Lunaris
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| Feudal Status: | County |
| Capital: | Lune Villa |
| Largest Cities: | Erianamor, Mejor, Teldrin |
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| Local Leadership Title: | Count of Lunaris |
| Local Government: | Absolute Countship, Municipally Federative |
| Current leader: | Krasniy Yastreb |
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| Local language: | English, Bastardized Latin, Sanskrit |
| Local Religion: | Cedrism, Arya |
The County of Lunaris is one of Shireroth's oldest bottom-rung territories: the first of its kind in Continental Benacia.
Contents
Geography
Despite comprising the heart of the East Benacian coast, Lunaris has been given a comparatively isolated position by chance of geography. Save for its northern edge abutting old Goldshire, its borders are mostly comprised of water; the mighty Elwynn River to the West, and to the East the raging sea. Since time unfathomable this land has been a place of muster for all those cast adrift, by whatever tribulation, from the great thoroughfares of Benacia. Here they have been largely left alone by events elsewhere, and have quietly made their lives.
Lunaris is a terrain of gentle proportions, no more severe than a series of rolling hills in the North which peter out entirely to flat land as one approaches the Elwynn Delta in the South. In climate it varies between hot and temperate; a light flurry of snow over its Northern hills is an exremely rare and newsworthy occurrence. While not a premier holiday destination for its neighbours, Lunaris does attract the occasional vacationer in search of silence and solitude.
Originally thickly forested, the land is now an agricultural bocage in its Northern, Western and Southern reaches. In the East the forest mostly remains, indeed has been added to at times. What pass for towns in Lunaris are merely villages that have grown sufficiently enough to merge together, yet are no denser at their middles than they are at their edges. The only exception to this is the city of Mejor on the Elwynn, which while not enormous is home to an industrial and port district more resembling those elsewhere on Micras.
History
Lunaris was established as a Barony of the Duchy of Goldshire in 1520 ASC, by decree of Kaiseress Jadie I. Its first ruler was Baroness Eriana Moon, whose reign developed Lunaris from a swamp-ridden Goldshirian backwater into an artistic powerhouse. It was under her reign that creative materials were provided freely to ordinary people as a means of social improvement, rapidly earning the inhabitants of Lunaris a reputation for artistic eccentricity. This soon came to the attention of Eoin Dornan, whose suggestion that the people of Lunaris be named 'Lunatics' so flattered the Baroness that she decreed the name into official usage.
Much attention was lavished upon Lunaris in these early days, and people came from all Shireroth to marvel at its happenings - including one Krasniy Yastreb, the Defence Minister of the Soviet Republic of Arkania who was looking for a holiday destination. His brief visit and flirtatious interactions with the Baroness planted a charm for Lunaris within him, which in time would become significant.
A little later, as the War of the Wylthean Succession ravaged Shireroth, legend tells that Baroness Moon cast a protective shield over Lunaris so strong that it physically stopped any and all from entering the Barony. This is likely to be a stretched metaphor for the fact that Lunaris wished no part in the war, and that its borders were heavily reinforced to assure the fact. During this time the Baroness also struck up a relationship with Greg Russell of Mirioth, which was soon cast into danger by the latter being subject to a case of severe poisoning. As her love lay dying, Baroness Moon consulted the myriad creatures of Lunaris who told her that he could only be saved by her sacrifice. Legend tells that she made a vial of potion, consisting of a single dragon's tear mixed with her very own blood - blood which she produced with a self-inflicted dagger to the heart. An owl carried the potion aloft to Mirioth, where its use as a cure was successful. Baroness Moon's fading body was taken away by the weeping dragon to a place unknown. The site of her sacrifice is said to have risen above its surroundings to form Lunaris' Eldar Hills.
For many years afterwards the Lunatics made their lives without a clear ruler, until without a voice they were subject to a great injustice; as part of the New Feudalism of Kaiser Yarad I in 2285 ASC, Lunaris was deemed too large to be a single County, as the new territories of that reform were called. By the stroke of a quill it was split into two Counties: Upper Lunaris and Lower Lunaris. This arrangement would stand for precisely 1001 ASC years.
Fortunately the two Lunarises were taken into capable hands; Hatter Elfson was installed as Count of Upper Lunaris in 2346, followed by Krasniy Yastreb as Count of Lower Lunaris in 2364. As if in recognition of this resurgence, the spirit of Eriana Moon herself returned to Lunaris. For a long time Krasniy and Hatter ruled Lunaris between them, with Eriana as the spiritual force of the land. While the three desired the reunification of the Counties of Lunaris more than anything, the Higher Nobles responsible were unwilling to allow it.
In time Hatter and the spirit of Eriana faded from the land, leaving Krasniy to watch over Lunaris. A promotion to higher nobility, combined with the cooling of opposition at last allowed Krasniy to re-unite Lunaris in the year 3286 ASC. It was this event which provoked the final appearance of Eriana Moon, who offered quiet but heartfelt congratulation on Krasniy's achievement before slipping into the darkness once more.
Waves of inactivity touch all at some point; and so in the end it touched Krasniy, as his presence faded from Lunaris and left it once more without leadership. This set the stage for the darkest hour in all Lunatic history, when in 3737 ASC a foreign ruler known as Aryeztur came to Shirerithian shores fleeing the disintegration of Antica, bringing countless thousands of refugee colonists. His landfall was made on the southern coast of Lunaris, and from there he established a reign which would in time spread across all of Goldshire. As the Arya colonists took over the land with their alien culture, the Lunatics were driven back to the town of Erianamor and its surrounding forests, where they were declared prisoners in human game preserve for the amusement of their conquerors. Lunaris was even renamed Parvatvana in honour of its new overlords. It was only at the protests of the kindred spirits across Shireroth that the Lunatics were spared complete annihilation at that moment.
It was with great fortune, then, that the Arya settlers continued in their itinerance and largely moved on from Lunaris, although a significant population remained as a ruling elite over the Lunatics. This final cancer was cut out of Lunaris by the Settlement of Anandja of 3961 ASC, in which Kaiseress Anandja II gave Imperial recognition to Lunatics' right over their homeland, restored their name and disenfranchised the Arya from their stolen gains with the exception of the port city of Mejor, wherein they were confined as a curiosity in retribution for acting as such against the Lunatics.
There followed a long period of quiet peace once more, as Lunaris healed from the gaping wound inflicted by its invasion. During this time, as throughout all of its history, the territories to whom it was subject within Shrieroth appeared, disappeared, changed and transformed. Lunaris itself was unmolested, however, and remained so until the unexpected return of Krasniy Yastreb to Shireroth in 4963 ASC. Returned to the throne of Lunaris by Kaiseress Mira Raynora Minor, and reeling in shock from discovering the events which had occurred in his long absence, Krasniy resolved to bring the culture of the Lunatics to the attention of all, to make it the shining Moon on the Lower Elwynn that it once was, and to ensure that it was never again threatened with sidelineing and near-destruction. At the time of this writing, the effort continues.
Culture
The people of Lunaris are, aside from being artistically inclined, intensely spiritual in their everyday lives. Superstition rules their world - to the Lunatic anything and everything is a sign, to be interpreted and pondered. While philosophically wholesome, this casual mysticism does make Lunatics difficult to work with at times, especially in the more logical fields like science and engineering. While Cedrism is widely practiced in Lunaris, it is only a layer upon the popular mysticism - to the Lunatic the Gods do not have all the answers; they merely have enough of them to have become Gods.
There are three official languages in Lunaris: English, Latin and Sanskrit. English is predominant, and used everywhere in private and public. Latin is used for official purposes throughout Lunaris, and spoken widely in private among the people of Erianamor, the Pratum Libertas, and the Hortus Ortus Intemptesta Nox. Sanskrit is used for official purposes in the town of Mejor, and spoken in private by ethnic Arya in the lands south of the Nemorosus Salus. In addition a little ancient Shirerithian (Praeta) is spoken during Cedrist temple services throughout the County, and among the monastic communities of the Lacus Conticinium.
Lunatics of good standing with each other will, when parting, offer each other the blessing 'Heavens Light Your Night'. Usually shortened to 'Heavens Light', this is thought to be a Lunatic derivation of the ancient Treesian "Sun Bless, Earth Keep" introduced by Eriana Moon (who was a half-blood Treesian herself). You may hear it spoken as the colloqialised "Cælos 'Luminabit!" around Erianamor, or as the semi-related "Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya" around Mejor. However, the more fanatical Cedrists among the population tend to avoid this greeting as it is considered unacceptably Soloralist in origin. For them a simple "Death Spare" or similar blessing tends to suffice.
The nocturnal nature of Lunatics is also of interest. The nights are still quieter than the days, but not by much. This is largely the result of the short working hours inherent in Lunaris' creative and agrarian economy, which to outside economic minds would be considered 'undeveloped'. To the Lunatic however, the economic element is subordinate to the social in all areas of life. In addition each full moon is considered a public holiday, and during this time it is generally frowned upon to engage in non-leisure activity or to be asleep during the night.
Government
Lunaris is ruled by the Count, exercising his power through the Governors of the larger Lunatic towns. Traditionally the Governors are allowed a high degree of autonomy, as the bureaucratic arrangements for each town are different and require a local inhabitant to properly administrate them.
Smaller villages have no assigned administration at all, being left to govern themselves with any resulting leadership being recognised on an ad hoc basis. Traditionally the playhouses (of which every town and village has at least one) tend to fill this gap, as they are usually the most ornate building in their area and hold the staff and facilities to perform civic functions in addition to their stage performances.
The only entities under exclusive County control are the County bureaucracy itself, the town of Lune Villa, the Holy Sites and the County Militia. But while the autonomous elements of the County are allowed great freedom over their own affairs, the arrangement is not to be confused with a democracy. Freedom is granted on the understanding that it is used wisely, and the County reserves the right to come down hard on any and all who abuse this freedom to the detriment of the County. This power is frequently exercised - the tradition of occasional furious temper began with Baroness Moon, and has been integral to the doctrine of Lunatic Government ever since.
In the field of outside relations, Lunaris is largely insular and uninvolved with the minutiae of affairs outside its borders. But on matters of great Shirerithian national importance, Lunaris will speak and speak clearly - usually with an eye to the bigger picture. While intensely loyal to the sitting Kaiser, Lunaris is less attached to its sub-Imperial superiors; a result of being constantly swapped between subdivisions over its history. It is perhaps these interruptions to the meddlings of higher nobles that have allowed its culture to survive intact and distinct within Shireroth.
A semi-official system of titles exists in Lunaris, in recognition of its most important figures. Titles are attached to individuals rather than offices, and come in two forms: Honourable and Ignoble. It is customary to name those titled according to a notable characteristic of theirs, not necessarily related to the act for which they are titled. Honourable titles take the form of styles of address preceding the name of the individual concerned; Ignoble titles are descriptions dumped after the name.
In Lunaris it is considered impolite and obtuse to refer to a titled individual by zir standard name at all, unless one is known personally to that individual and is speaking informally. Those honoured (or dishonoured) with a Lunatic title are listed below:
HONOURABLE
Her Redness Jadie of Goldshire (for decreeing Lunaris into existence)
Her Eternal Transmogrificence Eriana Moon (as first Lunatic and originator of Lunatic culture)
His Sanguinity Greg Russell (the reason Eriana sacrificed herself)
His Beamishness Hatter Elfson (for looking after Upper Lunaris during the years of partition)
Her Redemptiveness Kaiseress Anandja II (for reversing the worst excesses of the Parvatvana era)
His Sobriety Krasniy Yastreb (for keeping Lunaris going in general)
IGNOBLE
Bill Dusch The Officious (Imperial Cartographer responsible for partitioning Lunaris during the New Feudalism)
Aryeztur Mejorkhor The Steamroller (for conducting the Arya conquest of Lunaris)
