Eunomia

Know that -
There is no chaos, only order.
There is no fluidity, only eternity.
All creation is realization; all invention is discovery.

Know that -
No other paths exist.
To tread the phantom paths is to struggle in vain.
In empty struggle lies all suffering.

Know that -
We are instruments of the Eternal Order.
In the Eternal Order we trust.

-The Eternal Order

• Eunomia is situated on the sole habitable planet in its system, encircled by beautifully symmetrical planetary rings.
• It is a theocratic autocracy ruled by an Ordained emperor supported by a council of scholars, with extreme division of labour enforced through a rigid caste system.
• Believing themselves to be destined, Eunomians traditionally adhered to an expansionist policy.
• The Ordained at the time of the Ananke conference, Ordained Oreteus, had started to steer the nation towards peace and reconciliation.
• All his efforts went to waste as the War broke out. Ordained Oreteus died and his successor, Ordained Acantha, now rules the ragged, blighted planet with an iron fist.

Eunomia was founded by visionaries and people willing to champion and realize that vision. Together, they built a society from scratch, with every detail preconceived and perfected to abide to the Eternal Order – the ultimate truth of reality, the nature of all things, the only blueprint of history. It was built to be a utopia, where every person has a purpose, where from purpose comes joy, where humans can be liberated from the suffering of aimlessness and conflict. Eunomia grew to be one of the greatest powers in the galaxy; its culture flourished, the School of Eternal Order a centre of learning far and wide; its people content and trusting in their ruler. It was then that they decided to spread their way of life. This hubris led to wars large and small for centuries to follow, and conflicts within and without - the most impactful and mournful of all schisms the rebellion, or independence, of what later became Selas.

The expansionism came to an end during the reign of Ordained Oreteus. Unlike his predecessors, he had a vision of peace. This shift caused controversy amongst scholars, and more so in the military. Hushed dissent existed even amongst the royalties. But the vision of the Ordained is the Order that must be followed. Seeing the Ananke conference as an excellent opportunity to reshape Eunomia’s diplomatic relationship with others, especially Selas, their long-lost kin, Oreteus sent out a large team of delegates; amongst them was his own daughter, Princess Eusenia.

None of them came back. While Ordained Oreteus turned inwards, dismayed by the mysterious disappearance of his daughter and trusted lieutenants, the army began to look outwards again. After a couple of hundred days, Eusenia’s sister, Princess Acantha, proposed a new military strategy and convimnced her father of the importance of declaring war upon Selas. With her own great military power and her long-time trade partner Kedalion’s production line, even as more and more countries were dragged into the war effort, prospects were still favourable.

A notable feature of Eunomian tactics is the zealotry with which they attempted to stamp out Selasi scientific innovation. This turned out to be an unwise move, as it led them into direct conflict with Kybele, a planet whose previous involvement had only been sending out anti-war media and sheltering Selasi refugees. Their invasion of Kybele also led to the single most destructive incident in Eunomian history: the release of the Bleed.

“We are struggling, but we do not suffer. We are on the right path, so we cannot suffer. We are - we must be - the Ordained must be right, so we must not suffer…”
- A prayer overheard in a chapel

The Bleed, a bioweapon - a radiotropic fungus – was released by a coalition of Selasi and Kybele scientists and intelligence agents onto the Eunomian homeplanet, following the Eunomian invasion of Kybele.. It was first released in the nuclear wastelands, on which it thrived, and flooded them with red. Even though the Eunomians had been researching similar fungi themselves for years prior to the release, the strain was ferocious and virulent, and could not be stopped. The highly hallucinogenic fungi spread, strangling all complex life wherever it reached.

The disaster that ensued is now known as the Bloodblight. The loss of all farmland lead to wide-scale starvation, which caused the death of much of the population, the nigh-collapse of the caste system, and an effective end to Eunomia’s active engagement in the war. The marble cities were hastily warded against the encroaching Redwastes, lands tainted by the Bleed. People that did not make it to the safety of a city in time were left to die in madness as the Bleed took them. Any attempt to ingest the Bleed or bring the Bleed into the cities, knowingly or not, was soon declared high treason.

In the midst of all this chaos, Ordained Oreteus passed away. His other daughter, Princess Acantha, took the throne, backed by the army. Her brother Prince Illias, the heir-apparent to Oreteus, was declared as Diseased and stripped of all rights of royalty. What was once a glorious civilization is now reduced to a dozen walled cities, linked together by fragile tunnels, with less than a fifth of its former population, and a caste system whose collapse is only slowed by hollow propaganda and heavy oppression. The army that once stood between Eunomia and external threats now hides within her walls, watching closely for any signs of dissent, while the people are forced to survive on rations that diminish by the day, and promises of imminently approaching triumph.

These promises ring empty to many, but some high ranking Eunomians are more hopeful. The planetary resource optimisation technology that Eunomia were able to use to destroy first Selas, then Achelia has been refined enough that it should now be capable of taking out Kybele, the greatest threat to Eunomia as it stands. The Eunomians have issued Kybele with an ultimatum: surrender of die. Not only that, but research on the Prometheus station, commandeered by Eunomia in the early days of the war, shows signs of making a breakthrough in curing the Bloodblight…

We are all instruments of the Eternal Order. Some are shaped to rule. Some are sharpened for war.
- Teachings of Visionary Nava

Every member of the Eunomian society belongs to a caste. Having only a first name, their caste titles serve as effective surnames. There are officially four castes in Eunomia, with the Casteless forming the fifth. Officially, the castes are equal; however, in practice, some are more equal than others.

Universally enforced education (conditioning) starts from birth. There is no fluidity between castes.

The castes are as follow:
Guide - Royalty
The Guides are born and raised to rule. The Ordained would normally select an heir from the Guides before passing. In the rare cases that no heir would be named, the Council would select one instead.
The colour of attire for Guides on formal occasions is white.

Visionary - Theologian/Scholar
All scholars belong to the Visionary caste. In Eunomia, there is no distinction between a scholar and a theologian. The three subdivisions of the Visionaries are the Councillors, the Diplomats and the Scholars.
The colour of attire for Visionaries on formal occasions is gold.

Champion - Military
Officially there are two subdivisions of the Champions. The Internal force (mainly the police force), the Shield; and the External, the Sword. The one that is not mentioned - but has become the most important following the Bloodblight - is the secret service, the Gun.
The colour of attire for Champions on formal occasions is black.

Realizer - Craftsman/Labourer
The rest of the Eunomian citizens are the Realizers, despite not being given any political rights, they are the lifeblood of the civilization. They are the most numerous, but also the ones most damaged by the Bloodblight.
Artists also belong to this caste. Their role has always been somewhat debated.
The colour of attire for Realizers on formal occasions is dark-red. However, since the Bloodblight, people have stopped wearing red - not that there have been many formal occasions in that time.

Potential – Casteless Outcast
The Potential are removed from society - sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. These are criminals, dissenters, etc, people who have failed to realise their full potentials for the good of the society. Only upon their potentials being realised correctly would they be allowed to return to society.