Clansunion is one of the major power blocs on Aqua. In Aqua, whatever money can’t buy is sure to be sold for a lot of money in the Clansunion. The Indian-Arabic aquatory is situated in the central Indian Basin and stretches far down into the southern Indian Ocean.
In 2200, during a relatively early phase of oceanic colonization, numerous leaders of individual nations, family tribes and former states of the Middle and South East came together to form a heterogeneous confederation which is now called the Clansunion.
Background[]
In the year 2030 the first H-bomb was dropped on Pakistan at the command of the Indian government. War arouse because of the conflict between territory and religion from the groups involved, causing an immense impact in the suboceanic stations of the Arabian Sea. Down here in the Indian Ocean, between the Arabian Peninsula and India, people had long since set aside all nationalist and religious prejudices and were working closely together to conquer the oceans.
Out of fear that the new suboceanic world could be destroyed by the chaos on the surface, a society of Indian-Arab interests was formed at an early date. Strengthened in their effort, the participating nations (including Pakistan, Lebanon and Israel) put out feelers for the solidarity of the other deep-sea stations in the North Pacific and the Atlantic as opposed to the states on the surface.
Similarly to the initial decades of the later Shogunate, in the middle of the 21st Century, a buildup phase began here as well. This was pursued with the greatest energy, predicated by the situation on the surface, which was becoming ever more dramatic. Habitats were erected at high speed to offer space for the continuing flood of refugees.
As far back as 2050 there was a so-called family council in the Arabian Sea. The council had the task of smuggling members of the families, castes and tribes living here from the surface into the depths, in order to preserve them from certain destruction. The soldier councils convened by the family council and organized the transfer of raw materials, technology and industrial equipment into the depths of the ocean.
In the year 2100, as the last great flood of refugees began, fourteen family councils already existed in the Indian Ocean, into which the immigrants were assimilated according to their origin. The complicated and conflict-ridden history of the nations involved on the surface had taught the inhabitants of the individual stations that mixing the various peoples, castes and family clans would also inevitably lead to problems in the depths. The patriarchs of the fourteen families and the family council in charge of them therefore decided to set up a central administration.
Within 15 years, an enormous administration center had been built for this purpose in the Aquatorium of the Central Indian Basin, which in the history books was referred to from then on as Jerusalem 2, New Bombay or Floating Bombay. The shallow and radioactively contaminated waters of the Red Sea appeared to host an inexhaustible supply of minerals, petroleum and other raw materials. Favored by this circumstance, the trade with raw materials became the main source of income of the families during the subsequent centuries. It was also the administrators of the Indian Aquatorium that were the first to further the development of a merchant marine in Aqua.
In contrast to the Aquatoria of the North Pacific and of the Atlantic, they did not concentrate here on building up an expensive central army but rather on the advantages of a functioning trade, an organized transportation system and a highly developed communications network system.
At the Florida Conference, when the three great leagues decided to work together on supernational production of energy and breathing gas and a common transportation system, the representatives of the Indian-Arab Aquatorium were much sought after on account of their competence in transportation matters. They also gave the suggestion of setting up a compact network of supervised rapid-transportation connections that were supposed to cover all of Aqua and interconnect the individual Aquatoria with each other.
While the fourteen family councils were working on the economic development of their Aquatoria, they failed to notice the increasing domestic political instability. The difference between the nations and cultures that live here was too great to be able to assure peace over a long period of time. Minor clashes as well as violent attacks in the ancillary and outer stations became ever more frequent.
In contrast to the Aquatoria in the East and West, which had already formed a consolidated government, the structure within the allied families was too heterogeneous to guarantee a secure peace. The conflicts became more acute when a technology was developed that permitted massive exploitation of the envied manganese-nodule fields in the Southeastern Pacific. The individual family clans fought with one another with ever more vehement means over the profitable mining rights.
In the year 2185, an open civil war broke out in which several of the outer stations at the edge of the Pacific Ocean were destroyed. The Shogunate and the Atlantic Federation sent mediators into the crisis zones but in the end, there was a breakup. Two families left the loose alliance of the family councils and migrated into the technically underdeveloped Aquatoria of the Tornado Zone. Here they immediately put together a huge mercenary army and recruited cheap workers for the exploitation of the manganese nodules.
Finally, in 2200, as the result of a long and hotly debated conference in the Central Indian Basin, the Clans Union was formed out of the remaining families. There was a close unification between the clan chiefs and the family elders. They decided to call the capital New Bombay as a sign of a new beginning, it was governed from then on with a firm hand. The maintenance of internal political peace was viewed as the most important task of the united family council, as well as the intensification of trade and mining. After the first hurdles were taken, it soon became possible to bring peace and satisfaction into the once splintered country. Within the following centuries, the citizens of the Clans Union became wealthy and contented. They busied themselves with the embellishment of their existence and succeeded in bringing a great deal of light into the darkness of the suboceanic depths.
After the invention of the jump stars at the beginning of the 27th century, they founded a gigantic PLEASURE CENTER with international access in the Malay Archipelago. This created an impressive tourist industry out of the floor of the ocean, which successfully attracted customers with slogans such as 'Surface Simulation,' 'Light Vacations' and 'Emerald Festival.'
The executive floors of the Shogunate and of the Atlantic Federation soon discovered these facilities to be an ideal way of diverting and motivating the leading managers and military figures from time to time in the sparkling waters of the Clansunion. Thus a series of comfortable conference centers and vacation attractions soon grew up, which were avidly utilized and visited.
The Clans Union thus became the political buffer zone between the two great power blocs of East and West, which found expression in the fact that the Peace Treaty of 2650 was signed in New Bombay. Intensive trade, the continuous meeting of representatives of the Shogunate, the Federation within the Clans Union and an increasingly prevalent general decadence of the Union citizens laid the cornerstone for a completely new branch of commerce.
Illegal technology transfer, software smuggling, sale of weapons and human beings, drug trafficking and the worldwide infamous “Know-How Market' brought the Clans Union a bad reputation. However, this bolstered their position as 'Power of the Center,' because there was soon nothing that could not be had for money in these waters (except for the knowhow for the jump ships, which remained stored deep in the safes of EnTrOx). Long accepted as a world trade center, the Union raised itself to become a 'world information center' and since then has become synonymous for military, political and industrial espionage.
While in the year 2625 war broke out between the Shogunate and the Atlantic Federation, the Clans Union took pains, largely successful, to maintain a neutral mediating position. An attempt was made to protect the resources of the Red Sea as well as the virtually inexhaustible deposits of titanium, one of the most important materials in Aqua. The embittered battles of the two great power blocs largely destroyed the infrastructure of the Clans Union. They had nothing to defend themselves with against their great military opponents. Then it came to catastrophe when a fusion-driven battleship of the Shogunate was shot down by Federation forces right in front of New Bombay and the entire Aquatorium ran the risk of becoming radioactively contaminated.
Frightened by this event, a cease-fire was agreed at a hastily convened peace conference in New Bombay and the borders of the individual power blocs were redistributed. In addition, the powers agreed on reparations to the Union. It was generally clear that the latter should not lose its position as 'Power of the Center,' as it was precisely this that was viewed as being necessary as a guarantee for peace. Engineers of all the powers erected a free-floating platform that was self-sufficient in energy, which the living stations, administration buildings and office buildings were anchored. New Bombay became Floating Bombay, a city full of marvels and tourist attractions well worth seeing.
At some point Emerald Flint was hunting oxygen smugglers for the Clansuion in the Malayan Archipelago; they traded contaminated oxygen from the surface take a decomposing breathing gas for diggers and clay builders.
Today, in the year 2660, the Clans Union is a politically stable power in Aqua, economically well consolidated, even if in large part through illegal trade, weapons and industry.
Organization[]
Although significantly more united in the wake of the 22nd century civil war, the Clansunion is distinct from the other power blocs in that it is still largely a heterogenous confederation of tribes, with twelve most prominent families forming the main family council that runs the day-to-day operations of the Union and maintains its delicate position as the middle ground between the Federation and the Shogunate. Some of the families include:
- Tankrit: Although it maintains shares in exotic delicacies, it is most prominent in the field of music. Tankrit produce every instrument one can think of, from the underwater organ to historically accurate reconstructions.
- Mu'hamma: Fierce competitors of the Tankrit in exotic delicacy trade, Mu'hamma are distinctly pacifistic.
Education is a priority in n the Clansunion. Teachers put emphasis on individuality throughout a child's education, as they all have their own character, their own way of learning, and own talents. Union teachers prefer to encourage, instead of levelling to the lowest common denominator. This stands in stark contrast with the Shogunate, where children are educated according to their genetic requirements. Clansunion teachers dismiss it as propaganda, believing that the Shogunate doesn't actually educate according to the genes but simply prevents its citizens from having their own experiences. That's not the Clansunion way, which is best summarized as follows: "We must learn to light Aqua with happiness and spiritual prosperity. A child so touched is the most beautiful light of all.".[1]
References[]
- ↑ Sheherazades World teacher.