Current Affairs (sage study)

Current Affairs is a sage study in the field of Civitas, enabling the character to identify and explain the sequence of events ongoing in the world. The study includes happenings that may be occurring in distant lands, as it is understood with the adoption of the study that the character has access to persons who can update the character about what is going on there.

Initial knowledge points must be assigned by choice to a special region of the world, as described below. Each time the character adds more knowledge points (upon gaining a new level), these may be applied to a different region or towards those already chosen. Where the events of one region overlap with those of another, the total knowledge points for both are added together to determine the character's total knowledge. Thus, if the character were to have 8 points of Western European affairs and 7 points of Mediterranean affairs, the character would enjoy 15 points where the subject was concerned with relationships between these regions, regarding war or peace.

There are 12 regions of current affairs, from which knowledge may be gained:

• American Colonies, including Canada and the various Danish, Dutch, English, French and Swedish colonies of the Greater and Lesser Antilles and the American seaboard

• China, including colonies stretching into Indochina and overseas

• East Indies, including European colonies of Indochina and the various islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra and the empires therein east of Burma and south of China

• Indian Empires, including the Moghul and Safavid Empires of India and Persia, as well as the European colonies attached thereto, extending from the plains of Central Asia to the jungles of Burma

• Japan, including knowledge of both Japan and Korea, counting the islands from Kamchatka to Ryukyu, along with some of those influenced by Japanese culture in the Pacific

• Latin New World, including both Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Western Hemisphere

• Northern Europe, including the Holy Roman Empire and other German states, Poland, Russia and Scandinavia

• Ottoman Empire, including all regions controlled by the vast empire, from the Caspian Sea to the Atlas Mountains, counting all the kingdoms of the Arabian Peninsula

• Siberia, including all the non-human races from the Volga River to the Pacific Ocean, including dwarves, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, ogres, orcs and more

• Southern Europe, including the lands of Greece, Italy and Spain

• Sub-saharan Africa, including the kingdoms of the Sahara, Guinea, the Congo forest and the savannas of Eastern and Southern Africa, as well as the European colonies attached thereto

• Western Europe, including the lands of England, France and the Low Countries

The character has no knowledge whatsoever of current affairs outside of their assigned knowledge points.