Politics (Lunagros Setting Supplement)

Politics in the Lunagros serve as an important portion of any campaign in the setting. Players may exploit the political landscape for personal gain as a means to an end, or they may try to help resolve many of the issues plaguing the world.

The Deathfields

Ever since the Rhymeswanean Renaissance, the land of corpses has become a common subject of humanitarian and political debate. In order to keep society running, having people in the Deathfields constantly dying has been a necessity to get those outside food, clean water, and protection. None of these things are accessible to those within, however. Furthermore, it is difficult to get humanitarian aid to those under no corruption, or magical aid to those under corruption due to the magnitude of the site. The Wholehearted branch of the Moon Church see the Deathfields and their cycle as holy, and see themselves as "blessed" for managing to escape. They see aid as sacrilege against the Moon. Uriae and the Irinian and Oerminnon civilizations disagree with this view, and have opened a network of well-defended and supplied underground tunnels to help people get out. It has helped many, however it has also led to a minor religious war erupting around the tunnels and Base TC2-1 (A base dedicated to helping recent escapees get into the right direction). Diplomacy between the two factions has been attempted, and many are debating on the issue.

The current plan is to split the Deathfields into two circles, the outer and inner. The inner, or "holy" ring, would make up the ground directly above the tree and the monasteries and relics left behind. Only bards working for the Great Library or monks in either Moon Church would be given passage into the infrastructure, and violence would be left to fester.

On the less sacred outer ring, infrastructure would be entirely available. Currently, more neutral parties are expected to get involved such as the Order of Halfpeak and the Mortality Coalition in negotiations. The east and large portions of the west of the Deathfields are warzones, while the north and south are more recognizable.

Religion and Violence

Due to the volatile nature of the gods and the byproducts of the Great Revealing, religion is often synonymous with violence. Whether it's Mataiyo demanding wars incessantly for a slight edge in the unending god-war, Chaja making her followers drink hemlock for religious rituals, Groat destroying ships constantly, Saurai giving fishermen military submarines to counter Groat, the All-Consuming erasing entire cities out of existence, Rayiti making his scholars collect eyes, or all of the gods constantly giving mortals weapons of varying time periods for amusement or spite, humanity depends on the gods and the gods depend on violence. This has placed the world into an unending apocalypse state, where the only successful civilizations are those hidden underneath the surface of the earth and all else is eternally ravaged by raids and wars.

Virtually all of humanity has been stirred into deep religious fanaticism since the Great Revealing, with the proof of beings with the powers to save them. All except for a few religious sects constantly try to please their gods in the hopes of finally being able to escape the demiplane. Few have succeeded.

This has led to a massive noticeable schism between the major nations of the world, and in what is between. A small Moon-worshipping lordship may exile, shun, or even kill those following all gods, while another just miles away does the inverse. This massive desperation-fueled intolerance leads to constant war between small kingdoms.

The players, being mortal instead of `, are not bound to any deity on the other. This makes them perfect mediators in these conflicts.

The Noble Crescent and Political Corruption in Uriae

Uriae, once founded as a religiously neutral scientific organization and now bloated into the largest country on the continent, has begun to crumble. Due to rising tensions between factions and extensive funding from the Foglight family, the Uriae Republic has gained bias towards the All-Consuming and Church of Mataiyo. In addition, while those within the cities continue to receive protection, food, water, and housing, private corporations have made steps towards buying out sources of housing and food and conditions have become worse. On the countryside, things have become much worse. The far west, due to a decreasing military presence, have received no protection and many towns have been destroyed with nowhere to go out on the tundra. With government aid stalled by massive tensions between the Guard and local barons, livelihoods are being swiftly destroyed. This is leading to unrest against the government.

This is mainly due to corrupt government officials. Recently, in grabs at power and money, minor governmental powers have begun siphoning pocket money from food supplies through magic item dispensaries under the guise of security. Civilian juries have been unable to prove the corruption, and so the government's budget has been quickly dropping. Pay for volunteers in the Guard has vastly shot up, further worsening the problem but ensuring that the majority of the armed population will not turn against the government.

Meanwhile, this weakness is being exploited. The Sun Church monopolizes all non-government owned food sources, blocking off supplies of less common foods (Such as rice, meat from livestock, wheat, or fruit) from those who do not align with their god.

Meanwhile, blackmail is shooting back and forth between the barons and governmental officials to the point of where if anybody does something undesirable to the other side, it will expose the full extent of the corruption and start a civil war.

Whether it is from the country's inability to get necessities to it's own citizens, the blackmail, a war started by the barons, a war started by religious fanaticism, or a rebellion, the country is doomed.

Inside of the Noble Crescent, barons and lords covertly attempt assassination on one another and prepare for war. Fortress-Monasteries dot the land, each holding some important religious artifact and some claim to power.

Growing Schisms

The two branches of the Moon Church have had rising tensions as of late, as the Traditionalists have been cut off from accessing their most holy sites by the recent negotiation on the Deathfields conflict. Each branch of the church is growing into it's own religion. As Chaja is entertained by this conflict, she will likely encourage a holy war between the different branches. Already, trade has cut off between each different sect's homelands,vastly driving up prices. This has included the sale of Hemlock,the holy plant, which only grows in the southeastern forests. This has given a branch of Traditionalists focused around nature full control over the supply. This has given a small religious branch with only a handful of small lordships dedicated to it a bargaining chip against the other sects.