The Human Concordat was originally conceived and pitched to Shadis magazine as the first “AlterWorld”. My idea was to create a new “mini-setting” that would nestle into an existing setting and then develop that setting over the course of 12-18 issues of the magazine with more detailed articles and adventure scenarios. Additional AlterWorlds would have followed. The two ideas I remember being discussed were a city for the World of Darkness (which would have included material for all the different World of Darkness games) and an isolated planet in the Mechwarrior universe.

The idea was that the extended focus on a single campaign resource would create a unique audience for the magazine. What I found appealing about the AlterWorld concept was that it would allow me to explore radical ideas for settings that the original creators weren’t interested in: For example, when I first read Fading Suns I was fascinated by the idea of a gate connection opening up that would lead not just to one world, but to an entire lost civilization of worlds. And, thus, the Human Concordat was born.

Shadis folded in 1998, however, and the Human Concordat got shelved. About a year later I repackaged the pitch for Pyramid Magazine. They weren’t interested in the AlterWorld concept, but they expressed interest in the “Human Concordat” as a stand-alone article.The only problem was that it was too long for their budget: They asked me to cut it down to roughly half the size so that they could afford to pay me. I made a counter-offer: They would pay me for the article length they wanted and I’d give the rest of it to them for free.

In order to see the material realized the way I wanted it, I also personally commissioned the artwork for the various religious and political symbols. (The gorgeous jumpweb map by Keith Johnson I can take no credit for, however.)

Part 1 – The Fall
Part 2 – Government & Religion
Part 3 – Worlds of the Concordat
Part 4 – More Worlds of the Concordat
Part 5 – The Concordat as Campaign Setting

As a young author, I secretly held the hope that the article would prove to be such a huge success that Pyramid would come back and ask me to develop more material in the setting. Unsurprisingly, that never happened.

One thing that never got executed properly: The symbol for the Seven Pearls was supposed to be varied for each of the Pearls. This is what it ended up looking like:

But the original conception was that each planet in the Pearls would have a variation in which its corresponding circle-star would be the largest on the string. (So Lyonesse would have the first circle-star larger than the others, while Leicester would have had the second circle-star larger than the others.)

Reading through The Human Concordat today, I can also see that the setting comes across as significantly more utopian than I’d originally intended: The “culture of universal acceptance and emancipation” should have its dark side. (You might also note the number of terraforming engine problems found throughout the setting. The bit about terraforming technology being “the one true secret which remains, as yet, unmastered by Concordat scientists” was also unfulfilled foreshadowing.)

As a final point of miscellaneous interest, here’s my original rough draft of the Concordat jumpweb map:

Which you can compare to Keith Johnson’s superb work:

(click for larger version)

Go to Part 1

The Empire of the Known Worlds, the established setting of the Fading Suns game, is described by HDI as “a futuristic passion play”. As they say, it is primarily a science fiction game, but one indelibly painted with broad strokes of fantasy, sociopolitical feudalism, horror, and ancient mystery. It is a world in which stories of “varied and exotic themes” can be told, but those stories are – by the very nature of the setting – of a dark tone. It deals with “grand themes of the human experience” with a main theme of “Seeking”, the “mythological role all heroes play: the knight on quest, seeking power to vanquish his enemies or the secrets of self-discovery. Success or failure on this quest is not as important as the insights learned while on it.”

In expanding the setting to include the Human Concordat I have been careful to maintain that central theme of “Seeking”, but I have also been reticent of the fact that the Concordat shifts the way in which that theme is conveyed. It is a brighter, better place than the Empire. Where the Empire operates in shadow, the Concordat is a place of light.

But both share the exploratory spirit. Where Emperor Alexius is dragging his feudal empire into a new age of renaissance and exploration, the Human Concordat is engaged in its pacifistic mission to reunite humanity (and using that term to not only include humans, but all intelligent species). The exploration of the Empire is a renewal, the exploration of the Concordat is a cleansing. The exploration of the Empire is focused on the individual and self-improvement; the exploration of the Concordat is focused on society as a whole and unified improvement. There is a difference of means, but not ends.

In choosing to add the Human Concordat to an existing campaign, or starting a new campaign using the setting, it is important to remember that you are shifting the focus and feel of the Fading Suns game. In doing so you will find that the Concordat, although changing the feel of the setting, also complements the Empire. Use not only the thematic similarities, but also the thematic dissonances between the Concordat and the Empire to your advantage in designing and supplementing your campaign.

Reflections on the Human Concordat

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MORE WORLDS OF THE CONCORDAT

Altrua is also known as the “Homeworld of the Anima”. Much persecuted during the time of the Second Republic, the Anima discovered a jumpgate code to an uncolonized world. For nearly a hundred years it served as a secret gathering point for them – a place of safety and acceptance. Then, during the Fall, violence against Anima forced many to flee to Altrua. As their planet was threatened by discovery they sealed their jumpgate. Eventually contact was made with the Human Concordat, and the culture of universal acceptance and emancipation was extremely attractive to the historically oppressed Anima.

For unknown reasons the terraforming engines on this planet were calibrated to create massive equatorial hurricano storms. These storms, constricted by the terraforming engines, do not effect the northern and southern hemispheres, who have formed separate governments, each of which is represented in the Concordat.

This alien homeworld was undiscovered at the time of the Fall. Later discovered by the Human Concordat, the complete and unadulterated freedom the Entreri have enjoyed as members of the republic is an excellent example of the Concordat’s tolerance. The Entreri themselves are extremely intelligent, telepathic, over-sized rodents with opposable thumbs. Famed for their curiousity they have popularly been nicknamed “raccoons”, a name which they seem to embrace wholeheartedly.

Established at the very end of the Second Republic, the terraforming engine on Colony was never finished. Largely desert the planet’s population is centered in a huge biosphere near the equator. The planet has become a center for the study into terraforming technology – the one true secret which remains, as yet, unmastered by the Concordat scientists.

The world of Binary, as the name implies, orbits two stars. This notable feature meant that Binary managed to establish itself quite successfully as a tourist trap. From these roots Binary quickly grew, and is now considered the entertainment capital of the Concordat.

Also known as “The Chain”, the seven worlds of the Seven Pearls are most notable for their arrangement in jumpgate travel – strung out, one after the other. They are Lyonesse, Leicester, New Salisbury, Exeter, Cambridge, Suffolk, and Carlisle. The Seven Pearls have developed a certain homogeneity of image, despite the fact that they are politically quite separate. Since they have joined the Concordat, they have become known for their financial and political power.

Like the Empire, the Concordat has also been forced to deal with barbarian worlds whose jumpgates have reopened onto their space. The four worlds Norjken, Rampart, Bastion, and Owre are collectively known as the “Hinterlands”, providing a military buffer between the various barbarian powers and the Concordat. This was the acknowledged “frontier”, and is popularly known as a rough, dangerous place with a slightly uncivilized edge.

Centuries after Sartra’s reforms brought the Concordat out of the Dark Ages contact was again made with the Vau when the planet Geneva was rediscovered. Today Geneva has lived up to its namesake by being the primary seat of the diplomatic efforts between the Concordat and the Vau. Although the Vau are still withdrawn from human affairs, their relationship with the Concordat is far more cordial and refined than it has ever been before in human history.

Go to Part 5: The Concordat as Campaign Setting

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WORLDS OF THE CONCORDAT

Although the Concordat sprung up out of the seed of the Ten Worlds it has since expanded far beyond that, encompassing in its modern form a total of thirty-three systems and thiry-one planetary governments. They are a widely varied lot, but all are bound together by their ideological commitment to the virtues of the Concordat.

Originally known as Alhera this world was the brightest and best of the original Ten Worlds. Under the leadership of House Britannia it was one of the first worlds to join the Concordat and became the capital of the new government. Following Sartra’s disappearance and assumed death it was renamed in honor of him. Today it remains the shining star of the Concordat – it’s communities are ergonomically designed and architecturally splendid, with plentiful parks.

The technological hub of the Concordat, Cyberna has earned the nickname of “Chrome World”. Its politics are dominated by the massive interstellar conglomerates which control the vast majority of business throughout. The vast majority of this world is rocky wasteland, and so its cities are tightly compacted bunches of skyscrapers and apartment complexes with the occasional archipelago, all built around technologically-assisted agricultural hubs.

In many ways a showpiece of the justice and idealism which the Concordat represents, Kyreen was originally the homeworld of the K’i’Reen, an insectoid race who was displaced onto reservations during the time of the Second Republic. Few of these reservations were located in the worlds which are now the Empire of Known Space, but in the Concordat they were much more numerous. The more liberal ideals of the Concordat restored their homeworld to them in 4615. The K’i’Reen opted to remain members of the Concordat and share their planet with the humans already living there. Since the K’i’Reen live primarily below the surface an interesting relationship has developed between their revitalized civilization and culture and the human settlements which still dot the surface.

 Unan is a generally unremarkable place. With a fairly even division between industry and agriculture it is one of those rare planets which moved beyond the specialization of its early colonial days and became a largely self-subsisting community. Despite this, however, Unan has distinguished itself as a major tourist attraction as a result of the daily meteor showers. The entire Unan system is full of debris which is constantly peppering the upper atmosphere, creating impressive light shows in the night sky. These displays are particularly impressive near the equator and this fact, combined with the large, peaceful, equatorial seas of Unan, has lead to several booming resort towns and floating gambling complexes in that area.

When it was first explored during the early years of the Second Republic, Mecca was known as Milton – a minor colonial world with poor resources. About two centuries before the Republic collapsed, however, vast archaeological discoveries began to be made on the planet. Many, if not most, of these discoveries were prominently Anunnaki gargoyles. As the fame of these gargoyles spread their religious significance turned Milton into a major pilgrimage site. Eventually Milton changed its name to Mecca and became a major center of Church politics.

After the beginning of the Dark Ages, a council of clergyman formed an organization known as the Cathedrals of Mecca. Although this group recognized that the true center of Church power rested elsewhere, they also recognized the practicality of their current situation. The Cathredals of Mecca became the de facto leaders of the Orthodox Church for the Ten Worlds. They were one of the loudest and most influential of the anti-Sartrans, but eventually lost their conservative battle. Today Mecca remains the last true bastion for religious fundamentalism. The Cathedrals of Mecca still maintain control of the Orthodox Church in Concordat space (although how this will change now that the gates to Holy Terra have been reopened remains to be seen), and the vast majority of Meccans still adhere to the Orthodox faith.

Poa’pal and Tua’kal are two planets which circle a single star in an identical, but opposite, orbit. When they were discovered during the Second Republic it was widely believed that they were artificially placed in their orbit by the Ur races, for reasons unknown. They were each home to an identical species, one of which referred to themselves as the Poa’pal and the other as the Tua’kal according to archaeological records. When they independently discovered spaceflight they also discovered their other half. Religious doctrine apparently convinced the two species that the other was the source of evil and war ensued. By the time humans arrived on the scene, the two species had already wiped each other out. Poa’pal and Tua’kal became colony worlds. Today they are proud members of the Concordat, under the rule of a single, joint government.

The three worlds of Barre, Jandi, and Ayto are collectively referred to as the “Heartland”. The Heartland is the source of the majority of the agricultural output for the Concordat, and is also one of the more conservative regions of the republic, with a particular focus on traditional (or “Sartran”) virtues. Surprisingly, however, this conservatism does not spread to their religious convictions – which are generally nonexistent, and usually non-Orthodox even when they are.

Progenitor, like Mecca, once was possessed of a different name: Lonbette. Once a fairly successful colonial world of the Second Republic, Lonbette fell into backwater savagery during the Dark Ages after its jumpgate was sealed. Then a generation ship from the time of the First Republic appeared in the system and colonized the world. Their civilizing presence restored not only the technological foundations of the world, but formed a strong central government for the world. Eventually their jumpgate reopened, and they found themselves in direct contact with the Concordat, which they quickly joined.

During the Dark Ages four planets (Adde, Polyani, Hannal, and Jelen) bound themselves together and sealed off the rest of the universe. Unlike many worlds which followed their course these four managed to maintain a high level of technology and pushed towards not only maintaining, but improving the technology they had inherited from the Second Republic. Unfortunately, this zeal for progress was ultimately their downfall. Using their own terraforming engines as a basis for experiment they made leaps of massive discovery, but eventually their experiments caught up with them. The terraforming engines on three of the planets began to seriously malfunction. Adde, Polyani, and Hannal became known as the Fallen Worlds as their populations were driven into exodus on Jelen. Billions died, but those who survived renamed their new homeworld Haven.

 Go to Part 4: More Worlds of the Concordat

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GOVERNMENT

The government which was formed under the counsels of Sartra, Duke Daneel, and General Baghera was, naturally, of a constitutional nature; expounding the freedoms of its citizens and laying out a concrete system of governance. Based upon the classical three-tiered system of democratic government dating back to before the founding of the First Republic, the great nationalistic pride which most of the Concordat communities have felt towards this edifice of power has had a general homogenizing effect on many regional and local governments as well. Although there are exceptions the vast majority of Concordatian governments function along this same basic model.

Essentially government in the Concordat is split as a republic into four different levels: the Galactic, the Planetary, the Regional, and the Local. The former, as the name implies, is the government founded under the guidance of Sartra; it rules over the whole of the Concordat. The second, the next step down from the Galactic, takes a variety of specific forms, but adopts the common name of Planetary because it is generally composed of planet-wide governments. Most planetary governments oversee a group of Regional governments, which deal largely in bureaucratic initiatives focusing on specific sections of individual worlds. Finally, Local governments usually take the form of county boards or city councils, dealing with the nitty-gritty details at the most immediate level to the average citizen.

The galactic government, as noted, is a federal constitutional system with a legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch. The executive is composed primarily of the President, who serves a five year term, and his immediate advisors and bureaucratic chiefs. The legislative is formed around a bicameral Congress composed of two houses – the Assembly and the Senate. The Assembly draws its membership proportionally from each planet, serving three year terms. The Senate is composed of three members from each planet, one of which is elected every two years to serve a six year term.

The Judicial system established by Sartra is the most unique element of the Concordat system of government. At its highest level it is composed of a Supreme Court formed of ten Justices. All of these Justices are popularly elected at the Galactic level. Five positions are possessed of a lifetime term; five of a ten year term. At the lower levels cases are heard by a Judicial Panel consisting of six Judges and six Jurors. The Judges are elected officials; the Jurors are randomly selected citizens who serve on a single panel. Unlike previous jury systems, Sartra’s did not have a lengthy juror selection system designed to minimize prejudice within the jury system – instead he saw that the judicial system could be sped up considerably be simply slotting in the first six randomly determined jurors, and then using the six judges to counterbalance any missteps on the parts of the jurors. The judges would counteract the vagaries and prejudices of the jurors, while the jurors would counteract the tendency to corruption or tyranny which might breed within the judges.

Finally a Bill of Rights rounds out the constitutional system, protecting the citizens of the Concordat from infringement by the government on many “basic rights”.

Most Concordat citizens are, rightfully or not, extremely proud of the freedoms and democracy which their government represents. The Galactic Constitution and the principles on which it is founded are regarded as unquestioned virtues.

RELIGION

In the nine centuries since the end of the Second Dark Age the Orthodox Church and religion in general have weakened within the borders of the Concordat. When the Church Elders, based on Mecca, were finally forced by grassroots efforts to recognize and join the Concordat government they lost a great deal of political power. The Constitution as defined under Sartra not only encouraged, but enforced and exemplified a strict restriction on the intermingling of church and state. He respected primarily the freedom of the individual, and knew that the structure of the Orthodox Church would lead to an oppression of minority interests and beliefs if they were allowed access to pure political power.

Without the political power to puritanically enforce their religious views, the Orthodox Church found its constituency base begin to splinter apart. Although true alternatives to the Omega Gospels and the worship of the Pancreator do not really exist, the way in which the Pancreator is worshipped and the Omega Doctrines interpreted have begun to diversify. As the Church has found itself broken apart by differing interpretations and modes of belief, religious fervor in general has suffered: It is easier to believe in unprovable religious truths if the religious community is unified; if it is fragmented it is easier to simply dismiss them as whole.

ORTHODOX CHURCH: The Orthodox Church is still the primary religious institution in the Concordat, with fully 25% of the population under its auspices in one capacity or another. With that being said, however, it is necessary to admit that the church is little more than a shadow of its former self. Although the official doctrine still supports the belief that the Patriarch of Mecca is the spiritual leader of the Church, the average churchgoer is far more relaxed in his beliefs – accepting official Church doctrine only when it suits them.

As noted the Orthodox Church structure is still based primarily on Mecca, a planet which assumed religious prominence due to the abundance of Ur gargoyles and ruins on its surface. When the Concordat sealed itself off from the rest of the galaxy the church leaders on Mecca seized political control of the planet and asserted their leadership on the church structures of the Ten Worlds.

LIBERALISM: About two decades after Mecca finally capitulated and joined the Concordat the unified facade of the Church began to crumble under the religious teachings of Uther Fairchild. Fairchild preached that belief in the perfection of the Patriarch was a fallacy. Instead of looking to the Church for leadership the faithful should instead look to it only for guidance – the truth of the Pancreator was not to be found in edicts, but through the exploration of a personal truth reached through personal interpretation. Each individual should strive to interpret the Omega Gospels in their own way and to find the truths within it which are meaningful to their own lives. The structure of the Church, Fairchild said, was only useful in so far as it served to educate and to guide the faithful through their own spiritual journey.

Such convictions quickly found fertile soil in the fresh nationalism which was spreading through the freshly formed Concordat. The Church, stripped of its power to politically silence Fairchild, could do nothing more than excommunicate the rebellious teacher. It has long been argued whether or not this was an even greater mistake by the Church – the highly public excommunication of Fairchild, and Fairchild’s own embracing of this new reality, served not as a warning, but as a clarion call that the Church’s ability to tyrannically enforce its view of faith was broken by the realities of the new system of government.

Today nearly 15% of Concordat citizens are members of the Liberalist church – making it the strongest competitor with the Orthodox for the faith of the people. It also remains at bitter doctrinal and political odds with what it perceives to be the archaic, restrictive, and false tyranny of the Orthodox religious teachings.

THE SAINTED ORDERS: The Sainted Orders date back to an amalgamation of different religious sects in the 46^th century. The basic structure of the belief differs depending upon which Order one is analyzing, but the central tenet is that the Prophet was actually the living incarnation of the Pancreator, with all or some of his eight followers sainted and/or deified as well.

Although initially a great populist success the Sainted Orders have faced a general decline for several centuries. During the past hundred years or so this trend has been accelerated because the Orders have tended to be a haven of religious extremists. The loose collection of slightly differing religious beliefs within the Orders makes it easy for radical cults to spring up and mass suicides, murders, and religo-terrorist actions have become semi-regular events.

REJUVENITES: At one point during the early scientific renaissance of the Human Concordat a popular theory held that the dimming of the suns was simply part of a long galactic cycle which would, eventually, reverse itself. In short, there was nothing to be particularly worried about – the problem would take care of itself. Although this theory has since been discredited and now is largely ignored, the idea seemed to find ideal fermentation within the religious community. The Rejuvenite faith maintains the Orthodox position that the suns are fading because of the sins of mankind, but they differ in one important respect: There is no hope of rekindling them. They are a sign of the end of an age, at which point the Pancreator will “clothe himself within the confines of the flesh” and “walk among the people of the Galaxy” to “pass judgment upon the deeds of his servants, faithful and unfaithful”.

If the Pancreator finds mankind worthy he will “rekindle the stars with the light of his love” and a golden age will ensue. If not, then he will destroy mankind and start anew. The Rejuvenites hold that just such an event occurred eons ago when the Ur races ruled the universe, and that the Ur races were found unworthy.

Some fringe Rejuvenites believe that each race will be judged in turn, and particular focus has been spent upon the Vau. Some believe that the Vau have found the true secrets to acceptance in the eyes of the Pancreator and that their ways should be emulated. Others imagine some sort of interspecies contest in which only one will be chosen to proceed into the golden age – they would have the Concordat attack and destroy the Vau.

URITIC ORDER: The Uritic Order was initially an order of monks organized around the teachings of Petref Alanna in the 47^th century. Its spiritual roots lie with both the Rejuvenites and the Sainted Orders. Alanna accepted the belief that the fading suns were an indication of the end times, which would culminate in a judgment of mankind which would determine whether mankind would be sent into a golden age.

Instead of believing that the alternatives were either a golden age here in this plane of existence or utter destruction, Alanna believed that in the judgment the Pancreator would send those he chose as worthy into another plane of existence – a Nirvana or a Heaven. Those who were not chosen would remain behind. He said that the Ur races had not failed the test, they had passed it and been sent on into this other plane – leaving the imperfect Ur-Ukar and Ur-Obun, who had failed the Pancreator’s test, behind.

Finally Alanna said, along with the Sainted Orders, that the Prophet was not a mortal man. However, he did not embrace the conclusion that the Prophet was an incarnation of the Pancreator, either. Instead, he said, the Prophet was a reincarnation of the collective wisdom of the Elder Races and focused particular attention upon the role of the Ur-Obun Follower, Ven Lohji.

Since Alanna’s death the ideas of the Uritic Order become more widely popular and accepted. Although the Order still exists as a brotherhood of monks, it is also complicated by an infrastructure of “Houses of the Order” which teach and give a sense of religious community to those who are not brothers, but still embrace the beliefs of the Order.

PROMETHEAN DIVISION: The Promethean Division is, in some ways, not so much a religious sect as it is the opposite of a religious sect. It is based on the belief that the Prophet was, in fact, a False Prophet used as an unwitting tool of the dark spirits. Where the Omega Gospels present a highly structured set of moral beliefs, the adherents of the Promethean Divsion believe that the only true sin is becoming obsessed with sin – particularly over the sins of others.

This should not be viewed as a complete abandonment of moral authority (few Prometheans take it so far), but Prometheans generally believe the proper purview of ethical questions should be calmly reasoned as a tradeoff between infringing individual freedom and allowing the actions of individuals to impinge upon the freedoms of others. “Sin” doesn’t enter into it, and remains the purview of the individual’s discretion. Risk damnation if you want, but it is your decision so long as you do not infringe upon my freedom.

Nor should this be construed as a denial of the Pancreator. The Promethean Division embraces the concept of the Pancreator, but sees the Pancreator as embracing and supporting their philosophy of freedom and scientific improvement. The stars are not fading because of the Pancreator’s anger over the sinfulness of his people, they say, the stars are fading because religious fanatics are obsessing over imagined “sins”.

SATHRAISM: Although religious freedom is almost utterly uninfringed upon and many minor non-Omega sects proliferate, Sathraism is still banned. Members of the Orthodox Church, other sects, and a majority of private citizens believe that the effects of jumpgate travel on which Sathraism are based are physically and mentally harmful. “Public safety” legislation, therefore, prevents the exercise of Sathraism, and so far the Courts are unwilling to challenge it.

ANTINOMY: Like Sathraism, the mysterious rites of Antinomists have been banned. They are considered highly subversive and dangerous by even the non-religious, and the remaining political forces of the religious orders reinforce this conviction.

Go to Part 3: Worlds of the Concordat