Editing Exile (section)

===Underworld Syndics===

*The Cartel - ''Space mafioso.''
*Trancers - ''Basically the Hollow Ones from Mage, only ravers instead of goths.''
 
In a situation reminiscent of the fall of Rome, the Hegemony is locked in constant warfare with the Horde, a catch-all term for the barbarians at the gates. The Horde are extremely savage, probably because anybody out there who wasn't extremely savage has already been killed or conquered by the Hegemony. Other threats include the Cthulhoid Anathema and the rogue nanotech parasite known as the Scourge. Other than the Anathema there are no true aliens in the setting, all life being human or genetically engineered from lower forms.

Humans are served by the Artifex, a networked race of robots who provide everything man needs - save for weapons. The Artifex follow [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov]] laws, forcing humans to turn them off before going into battle - a clever way of keeping the focus on the PCs. Artifex can produce new Artifex, but they are similar to the technology of [[Warhammer 40k]] in that humans no longer fully understand how they work. The few devices which work without Artifex brains (Lodes) are called Machina. Weapons are the most obvious form of Machina, although others exist.