Kybele

“The hearts of everyone across Kybele… No, the hearts of everyone across the Seven Systems! They're what we're all reaching for! We will grasp the world's spirit in our hands… and light it up with joy and truth! We will set the galaxy aflame from Kybele's stage!” - Xanthe Criss, leader of Delta-V

• Formerly the cultural powerhouse among the Seven Systems
• Population centres at poles of planet in the form of massive cities, hotbeds of intrigue and hedonism
• Kybele avoided the War for a while, before becoming embroiled. They are now effectively the only state holding out against Eunomia and Kedalion.
• Now a motley collection of warring micro-states whose inhabitants live amongst blasted skyscrapers

If you made movies, music or games, the capitals of Kybele were where you wanted to be. Crystalline skyscrapers, jutting out of the streets, housed millions of office workers every day in the megametropolises at the planet's poles. Though the slums, the suburbs and acres of crop fields technically outdid these cities in size, in the memory of the Seven Systems the culture would always loom the largest. The entire planet was devastated by the loss of the GSS Ananke, boarded as it had been by the most important musical talents across the planet. Three groups of singers and their handlers left, to perform in a highly competitive showcase; none would come back, and the agencies that managed them would never be the same again. The last known communication of the musicians would later be recovered: a cryptic joint interview, released online, in which an interviewer stated that he was a traveller from the future and that their careers “took unexpected turns”. Several websites trying to decode possible hidden messages in this video have since sprung up.

Besides media and celebrity, the other thing Kybelians valued most was money. The planet was a plutocracy; those who accrued money accrued power. For this reason, displays of conspicuous consumption were not only frequent amongst the political class, but an active means by which power would be consolidated and defended. There was, for this reason, a ritualised culture of gift-giving and patronage between citizens; it is hypothesised by contemporary sociologists and historians that this is part of the reason the family structure became so solidified later in the planet's life. Feasts and balls were commonplace occurrences, especially among the ruling and upper-middle classes, and these would be elaborate and colourful affairs. Nevertheless, there would always be the unspoken assumption at these ostentatious social gatherings that they were affairs of business and politics. Mysterious deaths at and immediately after these gatherings were very frequent.

While generally a relatively peaceful and isolationist planet, Kybele and Eunomia have always been hostile. Shortly after the formation of the Galactic Syndicate of Planets the two ended up at war. This conflict was echoed in the later war which followed the Ananke explosion. While Eunomia originally avoided attacked Kybele, the planet’s refusal to cooperate with Eunomia’s quest to destroy Selasi scientific progress was the excuse Eunomia needed to invade Kybele. They bombarded all major settlements, ripping apart Kybele’s fragile ecosystem. However, the Kybele people proved a more fierce opponent than expected and continues to hold out against Eunomia’s. However, a recent threat of total obliteration may change this within the next month.

There is also known to have been a short period towards the start of Kybele’s involvement in the War, in which anyone with the surname 'Stone' was detained (and presumably executed) by the government. Already, however, the Kybele government is known to have been splintering and decomposing into the factional groups which would characterise the year after the war ended. Nobody knows, therefore, quite what the purpose of this action might have been.

The climate was, of course, ruined; it's difficult to get anything to grow in Kybele now, and what preserved food was left was looted long ago. To that end, it's not uncommon to see glass trapdoors, shoved haphazardly into pavements, covering underground greenhouses. There is a network of tunnels, miles long, underneath the biggest city on the planet - some old hypersubway systems, others just capillaries built on top - and this is often where urban-born Kybelian children will grow up, and Kybelian farmers grow their crops. Above ground, skyscrapers (glitter now lost) have been fashioned into collective homes, their girders twisted into high bridges. Survivors and their families live in clusters around the planet; often a single dwelling-place will start deep underground and climb all the way up the still-usable half of an old apartment building.

By far the most land on Kybele is owned by the group known as the Blue Carnation, though various pockets are taken by other, much smaller groups who squabble amongst themselves. All these groups are not necessarily the same: some are biological and adoptive families, others military outfits led by a pretender warlord, others still new religious groups or even artistic collectives. Towards the end of the War, there was a surge in inter-factional conflict, which only added to the existing death toll and is credited with leading to Kybele’s loss of ground against Eunomia. The Blue Carnation rose to prominence thanks to remarkable efficiency and, by the end, sheer volume of resources. Other micro-states exist in a loose coalition against Eunomia, generally paying tribute to the Blue Carnation, but intra-planetary conflict is currently on of the biggest hindrances to the Kybele war effort, and there is a concern that even if they intend to submit to Eunomia’s demands, the squabbling factions will not be able to gather the organisation capacity to do so as a group.

For most of those who lived before the Ananke disaster, there is a strong feeling of nostalgia towards the era of lustrous skyscrapers and unbelievable celebrity. Vintage movies and music are frequently hoarded and watched with reverence among the survivors. That said, there is also a significant undercurrent of skepticism and resentment, particularly from the planet's younger population. Was it not that extreme focus on money and power, they argue, that created the Kybele of today - a planet wracked by near-constant turf wars and power grabs, fighting a war of attrition? There is a decently large subculture of people who believe in accepting and understanding that Kybele is changed for good, and creating a mode of art entirely different to the old culture and beliefs.

Devotion to the state of which you are a part is also deeply important to almost all Kybele citizens. For most, this will mean wearing blue and revering your local Carnation mayor. For others - those who choose to live on the fringes, in chosen families, artistic collectives or even religious movements - clan life is just as important. They will tend to cluster in less strategically important pockets of land, living on single compounds (perhaps converted farmhouses or burnt-out mansions).