Lutianen, The Insular City

What is

         Lutianen is a Human Estate City on an island. The distance between it and mainland is small enough to make possible for a excellent swimmer do entertain the idea of try his luck. As and last resource, if he has any knowledge about what the water he would be entering and what sleeps bellow it.

      In the continent there is a bay fed by many rivers. In a hill above that bay ends an Vortex Line. There arrive many involuntary immigrants brought to Sharitarn from parallel planets. Placed by Lutianen in that hill there is a small fortress, a tower of medieval aspect named "Welcome Tower". It is there to receive and test all who arrive from the vortex line.
     For a long time this tower was administrated by Scholar Caste, but during the rule of King Cerbion it was passed to the hands of Mage Caste. That send to live and take care of the tower a young Mage, as voluntary as the poor people who came from other universes Helicon stays in the Continent. He is a pleasant enough fellow most days, and has the necessary spell to talk with any talking being, regardless the language spoken by this person. By now he probably understands Earth culture and History far better than most Earthlings do.
Pleasantries apart this man is there to test involuntary immigrants. Men in particular, because the women are slaved at first sight. Who fails the test may be killed or put away to find death in the wild, second alternative is usually worse but most don't realize it. Those male humans who pass the test are either slaved or send to one of the many castes on Lutianen, so they can be trained and given the chance to earn citizenship.

The king of Lutianen traces his lineage to of the nine First Emperors of the Imperial Age, three million years ago, and to one of the noble lineages born during the Clan Age about three million years before that. However, the actually origins of Insular City are lost in shadows because a ominous event of magical nature made impossible for even the most powerful archmage soothsayers to find out what happened in detail using Divination spells.

HISTORY OF LUTIANEN THE INSULAR CITY

Lutianen was founded 3 million years ago, near to the Imperial Age, Shirshan 9 million years ago; actually right after the Imperia, during the Cyborg Age.







Ludrien was the Powerful Capital of an Empire during the Imperial Age, in constant conflict against It’s rival the Principality City of Vurdacnar (which no longer exists). Finally the archmage who controlled the Principality got permission from the Gods to release a devastating curse on Ludrien.
The inhabitants of the Capital felt their bones melt and collapse under the weight of their flesh covert in purulent eruptions, madding pain and suffocation continued as they dragged themselves through the streets trying to beg for the help of their divine protectors. Incapable to die, speak or think, living and deformed reminds of princely vengeance. The victorious claimed the control overt the nation, only to see a Civil War brake it apart in a couple of decades.
However, a small group of high caste citizens of Ludrien escaped with their closest friends, servants and slaves. Thanks to a spy in the enemy house those families got the information of their destruction a few hours before the destruction itself.
There was no time to escape running away, much less to evacuate the entire capital. However, there was a Sacred mountain in the middle of Ludrien.
On this sacred place had been build a structure of temples arenas and gardens to serve during encounters between Emperors, and for the Sacred Feasts of most transcendent importance. Was forbidden for any mortal to step on this mountain when the encounters where not happening, by Law not even the Emperor could do that. Those families violated the interdiction and escaped, because the curse did not reached them on the Sacred Mountain.
Surrounded by the plague and monsters created by it, and deeply afraid of punishment for violate the Divine Interdiction, those orphans of Ludrien kept themselves hidden in their gardens and temples for three generations. Fearing to use even the simplest divination spell, to find out what was happening beyond their eyesight.
Outside their sanctuary the Nation had fell in small realms, parts of it had been divided between other powers. A small change compared to what came next. When the frog-people in the Ungnuie Forests imprisoned the God Zagdon the entire structure on global power collapsed. Other forces did the same with other immaterial entities and that was the end of the Imperial Age.
As the Emperors saw their power escape, the Mage Brotherhood got the chance it had been waiting for to reshape their structure and pride. Was a time of dispute for the control of the huge magical treasures accumulated by the empires. More important than any other treasure was the educational system of Mage Universities, officially subordinated to the Emperors and their Gods.
In this context the Vortex brought a humanoid race capable to fly without wings. They divided themselves in few small groups, one moving to found Ancient High Towers and another founding the Sacred Mountain apparently empty.
Using their superior knowledge about this Universe and the way magic works here the orphans of Ludrien manage to capture the powerful iis in a trap. A series of combats follows, and end up, after half dozen years, in alliance. The flying humanoids sacrifice one of then to create the flying castle of Golden Wing, and the undead mages who had escaped Ludrien establish there a mage University.
That’s when Lutianen is officially founded. The birth of Insular City is the date of foundation of Golden Wing. (around the Middle of Cyborg Age)
The flying humanoids participated in the administration of Lutianen, and kept the control over the Magic University. Where was taught the Ways of Creation, Necromancy, and Magical Shields, with some unique disciplines developed by the flying humanoids.
Earthquakes had reshaped the Continents, during the chaos caused by the disappearance of the immaterial powers. Ludrien had been a continental city, but most of it was now under the sea. The last remaining buildings of that Imperial Capital where now on a Continental bay and on the island under Golden Wing, which had been the Sacred Temple.
As Insular City Lutianen joins the global order again thanks to the Mage University. However, the control of this institution is in the hands of non-humans and undead who uses to be humans but no longer are. That generates an uncomfortable conflict with strong even if unwritten rules of the Mage’s Brotherhood. That happens in the middle of Cyborg Age, when an alliance between Alkavalla (ungnuie and frog people) the yellow telepaths (mummies from Solitary Island) and the human city of Agoioven, named Grove Alliance, is fighting the Humanists who want to rebuild the Brotherhood Ideals of Clan Age. The centre of the world in this period is the region of Mibavan and Agoioven. Lutianen stays isolated most the time.
This tacit conundrum is not the only problem of Lutianen. Because the nation of Shirshan was assuming the role of dominant power in the region and deducing all other nations to a kind of servitude know as “protection”. Shirshan, the Green Poison, was already a human nation six million years old by this time.
Lutianen resists, but after many battles fall under Shirshan protection. The revolt against this situation will emerge many times after this moment.
Insular City conquer independency, at great cost. However, a little after that a third force attack both State Cities. The catastrophe that ends Cyborg Age leaves Lutianen on the edge of a fracture, but Golden Wing mages manages to shield their city establishing bridges and floating islands between mirror dimensions. In the chaos od Mad Labyrinth Age Lutianen became one among the few Nations which prosper. During the 100 thousand years of Mad Labyrinth Age Lutianen join a Alliance of living and undead mages who have advanced knowledge of Teleportation Magic. All that ends abruptly when shadows of spiders are detected by some people. The Major Sacrifice ends the Mad Labyrinth, and starts the Dark-Ice Age. Lutianen is one of the places that survives those times without chose its magical University. An deal between the Golden Wing and the Mages Brotherhood opens the doors of Lutianen to any human with magic potential able to reach the nation. The Throne of Lutianen is almost reduced to a symbolic role, with fell real power, until the Red-Ice Age. When the movement for renovation of national identities begin with a reunion between heirs of royal lineages from Clan Age, in the Royal Castle of Lutianen. Following that reunion Lutianen is the first nation to forbid cannibalism. The pixel race had close relationship with the flying humanoids of Golden Wing and with the undead citizens of Insular City, some of them even married into noble families of the city, generating half-blood lineages by magical means. When the fairy people abandoned the surface of Sharitarn, except for the territory of Blessed Grass, a large portion of Lutianen Mage Caste accompany them, including many undead professors of Golden Wing.

The Vortex had brought a new specie of intelligent octopuses to the Open Ocean. This beings are barely immune to magic and the ones among them with magical training where powerful enough to reunite all the races of intelligent cetaceans in the sea and start a campaign to replace humanity as the dominant specie on Sharitarn. Not only Lutianen and Shirshan but also all Port Cities in the globe faced imminent destruction. Most felt under the first blow.
Was one of the few occasions when the Mage’s Brotherhood moved directly and openly to do something in a matter not related with the Law of Exclusion.
Fearing the humanity could felt under slavery of the cetacean, so short after free itself from the immaterial masters of Imperial Age, the Brotherhood destroyed the most powerful users of magic among the cetaceans and broke their connection with the main source of magical power of this race.
From that instant forward the cetaceans have to capture magic users from other races and use the Xar processed by their bodies to make magic.
The War was over, but the Golden Wing Castle had been lost.
We know the story from this point on. That is told in 'Black Centaur History', how the archmage Centaur Rumo creates the new Magic University of Lutianen almost singlehanded. Earning to his wild followers the status of Noble Caste on Insular City.



The magical Ways thought at Black Centaur Castle are Creation, Healing and Divination.
As for Economy Insular City today is to be considered a Merchant Nation, since it's economy mostly depends on commerce.

Structure

As is usual for Estate Cities Lutianen has a Caste System. In Theory the caste in top of it is the Noble Caste (most cities don't have one, but those where that caste exists usualy consider it to be on the top). For most practical purposes the true head of Lutianen is the Mage Caste, what is also not exceptional.
The Noble caste city is one that usually is composed only for those born in it. Other castes have systems to select and test candidates, but is exceptional to see people wanting to enter a caste that is not the one of their parents. Or, more typically of their fathers, since the mothers are frequently slave-girls and slaves loose their castes.
A exception is the Mage Caste, once the potential for became Mage Caste is detected in a male child it is implicitly assumed that this boy will enter Black Centaur and make his best effort to became a Mage, or at very least a sigrax. Alchemists (the ones with magic potential awake but unable to make spells, who are bellow the sigraxes as them are bellow the mages) are not considered Mage Caste on Lutianen, only Mages and Sigraxes. Alchemists don't have a Caste for themselves either, and need to find one as any other candidate to citizenship.
Having a high influx of involuntary immigrants Lutianen always has a lot slaves to sell and a equivalent number of promising candidates to citizenship to incorporate in their castes.
Castes are necessary to achieve citizenship, and boys must to be invited by a member and pass a test in order to enter a caste. Be born in it isn't enough (except for the nobles). Girls have more options, depending on the caste they may be given the chance to make the test or not (Merchants allow it, Scholars allow it, Warriors don't ) but they always can get their place as citizens by a contract of free companionship (the equivalent to Marriage). Normally three consecutive contracts with the same caste member (they last one lunar year each) do the trick. In some cases girls can inherit the citizenship form their fathers, usually that happens on Warrior Caste, when the warrior died in battle fighting for his Nation.
The castes are the link between the City and the individuals. Usually one does not deal with the city, one deals with the Caste. That's where natives of Lutianen look for help when they need it, that's where they go when they want to help others making charity or something else of that sort. Most times the city don't punish people directly, it transmit the obligation to the caste council. Once you are inside your caste headquarters not even the King's personal guard can touch you without the permission of your caste council.
The Guard patrol all city and keep it save according to the Nation Laws, and as normally happens the guard is composed of Warrior Castes. However this warriors serving the government will only act if strictly necessary. As far as possible they leave the conflicts for the members of the caste in control of the area where those problems are. Only in the Warrior Neighborhood, mains streets and center of Lutianen you can expect the City Guard to take full initiative to enforce the law.
There is a larger number of non humans on Lutianen than you can find on Nations without this king of geographic location. The city is about as tolerant to this people as most, what is not that much but they do get to be citizens. And as citizens they find help in their Castes. Still, things are harder for non humans, and that difficulty escalates a lot when you step outside the humanoid shape.
There is a centauroid race on the city, which looks very much like the centaurs of Earth Mythology, and they either live as Peasant Casts on the farm fields of the island or use a racial spell that transform them in humanoids. This spell must be repeated every year, and they do so on a secret festival on the Kailau Mountains. The interesting contradiction is that the most important institution of Lutianen was only possible thanks to the magical power of a centauroid, and the centaurs who now live on Lutianen even not being from the same race of that mage are descendants of people invited by him to live on the insular city.

Culture

The inevitable curse all nations near to the end of a Green Line falls over Lutianen. Those places must deal with a larger cultural contamination from other universes. That means more human resources, and more men with magic potential, what is great, but at same time makes political atmosphere more volatile than it already is in more typical portions of Sharitarn. 
     Nowadays Earth is the planet tuned by the Vortex, and than means most influence that reaches Lutianen from the Green Line is from there. Has been for little more than three centuries.

Public Agenda

Lutianen intends to win the war against Shirshan and control the East End of the Sorrowful River.

Assets

A Mage University, Black Centaur. A powerful navy, kept by a brave and skilled Sailor Caste in alliance with the Merchant Caste and the Warriors.

History

Lutianen is a Human Estate City on an island. Close to a Vortex Line it owns a Welcome Tower, where test and select promisor iis. The ones approved in those tests are invited to join the city and offered a chance of citizenship. The king of Lutianen traces his lineage to of the nine First Emperors of the Imperial Age, three million years ago, and to one of the noble lineages born during the Clan Age about three million years before that. However, the actually origins of Insular City are lost in shadows because a ominous event of magical nature made impossible for even the most powerful archmage soothsayers to find out what happened in detail using Divination spells.




(Lutianen was founded 3 million years ago, near to the Imperial Age, Shirshan 9 million years ago; actually right after the Imperia, during the Cyborg Age)






HISTORY OF LUTIANEN THE INSULAR CITY
Ludrien was the Powerful Capital of an Empire during the Imperial Age, in constant conflict against It’s rival the Principality City of Vurdacnar (which no longer exists). Finally the archmage who controlled the Principality got permission from the Gods to release a devastating curse on Ludrien.
The inhabitants of the Capital felt their bones melt and collapse under the weight of their flesh covert in purulent eruptions, madding pain and suffocation continued as they dragged themselves through the streets trying to beg for the help of their divine protectors. Incapable to die, speak or think, living and deformed reminds of princely vengeance. The victorious claimed the control overt the nation, only to see a Civil War brake it apart in a couple of decades.
However, a small group of high caste citizens of Ludrien escaped with their closest friends, servants and slaves. Thanks to a spy in the enemy house those families got the information of their destruction a few hours before the destruction itself.
There was no time to escape running away, much less to evacuate the entire capital. However, there was a Sacred mountain in the middle of Ludrien.
On this sacred place had been build a structure of temples arenas and gardens to serve during encounters between Emperors, and for the Sacred Feasts of most transcendent importance. Was forbidden for any mortal to step on this mountain when the encounters where not happening, by Law not even the Emperor could do that. Those families violated the interdiction and escaped, because the curse did not reached them on the Sacred Mountain.
Surrounded by the plague and monsters created by it, and deeply afraid of punishment for violate the Divine Interdiction, those orphans of Ludrien kept themselves hidden in their gardens and temples for three generations. Fearing to use even the simplest divination spell, to find out what was happening beyond their eyesight.
Outside their sanctuary the Nation had fell in small realms, parts of it had been divided between other powers. A small change compared to what came next. When the frog-people in the Ungnuie Forests imprisoned the God Zagdon the entire structure on global power collapsed. Other forces did the same with other immaterial entities and that was the end of the Imperial Age.
As the Emperors saw their power escape, the Mage Brotherhood got the chance it had been waiting for to reshape their structure and pride. Was a time of dispute for the control of the huge magical treasures accumulated by the empires. More important than any other treasure was the educational system of Mage Universities, officially subordinated to the Emperors and their Gods.
In this context the Vortex brought a humanoid race capable to fly without wings. They divided themselves in few small groups, one moving to found Ancient High Towers and another founding the Sacred Mountain apparently empty.
Using their superior knowledge about this Universe and the way magic works here the orphans of Ludrien manage to capture the powerful iis in a trap. A series of combats follows, and end up, after half dozen years, in alliance. The flying humanoids sacrifice one of then to create the flying castle of Golden Wing, and the undead mages who had escaped Ludrien establish there a mage University.
That’s when Lutianen is officially founded. The birth of Insular City is the date of foundation of Golden Wing. (around the Middle of Cyborg Age)
The flying humanoids participated in the administration of Lutianen, and kept the control over the Magic University. Where was taught the Ways of Creation, Necromancy, and Magical Shields, with some unique disciplines developed by the flying humanoids.
Earthquakes had reshaped the Continents, during the chaos caused by the disappearance of the immaterial powers. Ludrien had been a continental city, but most of it was now under the sea. The last remaining buildings of that Imperial Capital where now on a Continental bay and on the island under Golden Wing, which had been the Sacred Temple.
As Insular City Lutianen joins the global order again thanks to the Mage University. However, the control of this institution is in the hands of non-humans and undead who uses to be humans but no longer are. That generates an uncomfortable conflict with strong even if unwritten rules of the Mage’s Brotherhood. That happens in the middle of Cyborg Age, when an alliance between Alkavalla (ungnuie and frog people) the yellow telepaths (mummies from Solitary Island) and the human city of Agoioven, named Grove Alliance, is fighting the Humanists who want to rebuild the Brotherhood Ideals of Clan Age. The centre of the world in this period is the region of Mibavan and Agoioven. Lutianen stays isolated most the time.
This tacit conundrum is not the only problem of Lutianen. Because the nation of Shirshan was assuming the role of dominant power in the region and deducing all other nations to a kind of servitude know as “protection”. Shirshan, the Green Poison, was already a human nation six million years old by this time.
Lutianen resists, but after many battles fall under Shirshan protection. The revolt against this situation will emerge many times after this moment.
Insular City conquer independency, at great cost. However, a little after that a third force attack both State Cities. The catastrophe that ends Cyborg Age leaves Lutianen on the edge of a fracture, but Golden Wing mages manages to shield their city establishing bridges and floating islands between mirror dimensions. In the chaos od Mad Labyrinth Age Lutianen became one among the few Nations which prosper. During the 100 thousand years of Mad Labyrinth Age Lutianen join a Alliance of living and undead mages who have advanced knowledge of Teleportation Magic. All that ends abruptly when shadows of spiders are detected by some people. The Major Sacrifice ends the Mad Labyrinth, and starts the Dark-Ice Age. Lutianen is one of the places that survives those times without chose its magical University. An deal between the Golden Wing and the Mages Brotherhood opens the doors of Lutianen to any human with magic potential able to reach the nation. The Throne of Lutianen is almost reduced to a symbolic role, with fell real power, until the Red-Ice Age. When the movement for renovation of national identities begin with a reunion between heirs of royal lineages from Clan Age, in the Royal Castle of Lutianen. Following that reunion Lutianen is the first nation to forbid cannibalism. The pixel race had close relationship with the flying humanoids of Golden Wing and with the undead citizens of Insular City, some of them even married into noble families of the city, generating half-blood lineages by magical means. When the fairy people abandoned the surface of Sharitarn, except for the territory of Blessed Grass, a large portion of Lutianen Mage Caste accompany them, including many undead professors of Golden Wing.

The Vortex had brought a new specie of intelligent octopuses to the Open Ocean. This beings are barely immune to magic and the ones among them with magical training where powerful enough to reunite all the races of intelligent cetaceans in the sea and start a campaign to replace humanity as the dominant specie on Sharitarn. Not only Lutianen and Shirshan but also all Port Cities in the globe faced imminent destruction. Most felt under the first blow.
Was one of the few occasions when the Mage’s Brotherhood moved directly and openly to do something in a matter not related with the Law of Exclusion.
Fearing the humanity could felt under slavery of the cetacean, so short after free itself from the immaterial masters of Imperial Age, the Brotherhood destroyed the most powerful users of magic among the cetaceans and broke their connection with the main source of magical power of this race.
From that instant forward the cetaceans have to capture magic users from other races and use the Xar processed by their bodies to make magic.
The War was over, but the Golden Wing Castle had been lost.
We know the story from this point on. That is told in 'Black Centaur History', how the archmage Centaur Rumo creates the new Magic University of Lutianen almost singlehanded. Earning to his wild followers the status of Noble Caste on Insular City.



The magical Ways thought at Black Centaur Castle are Creation, Healing and Divination.
As for Economy Insular City today is to be considered a Merchant Nation, since it's economy mostly depends on commerce.

Our Walls are Made of Wood. (a reference to Shirshan war navy, city has no walls literally speaking)

Type

Geopolitical, City-state

Alternative Names

Insular City

Demonym

Lutianien