Leylan

The role of death in a world that rejects change

  Death is pretty commonplace in our world, and although we often fear the coming void, it also motivates us to live life as fully as possible, and to continue our existence. In a world where life is very long, some of these characteristics must be somewhat muffled. Take the point about living life to its fullest; humans as a whole are incredibly industrious and are constantly developing our societies and world with the intent of making a better tomorrow for all -- or just ourselves. Without death looming our shoulders, would we still strive for such industry? In such a world, what does it matter if it takes time to do something -- which means, why would you bother invent something to make something easier, when you have an eternity to do it?   Adding to this point, death on Leylan is no automated part of biology, but is a process in which the ecclesiastic orders are meant to cooporate. Chiefly, the Fate of Death, the Flynn, must carry the souls of the dead with him into the Void, lest the taint that they possess will fester on Leylan. If this process is not done, then the soul cannot leave the body, meaning that the essence of the being that once was gets locked into a slowly rotting corpse.   But the Flynn cannot be everywhere, and cannot predict those death which have not spanned their natural -- although extended -- lives, meaning accidents or killings. Thus either the orders of the other Fates, or Flynns own order -- preferably -- must retirieve the souls and store them until Flynn can arrive.   For ordinary people, the Flynn becomes a recurring sign of their own end, and indeed their dreams are haunted by him. In their every dream, the Flynn appears as a black dot on the horizon, ever coming closer. As children, one might not care, nor recognize the dot as human, but as they grow old, the Flynn becomes more and more clear to them, as their natural death grows ever closer.   Thus there is a constant reminder that death is slowly coming for them, which may give people the motivation they need to make the most of life, enough to be somewhat inventive, especially toward the end.

The role of symbols

  Because of the peculiar nature of ether and the etherscape, symbols become incredibly powerful. When every word spoken in passing has the potential to become a spell, how people speak and interact with one another has an entirely different nature than what we're used to.

The nature of Meritocracies, Theocracies, and oligarchies

  The three human nations are each developed after one of the above ideologies, all in their own twisted way. The supposed meritocracy does not truly give equal opportuinity to all, the theocracy has devolved into a tyrannical thought-police state, and the oligarchy has such a divide between the wealthy and the poor that they might as well live in two separate worlds.