For a few long minutes a silence hung in the great Sorrento Cathedral while Second Follower Thor Hutchison made his way up to the dais. Reaching the top of the stairs, head bowed, he turned to open the old parchment book onto the reading surface before him. Trideo cameras tightened their focus on his weather worn face.

Chief Justice Winston Stark watched from his lush home in Valeria, unable to turn himself away as the Second Follower addressed the assembly.

"The time has come for us to stand up for the rights of our brothers!" Cheers greeted the statement. "The children of Mamoud have a right to guard against the corrupt influences of the South and we will not back down before any military threat. The immoral elements that dominate the South seek nothing more then to submerge us in their filth! We have the right - nay the obligation - to fight back!" The crowd ate it up.

Stark switched off the trideo. He was angry. He wondered for the thousandth time how Northerners could be so gullible as to surrender their freedom to Hutchison.

It was clear to Stark that he would have to take control.

The Heavy Gear Character Compendium provides a wealth of information for Gamemasters of the Heavy Gear rolepaying game. Ten different groups are profiled, each fully detailed and ready to interact with Player Characters as allies, friends, enemies or contacts. Each group has its own stories which can also be easily integrated into an existing campaign.

The Compendium also takes a close look at the most important people in TN 1933 (A.D. 6132). Moving beyond the geographical limitations of regional sourcebooks, the Compendium examines many of the plots and alliances forming across Terra Nova, hinting at the powerful events to come.