FrivYeti/WyldspanNew

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The New Realm

East of the Scarlet Imperium lie the River Worlds; a network of Manses whose waters flow through the Wyld, defining geomantic routes and passages. Once fiercely independant, the River Worlds are now under the dominion of the New Realm; an organization of close to two hundred thousand worlds and a billion mortals, united under the benevolant dictatorship of Emperor Markian Sunflame, who has ruled his New Realm in the name of the Solar Exalted for five hundred years, and looks set to rule it for two thousand more.

The New Realm, however, hides dark shadows under an idyllic surface. Rumours surface of citizens vanishing into the night, of border worlds eradicated, and of a king who no longer pays attention to the needs of a nation that depends on the natural talents of the Solar Exalted for its very survival. While the currently instability in the Imperium opens it to vunerability, the New Realm tightens its grip, and dark deeds are committed in the name of safety and unity.

Society

The New Realm is a hierarchy of merit by potential, in which everything is controlled from a central authority. The Realm has no real autonomy; all businesses and productions are controlled by the government, with salaries and costs regulated and everyone guaranteed a job of some sort. Thanks to Solar planned economics, the system even functions, with no official seperations due to family or historical reasons.

All citizens of the New Realm are required to attend mandatory education from the age of 4 to the age of 16; this education is funded entirely by the state, and has been standardized across every world that owes allegiance to the Realm. For the first six years, this education is identical for every student; starting at age 12, students gradually gain more choice in what they would like to study. When they turn 16, they take special aptitude tests that are meant to cover every aspect of their training and aptitudes; agents of the Ministry Of Economics then study these tests and assign each student a job where they will be most effective. Top students receive their choice of up to three jobs, while students farther down the line must simply take whatever they are most suited for out of the remaining choices. Students then spend four years training extensively for their new position, entering the workforce officially at age 20. Changing one's career requires a special application to the Ministry that is rarely made and more rarely granted.

The sole exception to this situation is Exaltation. Whenever a citizen of the New Realm Exalts, regardless of what they might Exalt as, it is standard policy to remove them from their current position and put them through a one-year training program, after which they join one of the three branches of government that uses Exalts (at their choice). Dragon-Blooded who Exalt while still in the normal education system remain in it until age 16, after which they undergo a four-year course for their chosen career path rather than the one-year course given to Celestial Exalts. This also applies to the very rare cases of Celestials who Exalt before the age of 16.

Luxuries are common within the New Realm; every nation has a power grid linked into their Manse network, which allows for such conveniences as lighting, plumbing, and refrigeration to be available to even the most impoverished member of society. Similarly, every person in the Realm has a house and a job, and there is not the same degree of wealth hoarding that occurs in many other areas - as no job exists where someone could legally acquire that much money, and thus anyone displaying such wealth must be doing so criminally, making them rather easy to track. As a side effect of this, begging and sleeping on the streets of the cities of the New Realm is illegal, as such people are assumed to be simply shirking their duties. The New Realm allows the less addictive recreational drugs, while most heavy drugs are illegal - as is slavery; Markian has strong views on the matter, and has been known to execute those who would dare traffic in slaves in his domain.

What the New Realm lacks is a mechanism for those whose interests and talents do not properly align. The requirement for every job to be done means that many people are forced into positions they might not prefer, and that a subtle brand of classism exists based on what talents someone has displayed. School years in particular are extremely stressful and harrowing, as they literally define the course of a child's life. In addition, punishments for crime tend to be very severe; minor crimes such as theft are often punished by severe pay garnishment, combined with enforced oaths of honesty, while more serious crimes such as fraud or murder are usually punished by death. Anyone who violates the social strictures of the Realm, such as by attempting to work a job that they have not been authorized at, is generally exiled.

Government

Exalts