Foundations

The Decline of Empire Saga is an allegory of US politics in the early 21st Century. It covers the Bush and Obama Presidencies, and the significant historical events that occurred during this time.

It sits atop a metaphor that draws on very common Fantasy Tropes :


 * Dwarfs, Elves, Orcs, Trolls, Nymphs, Wizards, and other assorted semi-mythological beings


 * Magic


 * Kings and Queens and Knights and such


 * War with a mysterious evil foreign force


 * An epic quest

So far, simple enough. Tolkien retold once again. It does however, depart from the ‘traditional’ fantasy formula in one very important way: modern living (see What If A Fantasy World Was Not Medieval below)

Where Are We?
The Decline of Empire Saga takes place on an Earth-like planet in a Parallel Universe.

For simplicity, the Earth you are currently riding on shall be referred to as "This Earth", which is  located in "This Universe ". The Earth of the story shall be referred to as Farcearth ("Farce Earth") which is located somwhere else. Residents of Farcearth called their planet Earth.

So, our story is set in Farcearth, which exists (for all we know, actually exists) in a parallel universe which bears a striking resemblance to our own, but for legal reasons must be noted is entirely fictional, and any resemblance between the fictional politicians, celebrieties and assorted famous people and any real politicians, celebrities, and assorted famous people is purely satirical, not biographical.

Farcearth differs from Real Earth in several key ways: Farcearth is place that will allow us to explore the absurdity of Real Earth without directly calling
 * Magic - it exists
 * Scale - it is smaller
 * Geopolitics - it's complicated
 * Inhabitants - it's really complicated

What If A Fantasy World Was Not Medieval?
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Clarkes Third Law

Magic is real on Farcearth, and it's everywhere. While is is probably true that for a period of time, magic was the exclusive domain of wizards, and was primarily used to further the political ambitions of noble Kings and evil Princes, those days are long past. In our story, magic is everywhere, and it is used by everyone.

Apologies for the obviousness: magic is a metaphor for technology. Not a startlingly original insight, but an important part of the satire. Because technology is so integrated into our everyday lives, that we easily forget how quickly it is all developing. The whole “Technology is Magic” message helps us explore the impact rapidly changing technology is having on all our of our lives. Remember, iPhones didn’t exist until near the end of Bush Presidency. Facebook didn’t exist until near the end of his first term. So the whole magic-tech thing is really about exploring how we are coping with the pace of change, and how technology is changing politics. With every chapter, magic becomes more powerful, and more pervasive.

Left, Right, Left, Right
The other fundamental element of the metaphor is to do with political leanings. And it is based on the belief (increasingly supported by evidence) that politics has more to do with biology than reason.

Here’s the short and offensively simplistic version:


 * A lot of (often left-leaning) scientists have been exploring the fundamental differences between people who self-identify as “conservative” and “progressive”. And they have found that there are distinct biological differences, and that they are largely genetic. In other words, give or take a bit of tweaking round the edges, you are born conservative or progressive, and no amount of arguing will change that.

In other words, your political opinions come from your brain, but not in the way you like to think they do.

The different Species represent different political worldviews. The different Kingdoms represent an exaggerated view of the way these worldviews are distributed throughout the USA.