A sketch for the IOT spin-off, "The Multipolar World", featuring the newly-elected leaders of the Co-operative Federation of Xinjiang.

From the strictest reading, China *did* have a democratic government circa 2160... but christos was not a player known for adaptable roleplay. The Scarlet Lancers fought incessantly for a régime that was democratic in spirit as much as function, and finally achieved it Turn 8, 2165, after christos started a war he couldn't win and abandoned the country to be blown into nuclear oblivion, draining the treasury to bankroll his retirement to ~~Argentina~~Ethiopia. His "last" will and testament was to give everything to Australia, who partitioned the lands into independent successor states, one of which was "gifted" to the Lancers.

Somehow, this sketch took me half a day, amidst a pretty bad state of health documented in [this journal](https://el-thorvaldo.deviantart.com/journal/Alright-I-ve-been-thinking-291990494). It's still a *little* on the rough side and the background was an almost total cop-out, but given how many times I had to revise this before and *after* scanning, I think I'm posting it partly to attest to myself that my work wasn't for naught. If I do any more edits, it'll probably be when my skill's so improved I'd redo the whole thing.

I **hate** shoes.

[Originally uploaded to DeviantArt March 2012.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/The-New-Face-of-China-292100842) See original post for full description.