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Allied Southern Territories
The AST encompasses the entire antarctic region of the planet. This lush, mountainous region is covered in tropical jungles and swamps. The tropical polar region is separated from the dry Badlands by a ring of arid savannah.
Southern Republic
All this power has fueled the Republican national ego and it has grown to immense proportions. Most Republicans view their league as the ideal Terranovan society. They see their league's colonial policy as an act of kindness. It brings civilization and superior culture to those they invade. Despite its totalitarian foreign policy, the Southern Republic is a democratic state. Yet, since all the major parties have nearly identical platforms, they differ only in their public relations approaches. The people of the Republic are energetic and highly individualistic. Their society encourages artistic expression and self-exploration. Even humble laborers live in relative luxury and enjoy plentiful leisure-time. The average Republican views Northern life as suffocating and repressed. Most Northerners denounce Republicans as decadent imperialists. Humanist Alliance
The population of the Alliance is divided into three castes: preceptors, protectors, and commoners. Preceptors are the society's leaders and scholars. Protectors are the military and police forces of the Alliance. Commoners are the laborers, businessmen, and craftsmen of their society. Children are assigned to a caste at age 12 after undergoing a complex battery of tests to determine their interests and natural aptitudes. Many foreigners mistakenly label the people of the Alliance as robots who serve their society. Preceptors plan, protectors fight, and commoners work. Nothing could be further from the truth. Alliance society is designed to allow individuals to achieve their greatest potentials. Hobbies and personal interests are cherished by Humanists as ways of expressing their individuality. Citizens of the Humanist alliance as the most conservative people in the AST. Although few activities are prohibited, their society encourages modesty and moderation. Hardly as prudish as Northerners, Humanists simply prefer to sample the joys of life a little bit at a time. In this way, they believe that there will always be something a little better to look forward to the next day. Mekong Dominion
The Mekong people are exceptionally pragmatic. They view their Republican overlords as obstacles to overcome. They believe it is generally simpler to either obey or bribe the Republicans than to waste time and energy in armed revolt. Most Mekong citizens expect that, in the long run, the Dominion will simply use its economic power to expel the Republican occupation forces. Mekong is ruled by a group of corporate CEO's. These CEO's are responsible to their shareholders. Since most Mekong corporations give their employees shares as New Year's bonuses, Mekong's ruling council is effectively guided by the Dominion's entire corporate structure. While this is hardly a true democracy, it offers significantly more public input than the governments of other AST member-states. Eastern Sun Emirates
The emirs are infamous for their lavish displays of wealth. They live jet-set lives and maintain private armies to quell rebellions on their estates. A small middleclass leads a parasitic existence, living off of the emirs as servants, advisors and soldiers. The large majority of the ESE's population are lower class industrial serfs. They generally accept their condition in a surprisingly stoic manner, lulled into complacency by the expert public relations campaigns and "bread-and-circus" type events sponsored by the emirs. Every once in a while, however, a strong leader comes forth from the proletariat and starts a local rebellion. These uprisings are systematically crushed by the fearful emirs. Many political analysts fear the day that a proletariat uprising grows too rapidly to suppress effectively.
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The Allied Southern Territories is officially a confederation of the four southern leagues of Terra Nova. In reality, it is merely a puppet government whose leaders are appointed by the leaders of the Southern Republic. The AST was formed after the Republic overran its neighbors over a century and half ago. The real southern superpower is the Republic.
The populace of the AST is highly diverse. Most of the city-states are very liberal societies where individualism is prized. While honor and reputation are important to southerners, they worry little about propriety or scandal. Morality laws are almost unheard of and almost any vice is legal. The various governments are happy to let their citizens carry on in whatever manner they wish so long as they pay their taxes and let the state run smoothly. Unsanctioned political activity is almost universally illegal in the AST. Most acts of political protest carry sentences of corporal or capital punishment.
The Southern Republic is, in general terms, the most powerful league on Terra Nova. The Republic boasts a population half again as large as the NLC along with a vibrant economy. Its military controls almost the entire southern hemisphere of the planet.
The Humanist Alliance is the result of an attempt to create a utopian state. While the Alliance is hardly a perfect society, it has managed to survive for over three hundred years. Its population is generally content and its crime rates are astonishingly low.
The Mekong Dominion is an economic powerhouse which has managed to profit from its forced membership in the AST. The leaders of the Dominion are masters of the art of backroom politics, and have used this ability to acquire greater political freedom than other members of the AST.
The Eastern Suns Emirates is the backwater of the AST. Its economy is heavily dependent upon its primary resource industries, especially mining and metallurgy. Almost everything in the ESE is the property of the league's aristocracy. This minuscule upper class consists of fifty local lords, called emirs, and their families. The emirs are led by the patriarch of the ESE.