 [ShadowsOfEurope] Kosherpickle's SoE review, Just a little at a time! |
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 Jul 29 2004, 11:35 PM
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#26
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Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 637 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,528  |
Oh, Hannover (or Hangover as it is sometimes called) is quite easy to describe. Just one word:
BLAND! If there is your generic large city (it's the capital of Nether-Saxony IRL) than it is Hannover. It has no important part in german history, no important industry, no important anything. It has industrie to employ people (but only secondary compounds), a large trainstation (but not a major train-cross), a medium-sized airport and a place on a major (A2) highway[but not a major cross, the A7 is the secondary route to Hamburg) and a major (Mittelland-Kanal) channel. It's only major points of interest are the two major faires (Hannover Fair of Industrie and, since the late 80s the CeBit) and to the (in)famous Expo:2000 (aka Schroeders EgoTrip) and the ChaosTage. It owns it's existence to the Leine river and a place on the trade route to Braunschweig and lies in a pleasent if bland part of germany. Before the Expo:2000 the city was run-down and dirty but alive. After the Expo the city was like a hooker after a beauty operation - good looking but lifeless. When I was still a student in Braunschweig (that's where you have history) we used to travel there because they had a better-sorted RPG shop. And only for that reason. I doubt that it will change much. Basically the government of D replaces the one of Nether-Saxony and that's it. Birdy |
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Jul 30 2004, 04:17 PM
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#27
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 858 Joined: 25-August 03 From: Braunschweig, North German League, Allied German States Member No.: 5,537 |
"Lower Saxony"
When I was still in school (the 90ies) my friends and I used to travel from Celle to Hannover to visit the RPG shops, too. Those were the days... Trivial Book Shop, Comics am Raschplatz, Fantasy In... |
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Aug 2 2004, 08:03 AM
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#28
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 637 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,528 |
Seuufz - now all's lost but honor and fond memories... Birdy |
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Aug 4 2004, 07:58 AM
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#29
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921 |
Let's hope the next few aren't bland. Sorry for the tremendous delay. I want to get the whole book finished by Thursday, so I'll kick it into overdrive. Part 4: Romance and Pole Dance Today, we learn about the Italian Confederation, Portugal...and war-torn Poland. Bonus Material! First up is a focused primer of Italy's future alternative history. (God, I love that phrase.) The Confederation has been known in its current form only since 2045. But there's still plenty of people and organizations that have existed prior to that. Italy's history always seems to sound the same: corruption in the political venues, organized crime pulling certain strings from behind the scenes, and the Catholic Church sitting serenely through it all. What you really need to know is this: the Euro Wars did a number on Italy, and the Catholic Church attempted to be a beacon of hope in the darkness. Milan got hosed by riots, and Genoa and Turin fell the next day to the same fate. The political system went into cardiac arrest, and the various regions decided mitosis was the way to go. Pope John XXV brought about the creation of the Papal States, and Rome asked in. That was in 2037. Some time later, the various regions pulled together -- sort of -- and created the creature that's now known as the Italian Confederation. Take a long hard look, kids. This isn't exactly Caesar's Rome. Next is a focused primer on the Catholic Church. If you're talking about Italy, you can't neglect Mother Church. No mention of our current Holiness, John Paul II is mentioned. We do get, however, two more John Pauls to make up for it. We get no information about when JPIII took over the helm, but we do find out he did in 2010, thanks to VITAS. Didn't something big happen the next year? Oh, right. JPIV saw what was happening, put up a big hand, and said, "Denial!" January 1, 2012 was the day that JPIV said it's okay to player-hate on magic, metahumans, and other funness brought around by the Awakening. This led to the Schism. Conservative areas like Italy, Spain and Poland were drinking JPIV's Haterade, but Ireland (heh), France, Brazil (still called Brazil then), and "USA! USA!" said "Make love, not war." Two years later, and we need a new pope. We finally get a moderate in John XXV from Brazil. He tries pushing reforms through, but the conservatives in the administration (Curia) aren't having with it. It takes 10 years for In Imago Dei to come to fruition. After IID, Germany said "No thanks." Also created was the Sylvestrine Order. As if IID wasn't crazy enough, women finally get suffrage, I mean, a chance to become priests in 2042. The pope is currently 99 years old, and could probably kick the ass of everyone else on Zurich-Orbital. He is currently leading his "Enlightened" faction in the Church, locked in a contentious battle with the Conservatives. The Church itself is divided into two types of people: those who stand and preach, and those that do everything else. The first group has people in it like priests, bishops, archbishops, and good ol' Johnny Two Bits. Everyone else is lumped into a group called the Orders of Saints. We've got Great Orders and not-so-great (Minor) Orders. Great Orders are Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, and New (not necessarily improved) Jesuits. Minor Orders are the Augustinians, Sylvestrines, Hospitalares (guess what one of their jobs is), and Trinitarians. Want to know what these classes do? Buy the book! More Vatican hilarity. The conservatives bide their time, as they know that no matter how much God loves John XXV, he's going to get recalled at some point. Johnny Two Bits is working to put people and plans into place, hoping to outsmart the old guard. Here's how the Vatican keeps itself going, by the way. They have money. Lots of it. We're talking extraterritorial corp rich. Funny, since they own a few. They've got info. We're talking databanks that make Shiawase's MIFD look like they're using punchcards. (OOC alert: Should shadowposters refer to the number after the color of a system's difficulty? "Red System" sounds okay to me. "Red-6" doesn't for some reason.) They've got political connections. As a matter of fact, the Vatican is the head of the Italian Confederation Council. Finally, they've got 800 million people believing in approximately the same thing they do. That number isn't as high as it used to be, what with the Schism and all, plus disenfranchised congregation members. Still, partial Catholics are better than non-Catholics, and the message sent out by France's, Poland's, and Spain's Churches help more than hinder. Now for Michael Jordan's major in college: Geography. First off are the Papal States. What's fun and exciting is the ambiguity of who's really in charge. We've got the Curia being a source of power in the region, but at the same time, corps handle much of the infrastructure. Really, it's a toss-up. This bi-polarity is actually a theme of the region, and makes it a fascinating study in culture. Rome is still the capital, however, and is extremely important no matter what facet of society you're talking about. The mix of old and new makes Prague look like Atlanta, a city which makes no sense and was designed by pot-smoking hippies. Rome has strict building guidelines, so all corp offices are squat and seem to sprawl. You won't find a Renraku Arcology or Aztechnology Pyramid here, chummers. Tourists are ever-present and make for a crowded downtown, made worse by narrow streets. Their version of Grid Guide can't even by called a Guide; it's more of a informal suggestion. Genoa, Milan, and Turin were all felled by riots. Figures that they'd be collectively grouped together in a place called the GeMiTo sprawl. Think Redmond Barrens, but almost as large as Switzerland. Companies still have buildings and assets there; razor wire and guards with milspec are the norm here. An uneasy peace between poor bastards and corps exists, where the citizens leave the corps alone for the most part, and the corps let the citizens have bare bones survival necessities. Point of interest are Genoa, Societa Thaumaturgica, The Markets, NewVara, and The Hole. Genoa is a port in GeMiTo, with the only "authorities" being the Camorra branch of the Mafia. Societa Thaumaturgica is a free school for the Gifted run by the Sylvestrines. Every three weeks, The Markets (also known as Fiere), occur. A cease-fire is called, and bartering occurs. Well, you can pay with scrip, too, but make sure it's physical cred. Not many places have a credstick reader. You can find a lot of things in these markets, but you won't find the goods and services of organleggers. Keep on the look-out for the N'dranghetta branch of the Mafia. They're a serious power with regards to Fiere. (We again get a shadowposter giving a description about how the N'dranghetta work, reinforcing what they really are.) NewVara is the largest of the tent towns in GeMiTo, of which there are actually a few. Sounds like a nice place to get lost, but GMs will have to make up the details themselves. The Hole is a patch of land that serves as the dumping ground for three corps: Renault-Fiat, AG Chemie, and Shiawase. It's all industrial and chemical stuff, and sometimes there's good stuff. But yeah, some of it's also toxic. Crack open your Target: Wastelands book, kiddies, and go to town. Or Critters. Or both. Now, other places in Italy. We got your Republic of Tuscany, with the capital of Florence. It's only now decided to go along with Rome on policy decisions. This place is a hotbed of media and entertainment, and there are families with serious money here. We got your Italian state of Mezzogiorno, and its capital of Naples. It's a port city, so pirate and smuggler campaigns will see plenty of action. For the most part, Mezzogiorno and Naples suck for the people who live there, so it's a perfect breeding ground for corrpution and crime. Don't forget to pay the Camorra the pizzo, the 10% cut that is owed them for anything that happens there. Fail to do that, and you may not be around much longer to do anything else. Sicily is essentially a Cosa Nostra stronghold. Really, there's nothing here that doesn't have anything to do with them. Most of the stuff on the island like resorts and hotels is owned by the Familia, and the members of the Familia are treated like royalty. Trieste is a free city that is a thriving port. It's a place that's seeing more and more megacorp influence. Carnia's big claim to fame is as a region that's a waypoint for smugglers of all types, from and into Austria, the Balkans, and the Confederation. Bordering Carnia is Serenissima, whose capital is the well-known Venice. This place has a lot of money and bluebloods, since many nobles fled here to get away from bad happenings earlier in the century. The odd thing going on with Venice is the waterways that mysteriously cleared up...but that was six years ago. Big Brother is a serious issue in Venice, and runners will need to tread lightly and be smart about what they do. Poland has much more interesting and topical issue going on with it. Seems there was a small uprising. Something about a liberation army rising up against the Russian incursion, although one has to wonder at what point it can no longer be called an incursion. Is 23 years enough time? Poland's never been a rich country, and the events of the new millenium did nothing to help them. VITAS, the Awakening, the Crash, and the Border Wars (where Poland sent troops to Belarus and the Baltics to help against the Russians) only drained the country of its wealth and will. Then came the Euro Wars, with the Russians wanting to educate Poland about its way of life. They were good enough to withdraw in 2034, but five years later, the Night of Rage made its way to Poland. And the Russians were called back in to help put down resistance. Corps moved their heavy industry subsidiaries to the area, and gained a wealth of cheap labor. An organized movement called the Domestic Army (AK) started up. Resistance grew, but only the masses suffered. Finally, on November 2nd of 2062, the AK brought the fight to the Russians with an attack both in the physical world and the Matrix. The citizens rallied, but the Russians were too strong to be completely removed. A Free Republic was set up in the southwest, and the battlelines were drawn. Now, we've got a Free Republic and a National Republic. We'll take a look at the National Republic first. The head of government is a guy by the name of Rybinski (his underlings are rybokrats), and he seriously dislikes the situation. The Russians are barely keeping things together, and his followers are slowly leaving the country. Things to know about the Russian military presence: it's very prevalent. They're headed by a man named General Mikhail Suchov. (Thing to note: there's a lot of names to keep track of, as well as terms to keep in mind. It'll be a fair effort to keep it all straight.) The Russians have serious problems on their hands because they're not really being funded by Russia; their sugar-daddy is Rybinski, and his regime isn't as rich as it used to be. We said "Heavy Industry" earlier, right? Well, that phrase goes hand in hand with Saeder-Krupp. Its Polish affiliates merged into a consortium called Konglomerat-Przemyslowo-Wydobywczy (thankfully, it's also known by the acronym KP-W, or as Konglomerat). S-K in some form or fashion is responsible for 40% of NRP's economy. Most of its stuff resides in and around Krakow, which itself is in a region called the Malopolska Free Trade Zone. Incidentally, working conditions at S-K locations are stellar compared to what the Poles are used to. Is this how they endear themselves to the common man? References keep being made to a fellow named Stanislaw Wiacek, and any of you who have Corporate Download will remember him from the S-K section. How important is he in the scheme of things? I'm not really sure, but he's still around and doing stuff for Lofwyr so he must have done something right. The Free Republic isn't as large an area as NRP, and there's less going on, it seems. Elections haven't really taken off yet, and the biggest issue is keeping the citizens alive while the Domestic and Liberation (AW) Armies plan for another push. Some notes on the AW: they're composed of all kinds. Husaria mercs, AK guerillas, Nationalist Army deserters, and random recruits make up this rag-tag bunch. The leader of the band is General Michal "Daddy" Marszalik. He's currently arguing with General Andrzej Wysocki on where and when to strike next. Both the AW and the AK sustained heavy losses during the uprising, but the AK seems like it's in a worse way. It's current goal is to rid Warsaw-Lodz of the Vory so that the Warsaw Syndykat can take their turf. Really, to me, one syndicate is as bad as another, but nationalism wins out in the end, I suppose. AK names of importance are General Kruk, who may or may not be running the show, and Captain Zbik, the ork who's clearing out the Vory and the rybokrats. Other players exist in Poland with their own goals. The Catholic Church is very influential in the lives of Poles, and they're a conservative bunch. They make their HQ at Czestochowa, which is an interesting place in itself, since apparitions of the apostles are seen there every so often. The guy with the biggest hat in the area is Cardinal Wojtowicz. Incidentally, the Church controls an AA corp by the name of Providence Corporation (KOB). KOB does the media and finance thing, which surprises absolutely no one. Other corps in Poland are Yamatetsu, AG Chemie, Zeta-Impchen, and Gaz-Niki. Free Tricity is another story, and everyone's playing the game there. The Organized Crime struggle is a fairly interesting one, as it mirrors the situation going on with the militaries. The Red Vory are the establishment, much like the Russian Army. The Syndykats at one time were the main power, but they lost a lot of ground to the Russians. Now they're clawing and scratching, trying to work together to kick out the Russian Menace. One of the strangest things I've seen in the book, however, is in this section. The person detailing the situation out-and-out says that the right-hand man of one of the Syndykat leaders is a Vory guy. Shouldn't he be dead by now, or at least some serious questions raised? These people have Matrix access, right? Poland's got a coast, and Tricity is a port, so we've got pirates. They're called the Kapers, and they even have a council where they decide things. It's really quite quaint. Finally, some information about different parts of Poland. Maybe we won't have so many names to deal with. Free Tricity and the Mazury-Bialowieski Containment Area are the places to be here. Tricity is a Smuggler Haven™ and a corp stronghold. The Containment Area is home to a region that had toxic flooding, and also has a forest that some suspect to be a living organism. Once you're in, it won't let you out. Smack in the middle of Poland is the Warsaw-Lodz sprawl. It's not a pretty place. Smog, corps, and rybokrats make it a nasty place. Finally, the southwest has the front lines of the NRP and FRP struggle. Wroclaw in FRP is mostly an underground city now because of all the bombings that take place topside. Stuff gets shipped in all the time from the Czech Republic and Germany, so there's plenty of stuff to do, even if it is the same damn thing. Oswiecim is not really a tourist attraction; the spirits of guards and prisoners from Auschwitz run rampant here, and the Sylvestrine barrier erected in 2035 isn't as strong as it used to be. What would a screwed up place like Poland be without a Great Dragon? Incomplete, that's what. Calozerca looks to just be cruising the skies, and no one's got any clue what his thing is. Third on the list, and last for this portion, is Portugal. It's the smaller of the two countries that make up the Iberian Peninsula, but hey...they carved out a huge country by the name of Brazil a while ago. They can get it done when it counts. Then again, Spanish is the hot language right now...never mind this! Spain's another day. Portugal in Shadowrun is a weird place. I read the section and I'm not sure I agree with the Game Information's idea of Portugal, but my WWII knowledge definitely didn't focus on Portugal. I paid more attention to where fighting actually happened, y'know? What we've got currently is the indigenous population, Brazillian refugees who saw something they didn't like in the forming of Amazonia, and African and Arab refugees from North Africa. Portugal's a hotbed for mercs, too. Were it not for the Conservative Catholic influences, this place might be a rival to the Czech "quilt of racial tolerance." Well, maybe not. Just because poor Brazillians live in shanty towns doesn't mean there's intolerance, however. The shadowposter who made the implication isn't really working the logic through on that one. Culture here is unique (duh!), with people going to work at 10AM, as opposed to the normal 7 or 8. Catholicism is a serious thing here, as is football (soccer). I wonder if Amazonia is still a World Cup power, and if it's still called the beautiful game. Corp talk in Portugal starts with Lusiada. It's basically Portugal's national corporation, but it's not like the Pueblo Corporate Council or Aztlan. It's a different beast entirely. This all started in 2036 when Portugal saw that the world was coming down around its ears, and partially nationalized over 150 companies into one bloated national corp. The government owns a fair stake, but most of it is in the hands of four very wealthy families. Let's meet them, shall we? The Balsemaos, the Castro-Marins, the Champalimauds, and the Espirito-Santos. Joaquim Balsemao is the head of his family. He's a member of the New Western Dawn Masonic Lodge (would calling them the Freemasons be horribly incorrect?), and he made Manuel Champalimaud angry when he refused some monetary aid in a bleak period. The Castro-Marins are led by the twins Guilherme and Jaime. Their family is actually Brazilian, not Portugeuse, so that tends to create interesting conversations with some of the other power families. Manuel Champalimaud is the head of the family by the same name. He's also got ties to the NWDML. He's recently gone missing as of late. He's probably off on a bender with the monarch from the Troll Kingdom in Germany. Can't anyone take a little time off? The Espirito-Santos family is very conservative and religious. One of their own is actually going into the priesthood. They're now linked through marriage to House Rohan back in France. The family member who's going into the priesthood? His godfather is Cardinal Tavares, head honcho in Portugal. He wasn't happy with Johnny Two Bits and In Imago Dei. As a bonus, we have a CEO who doesn't really link to any of the families mentioned. Emanuel Salles pissed everyone off the least, and sometimes that's enough to get the job done. He's a former schoolmate of Johnny Spinrad. You think Spinrad is recruiting him in his vendetta against Lofwyr? Most corps in Portugal aren't monolithic. They're small and specialized. A couple exception exist in the form of Spinrad Industries and Aegis Cognito. SpIn now has their shop set up in Portugal after finding the going rough in France and Monaco. SpIn hasn't regained the AA rating they lost in 2051, but they're slowly making the climb back up the slope. Aegis Cognito came up with a brilliant concept: recover data lost in the Crash. These guys are all about data. They eventually expanded their interests into the information sector, and now have terapulses of info on lots of junk. Society isn't all pretty. Organized Crime exists here, as it does everywhere else. The Mafia branch here is the Baptista family. This makes no one in Spain's Vasquez syndicate thrilled, to say the least. Portugal's got a big coastline, and shipping and smuggling are big concerns here. Remember to pay the family its cut. Also active here is Kussondulola, an African cartel. They've got an agreement worked out with the Baptistas to do the drug and BTL distro in the area, but their biggest concern is smuggling of all kinds. We check in now in Lisbon, the capital of this place. Why are all of these Euro cities mixes of old and new architecture? Just once, I'd like to see "they got rid of all the old stuff." The description even vaguely sounds like Rome. The African themes make it seem somewhat different, though. Most of the corp stuff in Lisbon is in the eastern portion of the city. Across the Tagus river, however, the Lusiada HQ stands tall and proud. The Sentinel is a 120-floor spire of homegrown corp. The southern portion of Portugal was leased out to the megas and turned into a vacation spot for their workers. It's called the Algarve Corporate Enclave, and there are corps a-plenty with investments in this place. Security is fairly tight, but varies throughout the region. Final Thoughts: Italy always seems like it's a poor man's Germany. They're very similar in many ways, but Germany always seems to do everything bigger and better. That's true for the most part here, but Italy finally has something that Germany can't match: the Roman Catholic Church. This thing is monstrous, and lends itself to multiple and various campaigns. This thing can take you anywhere in the world. Italy also has it's opportunities for smuggling and standard corp runs. The merc aspect is possible, but it's not really expounded upon. It can be made to work, but effort needs to be made. Poland is kind of limited in what can be done there, but it's definitely not as bad as the Czech Republic. And you can even make a campaign here. Granted, that campaign will probably involve the slaughter of tons of Russians or Poles, depending on which side you're on, but at least it's there. Smuggling is another possibility, but Tricity isn't going to be the home base of operations for most campaigns. The corp aspect is very limited, and focuses mostly on S-K. On a side note, the names and words got to me after a while. Reading this section gave me a headache and made me feel like I was carsick. Maybe it's the foreign letters; I'm not sure. Lots of names and one-use Polish words didn't make for easy reading. Portugal got a limited spread, but they made the most of it. Focused presentation, and they hit the high spots. There might be a lack of specific information, but all the important stuff seems to be there. You may not get the exact feeling the Game Info section suggests, but you get a feel for the place nonetheless. Whoever wrote Poland might want to look at Portugal's section. Poland's got too much specific information and too many names. Sometimes, less is more. Italian Confederation: 7.5/10. Poland: 6.5/10. Portugal: 8/10. What've we got left? Scandanavia, Spain, Switzerland, Tir Na Nog, the UK, the United Netherlands, and a small wrap-up section. Wow, I've got my work cut out for me. Till next time, chummers. |
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Aug 4 2004, 11:13 PM
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#30
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 515 Joined: 10-April 04 From: Chicago, IL...Ich vermisse Deutschland. Member No.: 6,230 |
Actually, compare Italy with the old Italian states, circa oh Machiavella's Prince. That's really where the present stuff comes from.
Also consider how many non-Catholics the Pope and by extention the Catholic Church can influence. If the Pope stands up tomorrow (assuming he can stand) and says Bush is the devil (just to present a clear example), how many people will agree or follow the Pope's words? Quite a few, especially non-Catholics would say, "You know, that thar pope has sohmin thar." As for Portugal. Synner (Peter Taylor) lives there. If that's what he says about it, I'll go with, he's right. Never been to Portugal and I only know it through the EM that took place recently. I'd have mentioned football (soccer for us Americans) as a big thing in Europe. 3 best times of my life involving football: 1) Watching Greece beat Portugal, drinking a beer with buds, 2) Watching the World Cup Finale in Stuttgart, Germany v. Brazil, with my then girl in an open air Brazilian club, 3) Watching VFB Stuttgart v. Bochum live in the stadium in Aalen a couple weeks ago(who they smoked oh so overwhelmingly). It's a part of the culture. Don |
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Aug 5 2004, 12:12 AM
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#31
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
I like to say that while the Czech Rep is the patchwork quilt of cultures, Portugal is the blender. There's a lot more to it than that though and I only wish I'd had space for the other 100 pages of material I had lying around... but rest assured it will see the light of day one way or another.
In defense of the Polish crew I'd like to say that their chapter intentionally tried to reflect the chaos and impossibility of detailing what is truly going on in a highly volatile situation. |
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Aug 5 2004, 12:56 AM
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#32
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921 |
I understand that not everything can be written in the same way, for it would get tedious after a while. But the unfamiliar words and letters just made it extremely difficult to keep track of everything. And for the record, I thought calling John XXV "Johnny Two Bits" was funny. :) I'm not going to get it done by tomorrow. Maybe a week from tomorrow. :) |
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Aug 12 2004, 05:18 AM
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#33
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921 |
The show continues. Part 5: o/~"People that come together...."o/~ All right, people. Scandanavian Union. I was also going to do Spain, but I wanted to post something sooner than later. My real world knowledge of Scandanavia is rather limited, unfortunately. I know that Legoland is in Denmark. There's something called "the Stockholm Syndrome." And vikings came from this area, or something. I think with these three key facts, I know more about Scandanavia than 80% of Americans. But thankfully, this chapter will tell us more. And some of it even has to do with Scandanavia today! The Scandanavian Union was essentially a product of all the bad stuff happening. Crash of 29, Evil Russians from the East, so on and so forth. Having a union such as this one didn't go over well with a lot of the citizens. I hear there's this thing called "nationalism," or something like that. Anyway, this concept succeeded, and now things are definitely a sight better than they might have been had the Union never formed. With the realignment of the countries into the Union came a revised government of a sorts. Finland and Norway are technically republics, and Denmark and Sweden are monarchies (all of them parliamentary), but here's how the system works. We have a Council of Ministers. 40 ministers in all, 10 from each country. (We don't find out how they get elected to these positions.) There's also a Union Parliament which deals with stuff the Council of Ministers thinks isn't worth their time. Parliament is made up of 54 members (not divisible by four, if you're paying attention), elected every six years. The Scandanavian Commission puts into action legislation set by the previous two groups. The Commission itself is put together by the Council. The Union is an over-riding system, and it has priority when it comes to law and world affairs. Borders between the member countries are basically non-existant. Things aren't totally egalitarian, however. Sweden is still the leader of the pack, and Norway has a big "L" on her forehead. Ever notice how the Corporate Court tends to get into contentious battles with European countries? The Union didn't quite play the same level of hardball as France did, but they played a tough game nonetheless. We don't actually have a physical copy of the Corporate Court's Business Recognition Accords (well, at least I don't), but here are some of the amendments made when the Commission and the Union finally agreed on something: 1. Extraterritoriality is granted unconditionally to AAA corps only. AA corps must negotiate for it with the member countries. 2. Extraterritorial corps cannot be hired to perform police functions there. Sorry, Knight Errant and Hard Corps. 3. Strict restrictions for corporate armed forces. Less strict restrictions for police corps, but certain policies must be abided by. 4. Local multinational corps will stay local by limiting shares sold abroad. September 2063 is when the the amendments come up for review between the Union and the Corporate Court. You think "deniable assets" might play a role in this? We in the real world are going through a period where wireless networking is the major thing. So it comes as no surprise that in Shadowrun, the Wireless Matrix Initiative is occurring. Yeah, the Crash of '29 set people back, and they basically rebuilt the way computers work and operate from the ground-up. 35 years after the fact, a reliable nationwide wireless network is in the cards for the Scand Union. The major players in this one are Erika (formerly Ericsson and Nokia) and Transys Neuronet. (I guess Eliohann will be able to go insane in the Matrix hands-free now.) Saeder-Krupp has gotten the short end of the stick here, so a focused shadow-war is currently in operation. Novatech, Renraku, and Mitsuhama seem eager to join the fray. Could one of these out-of-town darkhorses steal some key personnel and contracts? Culturally, the Scand Union countries don't differ all that much, especially since the borders between them became nonexistant. We've got a few groups to keep and eye on, however. The Sami (aka Lappish) are the indigenous folk of the northern regions. No noise about making their own nation so far. Problems in Norway may eventually lead to a separatist Lapland. (In all seriousness, how do these little countries even survive on their own? Any serious effort to pool resources would easily bring rogue provinces and such back into the fold, in my opinion. I'm always a little mistified.) The Aesir society is one of the most popular Norse-related groups. Radical ideas such as gender equality and a back-to-nature lifestyle seem to mystify others in the region. They build farms and collectives out in the rural areas, where they work the land, live peacefully, and help fill out the ranks of the Winternight terrorist group. If you're not paying attention, you may not notice how the Siida, another slice of Scandanavia's cultural pie, is different from the first two. These guys are also anti-tech and back-to-nature. Hanging out with the Siida, however, is probably a safer proposition than the Aesir or the Sami. Organized Crime is everpresent. The main players here are the Vory. This is fairly obvious and logical, given Scandanavia's proximity to Russia. The group here is the Lobatchevskis. What's interesting is that they've got serious ins with the Scand bureaucracy. It does fit their "white-collar " background, though. You may have read this in another thread: Scanadanavia has vikings, and not the Minnesota football kind. These gangs take the lower-end stuff that the Vory has mostly little use for. Serious ties to the Aesir, and obvious breeding ground for Winternight operatives. There appears to be an issue over who's the head honcho, however, so the gangs look like they're going to have a familial dispute. Lastly are the Yakuza. They mostly hang around Oslo, since the Japanacorps are there. Onto individual countries. Denmark is first, since we're alphabetical. Oh yeah. The other thing I remember about Denmark is that Danish is an ugly sounding language. :) Anyway, we get a short blurb on the general attitude of the Danish. Humble, proud, sometimes proud of being humble. Danes think of themselves as small cogs in a machine, so Denmark joining the Union was a formality. Corp control is limited, except on the island of Funen. Jutland, which is the part of Denmark most people will point to on a map, is a toxic wasteland. Refugees from Jutland flooded onto the island of Zealand, driving down property values there, so to speak. The Crash of 29 did Denmark no favors, and a large black market sprang up, which still exists currently. Denmark attempted to stay out of the Euro Wars, and was successful for the most part. Their current goal is the recreation of the welfare state. The hot corp type in Denmark is currently biotech. Corps here are mostly small. The Big 10 each have a presence here, but it's only a presence. The major player is Tyr Inc. They provide all kinds of services: medical, police, and they run the Free Trade City of Christiania. The peninsula of Jutland could probably be described by the Toxic Zone section of Target: Wastelands. But people still live there, and not just researchers and prisoners working to remove the toxins. Siida communities don't really thrive, but they're there. Funen is where the corps play for the most part. It's the only part of Denmark that hasn't really changed much. Hans Christian Andersen was born here, and the Council that rules here is intent on keeping its image. Zealand is mostly about the Orestad, the metroplex which has Copenhagen as its core. Interesting fact: four different police forces work in this area. That's both good and bad for runners. Just try to maximize the good and minimize the bad. Christiania is a section of Copenhagen that's under Tyr control. Hippies and anarchists used to live there, but Copenhagen got Tyr to kick them out in 2026. In one of the greatest miracles of the 21st century, no one was killed during this process. Copenhagen couldn't afford Tyr's price, so Tyr just took over the area. It's called a free trade zone for good reason. Slaves, organs, and the like are about the only things that aren't traded. Ship City is the other place of interest here. This originated when some Jutland refugees took to the sea to escape the toxic waves. They were denied at a port in Zealand, but a weirdo named Henrik Gaarde had an idea. He hooked three large vessels together, and told the refugees they were welcome to attach their ships. Now, it's a floating city just off the coast of Copenhagen. Currently, the Lobatchevski Syndicate rules Ship City. It's a tourist attraction, and boasts two casinos and a hotel. Smuggling takes place under the water, and black-market dealings occur on the fringes of Ship City. Sounds like home, really. Finland is home to oppressive forests and weird magic. (Starting to see why Target: Awakened Lands was limited in scope?) Finland did a serious prep job for a Russian invasion which never materialized. In its wake is a country that nationalized most of its corps and has only one real corp to speak of: Erika. Erika took advantage of the nationalized corps, buying and acquiring them hand over fist, and became an AA corp in 2048. Erika has a serious hold on the Finnish government, one which it doesn't plan on loosening. Erika's got problems, however, with the upcoming summit between the Union and the Corporate Court. They're being pulled in both directions, and no one's sure which way they'll go. Finland is a good place to go for Shadowrunning...if you want to go somewhere else. Seriously, most of the activity in the area is actually taking place in Norway, Sweden, or Russia. Yes, Finland is still nervous about Russia. With Russia losing some of its grip on Poland, maybe they need to grab a piece of Finland to boost their confidence. If you are staying in Finland for the run, it's probably got to do with Erika, the government, or both. Now, about that weird magic. The Haparanda Anomaly Zone is home to thick forests and strange paranimals. This was strange enough, but toxic pollution entered the region, and the two "forces" started a war of sorts. That was also strange, but then the Comet came. Now, the forests and toxic areas have become bedfellows. The combination is startling, to say the least, and research of the area is more frantic than it ever was. Norway, for the most part, looks like it's the redheaded step-child of the Union. Racked with poverty, the Corps came in after the Crash and started raping the countryside for the natural resources. Norwegians weren't being hired for the most part, and the government had no strong welfare system in place. Norway, outside of corp enclaves, is a Barrens. Norway has no homegrown extraterritorial corps, and Saeder-Krupp and AG Chemie are sucking the ocean's resources dry. Oslo is the only real place of importance, but it's very important to the cybertech people. Lots of cyber clinics here. A small section on Norwegian runners here. They're more likely to blend in than typical shadowrunners (yeah, even you with the Blandness Edge). They're cynical and not flashy. The book makes an interesting point that the cynical part comes in because shadowrunners are making their living by working for the people who've exploited the region, and that their actions are only perpetuating the process. Oslo is a kickass place. It runs and feels like a normal city. Secure downtown, not-so-much for the outer portions. But if you can keep yourself safe, then you're in okay shape. Vory has a lot of pull in this city. The big draw here are the prolific cyberclinics. The good news? Most of them are shadowclinics. The small bio and cybertech players find that they can make good Euros by installing illegal Tailored Pheremones on the side for people that have money and don't want questions asked. And if you're really one of their faves, they'll even let you field-test a prototype or two. Also here is something called the Black Stock Exchange. I'm not really certain how this works, but it's a physical stock exchange with paper stock and all that. Like all black-market type things, its location changes about every other time it occurs, which is every week, for the first three days of the week. Sweden is a land where Terra First! fits right in. The Swedes are definitely the class of the Union. Clean countryside, well-kept cities, and a high standard of living make this one of the best countries to live in, worldwide. Sweden is fairly corp-hostile, but it's mostly to the foreign corps. And they're hostile to any corp which is a serious polluter. A company like Proteus AG really confuses the hell out of them, as they have been known to do serious stuff to the ocean but also are helping clean up Denmark. The major local corps in Sweden are Erika, Hydrolux Engineering, and SAAB. We already know plenty about Erika (aka, the Finnish government). It's kind of obvious what Hydrolux brings to the table. SAAB is your typical automobile/armaments manufacturer. The Shadows in Sweden aren't very friendly ones. Sweden tends to limit the corp presence to their homegrowns, and they protect them with serious assets, including a special taskforce. The police aren't shabby either. What this all adds up to is increased pay for a more challenging area. No n00bs need apply, please. One last thing? Remember the automated robot vaccum cleaners and all those other things from Sprawl Survival Guide? You're likely to see all that and more when you visit Stockholm. Many, many automated services function here. If a rigger manages to sneak in a quality RC deck, or a decker comes in with the right equipment, they could really have some fun. Final thoughts: The emphasis seems to be on the Union as a whole, as opposed to the individual countries, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Everybody wants to feel special, but I don't think it's always required. Besides, the Union is a unique and interesting place, unlike anything else in Shadowrun. The struggles between local and foreign, corp and anti-corp, and even internal struggles are well detailed. Sweden and Denmark seem fairly secure in who they are and their place in the world. Finland is a little less so, but they've had Russians breathing down their necks for over 100 years. Norway is getting the short end of the stick, and provides a nice balance of dissatisfaction to everyone else's Happy Hour. Previous books go well with the information given here. The Scandanavian Union is a reason for everyone to learn the decking rules, as the Wireless Matrix Initiative seems like something really important. 8.5/10. Spain is next. Time to run with the bulls. |
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Aug 12 2004, 07:21 AM
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#34
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,759 Joined: 11-December 02 From: France Member No.: 3,723 |
It should be noted they're not the first countries to differ from the UCAS norm (which make me tell the BRA is actually more of a minimal agreement). The Pueblo Council has operating license and an audits system ; in the CAS the governement has to appprove all real estate transaction a megacorp is involved in ; in Québec it's even tougher since there is a limited numbers of Entreprise Zones to be leased where extraterritoriality can apply. And those three countries signed the BRA !? |
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Aug 12 2004, 12:27 PM
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#35
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Target Group: Members Posts: 26 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 280 |
Oh man, Mr. Pickle, thanks a lot! This one's going up on the wall. :) I think someone could gather all your reviews and release them as Cliff Notes to the SoE book. :D I'm thrilled that you liked it, but what's even better is that you seem to have understood very clearly what I've tried to convey. But there were a couple of exceptions. I haven't gotten the book yet, and it seems that the pre-layout text I've read has been changed somewhat, so it might be I'm wrong on some stuff.
It should say somewhere that all Union citizens can vote for all minister-candidates. So a Dane can vote for a Finnish candidate.
Actually they can, but they lose their extraterritorial rights. KE has contracts in several Scandinavian cities. |
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Aug 12 2004, 01:47 PM
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#36
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 647 Joined: 9-September 03 From: Sorø, Denmark Member No.: 5,604 |
Thanks a lot, this sounds better than what limited information others have given so far. Must get that book soon. However there are a few things that made me wonder:
Does it stat that Norway is a republic? Today Norway is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government, just like Denmark and Sweden.
That's just like today!
Well Swedish sound just like Danish with your mouth full of hot potatoes.
At least that look better than what was hinted at earlier. I had heard stories about most of Denmark being destroyed by the Black Tide.
Make that closer to 250+ years. Finland was conquered by by the armies of Russian Emperor Alexander I in 1808. I also though they were finally going to move Iceland from TPA to Scandinavia, since that makes a lot more sense. Lars |
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Aug 12 2004, 02:32 PM
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#37
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Target Group: Members Posts: 26 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 280 |
Not too sure about what the book says about monarchy/republic, but I haven't really said anything about it in the text, so it's something that's been added in editing. Figures that Norway has become an republic though, it's really not a place for royals. :)
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Aug 12 2004, 08:09 PM
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#38
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 179 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 381 |
Jutland is most of Denmark...
Didn't Target: Wastelands sort that out. Don't own the book myself, but I believe that was Tzeentch's intention. |
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Aug 12 2004, 08:49 PM
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#39
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Target Group: Members Posts: 26 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 280 |
T: wl just said that it was a current issue in Iceland IIRC. In SoE it's mentioned that the absorption of Iceland and Estonia into the union is under consideration.
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Aug 13 2004, 01:17 AM
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#40
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,665 Joined: 26-April 03 From: Sweden Member No.: 4,516 |
You mean the other way around :elims: Here in Sweden, we say that all you need to speak Danish is a throatful of porridge... |
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Aug 13 2004, 03:22 AM
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#41
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 256 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,709 |
I thought the Danish were the ones having problems where the tongue was becoming so garbled, different generations couldn't understand one another.
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Aug 31 2004, 08:38 AM
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#42
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
So Kosher what about the remaining reviews? I'm particularly interested in your evaluation of the UK of course ;)
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Sep 1 2004, 03:46 AM
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#43
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921 |
My apologies. This is going to be a very busy time for me, as I have 16 hours of college classes and 24 hours of work every week. I'll try and get these pumped out sooner as opposed to later, but I'm struggling to get organized. Spain may actually be done tomorrow; we'll see where things go from there. |
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Sep 3 2004, 04:53 PM
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#44
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 326 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Vigo (Spanish Kingdom) Member No.: 1,446 |
I take your word. Heh.
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Sep 6 2004, 12:34 PM
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#45
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 439 Joined: 26-February 02 From: .se Member No.: 625 |
Thanks, I am very glad you liked it and understand what I (and the others) wanted to convey. From various previous posts it shows that far to many people have failed to understood it at all.
Say what? It's the other way around. Sober danish sounds like completely wasted swedish. As a general note the chapter could have used one other part that wasn't included and that would have been a historical part, a quick reference over the last 1.000 years or so. It might have explained a few things and set a few things for the record. Oh well ... that pesky wordcount ... so many cool things so little space. |
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 Sep 20 2004, 09:52 PM
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#46
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 746 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 459 |
Iceland was originally supposed to be "moved" to the Union because quite frankly it was one of the strangest and illogical bits of SR canon. What, precisely, does Iceland have to do with ANY tribes at ANY point in history? I came up with some (what I thought was) a plausible explanation regarding fishing rights (got to love archaic international law with regards to economic exclusion zones!) and the fact that the place was kind of depopulated/didn't care enough to contest the claim. Last I recall, there were no protests from the line developers :) It's not like the TPA could do a damn thing to stop the Union from taking the place over either. What are they going to do, Ghost Dance all of the nordic countries? They have no military to speak of, zero power projection capability, and so many local problems I doubt that Iceland even enters into the conversation most of the time. Blarg, best not to think too hard on issues like this. Brain . . . hurting . . . :spin: |
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