Scandian League (Neo)
The Scandian League Land The Scandian League controls most of the territory of the Dragon Dimension. Prima, however, is a free city and Tunlan is also independent. The Winlanese insist that they are independent, but the Scandian government has de facto control. The League has only one major space colony, on Dragon IV, using Guardian dome designs from a century ago.
People The Scandian League has about 350 million people. No one race has a majority, but humans have the largest plurality, followed by Gramorians, Forest Clanners, Arad Dwarves, and Krydions.
Religion About half of Scandians are still atheists. The bloody history of their dimension has led them to consciously remove themselves from belief in anything. Most don’t believe that there is any god who cares about them. Most of the other half follow the home grown religion, Dragonneth (‘Path of the Dragon’). This religion emphasizes the power of the One Dragon God and his omnipresence in all things. It places a heavy emphasis on sacrifice. Tithing is a matter of course, and followers of Dragonneth are expected to to ‘give blood to the Dragon’ ever weekend. This means they prick themselves, drop some blood on a piece of paper, and burn it. The best you can hope for is to be reincarnated; the only afterlife is punishment. The Southern variant, practiced in Arad, is highly rigid and fundamentalist, believing the Dragon dominates all aspects of life and demands rigid adherence in the smallest minutae. It refuses to believe in the existence of dieties besides the Dragon. The Northern variant, practiced in Winlan, is less strict, and has substantial Raineric influence. A few of the elites practice the religions of foreigners; Libertarian Rainericism is the most common.
Economy The people of Scande cannot afford food and housing. Only a system of patronage and clietnelism with the Bureacracy keeps anyone alive at all. Scande has had chronic food problems, but the government barely seems to be even trying to solve them anymore. Scande is probably the hardest hit by the depression. While many other countries have moved on to service economies or high-tech industries, the backbone of the Scandian economy is still manufacturing. Their factories and methods are antiquated and inefficent. Workers are habitually late and drunk. Whatever the Scandian economy actually produces is usually funneled towards the luxury of the Bureacracy or to the military.
Law Regulations are numerous, bewildering, and crushing. But the government really doesn’t have the money to enforce most of them. Most Scandians are probably doing something against one of these laws in the course of a day, but unless they’ve pissed someone powerful off, it doesn’t matter.
<b Government </b> There was a period of democracy in Scande. The dominant party relied on a policy of bread and circuses to keep in power. To administer this more efficently, they created a bureacracy. Eventually, the Bureacracy came to overshadow the government, and now the Government IS the Bureacracy. The Bureacracy is massive and diffuse. There is no dominant leader; everyone in the Bureacracy needs to get approval from someone else to do anything. Feuds between different branches of the Bureacracy are common. Many people ascend to improved positions in the Scandian socioeconomic ladder only through the patronage of bureacrats. The most favored clients of the bureacrats are those that become the next generation of bureacrats. Connections with the bureacracy are the only way for a Scandian to advance his lot in life, but the bureacrat will expect his client to support him later on. This leads bureacrats to build small fiefdoms. The Scandian government is wrought with factionalism and inefficency.
Internal Politics Bureacrats build their own personal little empires of clients and connections. The clash between these forces for a bigger share of the Bureacracy’s power is the internal politics of Scande, and the groups are too small and numerous for a thorough treatment. Meanwhile, the people starve.
Foreign Politics The Scandian League has generally isolated itself from the rest of the Web. They are xenophobic as a result of being targeted for invasion since the birth of the Web. Besides, interaction with foreign powers would decrease the Bureacracy’s control over the Scandian economy. There have been a few substantial recent breaks, however. The Scandian League signaled a willingness to accept foreign aid from Thebes, and were even willing to trade military technology for food, something that was utterly unthinkable before. This is a sign of how bad the situation in Scande really is. Scande has also committe itself to intervention in the Carrionese Theater against the Triad and has even supported the Web Defense Initiative. The Scandians expect the Triad to come for them, and hope to defeat them before the war comes to Scande.
Military On paper, the Scandian League Combined Military has an impressive forty-five infantry regiments supported by twenty-two regiments of tanks. However, it is impossible to tell how many of these regiments are actually at fighting strength and how many were created so the relative of an important bureacrat could command a regiment. Ground forces are equipped with a myriad of weapons, reflecting the whims of the military bureacracy at any particular time. Arms from Kuat, Saeder-Krupp, QHI and even domestic firms have all found their way into Scandian hands. For the most part, they favor light, cheap forces. Supervolt rifles, halftrack APCs, and light tanks are staples of the SLCM’s ground force. Most of the SLCM’s soldiers are undertrained. Most of them think of the military as a an easy job with assured food and a steady paycheck. Most junior officers have no conception of small unit tactics. Scande has a decent-sized blue water navy with a few aircraft carriers. However, these aircraft carriers are the same design as those used by Travinist Scande, just massively updated and exanded. The current flagship is CV-Eighteen . The Roughneck -class gunboat is the only design of the SLCM Space Service. This medium-sized vessel was considered generally crappy when it was introduced thirty years ago. It has been described as “a very good example of a ship designed by committee.” In trying to build a ship good at everything, the Scandians ended up with a ship good at nothing. Its armaments have a variety of ranges, but lack focus. Due to an inexplicable clerical error, the Scandians actually failed to include their only good weapons system, the Supervolt, in the design. Since then, they’ve considered adding the Supervolt (capable of disabling the systems of enemy ships), but not very seriously. The exception to the general rule of crapiness in the Scandian military is the Dracoform Service, elite mecha regiments piloting mecha constructed with the visage of a Dragon. Not only are they better-trained and drilled, but they’re a veteran force. The Snow War of 137-8 when a Ticonderan drug lord offended a Scandian bureacrat ended with the dracoforms routing a substantial mercenary force. Its almost impossible to think that the Scandians are capable of producing the Krogoth-type Dracoform, a towering assault mecha armed with a bewildering array of weapons. Although ponderous, it makes up for it with firepower. The Dracoform Service is a first-rate outfit by any standard. Like the Scandian League itself, there’s no official leader of the SLCM. Its all a matter of who has the best connections.
People
Delwyn Verril Assistant Prime Minister with Special Authority over Foreign Relations. Verril is the person foreigners deal with most, but he cannot make any decisions without approval. Numerous other bureacrats have influence in the foreign relations sphere, but Verril’s fiefdom is currently the dominant one.
Edcer Kolnov Edcer Kolnov is the Overseer of the Subcommitee for National Action. No one knows what that is. But Edcer has plenty of mansions and mistresses because of it.
Dexter Skalice ‘Sinister Dexter’ is the grandson of Travinist-era war hero Halder Skalice. A forest clanner, Dexter actually worked his way up through the SLCM by being a competent officer. Because he offended a powerful bureacrat he was consigned to be liason to Thebes to oversee implementation of Scandian weapons technology in Thebean ships.
Louis Brackham Despite his rank of Colonel, Louis is the real power in the Scandian military. Nicknamed “the Supply King,” Breckham is in charge of the SLCM’s logistics. He was powerful connections not only with the Bureacracy but also with major arms corporations. If it can be acquired in the Web, Brckham can get it. Regimental commanders must stay in his good graces to keep supplied.
Trevor Neider Lt. General Neider is assigned to be the head of Scandian forces in the Carrionese Theater of Operations. A chronic alcoholic.
Albert Danzau Danzau is an Lieutenant (j.g.) in the Dracoform Service. An ace mecha pilot, he has his own specially built Dracoform, the Diamond Serpent. Danzau has a penchant for Eblanese monster movies.
Cities Scande “There was a time when ‘Scandian’ just meant someone from the city of Scande.”-Halder Skalice Pop: 18 million The capital of the Scandian League. Concrete blockhouses from the Travinist era are still used to house the poor. The streets are in ruins. The sewer system has been destroyed. Disease and starvation are rampant. Getting around is almost impossible; one must walk across the urban sprawl. Hundreds die every day. The Bureacracy couldn’t care less.
Arad “There is no God but the Dragon. The Dragon is in all things. The Dragon surrounds and passes through the universe. It is by the will of the Dragon that all things exist. -Book of Dragonneth Pop: 13 million Arad’s population has boomed since becoming a holy center for Dragonneth, especially Southern Dragonneth. Arad’s location in the center of the desert has made the population boom problematic. This is complicated by the fact that the Arad oil wells have dried up and Arad is no longer important economically. Most people in Arad live in large warrens, believing their material sacrifice brings them closer to the Dragon.
Auria “Well, you handle this, Skalice. I’ll be in Auria. -Edcer Kolnov, start of the Snow War Pop: 2 million The Bureacracy restored the gold of Auria. This is the Scandian city that works; police forces maintain order. Most of the Bureacrats go here to rest and relax.
Bleak “Why bother trying to control Bleak?”-Richard Stolskani, Deputy for Housing and Urban Development of the Southwestern Regions Pop: 6 million Bleak is the local crime haven. The cartels of Bleak are weak; most people are independent operators. Officially, the government has abandoned Bleak. Unofficially, many seek to gain a cut of the profitable activities in Bleak.
