Third Republic
Compared to the Empire, the Republic had more success in quelling dissent in the post war period. Their legions of Goliaths and Constructs, now augmented by an increasing number of Sapien Constructs could deal with any armed rebels. To their credit, the secessionist movements, those that survived anyway, shifted tactics to the surprise of the Archmage Council: non-violent protest and involvement in the political system wherever possible. This method proved quite popular among the mundane masses and normal spellcasters. Even some Mages spoke up for the rights of some of the Colonies. Secessionist movements petitioned Kingdom of Matango and the Banking Federation for support. The later simply refused to get involved but King Melanosporum considered the risks of a civil war and another stream of refugees. While publicly acknowledging the sovereignty of the Republic, the King did encourage the Archmage Council to consider granting its colonies the right to self-determination.
The Mages themselves were going through major reorganization among their own ranks too. In the final years of the war, the mages had managed to create two new classes of Constructs capable of autonomous thought: Sapien Constructs and Arcane Intelligences. The former were built for war and joined the ranks of the Goliaths and the regular Constructs. The Arcane Intelligences were disembodied artificial being with fantastic cognitive abilities. Just like they could link their minds among themselves, the Mages could mentally commune with the Arcane Intelligences.
Arcane Intelligences were extraordinarily difficult to create. Generally bound to enchanted objects, they were used by Mage-Commanders as tactical and strategic advisors or to interface with ordinary Constructs at a distance. However, unchecked, they had the tendency to merge with each other into a new being with improved cognitive abilities. Initially, the doctrine was to keep them apart, since they were more valued individually.
Near the end of the war, the Archmage Council opted for a new doctrine: merge all the available AI and commune with the result to find a strategy to defeat the Empire once and for all. As an added precaution, the Archmage Council invited the most powerful Mages to participate in the procedure, less the AI somehow decided to turn on them. The procedure did backfire, but not in the way the Archmages feared. At the climax of the ritual, about 50 of the most powerful minds in the world and the fusion of dozens of AI joined into a single hivemind. It quickly determined that immediate military victory was not possible given the current conditions and that a negotiated peace would be necessary in the short term with a long term view of subjugating the entire world.
Having reached that conclusion, the Mages were free to break from the hivemind but nearly half refused to do so. They abandoned their bodies and permanently joined the new collective mind that named itself Hyperion . Most of the others had a very positive impression of the experience, but a few saw this level of hivemind as an unacceptable loss of self. To their credit, the Council and Hyperion were fairly transparent with all the Mages about the event (after the Matango Accords were signed, of course). Hyperion became a permanent fixture of the Archmage Council. Elected Archmages communed with it to determine the best way to deal with the post war world. A minority of Mages refused to participate in this new process and gradually moved to Shima Island and joined its Collective.
In the year 3037, with the mounting pressure from Matango regarding the unrest in the colonies and some protectorates, the Mages put forward a new constitution to which the colonies could adhere to or leave by way of referendum. Colonies could become full fledged Provinces, become Vassal States with greater autonomy but next to no benefits, or simple independence. The later came with a major caveat: independent states did not benefit from any protection under the Matango Accord and could thus be “lawfully” attacked by the remnants of the Empire or any of the post-Empire city-states. Only a handful of Colonies voted for full Independence and most opted to become Vassal States.
Under the Third Republic, the system of government was tweaked. Archmages were still elected, though they no longer selected a First Archmage. They spent most of their term in communion with Hyperion. The electoral process itself was changed: every five years, all the Mages are invited to remotely commune with the Archmage Council and Hyperion to contribute ideas and vote on major proposals.
The House of Casters and the House of Mundanes were mostly unchanged though Mages were no longer allowed to run or vote for either.
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