Egernia and Terra

On Terra, there have always been those with super-human powers. The first runner of the marathon, Alexander the Great, Scipio Africanus, just to name a few from Antiquity. Carolus Magnus (Charlemagne), Pope Innocent III, William the Bastard (Conqueror) from the Middle Ages. While these figures were not super-humans as we would identify a super-human, they were great men of their time, that, whether they realized it or not, had super powers at their command.

However, on Terra, their history has proceeded as ours here on Earth - Napoleon did not take over Europe any more than Hitler did. The South lost their end of the Civil War in the US. The presence of super-humans, on Terra, has been evenly distributed, allowing for no major changes in the timeline.

This changed in 1988, when Egernia first made contact with Terra. In Seattle, near the top of the Space Needle, a rift opened in the night sky. Through that rift fell several humanoid shapes, landing safely on the top of the Needle. The humanoids were, in fact, reptoids - some inhabitants of Egernia. A terrible accident on their world had opened the rift between the dimensions, and a "first contact" of sorts then followed.

The Egernians proved to be a peaceful race and culture. They are ruled by a body of their world's greatest scientists (a technocracy), and tend to be conservative, for all of their interest and drive to research and discovery. Their planet has known peace for over 5 centuries, the Egernians learning that any war or disruption would hinder the learning and discovery process. They know of the atom, and are appalled that Terrans use it as insurance against war rather than trying to make an attempt at a less-threatening state of peace.

This is not to say that Egernians do not have their own cultural stresses between their nations. But where the UN exists outside of Terran governments, the Egernian Technocracy IS the government, and all nations on Egernia support, and answer to the decisions of, the Technocracy. While there is no open warfare, there is crime, and the seven deadly sins are as prevalent on Egernia as on Terra.

In terms of technology, the Egernians have an advantage over Terra in terms of pure science. They have advanced methods of research, and advanced tools to promote that research, including translators (which helped tremendously in the confusion of the rift). They have colonized their moon, albeit only since the opening of the rift, and are making plans to colonize their fourth planet as well. In terms of warfare and advances structural engineering, the terrans are superior. The two worlds together, then, are beginning to coexist peacefully, and trade is booming from one to the other, and back.

Terra still has its problems. The Egernians were not thrilled with the Terran Gulf War, nor with the current "War on Terrorism", terrorism being a truly alien concept to them. They have refused to assist with improving Terran weaponry with their science, although some improvements are finding their ways into the military anyway.

While both worlds are coexisting, there are still tensions. There are those, on both worlds, that have no love for their counterparts across the rift. The majority of each species, however, at the worst tolerate each other, and plans are in the works to make rifts more readily available, perhaps to the point of tourism from world to world. The Egernians seem very interested in Terran swamplands (the Florida Everglades being top on their list), and, as a result of this interest, environmentalism has received a shot in the arm.

Physically, Egernians come in all shapes and sizes, much like Terrans. Their world is the same distance from their star as Terra is from its star, has one satellite, and the solar system is a collection of 9 major planets with countless numbers of asteroids and comets. Egernians are as comfortable on Terra as Terrans are on Egernia.

Egernians also have their own supers. Each Egernian nation maintains a force to deal with crises that occur (natural disasters, groups of organized "evil" supers, things of those sorts). The Technocracy has a "legion" that it maintains, in case the nations cannot handle the problems for themselves. It is not uncommon for the nations to share access to their supers, as needed, to handle problems. In the last 500 years, supers have not been used in armed conflict, and, in fact, the Charter of the Technocracy specifically forbids it.

Besides open hostility and warfare, the other aspect of Terran culture that confuses Egernians is Terran religion. Religion is not outlawed on Egernia, nor, however, does it play a role in their governments. The Egernian peoples are allowed to believe as they will (and there are only a few pantheons and sects on Egernia as compared to Terra). Religious disputes are settled, oddly enough, through science and debate. On occasion, a religious group may disband after compelling evidence has been presented to show it as being fallible. On rarer occasions, two sects may merge to better answer their religious differences and questions, believing that a correct answer may be discovered if they work together. Most people, however, have little use for religion, since science takes precedence in their minds and lives.

The Rifts

As far as the Terrans and Egernians know, the first rift was created during a battle of supers in Egernian Seattle. A group of evil supers, reportedly aided by creatures not readily identified, clashed with the Technocracy's Legion nd some local supers. The result: two of the legion were killed, and two others were drained of their powers permanently. The creatures were destroyed, and five of the eight members of the evil group were killed, and the rest captured.

The destruction of the creatures coincided with the death of Maraketh, the Seneschal of Egernia. The resulting explosion is what created the rift above Seattle, though no one is quite sure how.

Since that battle, the Egernians have been studying the rift, and, five years later, successfully created another rift, this time in New York. Since then, rifts have been created in Paris, Beijing, and Sydney. The original rift has remained open without any maintenance, but the other rifts require tremendous energy to maintain. Scientists on both sides are working on better ways to maintain the rifts. Until then, only the rifts in existence are scheduled to remain - there are no plans for new rifts.

The Terrans have analyzed the science behind the creation of the rifts, but for some reason, as yet unexplained, they cannot create a rift. So far, they have been of limited assistance and success in aiding the continuation of the rifts. But the work continues...

Terran Reactions

Politically, the placement of the rifts was not random, nor solely decided by the Egernians. After the Terran United States received their second rift, the rest of the political entities each demanded a rift of their own. The United States argued that New York, home of the Terran United Nations, was an obvious choice for the second rift. The rest of terra was unimpressed with the argument, and immediately pressed for more rifts. The Egernians, while not unaccustomed to local rivalries, were surprised by the interests of nationality over world-wide interests.

To prevent any hostilities, the Egernians allowed the Terran U.N. to decide the locations of the next two rifts, while the Egernians would get to select the placement of the two after that. The Terran European Union and Terran China won the rights (through much political wrangling) to the next locations, and rifts opened in Paris and Beijing. The Egernians, on the eve of the millennium in 2001, opened the fifth rift in Sydney. The seat of the Egernian Technocracy is currently in Sydney. The seat moves every 5 years, and will be in Egernian Istanbul in 2005. When the first rift opened in 1988, the seat was in London. The Egernians, obviously, are not without their own political intrigue.

The Effects of the Rifts

Economically, the rifts are huge boons financially. As the only places for direct cross-dimensional commerce, corporations around the both worlds are making plans to have major offices located as close as possible to the rifts. Corporations already located in those cities are already reaping the benefits, and cross-dimensional goods are readily available in those cites.

Access to the rifts is very closely guarded - on Egernia by a specially created group of supers, on Terra by United Nations' Blue Helmets, supported by a presence of local supers. Travel through the rifts is tightly restricted. Military is not allowed to cross from either side. Supers may cross, but only if they are part of an already existing group and with the clearance of both governments. Communications through the rifts are possible, and representatives may conduct business without the necessity of travel.

Egernian Society

The Technocracy is the ruling body on Egernia, period. Local governments exist to maintain better control over local matters, but any local government may (and often do) defer to the Technocracy in cases across borders. Since the Egernians have had 500 years to get used to this arrangement, they cannot envision any other way.

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