1286GC, Guide Eusenia succeeded the throne from her father, Guide Oresteus. No Ordained has been more controversial in recent Eunomian history.
Her succession was in itself unusual. The heir apparent to Ordained Oresteus had always been his eldest son Guide Ilias and the more politically vocal one of his children had always been his eldest daughter Guide Acantha. But Eusenia was well-loved and her work with the Iridescent Provinces provided a solid foundation for her case. When she was elected to be Ordained, no one dissented.
Eusenia was also known for her strange friendships with many members of the Prometheus Travellers. It is no secret that she was visited by time-travellers during the Ananke Conference and many suspect that the relative smoothness of experiment of the Iridescent Provinces was to some degree a result of foreknowledge. Foreknowledge or not, during her reign, Eusenia certainly had help from multiple prominent members of the Prometheus project, such as Visionary Xarsa, Visionary Alethea, and infamously, Visionary Despina a.k.a. Failing Light. It would not be an overstatement to say that the time travellers had unusual influence upon Eusenia and her ascension to the throne. For a start, according alternative-historical records, the Ananke station was destroyed in many timelines, resulting in the death of all attendees, including Eusenia…
- An excerpt from A short introduction to Eunomian politics, Raymond Solis
The fall of the Promethean Failing Light (the time-traveller Despina, not to be confused with the Despina of our timeline) started a movement later known as the Masking. The nature of the movement is described as religious, political and artistic all at once - unsurprising considering that in Eunomia, faith permeates all things.
It is commonly agreed that the Masking was initiated by the Cultists of Fluidity. What is unknown is if it was organised by Failing Light herself before her death, if it was organised by someone else, or if it was somehow a spontaneous reaction to Failing Light's death.
People that took part in the Masking would don masks in public, at all times. They would wear different coloured masks to signal one's (sometimes self-proclaimed) caste identity: gold for Visionary, black for Champion, red for Realizer and iridescent for Potential. What is more revolutionary than the suggestion that one should be allowed to change one's role with even more fluidity is the call for additional castes. Some members of the movement wear masks of multiple colours, for example, gold and red for Visionary-Realizer, black and red for Champion-Realizer, etc..
The movement was quickly outlawed in all Eunomia for disruption of Order, except in the Iridescent Provinces, where it was taken as another experiment and partially accepted. In the Iridescent Provinces, a few months after the movement started, experimental laws were put into place to accommodate those that wish to switch between multiple caste-identities: after comprehensive assessments, one may acquire multiple legal identities, after which one may wear the appropriate masks legally. The potential of redefining the boundaries of certain castes and introducing new castes became a hot topic of debate amongst Visionaries, but it is unlikely that the result of the debate, and laws to facilitate such things - if they are to exist - would be revealed in the next twenty years.
The motto of the movement is “Mask to unmask.” A leading member of the movement, Realizer Fenix, explains that “By donning the mask externally, we learn to unmask internally.” The message is received by many, within and without Eunomia.
The aesthetics of the movement appeals well to the more apolitical masses. The masks have grown more elaborate with time and masks have in fact started to become fashionable even outside the movement itself. Maybe in a hundred years it will make it into the formal wear of Eunomia. Who knows with the Eunomians.
- An excerpt from Cults of the Seven Systems, by Anna Perez-Livchenko
Know that -
There is no appearance, only essence.
There is no mask, only –
Who?
What?
Why?
Questions unanswered, unanswerable, unravelling.
Look deeper. Listen harder. Think.
Or let go.
Know that -
We are –