| New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Flag | |
| Capital | Auckland[1] |
| Government | Parliamentary democracy/Tribal Council[1] |
| Leaders | Prime Minister Ian George (2063), Maori Tribal Council[1] |
| Population | 4,320,000[1] |
| Land area | |
| GDP (total) | Unknown |
| (per capita) | |
| Major Ethnic Groups | |
| Major Languages Spoken | |
| Major Religions | |
| Currency | Nuyen (¥) |
New Zealand or Aotearoa is an island country in the South Pacific.
History
New Zealand, always the most progressive of the five Anglo nations, was the first nation to grant human rights to goblinized metahumans. In the following decades, many Asian metahumans sought asylum in New Zealand, escaping persecution in their home countries; this led to a substantial increase in metahuman population.[2]
On October 24, 2022,[3] Australian, New Zealand and several smaller neighboring island nations[4] formed the ANZAC, the Australia and New Zealand Allied Confederation, a mutual Defense and support pact,[2] to stand up to an increasingly imperialist Japan. The alliance, originally purely military in nature, quickly expanded into an economic, social and military union.[4]
ANZAC fought a number of skirmishes against the forces of disintegrating Indonesia until the Crash of 2029. Indonesian pirate bands continue to attack ships coming to and from New Zealand until today,[4] keeping ANZAC naval forces busy.[5]
New Zealand was among the awakened and third world nations that reinvigorated the United Nations in the 2050s, and remains a steady contributer to the UN's military forces, UNAF.[6]
In 2061, when the ring of Fire erupted, New Zealand was shaken too, though nowhere near as bad as Japan.[7] The Ngauruhoe erupted, spewing streams of Lava and a massive cloud of hot ash, and starting a series of devastating forest fires.[8]
In 2064, New Zealand aided 2064, Australia's annexiation of New Guinea in order to stabilize the region and put an end to pirates operating from the Indonesian islands, as well as control their natural resources. New Guinea’s Prime Minister Lez Tagobe declared the annexation an act of war — but disappeared shortly after making this statement. ANZAC forces have since quelled opposition, and most of the country’s states welcomes the new, less-than-voluntary ANZAC membership by now.[9]
Politics
New Zealand is governed by a democratically elected cabinet and a Council of Maori elders govern the country through a unique dual-chamber government. The two nations share the physical territory of the islands. Auckland is the capital of New Zealand and the Maori nation[10] of Aotearoa.[1]
International Relations
In the UN Security Council that oversaw the Second Crash, New Zealand was present as a non-permanent member.[11] The country also supplies the UNAF with troops and mercenaries.[12] It also sat on the council in 2074.[13]
New Zealand and the Australian Commonwealth, together with some island nations, form the Australa-New Zealand Allied Confederation.[5] The ANZAC enjoys cordial to friendly relations with most polynesian island nations, such as the Free Tahitian League of Polynesia.[14]
One Land, Two States
New Zealand is unique in that it is two closely allied, but distinct naions occupying the same space[10] - the descendant of the British colony of New Zealand, and the Maori nation of Aotearoa.[1]
New Zealand
New Zealand has English as their primary language and its culture preserves a lot of European colonial elements. It also remains a member of the British Commonwealth. The other aspect which makes New Zealand stand out is the fact that it’s probably the most environmentally conscious country in the Sixth World.[10]
Aotearoa
The Maori Nation of Aotearoa is much more traditional, tribal and proud than New Zealand.[1] Normally a peaceful people, their lives are ruled by ancient laws and taboos (usually referred to as "tabu") that give their society a strict, hierarchic order, usually reinforced by rituals and traditional tatoos.[15] Their warrior societies are tightly allied with the WWF and other ecological concerns and policlubs,[10] but mostly, they keep to themselves, commune with the sea and its animals, and celebrate their festivities, which they often invite New Zealanders or other outsiders to - proud tribals or not, they do love a good party.[16]
The traditions of the Maori are slowly giving way to modernity, much to the chagrin of the nation's more conservative elements. Younger Maori, raised in Auckland, prefer a stable life in a corporation, wearing a suit every day and flying to corp meetings in Dubai and Tokyo, to the old ways and tabu.[17]
Environmentalism
In the Sixth World, New Zealand is known mainly for its environmentalism. Globally hailed as a clean, green eco-machine, the New Zealand government advocates environmental awareness and renewable ressource management. The powerful New Zealand Department of Conservation (DoC) maintains strict regulation of agricultural practices, biosphere management, mandates a focus on sustainable energy production and ensures wildlife protection. this is a point of pride for many New Zealanders, who see themselves als living proof that with time and effort it is possible to live in harmony with nature and one another.[1] Maori spirit warriors are figthing alongside other pacific governments to clean up the Moruroa Toxic Zone created by French nuclear testing in the 20th century.[14]
Aotearoa/New Zealand has very strict environmental laws, banning even certain alternate fuels and even packaged soyfood and similar foodstuffs - the reasoning being that feces processed from these foods won't decompose properly.[16]
Culture
Made up of two equal "cultural states" with several satellite cultures, New Zealand's society is a distinct reflection of its geography.[1] It also maintains close cultural ties with neighboring Australia, and shares many major sports leagues, such as the OZFL (football)[18] and the OFC (soccer)[19]
Environmentalists
The WWF, the Sixth World's largest animal rights policlub, has its headquarters in Auckland. It is a potent local political force, not least due to the backing of Masaru, the [[Philippine] great dragon.[1]
The World Wildlife Fund has a major presence on the isles and strong ties with both the Cabinet and the Maori Tribal Council.[10] Its closeness to a dragon - which the Maori consider creatures of bad fortune - with the WWF is a constant source of apprehension between Aotearoa and the environmentalists, who otherwise share similar goals.[20]
Augmentations
Cyberware is relatively scarce in New Zealand. Prevalent attitudes are against personal enhancement technologies as they reduce a person’s mana. Cyberware also is detrimental in water. Designer biosculpting, simple genetech like sunblock genemods, and ultraviolet-resistant eye covers are commonplace in New Zealand, though, and bioware is readily available.[21]
Geography
Split into North and South Islands, New Zealand is the world's largest archipelago.[1] The islands of New Zealand and Micronesia are enthralling and generally peaceful. They feature an equally diverse choice of terrains and meteorological phenomena: tropical jungles, temperate meadowlands. snow-capped mountains and arid deserts.[10]
It is rife with Ring of Fire volcanic activity, though: North Island is centered on a volcanic fault line running from Tongariro, straight up through Rotorua and out to Whakaari in the Bay of Plenty.[22]
Geothermal plants harness the hot springs this activity generates, contributing to the nation's eco-radical image.[22] New Zealand's volcanos generally remain a tourist attraction rather than a danger, though. While minor earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, especially of Mt. Ngauruhoe, do happen occasionally happen, they rarely pose a threat. If a major eruption or earthquake is afoot, Maori tohunga usually sense them and give appropriate warning.[20]
North Island
North Island is home to the majority of the country's population, and the cradle of Maori culture. Made up of forests, mountains and waterways, its temperate to sub-tropical climate made it ideal for fruit and vegetable farming, as well as viniculture and, more recently tourism.[1]
Both the largest city, Auckland, and the second largest, Wellington, are located on North Island.[1] This is also where the nation's interantional aiport, one of the few in Oceania able to handle semiballistic and suborbital airplanes, is located.[15] Auckland is the nations' spiritual, social and political capital, home to the governments, powerful DoC, and the WWF's world headquarters, while Wellington is the financial, business and corporate headquarter of the archipelago, chock full of corporate skyscrapers and micro-arcologies.[1]
South Island
South Island is the archipelago's bread basket, a major producer of crops and livestock. The Southern Alps dominate its entire length, separating vibrant, healthy rainforests from the east's drier plains. Glaciers crawl from snowy peaks, and clean whitewater rivers rush toward the sea. As the kiwis' environmental jewel, it contains many conservation sanctuaries and national parklands, including spectacular Milford Sound - the alleged haunt of an elusive taniwha (a legendary sea serpent).[22]
Christchurch, nestled into Canterbury's agricultural farmlands on the Pacific coast of South Island, is the archipelago's second main destination for international air-travelers, predominantly tourists. However, its quaint and peaceful appearance belies its role as a hub of cutting-edge Biotechnology and several corporate complexes specializing in SOTA bio/genetech research.[22]
Smaller Islands
Aside from the main islands, the archipelago also comprises of several smaller ones. The most notable is Stewart Island, a DoC wildlife sanctuary. Other small islands, like the Subantarctic Island Groups (Antipodes, Auckland, Bounty, Campbell and the Snares) and the Ross Dependency in Antarctica, share this status. As part of Aotearoa/New Zealand's jurisdiction, ANZAC forces patrol these regions to enforce environmental laws and prevent poaching.[22] Those islands are not uninhabited, however - many smaller tribes of Aotearoa have made their homes there, living rural lives according to tabu, the old traditions.[17]
ANZAC also maintains several large naval bases on the Chathams, Norfolk and Pitcairn Islands to monitor border traffic and protect commercial shipping from piracy.[22]
Undersea research stations built offshore in the Tasman Sea and the Bay of Plenty drew some attention during the race for the Draco Foundation awards in the 2060s, but none were big enough to qualify.[10] A corp facility at the edge of the Kermadec Trench may have been one of the first sites where shedim entered the corporeal world in 2061.[23]
Cities
Demographics
New Zealand is demographically split into two large and several smaller cultures. The formerly dominant pakeha (non-indigenous New Zealanders, mostly descendants of British settlers) gradually lose ground to ethnic Maori population growth, and metahuman refugees from all over Asia have established themselves as distinct cultural groups in their new home.[1] Marriages across ethnic boundaries are not uncommmon, resulting in a notable mixed-ethnic population that may belong to both nations.[24]
The Maori have an abnormally large share of goblinized metahumans, with trolls being the most common metatype. Elves are relatively rare, and the vast majority descend from European ancestors. New Zealand has a large Maori dryad population in South Island, though, something of an oddity.[21]
Many smaller cultural enclaves are also largely metahuman, thanks to New Zealand's early welcoming attitude.[2] Those smaller cultures were highlighted in the 2070s, with Lona Tagore's short-lived but critically acclaimed series All Our Thousands, that focuses on a Brahmin metahuman family.[26]
Maori
The Maori descended from Polynesians driven out from overpopulated islands, who settled on North Island (which they named Aotearoa) about a thousand years ago. Their settlements quickly expanded all over the archipelago, flourished into an agricultural society and then fought bitter wars against one another when land and resources started to get scarce. This led them to develop a highly ritualized warrior society that remains at the heart of Maori culture to this day. Many Maori tribes have formed their warrior societies into mercenary groups, and hire out their adepts and mages as specialized spirit hunters, often via Combat, inc. Maori warrior societies were crucial in how New Zealand dealt with the bug threat, as the Maori took extreme offense in how the bugs attempted to attune their mana lines to themselves. All Universal Brotherhood chapters within New Zealand were taken down in a very short time.[1]
Most important to Maori culture, though, are love, home, and family—the simple, critical elements of Maori life.[17] Maori tribes take their heritage very seriously. Genealogy is sacred to them, as it defines an individual's social status and, more importantly, their mana. Since before the Pakehas' arrival, each tribe could trace its roots back to the waka they arrived in and were named after that giant migratory canoe.[1] Moko (traditional Maori tattoos) are often used to display a warrior's prestige and social standing.[15]
Maori tohunga follow shamanic practices, who commonly follow the totems of Sea, Fish, Gecko, Shark, Turtle and Whale. They are tapu, along with their house and all their possessions, and thus are extremely respected by other Maori. Often moko (traditional Maori tattoos) are used to indicate grades of initiation and are a measure of the tohunga's mana. Many use the haka (traditional Maori dance) as a centering technique and observe tapu restrictions as geasa. Other trappings include canoes, masks, kava bowls, shark/whale’s teeth (tabua), cannibal forks, feather cloaks or greenstone tiki charms.[15] Maori adepts are usually referred to as whale-riders.[27]
Some of the waka the original Maori arrived in still exist today—being reservoirs of a tribe's mana. These sacred ships are extremely well guarded and subject to tapu, meaning they must not be touched by human hands.[1]
Pakeha
As anywhere in the British Empire, aside from English Settlers, significant numbers of Scots found a new home in the New Zealand colonies. Robert MacNab, of Scottish descent, Minister of Justice in New Zealand during the First World War.[28] New Zealand also received a significant number of Irish settlers.[29] their culture preserves a lot of European colonial elements.[10]
Biosphere
The New Zealand Archipelago, unlike neaby Australia, hosts remarkably few dangerous critters - it has no native snake species at all, for instance.[1] It has many indigenous, rare species, such as the tuatara lizard, which is distantly related to the Aitvaras of Europe.[30] Invasive Species are a big problem - mundane and awakened alike. The latter often come from the Pcaific Ocean, like a mysterious blue slime that started carpeting areas of the Pacific in 2053, and keeps washing up on the shores of New Zealand.[31] But Aotearoa doesn't have the dangerous predators that have appeared in much of the Sixth World.[16]
That's not to say the archipelago doesn't have awakened species. The kaka (Nestor regalis), for example, are Awakened kea. they are renowned for their sapience-like intellect and ability to solve complex tasks through teamwork. There are also carnivorous snails the size of bowling balls that hunt insects, small rodents and slugs.[16]
The coastal waters of New Zealand are also host to a sizable population of awakened storm dolphins,[32] and the scintillant albatross is a regular guest in the smaller sub-antarctic islands.[33]
A significant threat to the local biosphere is the presence of a huge Japanese fishing fleet that operates just outside New Zealand's territorial waters. Local eco activists like to mess with that fleet, usually in fairly nonviolent ways (sich as using sea spirits to conjure up storms or chase fish away from the fleet]],[34] Often, they team up with storm dolphins, who have also been reportedly attacking ships on their own.[32] New Zealand has no native dragons, and the Maori especially are proud of that and will fight to keep dragons off the archipelago.
Manasphere
The Manasphere on the New Zealand archipelago is different from other areas of the Sixth World to a significant degree.[35]
Economy
New Zealand is a hub of cutting-edge biotechnology in the Southern Pacific, and the local go-to place to get quality bioware.[21] Thanks to the archipelago's agricultural focus, New Zealanders enjoy a more natural, organic diet than most of the Sixth World does.[1]
Corporate Presence
Shiawase maintains a notable presence in New Zealand, primarily though their Arboritech subsidiary.[36] Shiawase's mobile Arboritech Vanguard Station was anchored near the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand, doing mainly research and aiding conservationist efforts, earning it a grudging approval from New Zealand's eco-activists.[37]
Saeder-Krupp has interests on the archipelago too, though the NZ/Aotearoa business is controlled by the Perth office.[38]
Tourism
The breathtaking landscape and the archipelago's lack of dangerous critters have made it a playground for adventurous outdoors enthusiasts, who enjoy tramping, skiing, rafting, diving, climbing and bungee jumping their vacations away here. Many of those are top corp wage slaves, and accompanied by bodyguards, either from their paren megacorp or hired shadowrunners.[22]
The smaller islands, especially the nature reserves, are popular with corporate vacation cruise lines like Majestik Cruise Lines and Hermes Tours, touring Campbell and Enderby Island to watch the local critters, especially the week-long brilliant, fiery mating displays of the scintillant albatross.[33]
Crime
New Zealand has a fairly open and uncontrolled border.[39] Smuggling occurs, though New Zealand is more of a safe harbor than major destination for pacific smugglers. The notorious Gaspar De Sevilla, an agent of Masaru, operates from the city of Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty on North Island.[25] Given the country's strict environmental laws, soyfood such as WafoCrisps have become a smuggling commodity.[40]
For a long time, the bulk of the shadow activity in the southern Pacific centered on Australia. that changed in the 2060s. New Zealand has since seen an unexpected upturn In black ops. The shadows of Auckland especially have heated up, starting in the 2060s, as several parties seem set on taking the ecological fight to another level. Since the local talent pool is limited, runners are being brought in from Australia and elsewhere in the Pacific Rim.[10]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 Shadows of Asia p. 197
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Target: Awakened Lands p. 18 (German version)
- ↑ Sixth World Almanac p. 35
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Target: Awakened Lands p. 19 (German version)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Shadows of Asia p. 160
- ↑ Shadows of Europe p. 176
- ↑ Year of the Comet p. 98
- ↑ Year of the Comet p. 108
- ↑ Sixth World Almanac p. 136
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 Sprawl Survival Guide p. 80
- ↑ Loose Alliances p. 61
- ↑ Loose Alliances p. 63
- ↑ Colombian Subterfuge p. 48
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Shadows of Asia p. 195
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Shadows of Asia p. 226
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Parazoology 2 p. 11
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 No Future p. 54
- ↑ Sprawl Survival Guide p. 35
- ↑ Sprawl Survival Guide p. 36
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Shadows of Asia p. 199
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Shadows of Asia p. 191
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 Shadows of Asia p. 198
- ↑ Dark Terrors p. 37
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Prime Runners p. 50
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Dragons of the Sixth World p. 129
- ↑ Attitude p. 67
- ↑ Street Magic p. 44
- ↑ Imago p. 68
- ↑ Tír na nÓg p. 10
- ↑ Paranormal Animals of Europe p. 12
- ↑ One Stage Before p. 62
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Target: Awakened Lands p. 66 (German version)
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Parazoology p. 19
- ↑ Loose Alliances p. 10
- ↑ Aztlan p. 97
- ↑ Corporate Guide p. 174
- ↑ Target: Wastelands p. 99
- ↑ Market Panic p. 170
- ↑ Coyotes p. 14
- ↑ Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook p. 22
This page forked from Wordman's The Sixth World: A geographical index to the world of Shadowrun
Index
- Loose Alliances, 10, 61, 63
- One Stage Before
- Portfolio of a Dragon: Dunkelzahn's Secrets, 34
- Shadows of Asia, 160, 191, 195, 197-199, 226, 227 table, 229, 231, map: 192
- Shadows of Europe, 176
- State of the Art: 2064, 52
- Sprawl Survival Guide, 35, 36, 80
- Street Magic, 44
- Target: Awakened Lands, 19, 66
- Target: Wastelands, map: 60
- Year of the Comet, 98, 108
Semi-Official Sources
- Australasia: Ka-Ge, Issue 7 (pp 19-29).