Arisan
The Arisan digital ledger system is central to the philosophy of Ryga, around which the societal norms of the Symran Prefecture, Falconsky, are centered.
Arisan is a transparent merit-accounting system, available to all via personal devices. With Arisan, a citizen of the Symran Prefecture can verify any other citizen’s merit total as well as a catalogue of their meritorious achievements and services performed for their fellow citizens.
Citizens are encouraged to use this system to endorse the actions of another. It should be noted that only positive testimonials are permitted to be submitted via Arisan. Concerns about egregious behavior are instead handled by conventional civic and governmental authorities. Any warning, conviction, or scandal does, of course, impact a citizen’s merit score.
There have been instances of “pay for yay”—citizens accepting bribes to leave glowing testimonials for one another—including the disbarring of a city mayor who was found to have paid for a whisper campaign to beef up his merit score, and the breaking up of a “social influence” ring of off-worlders who had purchased Arisan devices and credentials on the black market.
Scandals aside, the Arisan system has made the Symran Prefecture an orderly place, its citizens characteristically polite and deferential. Some welcome this atmosphere as refreshing—a model which other societies might learn something from—while others find it unsettling.
The Symran Prefecture occupies roughly one-third of Hawley, Falconsky, and is made up of three metropolises: Ryga (its capital), Dreth, and Ashma.
The Sevenstone Church uses a modified version of Arisan, restricted to its priestly class, to monitor the piety of its flocks.
