Artemis

Flag of Artemis

Artemis is a extraterrestrial nation located on the moon founded in 1985 by Edward Bromswell, Sebastian Schmidt, Eva Schmidt, and Sofia Bromswell. In an alternate universe where peace reigned after the Great War, science and technological developments flourished following the landmark London Accords of 1939. In 1940, German Architect Wallace Schmidt was inspired by Normal Bel Geddes' Futurama exhibit at the world fair to create his own lunar city. His son, Sebastian Schmidt and the Haarsted twins completed the designs for the project in 1968 which was in time for the Paris World Fair where the exhibit performed exceptionally well drawing the attention of wealthy entrepreneur Edward Bromswell.

With Bromswell's financial backing, the team set out to make the lunar city a reality under the name Artemis after the Greek goddess of the moon. In 1984 the city's construction was completed and The Founding 4 decided to name Edward Bromswell President for life and select Claude Stewart as the nation's first Chancellor. Artemis came to dominate the Earth with its economic, political, social influence as it progressed at a much more rapid rate than any country on earth.

In January 1991, Claude Stewart and his supporters overthrew President Bromswell after an attempted dissolution of the Artemis Authority. Through clever manipulation and savy political dealmaking, Claude restructured Artemis's law-enforcement, defense, and research institutions around himself. In 2005, the Artemis Authority proclaimed Claude as Emperor over the Artemis Empire. Throughout this time tensions became to rise with the fledgling empire and the rest of the world as the old powers of the world attempted to interfere in Artemis's sovereignty through espionage, sanctions, political assassinations, and attempted invasions of the lunar city.

In 2010, in light of these actions, Claude declared war on the world. Using Artemis's vast Artemite deposits, a hellfire of VORTEX Missiles was unleashed upon the surface of the earth. Afterwards, an invasion force comprising of the Imperial Army was sent down to earth to eradicate strategic areas for colonization. These conflicts were dubbed the Wars of Extermination. For ten years, Artemis engaged in all-out war with the old-powers of the world slowly wearing them down until most of Western Europe, America, and the East Pacific were under their control. Following these victories, the Imperial Colonial Board was established to oversee the new territorial acquisitions the empire acquired over the Wars of Extermination. In the current year of 2025, many of the colonies are ruled under strict legalistic control to further integrate the societies and culture under one Artemis society.

## History

### Pre-Foundation History

Following the 6 Years War, the 1939 World Fair in New York proved to be the testing ground for whether peace would last in a world where the London Accords had been fulfilled. Scientists and Artists from all corners of the globe journeyed to New York to celebrate the post-war prosperity. One exhibit played a vital role in the creation of Artemis and that is the “Futurama” exhibit by Norman Bel Geddes, an advocate of the architectural design style of streamline moderne. Geddes’s design impacted many architectural designers in the coming decade but none more than Wallace Schmidt, the lead thinker behind the idea of Artemis, who was still but a child. Schmidt began to construct his own similar streamlined designs.

Over the course of 30 years, a renaissance in art and scientific discovery would come about with massive researching initiatives to explore the skies. In 1945 The first satellite would be launched into space, two years later a satellite would take pictures of the sun, the moon, venus, and mercury. In 1950 The first man would journey into space and four years later humanity would have its first mission to the moon. Other scientific discoveries came about in the medical field where vaccines would be made to give people immunity to infectious diseases. In the art community, beautiful landscapes were painted representing optimism in man’s progress against nature. Several best selling novels came out of the era focusing around man’s exploration of space and what might be out beyond the stars. Fashion in particular modernized with each decade that passed. As the 60s came about music took a front seat as scientists began experimenting with satellite Transferring sound. Never before had music became so accessible no matter where a person was located.

In 1968 William Schmidt passed away from a stroke leaving the work of his streamlined designs to his son Sebastian Schmidt. Sebatstian was an intelligent and charming young man with a persuasive tongue. Sebastian was a brilliant architect and he wished to show his perfected designs of his father’s original streamlined moderne architecture at an exhibit at the 1969 World Fair in Paris. Just 5 months prior he had met the brilliant Haarsted sisters, Elizabeth ‘Eva’ and Sofia, at a café in Paris. Together the three perfected a design for a city designed in art-deco streamlining; however, the biggest twist was that the city would be in outer-space. They agreed that Eva would work out the engineering side of things and Sofia and Sebastian would focus on the design aspects.

After months of planning the three were ready for the fair. Sofia and Sebastian created a panel of concept art for the many different districts and design of the unnamed city. Meanwhile, Eva and a couple of her colleagues were able to research the best metals to be used for construction, how to engineer those metals, how to generate water and oxygen, and even calculating how to deliver materials for construction. With all of this prepared, the exhibit was finally ready for the fair. t the Fair, the exhibit was beyond a doubt the star of the show; millions of on-lookers would go through the exhibit and listen to the presentation of the information compiled on the idea. By the end of the fair, the exhibit had even caught the attention of Geddes who praised the idea as a fascinating concept.

The three were overjoyed by the positive response, however, it would be one man that would forever change the lives of the three: Edward Bromswell, a wealthy businessman who was the owner of the Clifford Corporation (which had a monopoly on streamlined vehicles). Bromswell expressed his immediate delight regarding the exhibit, however, he offered them an invaluable offer: to make their dreams a reality. Bromswell confessed that this project would be outside the realm of reality easily costing billions of dollars, however, he stated that he would be able to lobby different governments for them to get funding for a 60% stake in the profits of the idea should it be completed.

Following the completion of the project, invitations were sent out to several scientists, musicians, politicians, and other qualified individuals to receive automatic residence in Artemis on May 15th, 1984. Applications were available to those who were not invited on July 7th, 1984. Before residents were even onboard the celestial city, the founders agreed to make Edward Bromswell President for Life due to his invaluable patronage involved with the foundation of Artemis. Sebastian was granted a seat on the newly formed legislature “The Artemis Authority” as a Minister and a politician from Britain named Claude Stewart was given the position of Chancellor. Stewart and his wife Emilia throughout the final stages played a critical role in developing Artemis’s logistical supply lines and resident transfer program. Stewart was a relatively fresh face in politics but showed tremendous potential.

The world outside of Artemis celebrated the accomplishment as man’s greatest triumph of ingenuity. However, tensions were gathering. The Greater German Reich and the Italian Empire were beginning to isolate themselves from the other powers conducting several secret programs into the development of “special” weapons and maintained a vast espionage network. Meanwhile, Brittain, France, and the US were in back-channel negotiations for a new alliance to progress their scientific and weapon capacities. The Glory days of the Treaty of London Renaissance seem to be fast approaching their end. The world views Artemis as the beacon of their own accomplishment. Many nations had scientists working inside the project feeding them direct information; as such, they believe they are entitled to make it a subject under them.

As the first transport ships operated by Mistros Airlines approached the space-port on January 1st the world was forever changed.

### The Republic of Artemis

The Years of the Republic took place from 1985-1991. On January 1st, 1985 the first groups of citizens made their way through the pearly gates of Stewart Spaceport into Artemis. The Artemis government held a fabulous banquet known as the Artemis Day Welcome Banquet where several city’s highest status guests gorged themselves on luxury cuisine at the expense of the government. Notably absent from the festivities was President Bromswell who suffered a panic attack that evening and was incapacitated, as such Chancellor Stewart stepped in as alternate and acted in his place. During the keynote address, Claude spoke about how “prosperity shall ever go beyond the fields of Europa, the theaters of Aphrodite, the Skyscrapers of Capital Pointe, and beyond the Horizon.” However, the first few months of Artemis proved to be rough for the fledgling nation. In March, Edward Bromswell uncovered Artemis’s first traitor: the Minister of Defense Samuel Elworthy. Since Artemis’s inception, Elworthy was secretly sharing top-secret military information with the French and British about Artemis’s defense weaknesses. However, his most heinous crime was spying on the Chancellor in an effort to have him arrested for treason for a suspected plot to remove the President. Elworthy accused Stewart of restructuring Athena’s Eye (the nation’s intelligence service) into his personal secret police that he would use to usurp the President. The Chancellor vehemently denied such allegations, insisting they were coming from a deranged man who obviously had no respect for the rule of law. Elworthy was executed later that month after he pleaded guilty to the charge of treason.

Secretly, Claude was planning to remove the President, which gained him several confidants within the individual ministries including Minister of Justice Constance Bitteridge, a veteran legal scholar who believed Bromswell had no right to his lifetime term as President. Bitteridge quietly restructured Athena’s Eye’s command structure to report directly to Stewart under his orders. Other confidants included Director Solomon Integra of Athena’s Eye, General of the Artemis Defense Forces Geralt Frederickson (code named Frost), esteemed Doctor of Physics Jeremey Goodwell, and infamous mob boss Herald Brooks. Slowly Claude used his confidants to spark chaos within Artemis including the Deimos Riots, St. Cecilia’s Massacre, the September Rising, and most famously the January Revolution.

Several months after Elworthy was executed, in October, Deimos erupted into riots as laborers protested reforms for the harsh justice system. The rioters painted Elworthy as a martyr subjected to the harsh penalties of the Artemis legal system. The Chancellor uncovered this was all a plot headed by the Commissioner of Jupiter’s Fortress (the wall dividing Deimos and the rest of Artemis), a former associate of Elworthy. During a “routine” inspection of the Fortress, the Commissioner allegedly committed suicide spurring the Chancellor to take command of the troops stationed at the fortress. This was all a cover-up, Claude had the Commissioner executed after he admitted to spurring on the riots under orders from General Frederickson. After the Chancellor took charge of the situation, the riots were brutally suppressed, leaders of the protests were rounded up and shipped off to the Sentinel, the city’s max security prison deep under Capital Pointe. The ensuing chaos left 30 people dead and hundreds injured.

From a cultural perspective, Artemis’s scientific and artistic community flourished during the first year of Artemis. Several exhibits of art and literature were hosted in Aphrodite’s center for the cultural arts St. Catherine’s. St. Albert’s the city’s scientific district made major headways in a diverse range of fields consisting of agriculture, medicine, and applied physics. Within a year of Artemis’s founding Dr. Jeremy Goodwell discovered a new substance called Artemite. The new chemical was said to hold incredible potential energy which could be extracted through a complex condensation process. Dr. Goodwell was tasked by the Chancellor to build the DAMOCLES project, an impenetrable fortress from earth that would hold “an unstoppable force” that could revolutionize warfare.

On an economic front, Artemis’s first year was one of prosperity, Mistros Inc. experienced unprecedented growth, the small regional airliner grew to an interstellar transport monopoly overnight. Emilia Stewart utilized this capital to launch her operations into the Javelin project, an ambitious interstellar military spacecraft that could revolutionize the tides of battle in a matter of seconds.

1985 came and went, Claude Stewart hosted another Artemis Day Celebration in which he called for Artemis to “Embrace a new age of prosperity greater than any other in human history. Artemis has conquered the human condition, it is our time to go beyond the Horizon!” Meanwhile, his latest scheme was already well under way to further undermine Artemis, this time it was with one of Artemis’s most notorious events, The St. Cecilia’s Shooting. On the First lady’s birthday, the Chancellor hosted a showing of her favorite Opera, “The Magic Flute” during which an armed gunman ran into St. Cecilia’s firing into the audience. The Gunman was later identified as Quincy Longwood, a deranged man with connections to a mob in Deimos which took orders from Herald Brooks. Mr. Longwood later confessed before being executed that, “I was close to killing that damn tyrant! If I just had one more chance I could have avenged Mr. Elworthy! He speaks the truth, I swear, the Chancellor isn’t what h-” The St. Cecilia’s shooting severely injured several high profile guests including Emilia Stewart, Sofia Bromswell, Daphne Rose Carrington, Arlene C. Hofstadt, and Katarina Beatrix.

Following St. Cecilia’s Shooting stocks in Artemis plummeted. The nation was facing an economic crisis the likes it had never seen before. President Edward Bromswell refused to act, stating that it was a simple recession that was bound to happen, meanwhile several stores and large companies were closing down. The Board at Mistros was infuriated when they learned Emilia would be in a coma for over 6 months due to the injuries she sustained. The board would devise a plot to remove Emilia from her position as CEO and retake control over the company’s direction towards more profitable endeavors than silly space combat. During this period, Claude Stewart became increasingly more critical of the President calling him the “Lounger in Chief” and calling for greater financial relief for businesses. In other events, violence by the armed Outer Reich began to occur, killing off high profile targets of the Artemis Elite like famous socialite Katarina Beatrix in her Calypso Penthouse.

1987 quickly came around, this time bringing with it tragedy in the First Family. After Sofia Bromswell had recovered from her wounds from the St. Cecilia’s Shooting, a biotoxin was released into the Presidential Residence on the 99th floor of the Spire, Artemis’s main governmental building. The nerve gas killed the family’s long time maid Edna Johnson and poisoned the family’s adopted son Mason Bromswell. After Mason recovered from the incident, he took his own life. Later that same year, Sofia’s father William Haarsted died from alcohol poisoning after his long time business the Silose Corporation was driven out of business after over-extension and an interbusiness contract between Adnet Mining Holdings and Mistros Incorporated as part of a plan to corner the Artemite market.

An even greater tragedy unfolded, with the murder of Artemis designer Sebastian Schmidt and his wife, the scientific mastermind behind Artemis, Eva Schmidt by a Nazi platoon lead by First Lieutenant Hohenstein. Rumors have it that Mr. Schmidt was working with the Nazis to enact a plot to assassinate Claude Stewart as a way of taking control over Artemis. Schmidt at the last minute refused to enact the plan resulting in his family’s brutal murder before his own eyes. By the time Calypso authorities responded to the incident, the platoon had disappeared through the utility shaft network deep below the city. After this tragic event, the Nazi cells in the city were becoming more ambitious with the targets they chose.

Three Years passed and Artemis progressed, yet unsteadily. Nazi raids became more and more frequent, yet, the government’s foreign policy was plagued with inaction. Edward retreated further into isolation refusing to take a stance against the Nazis on earth or calling out the British and French for their theft of Artemis technology. Claude, meanwhile, flourished. The Chancellor’s decisive economic policies and strict crack down on violence in Deimos earned him a reputation as a Veteran leader. More and more, Edward’s popularity plummeted and it became obvious to the people that he was the fault for Artemis’s weakness abroad. Using his new found popularity, Claude called for a General election in September to strengthen his hold over the Artemis Authority. When the election finally came, Claude and his United Future Party rode off the discontent of the nation to propel themselves into a supermajority.

On the night of the election, Constance Bitteridge, UFP’s Deputy Leader, came out to introduce Claude Stewart at St. Cecilia’s for the afterparty after the announcement of their victory. When she finished her speech, gunshots rang out throughout the hall and a battalion of Nazis marched into the hall executing any man, woman, or child they could find. The Chancellor was escorted off the premises to the Situation room in the Spire to lead the government’s response. Ms. Bitteridge was critically injured and transferred to St. Pantleon’s for medical treatment.

Claude ordered a large counter attack against the Nazis who took a fortified just down the street in Fortuna’s Casino. The resulting attack was a massacre, casualties on the Artemite side were immense yet they were even worse on the Nazi side, thousands of soldiers perished in the carnage. When the fighting cleared, the commanding officer was nowhere to be found. An informant by the name of Phoenix told Director Integra that the leader went by the name Hohenstein and that he was hiding in Glitzerden’s - the sleazy strip club in Deimos. Claude authorized a mission to neutralize Hohenstein codenamed Operation Apophis. Apophis resulted in agent Harding neutralizing Hohenstein leading the way for Jupiter's Fortress troops to bring the conflict under control. By the end of the night, several thousands of civilians were dead or missing in addition to the military casualties. In the midst of this entire conflict, the President was notably absent, locked away in his study an anxious mess crying that, “Sophia! I hear them all, the voices… M-Mason!”

The day after what began to be called the “September Rising” Claude vowed major changes starting in the Authority meeting that, “What we witnessed was an act of cowardice by not only the Nazis but also our President. The People of Artemis deserve better, it is time for real change, therefore, The UFP will be proposing a new constitution to end the tyranny of indecision plaguing this government.” This speech had major consequences, when Edward received the transcript, he immediately became paranoid that Claude was going to depose him and called on the Ministry of Justice to begin investigating Claude for treason. Understanding this, Claude began putting  his own plan into motion called “Damocles.”

In November, Mistros faced its own internal conflict where members of the board sought to remove Emilia from her position as CEO after the company’s airliner branch was suffering financially due to the refocus towards interstellar travel. The Board convened on Artemis where board chair Mr. Cartier challenged Emilia to a gamble for her stake of the company. Emilia accepted the gambit and devastated Mr. Cartier in a game of blackjack, not only taking all of his shares in the company but completely replacing the board with female experts.

Damocles combined all the innovations of Artemis that had occurred under Claude’s term to make a completely unbeatable strategy to depose Edward. It utlized the long-term restructuring effort completed by Constance Bitteridge of Artemis’s main facets of law and Defense Forces; the Damocles project completed by Dr. Goodwell; the Javelin Project completed by Emilia; the domination of the criminal underworld achieved by Herald Brooks; and the last piece of the puzzle: turning Sophia Bromswell against Edward.

Over the years of governing Artemis, the first family was on the brink of falling apart. After Mason died, Sophia attempted her best to fit into Artemite society, however, she remained distant in the eyes of many in the upper echelon of the upper class. Sophia spent most of her time in the family cabin in Europa, the city’s national park district, rarely would she leave other than to do mandatory public events. Meanwhile, Edward was descending further into paranoia, he believed there were multiple threats against his life, those closest to him were the most suspicious. He began tracking the movements of everyone close to the First family and routinely had them imprisoned unjustly on false charges. On one such occasion, he beat his mother in law half to death with his cane in front of Sophia to “make an example” of her for her “treasonous and rapturous behavior.” Afterwards, he commanded Sophia to do the unthinkable, assassinate the Chancellor. Sophia, fearing for life, begged Edward to reconsider, however, he had made up his mind, if she failed to carry out the deed then he would destroy her and have her replaced.

In January 1990, the drafting of the new constitution headed by Claude was fully underway. One day, the Chancellor received an invitation to attend a tea party with the first lady, due to the frequent absence of the First lady from the public spotlight, Claude understood this was his chance to finally turn her to his side. Claude met Sophia at the tea house in Europa where they played a game of chess and then at the end, Sophia attempted to assassinate Claude, however, the attempt failed and she ended up dropping her gun. Claude quickly unholstered his own and threatened the first lady to listen closely if she wanted to live. Claude ordered Sophia to turn off the power to Capital Pointe through the utility station deep below Artemis’s surface. After the tea party, the First Lady disappeared for months after that.

On January 26th, a meeting of the Artemis Authority was scheduled to convene to debate and pass the new constitution, however, this was no ordinary day: this was the day of Damocles. The Artemis Authority met at 1:00 where it held debate for over two hours. At 3:00 Claude gave his final speech thereafter he asked for the Authority to put the constitution to a vote. Unbeknownst to many, Edward issued a proclamation to dissolve the Authority and for all the former members to be executed on the spot for involvement in a coup to undermine him. General Fredrickson was ordered to carry out the orders with a platoon of troops from the Artemis Defense Force. The General and his troops arrived right as the vote was being called and he ordered his troops to open fire on the members of the Authority and any members in the gallery.

Yet something very unexpected occurred, the lights across the city suddenly went out. This was all due to Damocles, for Sophia had successfully infiltrated and implanted a bug into the system’s mainframe giving Claude and his forces complete access to the power grid in Artemis. Meanwhile, Emilia launched the Javelin project to cut off any root of escape for Bromswell loyalists. The Mobster Herald Brooks led a “fake” revolution to capture Jupiter’s Fortress in order to limit reinforcements to the Spire.

After the lights went out, A group of Athena’s Eyes agents quickly executed all the soldiers except for General Fredrickson who ran up to the President’s Office. Claude used the remaining members of the Council to declare Edward an Enemy of the Republic and chased after Frederickson. By the time he finally reached the President’s Office, Frederickson and his men were heavily fortified, with several volleys of gunfire to create an opening large enough for the Chancellor and a couple of agents to infiltrate the President’s Office. When they entered the President’s Office, General Fredrickson revealed his true nature and sided with Claude assisting him in cornering the President. Claude then executed the President and fitted himself with the title of Supreme Chancellor.

### The Stewart Years

From 1991-2005 Claude reigned as Supreme Chancellor. After Claude Stewart rose to power, he quickly removed any other obstacles that remained in his path by carving out the position of Supreme Chancellor to hold absolute power over all functions of Artemis. On the surface, very little about Artemis changed; the massive skyscrapers still towered over the lunar sky, yet there was an ominous aura surrounding the city. Yet underneath the facade lurked a dangerous political structure which strangled out dissent. Any internal rebellions were quickly and quietly snuffed out by Athena’s Eye, oftentimes disloyal members of the party disappeared never to be seen again. Artemis was gradually corrupted into an authoritarian state that worshiped the Stewarts as saviors of a Republic that did not exist.

One such purge was that of the Minister of Defense William Adnet who fell out of Stewart's favor shortly after the fall of Bromswell. Mr. Adnet had built himself a monopoly over the nation’s Artemite supply which the Stewart’s saw as a threat to their absolutist rule. In the weeks following the January revolution, Mr. Adnet was found dead in his office with several gunshots through his skull. The murderer was never discovered.

Years passed, and slowly further institutions were established such as the Ministry of National Truth and the reorganization of the Ministry of Justice into the Ministry of Order. The Ministry of National Truth sought to control all facets of human perception by slowly making the citizenry ignorant over the political affairs of the nation. Following a purge in the media, the remaining companies were nationalized and institutionalized under the Ministry’s jurisdiction, slowly political affairs became closely tied to state propaganda and the citizenry grew less and less aware of their plight. Another key institution was the Ministry of Order which oversaw a vast secret police and informant network to snuff out dissension or treachery. After a person was put on “The List” they would disappear never to be seen again. The Ministry of Order was used to keep the wealthy and politically inclined in line with the state, while the Ministry of National Truth kept the masses ignorant of the truths about the state.

Claude was hailed the hero of Artemis for many years, slowly more and more monuments were placed in his name, his influence was suffocating. Upon fifteen years of his rule, the Authority bestowed him with the title Imperator of Artemis, or the one who commands Artemis. Emilia also became involved in politics, in her role as Empress she used her influence to exponentially grow the couple’s wealth to unimaginable levels. They completely re-did the Spire’s original art-deco design in favor of a more imperial and victorian layout. The Spire was also expanded to 200 floors instead of its original 100 making it dominate the skyline of Artemis even further.

Artemis flourished, yet the world below had fallen into war and in their envy sought to destroy Artemis in its entirety. Artemis represented the purity of mankind, a beacon of hope, but also a reminder of man’s insignificance; he could never come to rule the Moon like those in Artemis. The Stewart’s acknowledged that they looked down upon those remaining on earth, they saw them as incompetent barbaric monkeys, they could never possibly understand what it means to rule. All of those on earth were just reincarnations of the same pathetic flaws that led to the fall of Edward and the Bromswells. So they plotted to remove such weakness from the world. If humanity were to progress it had to be under their vision, it was quite obvious they couldn’t govern themselves.

Using the Damocles research, provided by Dr. Goodwell, the Stewarts weaponized Artemis’s Artemite supply into projectiles called VORTEX Missiles. The strength of these missiles could vaporize an entire metropolis off the map, reaching unprecedented levels of destruction. Another arm of the Damocles project was developing an impenetrable shield to protect Artemis from virtually all attacks. After years of research Goodwell and his team found that ionized Artemite could create a rigid barrier which protected against any attack Earth could muster, including a VORTEX Missile.

By the 10th year of Claude’s rule, Artemis was in the midst of unprecedented growth and prosperity, the city was flourishing with new works of art and scientific discoveries being made at an exponential rate. Yet, unbeknownst to most: Artemis was at war. A war that kept secret to the people, the war that destroyed the world.

### The Wars of Extermination

On Claude’s fifteenth anniversary of coming to power, he issued a declaration to the states of the world, “Artemis has watched as you have disturbed the peace of our planet with your senseless wars. We have ruled such tyranny shall face judgement. Prepare for your imminent demises.” Shortly after sending the declaration, he ordered the VORTEX Missiles be prepared for launch. At 12:00 PM on March 15th, 2010 hellfire rained from the sky as the VORTEX Missiles decimated London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles,  Beijing, Tokyo, and other capitals scattered around the world. In one strike, Artemis had killed a fourth of the population of the civilized earth.

To those that witnessed the Vortex blasts, the world looked to be falling apart, chaos reigned as governments struggled to retain control after the coordinated blasts. The Vortex missiles were only the first part of the Stewart’s wrath, the next operation was even more heinous. Artemis mobilized its imperial military to carve out territories of land to be colonized and ordered the execution of millions of people residing in the ruins of broken countries. These wars became colloquially known as, “The Wars of Extermination.”

Many in the military deserted after being ordered to the unthinkable, those who stayed were rewarded with medals and titles. Artemis with its superior technology made quick work of the armies of those they invaded and then focused its attention towards suppressing rebellious factions. No measures were off limits, one man became famous for his exploits: General Clovis Van Andel.

Clovis was the General in charge of overseeing the French and German Conquests. Clovis quickly re-organized his ranks to focus his attention towards suppressing small rebellious factions instead of focusing on the larger factions. Clovis understood the large factions were already disintegrating due to the loss of their proxies and the general timing of his strikes. To draw his enemies out he would use whatever means necessary, even calling VORTEX missile strikes on innocent towns. The campaign was known as “The Bloody River”.

Clovis’s exploits led to a quick end to the French conflict and soon enough most of Europe collapsed in fear in 2017. Several colonies were established to administer the new conquered territories. Clovis was appointed Viceroy to New Gloria, the French Colony, and handpicked the other viceroys. In his new post he oversaw the construction of a city that would emulate Artemis in its design and culture, another beacon to replace the czestpool of tyranny left by their predecessors.

## Government

The Government of the Artemis Empire is located in Artemis City on the moon in The Spire, the nation's governmental building. The Artemis Empire is overseen by the Head of State, the Emperor, who is advised by the Vice-Chancellor, the leader of the majority party in the Artemis Authority, the nation's unicameral legislature. Together the Emperor and the Vice-Chancellor oversee a large network of bureaucratic institutions and the judiciary system.

### The Emperor

At the Head of the Empire of Artemis is the Emperor Claude Stewart. The Imperial throne came about after the Revisions of 2005 in which the Artemis Authority passed a constitutional overhaul to centralize authority formerly under the title of Supreme Chancellor to the imperial lineage of the Stewarts. The Emperor oversees all matters of law-enforcement, defense, colonial administration, and foreign policy. In essence, the Emperor has absolute power when it comes to the discretional use of the Vortex Missile System. The Emperor also manages the legislative agenda of Artemis Authority and can hold absolute veto over any legislation passed. The Emperor can use constitutional decree to make things law during a state of war, or emergency.

When an Emperor dies, the heir is chosen according to their final will. According to statutory law, an heir is chosen after the selection process is confirmed by the Head of the Imperial House through the OLYMPUS selection.

### Vice-Chancellor

The Vice-Chancellor is the lead advisor to the Emperor and serves as the head of the Imperial Colonial Board, and of the Imperial Cabinet. The Vice-Chancellor is elected upon receiving the majority of confidence in the Artemis Authority and the approval of the Emperor acts as the lead-representative of the Imperial Throne during diplomatic missions and other important matters of the state. The Vice-Chancellor is largely an advisory position.

The Current Vice-Chancellor is Emilia Stewart who expanded the powers of Vice-Chancellery to oversee colonial possessions and the selection process of the Viceroys.

### Imperial Colonial Board

The Imperial Colonial Board are made up of the top-brass of the Artemis Imperial Army and the Viceroys of the Artemis Colonial Territories on earth. The Colonial Board oversee a vast network law-enforcement entities as well as the operations and maintenance of Artemis military assets. At the Head of the Imperial Colonial Board is the Vice-Chancellor who oversees the selection or renewal of Viceroys every 5 years. The Colonial Board has the authority to collectively petition the Emperor for use of the VORTEX Missile System upon a 2/3rds majority vote. Under current policy, however, Viceroys may, under specific circumstances, request the usage of VORTEX Missiles to put down hostile threats, uprisings, or other disturbances of the peace.

### Imperial Cabinet

The Imperial Cabinet includes select individuals from the Artemis Authority who are tasked to occupy positions overseeing the bureaucratic institutions of the city.The Cabinet is made up of 8 ministries: Foreign Affairs, Justice, Defense, Transportation, Education, Energy, City Administration, and Colonial Oversight. Often these individuals are well-connected with corporate interests of Artemis and political leadership.

### The Artemis Authority

The Artemis Authority is the unicameral legislature of Artemis which has grown to have over 350 members representing diverse interests across the Empire's holdings. Members of the authority are referred to as Members of Parliament (MPs) with an elected Speaker who oversees the operations of the Authority's day-to-day operations. The Authority is allowed to pass legislation for the Emperor's approval, declare a state of war against belligerent nations, and manage the nation's budget.

## Culture

Artemis Culture is heavily influenced from its foundational style of a blend between streamlined-moderne and art-deco architectural styles. During the Stewart years, steps were taken by the government to begin supplementing classical and federal architectural styles to draw out the grandeur. On a societal level, Artemis is split between an elite upper class and the poor. Most upper class citizens living in wealthy districts such as Capital Pointe and Aphrodite Galleria. While, most of the poor live in small apartments located in Deimos Square. For past times most upper-class citizens enjoy going to the theater and frequenting several high-class lunch clubs located in high-brow restaurants. Meanwhile, the poor rarely has free time, as such they are mainly relegated to long hours in the industrial and agricultural districts with brief moments to enjoy time with family at home or colleagues from work at the bars in Deimos. Stringent social customs restrict the actions of the upper-class who are constantly watched by Athena's Eye. Meanwhile, the lower class often are free to go-about their everyday lives unfazed by strict customs so long as they obey the law and remain loyal to Artemis. During the Wars of Extermination, several poor citizens chose to join the military in hopes of achieving a better life.

## Geography

Artemis is located within the Sea of Serenity on the Moon. The city uses a vast underground network of tunnels and dome systems powered by a fusion reactor to supply the city's oxygen, water, temperature controls, and other vital mechanisms. Originally the City was divided into 9 districts consisting of the Stewart Spaceport, Deimos Square, Aphrodite Galleria, Europa, Capital Pointe, St. Pantleons Hospital Station, St. Albert's Research District, The Sentinel, and the Utility Station. Since 1985, the city expanded to include the Tourism district of Dionysus Park, St. Vincent's Military Platform, and the Damocles Fortress. There are also several other smaller towns/cities located around the main capital such as Uralis, Heriophon, Adnetia, and Miria which mainly serve to process raw materials.

### Colonial Possessions

Following the Wars of Extermination, Artemis acquired large land holdings on earth consisting of the Eastern United States Sea Board, Western Europe, and several islands in the East Pacific. Artemis mainly uses these colonies as the basis for further expansion with the hope of one day united the entire Earth under the banner of Artemis. Currently, there are six incorporated colonies consisting of: New Gloria, Draconis, New Europa, Polaris, Oceania, and Romia.