Opposition to Cultural Tampering Injunction

The Opposition to Cultural Tampering Injunction (OCTI) is the official policy of The Democratic Republic of the Reek on interactions with “lesser” civilizations in Eden.

Set down during The First Age, it has been a long time since the general populace treated the policy as a hard and fast rule. And yet, a vocal minority of right-wing extremists—nicknamed OCTIpussies by their haters—cling to the past for the sake of keeping advanced Reekian technology out of the hands of other Edenians.

The Decree

Written by Earthling refugees who had watched too many episodes of Star Trek, the decree is modeled after their understanding of Starfleet’s Prime Directive:

We, the High Council of the Reek, hereby decree that it shall henceforth be the policy of our government to abstain from interfering in the normal cultural evolution of our Edenian neighbors. We shall not introduce superior knowledge or technology to a society which is incapable of handling such advantages, not even at the cost of our lives or our nation’s sovereignty.

Criticism and Evolution

As early as The Second Age, Reekian stakeholders and policy-makers began to question the wisdom of the decree. Understanding now that there was no real way—not even with the Reekian Wall in place—to fully keep their advanced ideas and technologies out of the hands of neighboring civilizations, they began publicly campaigning for a repeal of the decree.

Vocal opponents rose up in opposition, of course—the early precursors to the OCTIpussies—but the idea of a repeal did gain traction over the years, until stolen Reekian technology, in the form of The Four Imperial Hats, was discovered to have aided in the subjugation of the halflings during the The Invasion of Oz.

After that, there was never again any realistic hope of repealing the decree altogether. But in the years since, individuals and organizations have taken it upon themselves to interpret the phrase ”incapable of handling such advantages” as they see fit—and to share knowledge and technology with those who they believe can benefit from it, or whose loyalties they believe can benefit them.