The Northern Lights Confederacy (NLC)

Confederated Northern City-States 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 Kathë 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.

VETERANS’ DAY The long last note of Marcia Esteban’s Aurora , the national anthem of the Northern Lights Confederacy, sounded  over the assembled crowd as the twin-star flag was raised over Podinger Plaza in Kenema. It was the 16th anniversary of the Treaty of Westphalia and Kenema had come out to mark the occasion. Before the great podium stood  row upon row of saluting soldiers and retired veterans. The southernmost rows were made up of locally stationed  Northern Guard troops, while their Norlight Armed Forces counterparts dominated the northern rows. Veterans of  the war in a variety of uniforms or civilian dress stood in the middle. Karl Methoras, commander of the Kenema  “Gear Police,” stood in his police Gear pilot uniform. Beside him was Colonel Stacey Diggs, his friend and his  wartime commanding officer in the elite Cat’s Paws regiment of the Northern Guard. They had both lost many  friends during the war, and their thoughts were with them as the morning’s speeches began. Karl scanned the crowd. Now a veteran of many police operations, he could never quite let his guard down. Security  detail was being handled by MPs and other Keneman Police officers, but he looked around nonetheless. He noticed  that Stacey was doing the same; special forces did that to you, he supposed. Stacey noticed it first, a man wearing the traditional trench coat of the Northern Guards strider corps walking  toward the podium, pushing his way through fellow veterans. About ten meters from Karl’s privileged position, he  moved into the cleared aisle running west from the podium. He had a determined look on his face and was holding  something in his right hand. Karl and Stacey recognized it simultaneously: a detonator. Karl and Stacey drew their sidearms but didn’t fire. The veteran saw them and quickly pulled open his coat to reveal  more than enough explosives to make this a treaty day to remember. “You’re going to listen to me. You’ve got no  choice.” “What do you want to say?’ Stacey lowered her weapon, confidant that Karl and the guards on the podium could  cover her. Putting her weapon back in her holster, she made a covert sign to Methoras. Wait. “You wouldn’t understand. I’m a Jerusalemite and now my wife and I can’t even raise our children according to our  faith. We tried to teach our kids the holy texts at home and our neighbors call us names, and business people won’t  do business with us. I’m sick of it; people have to realize what they’re doing.” The man swallowed and his hand twitched nervously. He scanned the group on the podium before continuing. “I  fought for this country during the War of the Alliance. I had my leg blown off by a GREL and had to have it regrown. And now I’m being spat upon. You Revisionists think you’ve built such a great league, such a beautiful nation of  peace. You just don’t see what hypocrites you are.” “I do understand, you see I’m Jerusalemite too.” The bomber hesitated a second and Stacey’s hand flashed the  signal for now. Karl fired a shot from his pistol, shattering the detonator and the hand holding it. Stacey moved quickly to bring  the shocked bomber down, pinning him to the ground and — Karl noticed — shielding him from the soldiers on the  podium. Later, after the man was in custody, Karl asked her why. “Because he was right.”

2.1 GEOGRAPHY Covering half the territory of the Confederate Northern City-States, the Northern Lights Confederacy includes a wide variety of geographic and climatic zones. From the fringes of the Badlands south of Sorrento to the tundra on the slopes of the Whitetop Range, the NLC is a diverse land. Nonetheless, several recurring images have become symbols of the Norlight state. Tour guides and local citizens alike speak of the high mountains, fresh air and cold lakes, perhaps because of the sharp contrast these elements cast against the endless silicate seas of the Badlands and the humid swamps of the South. The southern belt of savannah and plains which run from the Badlands to a mountainous girdle around the North is not as sharply separated from the equatorial desert. Homesteading, ranching and a frontier atmosphere rule there as much as in the equatorial deserts, although more plentiful water reserves allow for intensive agriculture of grains and johar grasses. In the Autumn weeks when the different varieties of johar bloom, the seemingly endless plains explode into a cacophony of color and the area seems far removed from the numbing constancy of the desert landscape. The mountain girdle which cuts off the rest of the league from the plains features some spectacular heights, especially in the Tershaw Range overlooking the Northern Plain. Near the city-state of Innsbruck, Mount Pekyns rises above its neighbors and attracts tourists and sport-enthusiasts all cycle long. This rugged terrain features some of the league’s major city-states, including Kenema, Livingstone and Skadi, and the “mountain folk” have cast their influence over the national character. Large valleys, forest and lakes stretch beyond the girdle. The cooler temperatures and plentiful water supply accomodate a wide variety of plantlife and wildlife, which in turn provide raw materials for a rich economy based around farming, lumber extraction and herding. The Whitetop Range rises to surround the pole, and these peaks are covered in snow and their slopes feature tundra and taiga vegetation. Whitetop Spire, the hemisphere’s highest peak, tops the range and has been the site of many daring climbing attempts over the cycles. 2.1.1 PLAINS AND SAVANNAH Like both its neighboring states, the Northern Lights Confederacy stretches to the edge of the Badlands desert in several places. With the rare exception of the eastern portion of the Northern Plain — which was ceded to local communities in the TN 1740s — the exact southern borders of the league are unclear. The semi-arid savannah of the desert borders is considered a buffer-zone between the unaligned Badlands and the NLC, but this rule of thumb is often broken. The territory south of the Irrian Plain is especially tightly controlled by Norlight authorities, who are concerned with protecting the holy city of Sorrento and the valuable agricultural land nearby. Within the well-established borders, the savannahs give way to lush plains. Together, the Northern and Irrian Plains form the agricultural heartland of the league, producing johar, wheat and other staples. Unlike the Great Western Plain, these areas are relatively uneven, full of ridges made from low hills which mark ancient geological upheavals. Rivers and streams become more and more plentiful as one travels north toward the mountains, but several important accesses to the MacAllen network exist even in the southern-most region. The agricultural lands around Sorrento are especially rich in such natural wells. Flora and Fauna The plant life of the plains consists largely of various native and imported grasses and wild flowers. The most widespread indigenous plain species is undoubtedly johar, a diverse and rugged family of tall grasses with extensive root systems. Many of the grasses have edible stems (green johar) or roots (red and orange johar), whereas others can be used for cosmetic or pharmaceutical products. Several varieties of cereals of Terran origin have also been introduced, thanks to colonial-era breeding efforts and genetic manipulation. Bipedal grassrunners, small flying flappers, insectoid field skags, johar worms and wheat-jackets live in these fields. Larger herding animals such as springers also inhabit the southern edges of the plains and extensive ranching has led to their introduction further north. A healthy number of predators feed on the smaller herbivores, including the dawg, a canine-sized family of predators. Barnabus iguanas and aerial toussains (a.k.a. “daks”) can also be found in the southern plains. Climate The Belt region features low precipitation, ranging from desert-like conditions on the southern fringe to an extended dry season in the north. Rainfall is generally more plentiful in Summer, when moisture-bearing winds come down from the Arctic basin and other northern valleys. Rainfall is most heavy in the Northern Irrian Plain near Smolensk and the along the Mercantile border near Kossuth because of large gaps in the mountain chains which encircle the northern hemisphere. The temperature is subject to very few variations, and remains between 20° and 25° C all cycle-long. The irregularities in the mountain chains, and a few large openings into the MacAllen cave network create some micro-climates with greater fluctuations, but these are relatively rare. The largest such anomaly is the Sesshite Forest, a huge saguaro forest which hugs the southern slopes of the Tershaw Range on the edge of the Northern Plain.

2.1.2 MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS Three geographically recent and major mountain chains form a band around the league. The Serpentine features very sharp peaks which stretch as far north as Skadi, then dip to low hills in the Livingstone Pass before rising again to merge with the Eastridge Range. This second chain then travels westward in a broad arc with many passes and rivers, before merging with the Tershaw Range, which continues until the border of the United Mercantile Federation. The mountainous belt also includes the more ancient Westridge Range, which encircles the Western Frontier Protectorate to the South and is cut by the Serpentine Range to the west. Other more ancient ranges include the Red Hills, which cut off the Aurora Basin from the Big Valley and the Exeter Hills, which circle around the east of Lake Clearwater. The Whitetop Range, another recent geological formation, forms a rough semicircle around the north pole, cutting off the Big Valley from the Arctic basin. These ranges define a great number of valleys, including the Arctic Basin, which stretches across the polar region between the Whitetop and Westridge Ranges. The southern most part of the Basin houses Lake Clearwater, the largest freshwater body on Terra Nova. The high mountains and relatively heavy northern precipitation form many rivers and streams, which feed a wide network of large and small freshwater lakes, including Lake Aurora and Lake Petersen in the Aurora Valley. The large valleys of forest and grasslands that are overlooked by tall mountains are the most widely recognized Norlight terrain. Although the historical core of the league is the Irrian Plain, the modern Norlight character is firmly tied to the hard-working and a friendly nature of mountain and valley-dwellers. The Tershaw Range (including cities such as Innsbruck) is perhaps the biggest center of this modern spirit.

Flora & Fauna The forests and mountains shelter a wide variety of plant and animal life. The Saguaro , a large moisture-trapping tree, is the dominant forest species in the southern valleys, while Terranovan Pine — a colonial-era genetically engineered conifer — accounts for about 40% of northern forests. A wide variety of mosses thrive on the forest floors and in the cold upper altitudes and latitudes. Several varieties of johar  wheat — often longer stemmed — prosper in the valleys, while several unique varieties border rivers and lakes across the hemisphere. Many of these have potent medicinal and hallucinogenic effects and a few are even banned by Norlight law. Valley fauna is similar to that of the plains environment, while the more dense vegetation cover of saguaro forests shelter larger herbivores. The woodspringer , a relative of the plains springer, lives off the lichens and berries of the forests. Great dawgs also prowl the forests, hunting woodspringers in packs. Mountain species include rockspringers , large herbivores related to plains springers and jumpspiders , large and agile predators. Relatives of the desert hoppers are also common in the hills. Climate Climate varies significantly in the north based upon mountaineous elevation or proximity to the cool polar region. The southern valleys feature a mean temperature between 20 and 25° C, with regular precipitation which reaches its peak in the summer. The high Arctic basin features lower temperatures, reaching freezing only immediately around the pole, where cold air accumulates. Similar conditions prevail at the higher altitudes, where thin, icy air leads to the coolest climates on the planet. The Whitetop Range is unique in that it features plentiful and consistent snowfall and even some small glaciers. Although the north is spared some of the wrath of the Badlands climate, the instability of the planetary atmosphere is still a factor. Sudden wind and rain-storms are a fact of life, and tempests raging further south tend to have large-scale side-effects in the temperate and circumpolar zones. One recurrent symptom of large tempests is wide-scale upwelling of the moisture-laden air masses over the northern basins. This can lead to violent rain-showers and flooding, snowfall in the colder regions and catastrophic hail storms near the upwelling points.

2.2 HISTORY Until the rise of the Revisionist faith which binds the huge nation together, the various city-states of the NLC were linked only by economic trade or cycles of conflict. In the colonial era, many corporations indulged in the exploitation of the plains and mountains of the northern hemisphere. The Human Concordat began infrastructural development with the creation of the maglev lines between burgeoning settlements as early as TN 499. The Beta Maglev in particular, running south from the Port Aurora spaceport to the ChemCol oil-drilling facilities on the Irrian Plain and into the Badlands, played a central role in the creation of the NLC. This vital trade link lead to the growth of city-states such as Petropolis, Valeria and others. When Earth announced that it was cutting all ties with Terra Nova, the city-states of the northern hemisphere entered a pattern of violence and bloodshed that lasted fifty cycles. The largest of the settlements became city-states and began the construction of make-shift military forces to defend themselves. These citadels of power claimed swaths of rural landscape and resources as their own and fought to defend them from foreigners and marauding raiders, while extracting tributes from smaller communities. Regional warfare was continuous in this period. In TN 1472, well-armed Keneman forces sacked the cities of Aberdeen and Kartoom in the Auroran Basin, and thus subjugated a whole region. Only Yaramir in the Eastridge Range foothills was able to resist extended Keneman attacks. The situation was just as bad along the Beta Maglev, where the twin cities of Valeria and Port Aurora fought throughout Reconstruction. Petropolis, Skadi and Livingstone also battled at the cost of thousands of lives. Further south, in the hamlet of Sorrento, the beginnings of a renaissance occurred in TN 1485 when two local youngsters — Mamoud Khodaverdi and Nathani Reiss — left the bloodshed behind to seek their destiny in the Badlands. Guided by blessed visions granted to Mamoud, in a voyage remembered as the First Peregrination, the young men traveled to the city of Massada where they began a life of contemplation which would send bolts of faith across the planet. By TN 1496, a small community of Mamoud’s followers had established themselves in Sorrento and began teaching his “Gentle Way” (sometimes called Revisionism) to the locals. In TN 1507, Mamoud left his mortal coil and Nathani returned to Sorrento along with a large number of followers in the Second Peregrination. The travelers were welcomed by the local Revisionists and created a network of religious communes which would form the cradle of the Northern Lights Confederacy.

2.2.1 THE BIRTH OF THE NLC (TN 1507-1525) Nathani returned to his birth-place to find a land soaked in blood and crying out for freedom from violence. While his local missionaries had established islands of peace nearby, whole cities lay sacrificed to the altar of greed and fear. Nathani knew that unity could stand in the way of violence and began sending missionaries out to spread the Gentle Word. Nathani himself met with the local agricultural homesteads and proposed a tight cooperation and sharing of resources. The community of greater Sorrento was born from these meetings and included dozens of homesteads and hamlets which cooperated on every level and formed a militia to ensure their defense. Nathani Reiss  Although few sure records survive, Nathani Reiss was born around TN 1460 as a simple farm boy, yet grew to become the founder of the Sorrento Revisionist Church. He was the first to recognize the destiny of Mamoud Khodaverdi , doing so well before the Gentle Prophet himself ever did. By the time he became of age in the TN 1470s, he was dedicated to protecting Mamoud, whom he loved like a twin. Nathani protected Mamoud, as Mamoud advanced on his path toward enlightenment, and when the young Prophet was tempted to reject his destiny, Nathani was always there to guide him back to the path. When Mamoud acquired true comprehension of his own role in the TN 1480s, Nathani never hesitated to accompany him into the desert. All through these journeys, he learned from the Prophet and their bond grew ever stronger. When they arrived in Massada, Nathani helped to build their first temple with his own hands and watched with pride as the gentle Word spread through the city-state. The schism that occurred between Nathani and Jakob Khodaverdi after the Prophet’s death is a matter for great contention. Some claim that Nathani had grown jealous of the bond between Mamoud and Jakob’s mother, Galen ; others say Nathani felt slighted by the Prophet’s choice of Jakob to lead the church. Most Northerners believe that Mamoud knew that the land of their birth needed Nathani’s return and made his choice in consequence. Regardless of the truth, Nathani and a large contingent of his followers returned to Sorrento to join the Revisionist commune which had been founded while he was in Massada. From there his teachings and faith would spread across the hemisphere. Except for his Third Peregrination to Valeria which created the NLC, Nathani spent the remaining cycles of his life in Sorrento where he guided the course of his church. Many of the most important figures in the church’s early history learned at the knees of the Second Follower and his personal influence remains strong even today. Like Mamoud, Nathani had little confidence in recording devices and always preferred spoken communication. Several of his disciples took extensive notes of his remembrances, however, and they were compiled into a final form in the TN 1550s. This text became the second book of the Sorrento church’s Khodaverdia .

MISSIONARIES AND WARLORDS The people of the north were ripe for conversion and thriving Revisionist communities were established by missionaries in city-states as far away as Valeria and Sesshu by TN 1515. A new religion which seemed to attract followers by the hundreds and traced its loyalty to Sorrento, Revisionism was branded as an insurgent movement by many local potentates. Kenema expelled Mamoud’s followers from the city limits in TN 1512 and Yaramir did the same in TN 1513. Located near Sorrento, Petropolis witnessed an invasion of the faithful and responded with violence in TN 1516. On 29 Spring of that cycle (now remembered as Red Friday), Northern Petrochem attempted to expel the members of a Revisionist commune, who refused to be moved. Violence exploded and three dozen of the faithful were killed before cooler heads prevailed. More blood was shed in the countryside, where the faithful were often attacked by raiders. In response, a close aide to the Second Follower named Gayl Daran converted the Sorrento militia into a more potent force designed to defend the faithful on their journeys. Dubbed the Army of Peace, it was sent to protect communities across the Irrian Plain. From TN 1516 to 1520, it constantly clashed with the Petropolitan Militia. In TN 1518, it also defeated a Keneman expeditionary force sent into the Plain. With this force, Sorrento established its security and announced itself as a military as well as political power. • A LEAGUE IS BORN While the militarization of Sorrento and the spread of missionary activity laid the foundation for the creation of the NLC, it was Reiss himself who took the final step. By TN 1521, Sorrento and Petropolis had reached a rough peace and the major conflict along the maglev line was between Valeria and Port Aurora. Pushed by the appeals of his followers and rumors that Port Aurora wished to pull Petropolis and Smolensk into its conflict with Valeria, the Second Follower himself decided to travel to the area of conflict. This travel is remembered as the Third Peregrination. Nathani entered the negotiations with a combination of wisdom and dynamism that helped resolve many of the impasses. Soon an armistice was signed, and lasting peace became a possibility for the first time since the departure of the gateships for Earth. This had an especially profound effect on Liana Brëas , High Councilor of Valeria. Brëas was taken by the aging Second Follower’s deep wisdom and drive to spread his ways, and the two began a friendship that would last the rest of Nathani’s life. Two seasons later, Brëas traveled to Sorrento where she accepted conversion to Revisionism and pledged her city=state to the protection of the faith. Brëas’ bold statement was applauded by the healthy Revisionist community in Valeria and decried by the leaders of Port Aurora and Petropolis. Their concerns grew even greater when the Valerian Guard and Army of Peace were integrated into a coordinated military force. Petropolis immediately drove its Militia south toward Sorrento but was repelled by Valerian forces. Petropolis ceased hostilities after a massive Revisionist-backed strike paralyzed the city-state in TN 1923, and Port Aurora was forced to surrender the following cycle. Envoys from Sorrento, Petropolis, Port Aurora and Smolensk (which welcomed conversion to Revisionism) soon traveled to Valeria to begin discussions of a permanent solution for the regional crisis. Liana Brëas began to push for a political union based on the shared faith of the region and her views gained popular and political support. On 18 Summer TN 1525, the Articles of Peace were signed and the Northern Lights Confederation was born with Valeria as its capital. High Councilor Liana Brëas Liana Brëas was born in TN 1454 from disillusioned gray-collar workers in Port Aurora. Soon after their daughter was born, they moved to Valeria to start a new life. Liana’s youth was tainted by her parents’ dark moods and cynicism. By TN 1473, her mother died from lung poisoning due to the poor safety measures at her job. In reaction to her death, Liana got actively involved with a young reformist party, the Valerian Growth Union. At 25 cycles, Liana took over the VGU with aggressive demands for changes. She led fiery campaigns and protest marches, using the media with savvy and negotiating for improved working conditions for the lower class. Six cycles later, she left the VGU to run as independent Councilor in the High Council. She easily won over her adversary, Councilor Markis Delwath , a conservative gentleman who held that position for thirteen cycles. She boldly spoke against the corruption which plagued the High Council. Because of this, she made herself numerous enemies and survived four assasination attempts during the first cycle of her mandate. In 1491, she married her former political opponent, Markis Delwath , who gave her two children ( Andreï and Katryne ) in the following cycles. After the death of her husband in 1507, she left politics and dedicated herself to raising her son and daughter. In 1513, she was asked by former political allies to step once more into the ring and categorically refused. She changed her mind in 1519, when the situation between Valeria and Port Aurora threatened to degenerate into a violent conflict. Her return to politics was applauded, and she was easily elected High Councilor. In 1521, she worked with Second Follower Nathani Reiss to resolve the problems between her city and Port Aurora, and soon converted to Revisionism. Brëas left the Council in TN 1529, at the age of 75 cycles. She could not quite leave the political scene, however, and became a goodwill ambassador for the Sorrento Church until her death in TN 1537. She left behind a budding league which was supported by a strong faith. A statue of her image figures prominently in the Gardens of Valeria behind the parliament building.

2.2.2 DAYS OF CONFLICT (TN 1525-1669) The birth of the NLC may have ended the bloodshed along the Beta Maglev, but it ushered in a period of greater conflict. Revisionist citizens of other city-states began to agitate for their municipalities to join the new Confederation, but few potentates were anxious to submit themselves to the new league. In Livingstone, local police regularly waded into the crowds with tear gas, clubs and rubber bullets, while in Kenema agitators defying the Revisionist expulsion were tried for treason. Clearly, chaos was still the order of the day and the NLC needed to respond. • THE GREAT CRUSADE In TN 1530, the newly baptized Norlight Armed Forces were sent out on the “Great Crusade” to protect and, if necessary, liberate Revisionist communities that faced oppression. An Auroran force set out from Valeria toward Kenema, while an Irrian contingent left from Sorrento tower, Skadi and Livingstone. The Irrian Campaign was the most successful. In anticipation of the crusaders’ arrival, a revolt spread through Skadi which ousted the city’s regime and welcomed the Norlight forces. From there, the Armed Forces started for Livingstone. Fighting was far more difficult against the industrial city-state, but it too eventually surrendered. The Auroran crusaders cut a swath through the Auroran Basin, but Kenema proved a harder nut to crack and a lengthy siege ensued. Finally in TN 1535, Kenema surrendered to superior forces and was brought into the fold. The Keneman government was tried in Valeria for the deaths of those it had executed for treason. The Crusade ended in TN 1537 after it turned its attention to the city state of Yaramir. The Yaramite government of Primarch Nestor Kiriya, which had previously expelled and persecuted Revisionists, at first seemed ready to bow to Norlight demands in exchange for its continued independence. In TN 1536, Kiriya allowed for a small Revisionist com￾mune to open within the city limits, but the faithful were kept under close watch. When the crusaders swept through several communities in Yaramir’s sphere of influence in response to demands from local Revisionists, the Yaramir com￾mune’s inhabitants became hostages. Primarch Kiriya demanded a Norlight withdrawal from the region and threatened to hold the local Revisionists responsible for any actions taken by the crusade. Refusing to let themselves be intimidated, the NLC expedition marched straight for Yaramir. On 12 Summer TN 1537, 55 members of the Revisionist commune were publicly executed in Yaramir Square; the crusaders saw red. The defiant city-state was not prepared for the full assault that followed. Swollen by volunteers from newly annexed regions, the Norlight forces burst through Yaramite defenses and put the city to the torch. In an orgy of violence harking back to pre-Revisionist times, soldiers and civilians alike fell under the gun. Before order was reestablished, 3500 Yaramites were dead and many more wounded. The city itself lay in ruins. Sobered and terrified by the bloodlust they had encour￾aged in the name of peace, the leaders of the NLC put an official halt to the Great Crusade. • THE MERCANTILE THREAT For almost three decades, Norlight diplomats established embassies in most major city-states and, in the aftermath of the Yaramir Massacre, shied away from expansionist policies. President Gabryel Emsala (TN 1547-1561) encouraged other city￾states to form leagues of their own in the interest of a balanced political situation. Norlight diplomats actually served as mediators in the negotiations which led to the creation of the Tershaw Cooperative Alliance in TN 1553, which brough together Zagazig, Innsbruck, Djakarta Point, Swanscombe and Kossuth. Unfortunately this policy would have dire conse￾quences when one of the northern leagues embarked on a massive expansionist campaign. The United Mercantile Federation, formed in TN 1551 in and around the Marathon Basin, was backed by a very well￾developed military industrial complex with a rapacious business philosophy. In TN 1566, Mercantile forces pushed into the Tershaw region and faced down TCA defenders. The Mercantile expansion into the region rested on a two-fold strategy typical of corporate affairs. The military forces drove straight for the gold and silver mines of Djakarta Point, while the Mercantile diplomatic corps targeted the matriarchy of Swanscombe by offering the city the right to persevere its own social policies while benefitting from Mercantile power. In TN 1567, Swanscombe announced it was joining the UMF; Djakarta Pint fell to military conquest soon thereafter. Left with little other option, the remaining Tershan city-states (and independent Sesshu) appealed for protection from the NLC and joined the league in the next few cycles. Exeter and Franklin Harbor, located along Lake Clearwater, also joined the NLC during this period — anticipating that the UMF would soon turn its attention to them. The next hundred cycles were characterized by constant border wars between the NLC, UMF and the Western Frontier Protectorate. The Tershaw Range and Northern Plains were sights of vicious struggles, and troops moved across the region as often as their might would allow. No fixed borders were established until after the creation of the CNCS. This low-level warfare exploded to a fever pitch again in the TN 1660s, when Mercantile forces briefly occupied Kossuth and laid siege to Fort William. While these forays were ultimately repelled, the NLC and WFP became convinced that the UMF needed to be brought down. Signing a secret pact, the two leagues formed a combined expeditionary force which gathered in the Lake Clearwater region, posing a threat to the Mercantile capital of Lyonnesse. In the Summer of TN 1669, the expedition￾ary force moved into the UMF and attacked what it believed to be a weak link in the Federation: the city-state of Pioneer.

2.2.3 NORTHERN CONSOLIDATION (TN 1669-1723) The Battle of Pioneer, although remembered as the first victory of UMF armored walker vehicles (see Northern Vehicles Compendium One: Gears and Striders, p. 14), nevertheless sent a message that Mercantile expansionism could only lead to total war. Border skirmishes continued, but large scale Mercantile campaigns were directed toward the Badlands instead of its neighbors. The creation of the Allied Southern Territories in TN 1681 sent shock waves through the North. The Southern Republic was clearly ascendant and aggressive, and Norlight-sponsored discussions on Arctic cooperation began in TN 1683. Mercantile resistance to the plan of unification would continue until the UMF’s defeat against the AST in the Merchant War of TN 1686-1688. The Confederated Northern City-States were born on 1 Spring TN 1692. The CNCS was conceived as a very loose alliance between independent leagues, and remained as such for the first forty￾cycles of its existence. The leagues were all represented by appointed councilors in Valeria, who made decisions about military and economic cooperation. Even in diplomatic and military circles, the CNCS only had strict authority when conflicts arose between member leagues. Under these provisions, the final borders of the North were drawn by TN 1700. 2.2.4 ST.-VINCENT’S WAR (TN 1723-1729) St. Vincent’s Plague and the subsequent war were the major turning points of the post-colonial period, and brought large￾scale suffering to the NLC and laid the ground-work for the current shape of the CNCS. The bioplague released during a battle in the Eastern Desert killed huge numbers of children in the Irrian Plain within a cycle. Such a devastating blow to the heart of their church sent Norlight citizens into an uproar. It was Norlight delegates who pressed for concerted military action against the South and it was the Norlight Armed Forces who launched the first assault of the war. Seasons of disease and cycles of warfare exhausted and destroyed much of the NLC. Several city-states were almost destroyed by Southern forces, a whole generation was killed or maimed and the economy collapsed. Second Follower Lara Domion rose from this chaos to begin the process of healing at the end of the war. She is largely credited with drafting the armistice agreement. Domion’s message of reconciliation and reconstruction kept the NLC together in the dark post-war days and led to the strengthening of the CNCS as a superstructure to support the whole hemisphere in its time of need. Most notably, the Northern Guard was established as an independent armed force and the CNCS Supreme Court was created at this time. Duelist Ranger Bjoris Sonders Bjoris Sonders was born in TN 1678 in a small Badlands homestead county known as Newstone, near the UMF border. In his early teenage years, as most rebellious children at the time , he got involved with a pack of Dawgs. This cultural movement, which died out during the eighteenth century, preached violence, anarchy and social sabotage. Sonders’ particularly violent tendencies were enhanced by his large size, his natural talent for brutality and his modest intellect. Upon reaching the age of 15, he dominated most of his pack mates. Three cycles later, he left the group and walked north to join the UMF military as a soldier. He took to military life as if he was born to it, and rapidly became an accomplished soldier. In TN 1711, he was given the opportunity to transfer into the recently formed Heavy Gear unit, and demon￾strated a natural talent for Gear piloting. He survived several encounters with his machine and, as its neural net grew some habits and a semblance of personality, he finally gave it a name, Bowser. In TN 1717, he was put under the command of Major Rowan Kempder. Soon after he reached his fortieth birthday, he was named Duelist of his regiment. When the UMF forces marched toward the St. Vincent’s wreckage, Bjoris Sonders was a hardened, brutal veteran who thought he knew it all. Sonders knew that Kempder was hardly an innocent man. It was widely known through the ranks that he was using his position to make illegal transactions on the side. While no saint himself, Sonders always resented his commanding officer’s complete lack of honor. When Kempder warned the Southerners off the wreckage of the St. Vincent, Sonders opposed his decision and insisted they should be crushed in a show of force. He made no secret of his disagreement with Kempder, who was reluctant to discipline him because of Sonder’s position as regimental Duelist and the effect it would have on troop morale. Before Kempder could refuse the duel offer from the Southerners, Sonders had already gone to meet his opponent on the battlefield. While very proficient in Gear piloting, Sonders was sorely lacking in tactics and was no match for his Southern opponent. Upon learning of his Duelist’s defeat, Kempder declared the duel had not been properly presented and accepted, and that the result was invalid. He then threw his forces against the South’s and the St. Vincent’s War began. While Sonders survived, Kempder did not. He was courtmartialed after the war, but the unfortunate death of his commanding officer and the absence of any solid testimony against Sonders resulted in an innocent verdict. The truth about what really happened to Kempder is still unknown and is a matter for speculation. Sonders was later discharged on a technicality, which suited him just fine. The events of the war provoked by the folly of Major Kempder sickened him, and he spent most of his remaining cycles as a semi-recluse. Curiously, his assigned Gear neural net was taken out of circulation at the same time.

2.2.5 TIMES OF CONFLICT (TN 1729-1913) Lara Domion is remembered as the last of the truly great Second Followers. All her successors (save the current follower, Thor Hutchison) seemed to guide the faithful into conflict and confusion. The NLC was well on its way to full recovery by the time of Domion’s death in TN 1762, but then the Church became locked in a series of theological and political debates that unraveled some of Domion’s work. Several Second Followers of the period have been judged unfavorably by history, such as the mystic Ali Murayr — who is said to have spent four cycles in silent contemplation before stepping down from the post in TN 1799 — and Lena Morales — who repeatedly called for the annexation of Massada by the NLC in the TN 1840s. The church decentralized during the nineteenth century because Sorrento seemed unable to exert consistent authority. Some regions (including Valeria) saw very liberal interpretations of church doctrine, while others such as Livingstone were home to staunch traditionalists. Despite the terrifying legacy of the war, North-South conflict continued. The nineteenth century saw a relentless series of skirmishes in the Badlands, diplomatic cold wars and covert operations. The flow of trade along the Beta and Gamma maglevs was suspended on several occasions, with resulting economic recessions. The so-called “Judas Syndrome” which gripped the planet in the early twentieth century, was an expression of the cynicism of the previous 100 cycles. With tensions building toward a global war, many Norlight citizens grew willing to sell out their league for a quick reward. In TN 1909, the government of President Elias Garbel was forced to resign when it was revealed that defense minister Jakob Spek had been passing secrets to agents of the Humanist Alliance. Even the church was gripped by internal dissent, and Second Follower Maximilyan Bengali was forced to step down after two cycles service to be replaced by Thor Hutchison. 2.2.6 WAR OF THE ALLIANCE (TN 1913-1917) The attempted invasion of Terra Nova by the Colonial Expeditionary Force was a time of both suffering and triumph for the NLC. CEF orbital bombing damaged many of the league’s major city-states, especially Kossuth, Livingstone and Kenama. The major ground warfare occurred on the borders of the UMF and WFP, but Norlight soil saw its share of bloodshed as well. In the Spring of TN 1915, a CEF task force crossed the Serpentine Range and outflanked Terranovan defenders in the WFP. They drove for the industrial center at Livingstone, slaughtered the defenders and occupied the metropolis 21 Spring. The CEF then sent forces to try and secure the northern extension of the Serpentine Range. They were met by 28th Heavy Gear regiment, who fought them back. The CEF was forced to withdraw from Livingstone before they were com￾pletely cut off from their lines of supply. As far as most Norlight citizens are concerned, the war was won thanks to two men: Field Marshal Anders von Breslau and Second Follower Thor Hutchison. Von Breslau led Terranovan military forces to victory on the battlefield; Hutchison kept the nation together in the face of hardship, using radio and trideo broadcasts to bring a voice of hope to those fighting to save their homes. The CEF repeatedly tried to assassinate these two men, even bombing Sorrento in TN 1914 to silence Hutchison. 2.2.7 POST-WAR PERIOD (TN 1917-1933) After the Treaty of Westphalia symbolized the end of the war, its two heroes had unparalleled prestige. Retiring from military command, Anders von Breslau became Norlight president in TN 1918. Meanwhile, Hutchison was finally able to reign in the internal divisions of the church and spark a true renaissance in Sorrento Revisionism. The faithful were at the heart of the reconstruction movement, funneling huge amounts of charity money from relatively prosperous areas to those hit hardest by the war. Added to the efforts of the von Breslau government, this charitable work helped ignite a period of optimism. Von Breslau remained a strong advocate of inter-league cooperation and built much of his foreign policy of strengthening the links forged during the war. Unfortunately, conflicts that were so prevalent before the war could not be silenced forever. The fiscal policy of the von Breslau government became unstable in the TN 1920s when the UMF began to reassert their financial independence. Social critics also criticized the President for building too many monuments to the heroes of the war and not enough homes and highways for those who survived it. Criminal activity along the Badlands fringe also increased in the post-war period when guerrillas from the war became desert bandits. In the TN 1924 elections, von Breslau’s Liberal Democratic Party was soundly defeated and People’s Party leader Kathë Adjanni became president. Adjanni sees that conflict with the South is not over. She has maintained the strength of the Norlight Armed Forces and increased contributions to the Northern Guard. Her most critical electoral partner has been the Twin Pillars, a religiously based party that ensures that her government remains true to the traditions of the church. Second Follower Hutchison continues to remain in power, and is sometimes directly consulted by President Adjanni on key issues. This cooperation led to the CNCS protectorate over Massada (see Into the Badlands, p. 42 and 64) in TN 1929. Adjanni was reelected in TN 1930 and currently heads a strong coalition government, although she continues to face challenges from both religious and secular circles.

FUNERAL PYRE 8.AU.1935 “Today is a day of sadness.” A somber silence reigned over the crowd of thousands. The Church of the Third Miracle, was crowded as it had never been before. Thousands more were in the streets of Sorrento, watching the proceedings on trideo and video screens or just listening over loud speakers. This whole, massive assembly was silent. It was 8 Autumn 1935 and the faithful had gathered to bury Second Follower Thor Hutchison. Abbot Joh Ison stood before the crowd, his back to the draped coffin that stood alone on the large dais of the church. He had no notes; he had not rehearsed. “Sadness, yes, because we are assembled here to lay to rest a man whose faith and fire brought us so much. But we are also here to remember, even to celebrate, that fire.” Ison hesitated a second and looked at the assembled crowd more closely. In the front row, he saw Reverend Mother Maya Fajil, the leading contender to succeed Hutchison. Ison was not at all sure she had the drive and ability to lead her church through the trying times to come. “Indeed, in the cycles to come we will all have to work to keep that fire burning, lest the tragedy of Revered Hutchison’s death become an affliction that will paralyze us all.” In the second row, Ison saw the political elite of the North. CNCS Chief Justice Winston Stark sat side-by-side with Norlight President Kathë Adjanni. These were the secular leaders Ison worried the most about. They led the nations of the faithful, but he wondered whether the love of Mamoud really burned in their hearts. “It was Reverend Hutchison who brought us out of the darkness of indecision and carried us through the night of the War with Earth. We all looked to him for his wisdom, his teachings and his guidance. Now, his enemies have conspired to silence his strong voice and we must deal with the terrible silence.” There were those in the audience, Ison was glad to notice, whose faith was strong. His own compatriots Johannus Stoller and Kaitian Setha were close by. They wielded significant power in their spheres of influence and their dedication to the cause was beyond question. Further back, Ison saw Ali Rayas and Raja Mondanian, two ministers loyal to the church. Ison hoped that their party would make a good showing at the next elections. But even these people, without Hutchison, were small flames in a sea of faithless darkness. “We have two choices: We can give up on Reverend Hutchison’s dream because he is no longer here to guide us, or we can be courageous and take our own destiny into out hands and lead the lives he would have wanted us to. I, for one, hope we choose the latter. “Do not have any illusions about this decision, however; it will not be easy. We must now deal with an uncertain future without his strong moral leadership. Our fire and passion must come to pick up where his has left off. Only through us, can his drive continue to burn form beyond the grave.” Abbot Ison walked up the steps onto the dais itself. Turning to face the crowd again, he took a match form his pocket and struck it. He held the small flame above a large inset brazier. “To remind us all of the passion we will have to carry within ourselves, I dedicate this eternal flame to Reverend Hutchison.” Ison dropped the match and the brazier lit immediately, a single tall orange flame burning bright. “The Second Follower is with Mamoud. Let us keep him in our hearts as well.  “Thank you.”