Selas

‘The Light has led us here, to this fertile ground. Here, shall we found our new society. Here, shall any who desire to follow their ideas be welcome. Here, shall those ideas be put to work for the betterment of all humankind. And here, shall those whose ideas do the most good be recognised as the greatest humanity has to offer.

With the guidance of the Light, we have cast off the rigidity of the oppressors. Our future is ours to mould. No person of this new civilisation, should they be worthy and dedicated, shall need fear the conditions into which they were born - for here, the conditions of their life shall be entirely in their hands.’
- Declaration made upon the founding of Selas.

• Selas is a small, fertile (or formerly fertile) planet. The Selasi nation previously also controlled a rocky planetoid called the First Selas before it was destroyed.
• The original settlers of Selas defected from Eunomia because they disagreed with the rigidity of Eunomian society.
• Selasi culture idealises the pursuit of knowledge, but as an end in itself rather than a means to an end.
• Most Selasi honour and espouse the idea of a meritocracy, but in practice their social structure is pretty far from this ideal.
• Selasi relations with Eunomia are strained, worsened by civil unrest at home between nationalists and those who wish to unify with Eunomia again.

It would not be inaccurate to state that Selas owes its existence to Eunomia, though you'd never hear a Selasi say that. The founders of Selas were originally from Eunomia, but had become disillusioned with the rigidity of the caste system, and the lack of social mobility that necessarily followed. Moreover, they felt that seeking knowledge only with an end in mind, rather than letting that knowledge itself be their compass, was a backwards approach. They took a leap. Out into the stars they flew, with no idea of where they were going, only of what they were leaving behind.

They landed on a rock: an inhospitable wasteland that could not be called a planet, much less a home. But from that rock, they saw a light. In the distance, there was a star system. How far?, they asked. Could they make it? But it was better than remaining. So they left their First Light - their First Selas - and journeyed onward. Eventually, they discovered a fertile system - one never before located. And there they settled.

In the ensuing centuries, they expanded. They laid their values into the soil. They swore theirs would be a civilisation of thought - where anyone with ideas could set them in motion, for the betterment of all. They had Eunomian roots, but their branches and leaves were their own; and they bore fruit. They created technology of a kind that few had seen before. Their advancements were lauded across the Seven Systems. But just as a light can be a beacon of hope, so too can it burn out. Their leadership, once hailed as a true meritocracy, became detached. They became hungry for power, wealth, and self-indulgence. Their ability to recognise great thought slowly atrophied, replaced by an ability to recognise exploitable knowledge. The people continued to output research at as remarkable a rate as ever, but their focus began to shift. Slowly. Gradually. Unnoticeably. The people let their ideas be their guides as ever, without realising that these ideas were themselves being shaped by their leaders. It was these ideas that they brought to the conference on the Ananke.

While the conference was broadly a successes, a number of diplomatic incidents increased distrust between Selas and Eunomia, a trend which only increased over the following years. Particular incidents include the revelation of Selasi research into fungal bioweapons such as those warned about at the Ananke conference,, and then, once those institutes were shut down, the discovery of chemical weapons. However, Eunomia has been caught up in dealing with domestic problems, meaning that the situation - almost by chance - has not grown worse.

This has left room for some political and social development. An underground movement, spurred by several notable articles spread in the late 1260s, has led to a growing movement of people sick of the money-focused Selasi system and calling for a return to Selas's true meritocratic roots.

The political situation on Selas is tense, to say the least. A significant faction of the planet is strongly in favour of reunification with Eunomia - some may say aggressively, given their propensity for violent tactics. However, the planet has yet to break out into a full-blown civil war, with most of the citizenry stewing in their own resentment rather than acting.

However, while the situation is tense, the planet is not significantly damaged. While the risk of a true war breaking out with Eunomia is always present and there are occasional outbreaks of civil unrest, the majority of Selasi live peaceful lives, their most significant problems being the rampant inequality that permeates Selasi society. Some have argued that the Selasi leadership have taken advantage of the arms race they are currently involved in, and indeed overplayed it to inflate their own pockets, pouring the state treasury into a military industrial complex that serves to make the rich richer and the poor poorer – even those who demonstrate the traditional Selasi merits.

These people have begun to raqlly together to call for a return to true Selasi values, and the pursuit of knowledge above all. while still a small movement for now, this move is gaining traction.

Broadly speaking, Selasi culture values the pursuit of knowledge (even without a direct goal or application for that knowledge in mind) and the ideal of meritocracy. In reality, many Selasi preach these things much more than they practise them - though this can of course vary by the individual. More specifically, the Selasi people can be divided along two axes: nationalist versus re-unificationist, and leadership versus non-leadership.

Members of Selasi leadership were likely to have gained their status through connections and money, rather than any inherent 'merit', and this tends to give them a different perspective. Selasi leaders are less likely to view the pursuit of knowledge without a well-defined goal in mind as worthwhile, and are more likely to favour research with obvious and obviously profitable applications. Additionally, Selasi leaders are less likely to favour the pursuit or dissemination of knowledge that has potential to negatively affect themselves or their political allies, and will often leverage their clout as leaders to suppress such research or to discredit its creator (regardless of the merits of the research itself). Despite these things, however, many Selasi leaders openly espouse a version of meritocracy which basically means that because they are in charge, their ideas and actions are by definition meritorious and 'better' than those of people who are not.

The distinction between nationalists and reunificationists is a large and bitter one: if there are moderates, they keep quiet about it. Reunificationists support full Eunomian control over Selas, while nationalists are determined to remain independent.