Editing Exile (section)

=Setting=
Exile is set in a distant future where the location of earth has been long forgotten after mankind departed it to escape the fury of the 'old gods' - who may be real supernatural entities, or may be a metaphor for the stifling effects of old religions. In either case, these gods did not follow mankind into space.

The players are exiles from the core worlds of the Hegemony, where humans live an Eloi-like utopian existence. Beyond the core worlds lie the lawless worlds of the Grange. Here PCs must fend for themselves on the outskirts of a corrupt and uncaring government, among undersupplied colonies and deadly raiders. In many ways it's very similar to Firefly without the cowboy theme.

The Hegemony is an empire in decline, corrupt and decadent, formed of an association of Syndics. A Syndic is simply any organized group with sufficient political clout - the military, the civil service, the underworld and ethnic blocs all count as Syndics. A list follows:

===Exotic Syndics===

*Androgyne - ''Hermaphrodite sex-slaves turned politicians and media stars.''
*Sark'Saron - ''Reptilian supersoldiers.''
*The Starborn (Reisir) - ''Vacuum adapted humans.''

===Career Syndics===

*Armada - ''Officers and navy, very honorable.''
*Vanguard - ''Ground troops & mercenaries, not honorable at all.''
*Diplomatic Service (Interior Ministry) - ''Spies and assholes.''
*Consortium - ''Big business.''

===Faction Syndics===

*Bak'Sakusa - ''Weeaboos.''
*Common Weal - ''Conservative mannerly aristos, basically exist to hate the Pax Republica.''
*Pax Republica - ''Revolutionaries in the murderous French mold.''

===Sect Syndics===

*Zae Zarandt - ''Obsessive Go players.''
*Voidians - ''Space worshippers.''

===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.