Gonna need this for the stretch goal adventure.
The Mages’ Alliance
(2130-2350 AD)
Core Area: upper western bank of the Mississippi River, centered on Iowa
Type of government: oligarchical (magical) collectivism
Capital: Grand Moingoana (Des Moines, Iowa)
Modern society sees few differences between the Mages’ Alliance (MA) and its successor state the Universal Dominion, which is understandable. In practical terms both regimes routinely engaged in slavery, oppression, mundane and magical torture, involuntary breeding programs, and virtually every other atrocity ever conceived of by the mind of man. The primary differences were in scale; the Mages’ Alliance had fewer resources at its disposal, and less forbidden knowledge to fuel their horrible goals.
What modern society (and scholars) overlook is that the Mages’ Alliance was not considered a serious threat to anyone except its neighbors for most of its existence. In the year 2250 AD (the chosen time period for this supplement) the country was effectively checked by the Kingdom of Nebraska and the Kingdom of the Lakes. While it was probably the most powerful of the three, the MA did not have either the resources or internal cohesion to stand against both kingdoms at once. A determined campaign of conquest by them would have succeeded, if at terrible cost. It is a matter of great regret that Nebraska and Lakes missed their chance.
Political Structure
The MA operated on a recognizable feudal system. Towns were ruled directly by Initiates in vassalage to Journeymen (roughly equivalent to a baron), who offered their allegiance to Masters (a duke-equivalent). The Masters met regularly in a Council, presided over by the First Mage (picked from their number). Masters were mostly independent of the Council, but the First Mage had the right to command them in war, when necessary (it was often necessary).
The interesting wrinkle in all of this was that the rulers of the MA, from top to bottom, did not recognize the concept of personal property. All resources belonged to the MA collectively, and no one mage had any inherent right to any of it. If another mage could take something away from you, you didn’t deserve to have it in the first place. While there were practical restrictions to ‘keep what you can grab,’ in theory a new Initiate could rapidly become First Mage simply by beating every superior in his or her way. It happened three times in the MA’s history, and one of those ambitious prodigies even managed to survive long enough to eventually retire, and die of old age. The others did not.
Another complication in all of this was that the MA had an unbreakable custom: mages always ruled. He or she could have mundane subordinates, attendants, and even advisors, but a mage always had to be in charge, all the way down to the village level. Theoretically, a mundane could be a vassal to a mage, holding territory directly, but all attempts to circumvent this policy were ruthlessly if informally suppressed. This very much included attempts by mages to install their mundane children in positions of authority, which happened often enough that the Universal Dominion later felt the need to set up the Circle/Sepithoth system, and eliminate individual fiefdoms.