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In a dystopian future, after the United States fell apart, a new society called Panem was formed. Panem was then divided into 13 Districts, each District producing a different resource, which was then supplied to the Capitol of Panem, where the country's leaders and wealthy live. The government operated through a totalitarian dictatorship, oppressing the Districts. By using force and spreading constant threats of violence, the Capitol kept the Districts under control. While having them provide their resources to the other Districts or the Capitol exclusively.
Tired of being oppressed and constantly living in fear and poverty, the Districts came together and rebelled against the Capitol. However, in the following years, the rebellion had the tables turned against them, and the Capitol subdued their forces. The first 12 Districts were defeated, and the 13th obliterated. The Treaty of Treason was then established, which gave Panem new laws to guarantee peace and a yearly reminder that the Districts shall never repeat this history.
It was stated that in penance for their uprising, each District would offer up a male and female tribute between the ages of 12 and 18 at a public reaping. The number of times a child's name is added is increased based on age. A 12-year-old will have their name in once, a 13-year-old twice, a 14-year-old three times, and so on until an 18-year-old has seven strips with their name on it, increasing their chances of getting picked. While there's no way to reduce that number, it is possible to increase it in exchange for additional food rations known as tessera. In exchange for an additional strip in the reaping bowl, a child will receive a year's supply of grain and oil good for one person and distributed every month. A child may get more than one ration of tessera for the rest of their family members, but each person is a strip of paper, thus a higher chance that they will get picked in the next reaping. The tributes chosen at the reaping were then to be delivered to the Capitol, and transferred into an arena, where they would fight to the death until a lone victor remained. However, after many years, a terrible pandemic spread across the country. Those who were infected by the virus rarely survived, and those who did were primarily male. The aftermath of the pandemic left most Districts with a low number of females, this proved to be an issue for the reaping as some Districts were not able to offer up a female tribute within the specified age range. Therefore, the rules were changed. Instead of having both one male and female candidate, it was determined that each District shall offer up two tributes of any gender to ensure the continuation of the Districts punishment.
Henceforth and forevermore, this pageant would be known as
The Hunger Games.
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