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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AnonymousOne" data-source="post: 3732528" data-attributes="member: 50316">    Lumen“I fight for the people and the needs of the state.  I destroy without question.  I am the weapon of the will of the people.  What I do, I do for their good, not my own and if my life be the cost, so be it.” –Aham Felj, a Believer and assassin under the control of the People’s Council.Politics    Lumen’s public political position is one of equality and moral right among the people that it rules.  It claims that each member of the great society they are building should work for a better tomorrow for all of the country and that those which can produce and create more should give it to those that are in need.  This is not so much a desire as a matter of fact in Lumen.  The state controls everything.  They see life as a chaos which must be planned and organized for society to continue toward an ultimate end of equality and happiness.     This desire for proper organization has led the government to virtually eliminate private enterprise within its borders.  The planning of the economy is as carefully watched and tweaked as the planning of Lumen’s many military campaigns.  Those who show aptitude for various skills are placed into trade schools to develop their talents.  The political structure then is one that can be thought of as Top-Down.  That is to say that the Premier and his People’s Council are the rulers of the entirety of society and their influence is felt in every aspect of life.  This is not because they exercise control over every aspect of life directly, but rather because nearly every aspect of life has become politicized.  Individuals are judged in society based on how well they support the message and goals of the People’s Council.  ---------------------------------------------Characters of the appropriate, or seemingly appropriate, political and social stance receive a +2 on social interaction with loyal Lumen citizens. Though those attempting to convince a Lumen citizen they are of the proper alignment depends on the status of the individual they are trying to convince (Use a Bluff check opposed by a Sense Motive check)---------------------------------------------    This led to some discontent some years ago as individuals within the government believed that one’s position should not be based on how well a person could parrot the Council.  These partisans were quickly purged from their positions and another aspect of Lumen was revealed:  Dissent is not an option.  The enforcers of the Council’s will are known as The Believers.  They are cold, methodical agents who will kill any who stand in the way of their mission.  They do not question orders and do not give up on a target, if one fails, two are sent, and so on.  There have been whispers of several Believers who have renounced their faith in the state and joined the resistance.    Little is known of the Premier or his history.  What has been told to the people of the country is that he was once a farmhand who threw off the yoke of oppression that had been placed on him by a system in which people were exploited by the wealthy for their labor.  He reviled the power concentrated in individuals of magical power and hunted them down, blaming them for the problems in the small confederation of states that became Lumen after the People’s Revolution, which the Premier led.  His campaign was not just against the magic users, but also against any individual of non-human blood.  Half-Elves, Elves, Gnomes, and any individual of non-human ancestry were rounded up and either exiled or killed.    ---------------------------------------------This pro-human view of a future society means that any non-human dealing with a loyal Lumen subject receives -10 on all social interaction roles and may not use the Diplomacy skill.    ---------------------------------------------    This racism in Lumen has led to the outright slaughter of prisoners who are captured on the battlefield and are of non-human blood.  Those of human blood are taken they disappear, though it is believed that they are taken to the Lumen Mines and used as slave labor until their death.  These mines also seem to be an attractive place to put political dissidents and even some of the leftover non-humans who were deemed useful in some capacity.  The Lumen mines are seen as a death sentence to those who are sent there and few faces that are sent there are ever seen again.    The People’s Council runs the country with the idea of a better world in mind, a world without want and without exploitation.  Many in society blindly follow this idea of future equality and security.  However there are rumblings of discontent in parts of the country.  Whether this is actually true is being investigated and most likely eradicated by agents of the People’s Council or perhaps the Premier himself.    Social Structure    While the rhetoric of the Council is of equality and peace, there is a shocking amount of violence and poverty in Lumen.  Citizens slave away on collective farms to feed the masses of the cities and the vast armies that Lumen keeps at arms at all times.  Others work in giant state foundries and smithies to supply the weapons and armor for the Lumen war machine.      Children are taken from their parents at the age of 8 and put into state schools where they are taught the virtues of the state and the importance of their dedication to its ideals for the future of the people.  These schools are a testing ground to see in what way each individual can best serve the state and upon graduation form this primary rearing school; the students are then placed in other schools where their skills can be refined for the benefit of the people.  Those which show a skill for sewing and tailoring are trained and put to work in giant textile factories, those which show aptitude with weapons are recruited into the behemoth Lumen military and those which show a skill in healing serve either in the massive government run hospitals or as medics in the military.      Few escape from this system but those that do often flee to the states of Wistron and Skarl.  Those that do not flee have formed a small resistance to the state and refer to themselves as freedom fighters.  These freedom fighters are hounded and hunted by the state and as such are always on the move, yet rarely miss an opportunity to strike at the state.  Their resistance is aided by members of both Skarl and Wistron who desire to bring down Lumen.  As such their numbers include several war mages and non-humans who take a very militaristic opposition to the racism inherent in Lumen society and military action.    The members of society who work in the bureaucracy of the government are often treated better than the average citizen and they are often seen wearing clothes that are superior to the clothes of the average worker or farmer.  Those with connections to the higher-ups in the government are often guaranteed a job and a nice apartment in the city so that they can better serve the people they work to govern.  This inequality does not go unnoticed, but is in some ways seen as necessary for the proper management of the state and its people.  PopulationHuman 99%All Others 1%</blockquote>

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