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The Reich External Trade Association

The Association

Due to its positioning and some clever jiggery pokery when Magica Superior was created, the Reich does not have a group of contiguous Shadows surrounding it the way that Sable has the Commonwealth,or Azure the Ring of Sapphires. However, it does have a free trade association of sorts, Der Aussenhandel der Reichsverband.

The Aussenhandel Shadows have preferential trade and military agreements with the Fatherland, and the Reich reserves the right to have military bases within those nations. Each of the Aussenhandel Shadows has either a military (Reichsprotektor) or civilian (Gauleiter) governor from the Reich, and while not technically the heads of state on these worlds - with the exception of the military Shadows - these governors have the right to interfere in Shadow politics and bring in external forces if to do so is beneficial to the Reich. As in the Commonwealth, the Aussenhandel groups are named after the military Shadows at their hearts. The Reichsprotektors are the senior Reich officers in each group of Shadows, and all hold the rank of Obergruppenführer. These military Shadows are always located in the Fifth Veil, although the location of the others within their groups varies.

Physically, the Aussenhandel Shadows exist in the Outer Ring, between the Commonwealth and open Shadow, thus putting them in Veils Four, Five and Six.However, they are attached to the Reich lands on Magica Superior by a system of very specialised Imperial Ways. These twist through Shadow to circumvent the Commonwealth worlds which, were Shadow geometry Euclidian, would be the closest to Magica Superior itself.

Until recently, the Aussenhandel blocs comprised four groups of five Shadows. However this has now been extended, with the addition of the Neubrandenburg Group early in RY152, and the Westphalia Group in March RY155. In each group there is one military Shadow acting as guardian and protector for a group of four other more regular trading Shadows, including one or two agricultural or semi-agricultural worlds in each group. Thus each unit of five Shadows is effectively self-supporting, should it be required, which is not impossible, given the vulnerability stemming from their only connection to the Fatherland being down the Imperial Ways. All are set up for trade - agricultural or industrial - and commerce exists with each other, other groups, or the Fatherland itself.

Tech levels across all the blocs are at least 1900 technology, and the majority of them as high as 1940 or more, whereas in Sable and the Commonwealth, a lot of the technology is magic-based, except in the very advanced Shadows. In addition, magic is normally functional in the Aussenhandel Shadows, should it be needed. Industrial technology traded onto Magica Superior does have to be sufficiently modified to account for the lack of petrochemicals on the Primal Shadow, thus mech-tech mages work with the Aussenhandel industrial concerns for that purpose. In addition, about half of the Aussenhandel worlds have a strong agricultural base as well as an industrial one, and act as the breadbaskets for the other Shadows in their groups. The primary forms of bulk transport are shipping, zeppelins or, more recently, the Aurellis Transport System. Of these, the ATS is the only one which allows direct transit from one group to another: the other methods of transport all have to route via the Fatherland, due to restrictions in the setup of the Imperial Ways.

Within the Aussenhandel Shadows, there is a similar split of population to the Reich itself, with the 80% who are of predominantly European stock having the status of Aussenhandel Citizens. While this isn't quite as prestigious as being a full Reich Citizen, it does mean that they are accorded better status than Reich Non-Citizens. Moreover, it is much easier for an Aussenhandel Citizen to ultimately take Reich Citizenship if they choose to.

The four original groups

The Bayern Group

Abbreviations: Rpk = Reichsprotektor; Gau. = Gauleiter

The Holstein Group

The Niedersachsen Group

The Saarland Group

The Neubrandenburg Group

The Aussenhandel bloc was extended from twenty to twenty-five Shadows in early RY152, with the addition of the Neubrandenberg Group, which has now been fully integrated.

The Westphalia Group

The Westphalia Group was brought under the Reich umbrella in March SY155, and has been given equal status with the other Aussenhandelgroups. However, it has a more military and security aspect, and none of the Shadows have native governments: they are considered Gaus or Provinces of the Reich itself. The bloc is self-supporting in terms of food and resources, with enough additional production that it can trade with the Reich. The appointment of Conrad Berthelmes as its Reichsprotektor has caused some surprise within the upper echelons of the Reich government, although at this time he also maintains his position as Party Chairman.

The world of Midgard is Non-Reich allied world with links to the Fürstentum von Valhalla , but is accorded equality with the other Shadows within the Westphalia Group.