Everspring

Map of Everspring

## Common Knowledge

A small country in Southeastern Orleisle, the Lunar Elves live here in eternal springtime. Aside from the unceasing war with Sol Oas, their neighboring country, Everspring is an unknown to the public.

## Topography and Climate

The only season in Everspring, is, aptly, spring.

It is a small country located between Zondros and the Apotheosis desert, with the Siren Sea on its shores to the East. The majority of the land in the East Everspring is made up of small agricultural towns, with slightly larger pseudo-cities scattered between them. In the West lies a large forest. The capital and only particularly large city is Aphelion.

All of Everspring is protected by a magical barrier, erected in a ritual by the original Umbra Clerics. No one can teleport over it, and it prevents the borders from simply being stumbled upon. The border is heavily patrolled; Non-Lunar Elves are not allowed entry unless accompanied by a diplomat or presenting highly regulated paperwork.

## Exports and Trades

The country is closed, with next to no external exports or trade.

Within the country, however, trade prospers.

Many farmers, most people have military training.

## Government

A theological oligarchy governed by the Zenith Council, from the capital Aphelion.

The High Zenith is both the leader of the council and of the church. They are elected within the church itself. They are the tie-breaking vote on the council. There are 8 other seats on the council, one for the General of the military, and the seven others that are held by members of the prominent noble houses or by charismatic military leaders. When a sitting member dies or resigns, there is an election. The votes are counted by the High Zenith, who then pronounces the new member. Whether this is a fair election is anybody’s guess, but a great amount of effort is put towards making it seem that way.

## Military

### Patrol Service

The vast majority of the military patrols along the mountain and their secret passages, monitoring the border. This is where the average Lunar Elf goes just after they’ve been trained. From here, they’re either sent to the frontlines with much more danger, or they stay on patrol for the duration of their enlistment. It’s fairly rare for patrol to see heavy combat. The officers in charge of these Patrolers tend to be either Frontlines veterans who’ve earned a cushy posting, or nobility who have been trained to lead.

It is expected for there to be romantic and sexual flings among the patrolling soldiers, and many Lunar Elves meet their spouses here. A child conceived while on patrol is assumed to be a greater warrior because their parents were actively fighting for Lün’e during their conception. A woman who becomes pregnant is immediately sent back to Everspring with whoever she assumes to be the father of the child. This is fairly common.

### Frontline Service

Ironically, these soldiers actually serve further back in the country geographically, fighting the Solar Elves who have advanced past the mountains. They see brutally heavy combat interspersed with weeks of stagnancy. They are assigned to units named for phases of the moon. They are trained to move fast, following orders from their leaders instinctively, so that they can retreat stealthily back to base as quickly as possible when things go wrong. It takes a very certain kind of elf to survive this way of life, and those that do tend to stay on the frontline until they die or gather enough experience to be promoted and recalled back to base.

Romantic and sexual flings are heavily discouraged among frontline units, because it distracts from the unity of the group. There are typically 3 leadership roles in a Frontlines group: a captain, a sergeant, and a head medic. The Captain’s role is, aside from being responsible for all battlefield tactics, is to serve as the religious head for the group. The head medic and sergeant are jointly responsible for monitoring the battle-readiness of their troops.

### Base Service

Where newly enlisted soldiers are sent to train, just outside the capitol-proper. Most of the militarie’s medics are stationed here, along with the center of military command. It functions as a triage center for the Frontliners, as well as a halfway house for soldiers whose service has ended to prepare them to re-enter society.

### Required Service

#### Draft

Every capable Lunar Elf spends 4-10 years serving in the military at a time. But there are frequent recalls, as detailed later. High born nobility, such as the heirs of the Great Houses, are able to pay someone else to take their service time, or may be able to do some other important function for society that is deemed equivalent to service.

#### Recall

A record is kept of all Lunar Elves’ service, including their skills and medical status. If the army requires an elf’s particular talents, or simply needs extra man power for a particular military campaign, they may recall to service even those who have served their full enlistment. This is common.

#### Deserting

A crime, not just against your unit, but against Lün’e herself. If a soldier is thinking of desertion, and it can be confirmed by the captain, sergeant, and head medic, they will be immediately sent back to base with two escorts.

If the unit cannot spare that manpower, it is to the captain’s discretion what will be done. Every dead lunar elf is a devastation, but they can’t risk the solar elves learning the location or tactics of the military.

## Social Hierarchy and Culture

### Great Houses

The remaining primary houses of families that date back to pre-Division of the Lunar and Solar Elves. Aside from political ties to Council members, the prominent Houses wield heavy social power. There is a fair amount of infighting through competing over which house can sponsor the best artist, or host the most magnificent gala. There are also trends of historical alliance/marriage within these houses, thus the slightly web like social system. ‘Alliance’ here mostly refers to the social aspects, and in some cases in terms of wealth or class.

Children of the highest ranking families tend to marry or have babies with each other, but it's not unheard of for a higher ranking family to marry in with a lower ranking one, or for a high ranked person to marry a talented artist. It helps keep the genetic pool healthy, and children of such unions typically take the name of the higher ranking family and are treated like any other member. Their children all attend the same private academies, so that they can socialize with their peers and train in history, oration, and the arts.

### Umbra Clerics

Leaders of the church, made up of highborn religious scholars and the sa imar Children of Lün’e. Supposedly the ones who are speaking to Lün’e and interpreting her messages.

### Children of Lün’e

They possess no real political power, but very high social status. They're considered holy and are involved in spreading religious doctrine. They preach during holidays, teach religious classes in schools. Divided into two groups, clergy and holy assassins. The clergy are some of the few Lunar Elves who never fight in the war, and are raised with record keeping and public service. The assassins spend their whole lives enlisted, but live and work separately from the main militia.

### Branch Houses

Most Branch Houses choose to put down roots just outside of the capital city, where they have more freedom than inside where they would contend with the Great Houses. They often partner with local churches to protect and look after the common people. Sponsor some farms and agriculture-- a more wealthy family might have an estate with 2-3 lowborn families living on and farming their land. The wealthy family provides the land and equipment, and takes a small cut of the profit.

### High ranking military officers

Because so many Lunar Elves spend so much of their time at war, high ranking military officials actually have a decent amount of power, although less than the Umbra Clerics. Tend to marry into branch houses and hope that their children will elevate their political status. Involved in a slightly suspicious amount of policy creation.

### Average families

Normal folks. Farmers, artisans, career soldiers, etc. Not a lot of political power unless they marry into the more powerful families. Many of them receive support from the government when crops run short or raids destroy their homes. Ostensibly involved in electing government officials.

There isn’t so much a class divide as a kind of social alliance-network. The state/church provides a lot of necessities for life, both because agriculture is difficult in a small, isolated country, and because life is highly valued. This means socialization revolves a great deal around political power and the arts.

### Religion

As they have since the founding of Everspring, Lunar Elves worship the moon goddess Lün’e. Eversping is run under a partial Theocracy-- the church comes together with the oldest Noble Houses to make up the Zenith Counsel. Most Lunar Elves are raised to be devoutly religious from birth.

The ranks of the church are broken down as follows:

#### The High Zenith

Religious head of the nation. They don’t necessarily wield full political power, but they represent the church and the country. Currently this position is filled by Purnama Koray.

#### The Umbra Clerics

High clerics tasked with overseeing and protecting various areas of Everspring or running certain parts of the capitol, such as the libraries. A position you can rise to in the church without being born into it. Typically takes years of study and working one’s way up both politically and religiously.

#### The Children of Lün’e

Made up largely of war orphans, the Children of Lün’e (also known as Korays) are considered the chosen Lunar Elves of Lün’e. They are raised by the church, and divided into two groups: the *sa mira* and the *sa imar,* meaning the Moon’s Blade or the Moon’s Light. The *sa mira* are holy assassins sent to deal with the most difficult conflicts in the Lunar/Solar Elf war, and the *sa imar* are the holy clergy who preserve religious and cultural knowledge.

The local government in most towns in Everspring tends to come from the nearest church. A very small town may have a religious meeting place and perhaps a local elder well versed in religious practices who either leads the town or works with other locals to lead it. They would then report to the nearest true church, run by an Umbra Cleric. Through the church and local connections, that Cleric and any other members of the church take responsibility for their local communities-- ensuring food is correctly distributed, children are educated, the sick and injured are cared for, etc. Most churches are also equipped with a small military force, tasked with defending the local towns and farmlands.

Because the church and government are almost entirely one in the same, religion is a huge part of the average Lunar Elf’s life. Worship is mainly done through art-- Lunar Elves create art pieces or tell stories both to preserve their history and culture, and to entertain their goddess. The religion itself is largely passed down orally-- few-to-no religious texts exist outside the libraries of the capitol.

Due to the long history of war within Everspring, a large part of worship to Lün’e is also entwined with keeping a country together during war. Religious emphasis on close knit families and communities, as well as the idea of battle as a form of worship, is common.

### Holidays

#### Winter Solstice

Because it’s the longest night of the year, it’s the holiest night of the year. The moon is in the sky for the longest, so you try to keep her attention by telling stories about your year. It’s a night of music and memories, where families get together. Musicians and orators will prepare all year for this, and it’s traditional that everybody gives some sort of performance dedicated to Lune.

#### Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice was once a day for mourning and honouring the dead, but in recent decades has become more of a day of bitterness towards Solar Elves. This creates some cultural controversy.

#### New Moon

Every New Moon is a day of prayer and confession to Lune. Most elves in Everspring go to church or to their personal altars, while soldiers or those without access to a religious space may simply speak to the night sky.

#### Full Moon

Every full moon is a fertility holiday, celebrating life and hope. If you’re a child, the Church of Lune takes you in and it’s basically a day camp. Playing games, singing songs about Lune. It’s also not so subtly a time for kids to mingle without parents, hoping they’ll crush on one another and start families asap. If you’re a married adult, you get the day off of work to celebrate your love and contribution to society, and the Church takes your kids for the day and night. It’s basically a federally-mandated sex holiday. If you’re an unmarried adult, you still have to work to keep the country running. You get the next day off, but it’s not like, a special deal about how you’re so holy and stuff.

## Cities, Towns, and Villages

### Aphelion

The capital city, the Zeneith Council and the main temple operate here.

## Founding and History

### The Splitting of Lunar and Solar Elves

Legend says that once, thousands of years ago, a gathering was held by the tribal elf worshippers of the Sun and Moon. They performed a ritual to speak with their gods. When the Sun and Moon, Solar and Lün’e, came down to see their followers, they noted the differences between those who followed the Moon and those who followed the Sun. Suddenly, after no more than a snicker from the Deities, half of the elves were Frozen and half were Scorched. They commanded that their followers prove themselves by defeating the other Deities' followers-- bringing them glory and honor. Thus they can no longer exist peacefully together.

### The Long War

A war with little clear start and no end in sight. Although the conflict between the Solar Elves and Lunar Elves was once a relatively even back and forth, neither side truly gaining or losing ground, in recent centuries the war has clearly begun to favor the Solar Elves. Everspring’s choice of an isolationist policy, as well as a slow loss of their signature ice magic, means that they are rapidly weakening in the face of prosperous Sol Oas, with their booming trade and strong fire magic.

Everspring now has the homefield advantage, in that Sol Oas is invading them rather than vice versa. Their thick forests in the west of the country, combined with the well guarded barrier, mean that Solar Elves aren’t able to completely take their land. Lunar Elf tactics focus more on flanking maneuvers, and they are trained to fight with many types of weaponry. They also have a high number of psions and animi, and tend to have a very deep patriotism and religious fervor motivating them to fight hard no matter how outnumbered they are.

The most significant advantage the Lunar Elves are able to keep is their holy assassins. The assassins continuously pick off Solar Elf officials, keeping their country in a semi-constant power vacuum and state of political unrest.

Unfortunately, the Solar Elves have many distinct advantages. Their open borders and healthy trade means many more materials for weapons and opportunities for advancements in magic and technology. They also have the option to hire mercenary armies in addition to their own soldiers. They have strong fire magic, which they use to cauterize wounds to make them unhealable, and to burn Lunar Elf towns and crops. Since last spring, they have begun to use blasting jelly to do even more damage.

### The Deaths of Lün’e and Solar

Both the Constellations Lün’e and Solar have disappeared from the sky-- Solar one year ago, Lün’e just after the Battle of Binturia. No one knows what has happened to them. The Umbra Clerics have told the citizens of Everspring that their goddess may have descended to Temporis, and may be coming to assist them. It may be a sign that they will soon win the war.

## Further Information

* Apotheosis Desert
* Battle of Binturia
* Children of Lün’e
* Lunar Elf
* Lün’e
* Solar Elf
* Sol Oas
* Zondros