn some interested eyes from the outside. Naga
Current Events: Naga remains one of the most stable of the departments, and is home to one of the oldest "rianth" communities in the Verge and Bleed, the so-called "yuan-ti" or "snake people." Naga is a solid supporter for the Technocratic Party, and it's functionally the Technocratic Party's home field. The State so far is undergoing some minor renovations, with plans to possibly expand orbital infrastructure. Ti-Lung
Current Events: Ti-Lung has always been the odd state out, given it was never part of the Indus-Fomalhaut civilization. As a result, the Ti-Lung Technocommunist Party has held sway here, although it recently took a savage dint when facing off against the Technocrats in the last election cycle. The dragons who support the TCP are attempting to figure out why, and may be reassessing their Combine support as a result. Zyra
Current Affairs: The church of Zyra continues to have an outsized influence on the local government, which is dominated by the Zyran Party. They are known for opposing the Technocrats, making Zyran a perpetual thorn in the side of the Board. However, it was the recent recipient of a massive government spending project to construct a functional space elevator, leading some to speculate about intentions. |
Emerald
Current Events: Emerald remains a hotbed of political disagreement. While the Technocratic Party has full sway it isn't the only party; the Black Bloc, LibSocs, New Urbanists, Red Dirgists, and others are also vying for positions of power locally and nationally. Emerald is also home to several ongoing projects, although the attempt to produce male nymphs and dryads has been scrapped for financial reasons. Mandala
Current Events: Mandala is home to smart cities, or shape-shifting cities. These are cities that are largely built out of bioplastic, done mostly as an experiment that has since proven to be fairly popular. The Technocracy recently approved of more spending on Mandala to further test the cities, to see if something like them could be expanded to other places in the Technocracy, which means it's time retrofit. Sapphire
Current Events: Sapphire is a bit more stable than Emerald is, with the Technocratic Party and New Urbanists holding the majority. Given these two parties aren't necessarily at odds with one another, there is talk over how best to redesign Sapphire in a "technocratic new urbanist" manner, which would leave a lot of the old cities abandoned - giving space for who knows what to move back in, or out. Winterjewel
Current Events: Winterjewel was the last planet settled in recent memory (settlements are barely over 50 years old) and so it's also the least well known. To fix this, the Technocratic Party has started devoting finances and resources to mapping and studying their most underpopulated state/planet, and with it, the potential to bring in new money. This has created an influx of outsiders eager to cash in, at great risk. |
Borealis Technocracy
Name: The Borealis Republic or Borealis Technocratic Republic
Rank: Administrative Rank 0-8
Government Type: Democratic Oligarchic Federalist Partocracy
Network: TechNet (t-Rep) [4/level]
Networking Skill: Administration (IQ/A)
Rank: Administrative Rank 0-8
Government Type: Democratic Oligarchic Federalist Partocracy
Network: TechNet (t-Rep) [4/level]
Networking Skill: Administration (IQ/A)
Cultural Familiarity in the Technocracy
Given the Technocracy is more unified that divided culturally, the concept of Cultural Familiarity (Technocracy) is a viable option. However, each individual planet does have something of a distinctive culture, especially those influenced by different culture blocks. As a result, Cultural Familiarity (Sapphire), (Emerald), (Kintana), and others all default back to Cultural Familiarity (Technocracy) at a -1 penalty rather than the standard -3. Given that the cultures have blended, there are no major divergent cultures. In all of the above cases, each Cultural Familiarity costs 1 point.