Northern Lights Confederacy Leaguebook

A matter of Faith

Three shots rang out in quick succession and shattered the peaceful summer afternoon. Sister Raychel was in motion before the third retort's echo had faded and was darting down the alley towards the source of the gunfire. Her armored cloak barely slowed her down as she raced passed citizens and pilgrims diving for cover. Her fighting staff was drawn in her right hand. Reaching a marketplace, she poked her head around the corner.

"Raychel Noris here," she said into a communicator once she had popped back behind the corner. "Armed robbery in progress at Gorringer Square. Three assailants, two with pistols one with a shotgun, all on desert bikes. One citizen down already." Raychel heard the central monastery acknowledge her report; she knew that other brothers and sisters of the Order of Dorothea - responsible for the policing of Sorrento - would be on their way any minute. That might be too late, however. She switched her staff to her left hand and drew her Mezek 9mm pistol before turning the corner again.

The lead thug took a money bag and thanked the merchant he had robbed by pistol-whipping him on the head; a coworker was already bleeding to death thanks to three gunshot wounds. "Okay, let's get outta here -"

"Hold it!" Raychel was behind the flimsy cover of a vegetable stand and pointed her pistol at the thug. Her staff was leaning against the stand. "Drop your weapons."

Jaime turned his weapon on her without hesitation and Raychel responded with two rounds to his chest, knocking him off his bike. The leader returned fire, transforming a melon next to Raychel into a burst of orange mist. She quickly readjusted her aim and fired, catching him in the leg. The merchant he had just robbed, apparently only slightly dazed, finished the job with a blow to the back of the head. He crumpled to the ground. The merchant didn't keep track of the third crook, however, and he was suddenly facing a pistol to the back of his head. "You drop it, sister, and step on out of there."

The religious appellation was laced with so much spite it made Raychel's stomach turn. She didn't have a choice, though, and dropped her pistol and took a few steps out in to the square. Without being asked she raised her arms slightly, to show she had no weapons. She watched as the thug, holding the gun left-handed, turned the accelerator on his bike while keeping the citizen in his sights. Suddenly, he raised the kick stand and tore off down the swear toward Raychel.

She had only an instant to react. He wanted to run her down and her firearm was well out of reach. Not her staff, however. In one easy movement, she reached for the weighted traditional weapon of her order and spun clockwise to build momentum. By the time she was around the bike was almost on top of her. The thug couldn't avoid the swinging fighting staff.

Raychel was very satisfied by the impact she felt as her blow took the criminal right off his bike - no one got away from her.

1.1 The Land of the Prophet

On 29 Summer TN 1464, a mere ten years after the Human Concordat abandoned Terra Nova to its fate, a boy named Mamoud Khodaverdi was born in the agricultural hamlet of Sorrento on the Irrian Plain. This boy would grow to influence his region and planet like no other Terranovan. At the tender age of twenty cycles, Mamoud's spirit rose to commune with the Gentle Spirit which guides the universe. Enlightened and blessed, this Gentle Prophet would preach his word of love and peace first among his closest friends and then to residents of the Badlands' enclave of Massada. His message evolved over the cycles, taking root in the sands of the desert and the fields of Sorrento. When Nathani Reiss, Mamoud's oldest and dearest friend, returned north after the Prophet's death, the word of peace followed him. The new faith, known as Revisionism, spread like wildfire among the scattered people of the Irrian Plain, bringing a beacon of hope to a dark time of strife and exploitation. The power of this simple message of love and guardianship moved millions out the chaos of Reconstruction and into a prosperous future. Before he too left this plane to join the Gentle Spirit, Nathani would bless the creation of a league of city-states dedicated to advancing and protecting the peace so loved by the Prophet. The Northern Lights Confederacy was born.

Faith, however, is a double-edged sword. Its power can transform a fractious region into a peaceful nation, and a placid field into a killing ground. The NLC has waged campaigns of harassment in the name of peace; loyal citizens have been ostracized for their divergent faiths. The struggle to keep these extremes in check is ongoing and is reflected by people across the NLC. For much of the nineteenth century, the church was fragmented and without direction and the league paid a price for this. Corruption and immorality became rampant and the league fell into the plague of the Judas Syndrome. Second Follower Thor Hutchison has led a Revisionist revival, drawing the people back to the faith with a return to traditional values and a call for a moral government. The church's ascendancy, however, has brought back an intolerant streak in the people of the league, leading to the increased repression of non-Revisionist citizens and secret networks of informers reporting on those who "lack faith." A conflict between church and state is rising and the threat could lead several disparate parties to vie for support from the people; the power these groups wield is derived from what they garner from common folk.

The NLC is faced with many other challenges. The rise of tensions with the South has forced many to prepare for war, and other conflicts have resulted. The current government of Kath‘ Adjanni, long an ally of the labor movement, had to re-evaluate its policies because the league must increase military and industrial production to make itself ready for war. The centralist policies of the government have created a backlash among the city-state governments who have begun to push for a decentralization of power back to the local governments. Some of the conflicts in the league are more than political, however. Two Wounded Knee smuggling cartels are busily fighting over the Norlight underworld, leading to a terrifying growth in the violent crime rate. Even further in the shadows, the intelligence war between North and South is reaching a fevered pitch, leaving no tangible traces other than a sense of disquiet and fear in the halls of power.

The Northern Lights Confederation was built under a doctrine of peace and brought order to a people victimized by chaos. In the aftermath of the War of the Alliance, however, the traditions of peace and order have been replaced by mistrust and aggression. The NLC is on its way to tearing itself apart.

1.1.1 Contents

The Northern Lights Confederacy Sourcebook gives Heavy Gear Gamemasters and players all the resources they need to set roleplaying campaigns in the NLC. Chapter 2 presents general information on the league, covering its physical geography, tumultuous history and economy. Chapter 3 examines the internal politics; it pays much attention to the legal power structure of the league, including the House of Congress, Chamber of Valeria, presidency and recognized political parties. Other groups influence the league, including the shadowy Prophet's Shield and the criminal Kolson cartel, and they are also featured in chapter 3. Chapter 4 examines foreign relations and focuses primarily on the political relationships between the confederacy and other leagues. Attention is also paid to policies toward foreign civilians and the growing shadow war between Terra Nova's intelligence agencies. Chapter 5 details all the major regions of the league, including its 14 city-states, each with its own character and concerns. Chapter 6 examines the powerful influence of the Revisionist Church, and many other aspects of Norlight society. Chapter 7 presents a variety of resources to Gamemasters who wish to set games or campaigns in the NLC, including archetypes, campaign seeds and guidelines for Norlight characters. Finally, Chapter 8 gives a sampling of Norlight wildlife.