RE: Crisis Cycles
04-13-2020, 08:16 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-13-2020, 08:16 AM by Anomaly.)
Culture Name: The Terrestrial Bastion of Vallis Marginis, home to the Lunar Exiles
Banner Color: EXILE’S VIOLET
Government and Leader: The Lunar Exiles are led by Their Exalted and Most Supreme Majesty Synodia I, formerly one of the Seven Empyreal Monarchs, now deposed and exiled alongside thousands of High Selenians for crimes declared unspeakable by the Heinous Usurper who now sits upon Their throne. Though Synodia’s word is, technically and legally, Absolute Factual Law, most matters of government are delegated to the Seventh Council, a coalition of semi-elected leaders that spend as much time debating as they do actually governing.
To their credit, the Council’s constant bickering has left plenty of opportunity for the rest of the Exiles to mostly make their own way in the world unrestrained by the red tape of bureaucracy. So far, this has worked out fine.
Society: In short, the Exiles’ society is modeled roughly after the society of the moon itself, albeit on a smaller scale. Included is the borderline-deification of Synodia, cheerfully revering Them and telling everyone they meet how great They are. This also includes an increasingly-begrudging respect for the other Six Empyreal Monarchs, though it’s becoming hard to reconcile how, in Their greatness, they would not seek to restore Synodia to Their proper Throne. To outsiders, it probably seems more like a weird, but fortunately benign cult. At least they’re eager to make friends with those who don’t actively disrespect their traditions.
The Exiles are a secretive bunch, and their society is built entirely around the crashed remains of their great, still-partly-shining escape vessel, the Syzygy, which embedded itself partway into the ground as part of their flight from the Heinous Usurper. Within the Syzygy are said to be many strange and unknown wonders, which are kept as closely-guarded secrets. Still, rumors persist of shining machine-men with glass domes for heads, of silver weapons lancing beams of destructive fire wherever they point, of the power of flight itself contained in a box small enough to wear like a backpack.
Any number of these wonders may still exist, but it’s very hard to actually keep things functioning when your generator was irreparably damaged in a crash some 20 years ago. Most of the Exiles have opted at this point for conventional arms when they need to defend themselves.
However, while the Syzygy itself is a closely-kept secret, the Exiles are not hostile to outsiders. On the contrary, they have been more than happy to share the knowledge of their other main craft besides Strange Technologies - the alchemical sciences, perfected in the great Empyreal Universities and capable of Untold Wonders! They may exaggerate some how impossibly wondrous their alchemy actually is, but it’s certainly impressive all the same.
Additionally, terrestrial folks are welcomed in the Bastion and the surrounding territories. Honestly, with only a few thousand Exiles, they’re going to need all the help they can get.
Species: The High Selenians, known to most terrestrial folk as the “moon people” or “COSMONAUTS”. In truth, a coalition of the Seven Species that hold domain over the moon, the distinction between which is mostly lost on the majority of outsiders. It probably doesn’t help that the majority of Selenians traveling beyond the Bastion do so in the Traditional Garb of Lunar Explorers everywhere - brightly shimmering suits of a strange and alien material, with a bubble-like helmet of oddly durable glass. This obfuscates the particulars a bit, but it’s fashionable and safe.
Stances on the Three Changes: The Lunar Exiles are the COSMONAUTS, so… make of that what you will. Some think that their exile here is only temporary, and that they will one day reclaim their leader’s LUNAR THRONE. Others feel that the Exiles must look to the future rather than the past - this is their world now, and they must adapt to it. Synodia’s stance on the matter is as of yet unclear.
On paper, at least, the Lunar Exiles look favorably on the FORMAL gatherings of the dwarves. It’s important to show respect to an Empyreal Monarch with proper partying technique, after all, and they assume that this holds true in terrestrial kingdoms as well. Ultimately, the Exiles just like to party.
Terrestrial Folks’ PRAYERS are new to the Exiles, and they don’t yet know what to make of it all. That said prayer can apparently grant these people strange powers is certainly fascinating, but it’s more of a scientific interest than spiritual.
Major Cultural Influence: Though the Exiles have sent diplomatic missions to many of the Terrestrial Folk, it was the dwarves of Gildrak Hold that they obtained the most practical knowledge of. Many lunar building techniques do not hold up on a world with so much gravity, which posed challenges for building shelter - but with Dwarven engineering techniques, the Exiles have developed a sort of Better Living Underground philosophy, delving into the earth around their crashed escape vehicle to build a largely subterranean, and quite well-defended, society.
Banner Color: EXILE’S VIOLET
Government and Leader: The Lunar Exiles are led by Their Exalted and Most Supreme Majesty Synodia I, formerly one of the Seven Empyreal Monarchs, now deposed and exiled alongside thousands of High Selenians for crimes declared unspeakable by the Heinous Usurper who now sits upon Their throne. Though Synodia’s word is, technically and legally, Absolute Factual Law, most matters of government are delegated to the Seventh Council, a coalition of semi-elected leaders that spend as much time debating as they do actually governing.
To their credit, the Council’s constant bickering has left plenty of opportunity for the rest of the Exiles to mostly make their own way in the world unrestrained by the red tape of bureaucracy. So far, this has worked out fine.
Society: In short, the Exiles’ society is modeled roughly after the society of the moon itself, albeit on a smaller scale. Included is the borderline-deification of Synodia, cheerfully revering Them and telling everyone they meet how great They are. This also includes an increasingly-begrudging respect for the other Six Empyreal Monarchs, though it’s becoming hard to reconcile how, in Their greatness, they would not seek to restore Synodia to Their proper Throne. To outsiders, it probably seems more like a weird, but fortunately benign cult. At least they’re eager to make friends with those who don’t actively disrespect their traditions.
The Exiles are a secretive bunch, and their society is built entirely around the crashed remains of their great, still-partly-shining escape vessel, the Syzygy, which embedded itself partway into the ground as part of their flight from the Heinous Usurper. Within the Syzygy are said to be many strange and unknown wonders, which are kept as closely-guarded secrets. Still, rumors persist of shining machine-men with glass domes for heads, of silver weapons lancing beams of destructive fire wherever they point, of the power of flight itself contained in a box small enough to wear like a backpack.
Any number of these wonders may still exist, but it’s very hard to actually keep things functioning when your generator was irreparably damaged in a crash some 20 years ago. Most of the Exiles have opted at this point for conventional arms when they need to defend themselves.
However, while the Syzygy itself is a closely-kept secret, the Exiles are not hostile to outsiders. On the contrary, they have been more than happy to share the knowledge of their other main craft besides Strange Technologies - the alchemical sciences, perfected in the great Empyreal Universities and capable of Untold Wonders! They may exaggerate some how impossibly wondrous their alchemy actually is, but it’s certainly impressive all the same.
Additionally, terrestrial folks are welcomed in the Bastion and the surrounding territories. Honestly, with only a few thousand Exiles, they’re going to need all the help they can get.
Species: The High Selenians, known to most terrestrial folk as the “moon people” or “COSMONAUTS”. In truth, a coalition of the Seven Species that hold domain over the moon, the distinction between which is mostly lost on the majority of outsiders. It probably doesn’t help that the majority of Selenians traveling beyond the Bastion do so in the Traditional Garb of Lunar Explorers everywhere - brightly shimmering suits of a strange and alien material, with a bubble-like helmet of oddly durable glass. This obfuscates the particulars a bit, but it’s fashionable and safe.
Stances on the Three Changes: The Lunar Exiles are the COSMONAUTS, so… make of that what you will. Some think that their exile here is only temporary, and that they will one day reclaim their leader’s LUNAR THRONE. Others feel that the Exiles must look to the future rather than the past - this is their world now, and they must adapt to it. Synodia’s stance on the matter is as of yet unclear.
On paper, at least, the Lunar Exiles look favorably on the FORMAL gatherings of the dwarves. It’s important to show respect to an Empyreal Monarch with proper partying technique, after all, and they assume that this holds true in terrestrial kingdoms as well. Ultimately, the Exiles just like to party.
Terrestrial Folks’ PRAYERS are new to the Exiles, and they don’t yet know what to make of it all. That said prayer can apparently grant these people strange powers is certainly fascinating, but it’s more of a scientific interest than spiritual.
Major Cultural Influence: Though the Exiles have sent diplomatic missions to many of the Terrestrial Folk, it was the dwarves of Gildrak Hold that they obtained the most practical knowledge of. Many lunar building techniques do not hold up on a world with so much gravity, which posed challenges for building shelter - but with Dwarven engineering techniques, the Exiles have developed a sort of Better Living Underground philosophy, delving into the earth around their crashed escape vehicle to build a largely subterranean, and quite well-defended, society.