Difference between revisions of "Talk:The Wizarding World"

Latest revision as of 15:39, 8 December 2012

Page Template - we should be working toward filling in all of this data --Robkelk 15:50, 2 December 2012 (UTC)

Not a faction most people would think was the third-largest one in Fenspace – Harry Potter is fantasy after all, not science-fiction or even space opera – but the combination of “magic” handwavium plus the Earthside crackdowns on private ownership thereof forced a mass migration of Potterites to Fenspace. Wizards tend to set up their own districts in larger settlements and stations, while the leadership and teaching of new wizards is done at Hogwarts (10 Hygiea, The Main Belt).

The Wizards are not actually “magical” beings, although they do rejoice in the membership of the majority of “perfect” were-fen (whom they call “animagi”). The mystical trappings of J.K. Rowlings’ seminal work here serve to provide a unifying theme for a society concerned with service, honour, and children. No-one is watched as closely, or backed up as firmly, as a Wizarding child.

History

(start at 2008, start new paragraphs at the start and end of the Boskone War so that the material for Season 0, Season 1, and Season 2 are separated)

Politics

(start with the internal politics - form of government, existing groups/blocs/parties, etc)

Government

Diverging from the canonical Wizarding Society, the Ministry of Magic of the Fenspace Wizards is an elected council, with elections handled by universal ballot (for those that have attained their majority) and district votes weighted as to their last censused populace.

There are seven seats on the Wizarding council, as follows.

Magical Law Enforcement

The Councilor for Law is the head administrator of the law enforcement and judicial arms of the Wizarding World, and is allowed to coordinate efforts with the Commissioner of the Space Patrol without needing to go through the Ministry of International Magical Cooperation.

To prevent the abuses of power or cases of blatant incompetence displayed in the source media, the Councilor For Law must operate under a Veil of Revealing. (This is one of the first laws passed by the Wizarding Council: an office or person operating under this law is recorded 24 hours a day for their tenure of office. Any given period of time is available to any adult Wizard for review, though it must first be vetted by a three-member panel of the Council.) It is notable that this three-member panel (which is chosen at random by the Ministry Mainframe, Jorkins) is currently in decision on only one footage request, with none pending. At no time in the Ministry’s active history has this queue gone above five footage requests or five days wait. The Vetting Panel for the Councilor For Law meets under one regulation: to safeguard the common privacy of the Councilor for Law, inasmuch as this does not harm the Wizarding World. The Councilor For Law can operate outside the Veil only by endorsement of the entire Council, or by endorsement of remaining Council members in event of malfeasance or death. (This requirement caused one Councilor to resign on his wedding day, as his bride had no desire to spend their honeymoon under the Veil.)

Magical Accidents and Catastrophes

The Councilor for Catastrophe, a relatively easy Council position, holds responsibility for emergency planning and services, including fire, famine, and attack. By unanimous decision, the Council has requested (and obtained) defense agreements from both the Warsies and the Federation in return for docking and child services. The department under the Councilor for Catastrophe does maintain armed vessels, though there aren’t many of them and they aren’t very powerful. They are almost always found either near Hogwarts or ferrying VIPs.

A minority of past Councilors for Catastrophe have been Blue Blazers.

Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

The Councilor for Creatures is served with administering and regulating biomod and semi/nonsentient ’wavium creations. This department is also the local Turing authority for AI that Quicken in the Wizarding World, and (with the Department of International Magical Cooperation) offers this service to factions that do not or cannot hold their own Turing tests.

International Magical Cooperation

The Department of International Magical Cooperation in the Fenspace Wizarding World is perhaps the most different from its source material. In Fenspace, the Councilor for Cooperation is responsible for all “foreign relations,” including matters of jurisdiction, treaties and agreements, and “national level” public relations.

Magical Transportation

The Councilor for Transport oversees the registration authority for ships flying the Wizarding World flag. Wizarding space vehicles use the “H” prefix, making the Space Ship Sirius Black Was Innocent the HSS-19. Hogwarts School vessels are denoted with an “Hs” prefix, making the Headmaster Dumbledore the HsSS-1.

Magical Games and Sports

The sport of Quidditch, as well as several “re-themed” ’Dane sports, have been supported by the Wizarding World as athletic endeavors, spectacle, and team-building exercises. As such, The Councilor for Games is responsible for certification of tools and equipment for assisted sports, and rules certification for non-assisted sports (such as card games). The Councilor For Games recently made minor headlines outside of the sports pages, allowing for the first time since the inception of her department an entirely new type of Quidditch “Broom,” the Nebula series. Produced by Federation hobbyists, the new Nebula is the first broom to offer a micronized impulse drive, and compares well with the recent offerings in reaction drive brooms and reactionless brooms.

The Councilor For Games has also been recognized in headlines for their stated and official policy regarding recordings or video of the various official games it hosts: “For the first day, no non-Council broadcast is permitted, that way we can make at least some money off the feeds. After 24 hours, we’re dumping all available footage straight into public domain, you all have fun with that.”

Mysteries

The Department of Mysteries is another greatly changed group from its origins. In Fenspace, The Councilor for Mysteries is concerned with the maintenance and upkeep of “state” facilities such as Hogwarts, Hedwig, the Council Rock, and the small fleet of shuttles that the Catastrophe department carries. The Department of Mysteries also has an interesting facet to its charter – it’s bound by the original Council documents to “be responsible for any situation which may arise that cannot be unanimously assigned to another department.” This clause has been used to keep the founding and construction of new ships in this department, as Catastrophe and Transport argued long enough in session to irritate the remainder of the Council. It is believed that it was Sports and Games that called for the vote, as he had a zero-G “Person Pool” demonstration match to attend.

INSERT-NAME-HERE

(the armed forces - who are they, how powerful are they, what do they do when they're not fighting a war, where are they based, what do they use, what citations do they award - most of this should be in its own article, with a capsule-and-link on the main page)

Relations with other factions

(here's where the external politics goes)
The Wizards are allied with both the Senshi and the Fivers (who lump them in with the Technomages).
(explain why)

Future plans

(plans for Season 3/Infinities)

Administrative divisions

(what it says on the tin - describe each in a separate subsection)

Economy

(internal and external - give an overview of the faction-wide economy, then highlight each major economic engine in a separate subsection)

Demographics

(start with population and largest settlement)

See also: List of cities in the Wizarding World

Ethnic groups

(list the prominent and notable groups - Primarily anglophone white nerds to begin with, because that's the nature of early Fandom, but Fenspace starts to change in Season 2)

Biomods

(list the prominent and notable groups - roughly 1.3% of the overall Fenspace population are biomodded as of the end of Season 2)

Subgroups

(list and quickly describe any notable groups within the faction (e.g. Trekkie:Klingon, Fiver:Technomage, Senshi:Action-Girl))

Language

(list them - official languages if they exist, then common-use languages)

Culture

(what do they do? why do they do it? keep in mind the "stereotype" line in the faction box, but don't be straitjacketed by it)

Psychology and stereotypes

(develop that "stereotype" line in the faction box)

Religion

(if there's an official religion, give it a quick description; otherwise, discuss what religions if any are practiced by noticable groups in the faction)

Law Enforcement: The Aurors

The Wizarding World maintain the Aurors as their law-enforcement agency. The Aurors report to the Councilor for Law, and maintain good relations with the Space Patrol.

The Unspeakables

Known only in rumours to most of Fenspace, the Unspeakables are the Wizarding World's equivalent of the Space Patrol's Section 9 or the Supers' Double-Os. They have wide latitude to act to keep the peace within the Wizarding World.

Notable Faction Members

(a quick "term and definition" style list, with links to the character pages)

Rumors

(what other groups say about the faction)

Notes