The Maze State

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All empires fall, eventually...

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**THE MAZE STATE** is the only faction within our group that is not playable. Located within The Maze, the founding of this state under Itia and Troilus, is often perceived as the beginning of both The Veridian State and The Cinereous State... because it was.

Destroyed in the spring of 74 BCE, **The Maze State** has since become a legend among the younger members of each faction, as those who did not live through the fall often find it hard to believe that the two factions were once one.

The faction was best known for it's group dynamic that focused heavily on a combination of both Athenian and Spartan ideals, and although both Kings were a mated pair who often refused to act before the other was consulted, it was easy to tell which element was brought in by which leader.

The beliefs of **The Maze State** were as varied as it's members, which allowed the group to build a complex religious sector made up of a priest from each pantheon and an Oracle that was thought to receive visions from both the Feline Titans and the Greek Pantheon.

## History

### Founding

In September of 79 BCE, Itia and Troilus came to the very sudden realization that they had managed to gather quite the following as they both traveled the maze. As more felines came to learn their story and how both were incorrectly framed for various crimes against the City of Knossos, more pledged to rise up and eventually turn against the felines who had destroyed their livelihoods.

Those first few months were rocky though, seeing as how this was the first time any feline had ever really *attempted* anything close to human society within the maze. If it wasn't for the help of the eventual Gerousia, the newly forming State would most certainly have fallen.

### The Rise of the Astynomia

Moving into 78 BCE, the newly formed Astynomia started testing the waters to see how well they could handle the maze and their targets within. Prior to this, Itia and Troilus had dealt with a handful of one off scenarios were they were hunted by what they could only assume were untrained felines assassins. Both also assumed that, more like than not, these unknown assailants had been contracted by the newly promoted Astynomia Archon: Veritus.

Once news reached the newly formed Astynomia that their targets had integrated into a society of their own volition, the training program doubled down on it's already difficult training regimen. Their focus? The eventual capture and death of Itia.

Their efforts were futile through the rest of the year and in subsequent years. The State however, continued to grow and expand in numbers, thriving off of the new system of living as more felines joined their ranks.

It wasn't until the summer of 77 BCE that the Astynomia tried a new approach. Instead of attacking outright, a singular feline, named Dorian, would be sent in to join the ranks and eventually find a path to lead his fellow Astynomia into the heart of The Maze State's territory.

He wasn't expected to return home from the mission.

### The Fall

For nearly three years, between the summer of 77 until that fateful morning in 74 BCE, Dorian assimilated into the culture of The State. He lived among the convicts of the city, learned their habits, ate their meals, and eventually found the best paths that could lead him close enough to the city to inform his superiors of the information he had gleaned.

For three years he maintained the perfect cover, and on the night of the full moon, he led a team of Astynomia thireftis into the heart of **The Maze State's** camp.

Of the approximately fifty members that the group was made up with, only about twenty survived.

The Astynomia thought they had decimated the group entirely, and as the thireftis counted the bodies, they came to realize that they were missing two important ones in particular.

Itia and Troilus survived, but at what cost? The once proud kings returned to their home once the dust cleared and the nosy thireftis left to count the bodies of the dead. The family that they had tried to protect were dead. Their cubs, gone. The wrath shared between both parents was too much.

They fought in the blood of their dead citizens. Claws and teeth clashed as the two took out their frustrations... and when all was exhausted, the two realized that they couldn't lead together any longer. Their ideals were too different. Itia wanted to focus on the felines she cared for, wanted to move from place to place and keep her family alive... Troilus wanted nothing more than to stay in one spot, but force the felines to prove they were trustworthy before bringing them into his domain at large.

There would be no Maze State. Instead, the Veridian State and the Cinereous State would rise in it's place.

## Culture

### Laws

As **The Maze State** had no real sense of law enforcement, there wasn't a set in stone list of rules for the felines to follow. As far as laws and trails went, it wasn't unheard of for two felines to go to the Gerousia to discuss claims of morality. Matters of justice or attempts at justice were often done through a third party to ensure that things stayed civil. However, fights were not common among these felines as they were often too worried about other aspects of survival. The only real punishable crime was murder, and in the time that The Maze State existed, there wasn't a single trail brought up to the Kings that required a death sentence. Most of the felines saw spending time and energy getting upset with one another for things as petty as stealing as a waste of resources too precious to bother with. Overall, each feline operated with their own code of conduct and, in most situations, that was enough to get by. If it wasn't, the Gerousia or even the Kings would step in to ensure that it *was*.

### Cultural Norms & Expectations

The culture and social structure of The Maze State was built around the closeness of Itia and Troilus. Many felines wanted to mirror their care and compassion for each other, and often believed that the needs of the many would be taken care of by the many.

As far as it went, the felines that worked in their prime focused on gathering food and ensuring there was a safe place to live. In the early days, before a set camp was put into place, scouts would focus on finding safe spots for sleeping, until eventually the rank was dissolved and turned into a more passive ordeal, focusing heavily on finding common game trails or navigating the maze to find the best places to drink.

Felines respected their two Kings and the Gerousia above all, and focused heavily on repenting for their crimes of the past and following the general rule of "take care of one another".

### Education and Training

Living within the maze forces cats to mature and come to terms with reality faster than living in the city. Whereas most cubs in the city will benefit from an extended period of cubhood before they move on to their working lives. However, in the Maze, specifically in the Maze State, cubs were known to start training and learning from their parents as soon as they were able to start eating solid foods.

Education would generally start a few months after the initial learning period, where the now "adolescent" felines were placed under a feline or two to learn how to survive in the maze. Important aspects such as celestial navigation and general survival were taught early on to ensure that one wrong step wouldn't send them into the maze to be lost forever.

#### Training Prompts

**THE MAZE STATE** does not take part in training prompts because the group does not exist anymore in TMS.

## Holidays

### Panathena - Late July

Similar to The Veridian State's current holiday, Panathena celebrated the birth of Athena, the Patron Goddess of Athens. However, where the Veridian State only focuses on building two structures, one for Sky and Athena, the Maze State built a small pantheon in the center of camp with no one god/goddess or titan out-sizing the other. The old structures would still be removed and the new ones would be offered various gifts. At the end of the ceremony, a large feast would be held in the pantheon's name.

## Group Ranks

### Leadership

King

Gerousia

### Spiritual

Oracle

Priest

## Notable Figures & NPCs

Itia

Troilus

## Locations

The Old Camp

The Broken Forest

The Lost Wood

Eagle's Rest

## Faction Relations

The Maze State was an enemy to all that stood outside of the maze, but also tried to keep a friendly attitude towards most Lurkers if it could be helped.

However, seeing as how the faction rose and fell before the Roman Army touched down on Cretan soil, the group was ignorant of their presence and probably would remain so even if The Maze State was around today.