Gellis/Culture

Overview

**Culture**

## Politics

Gellis is ruled by a monarchy which functions somewhat similarly to a dictatorship. The sovereign ruler of Gellis holds nearly all the power in the nation and is able to pass laws, execute, imprison, and exile others without the consent of the governed nor the council. The council is a group of select aristocrats that share limited powers beneath the current ruler. Though they are unable to overrule the leadership of the queen or king, they hold extreme power over the citizens of Gellis and are second only to the monarch themselves. The council has three branches, each deal with a different aspect of the nation and assist the monarch in ruling. The kitsunes are responsible for maintaining the military, the yuki onnas are responsible for maintaining the finances, and the caladriuses are responsible for civil and cultural affairs.

## Society

Gellis' society is extremely rigid, and adheres tightly to a set of rules that must not be broken. At the end of every day, the gift of order sorts through the names of the citizens in Gellis, adjusting the ranking by how well they behaved that day, how good their grades were, and other factors. There are eight classes in Gellis, and each are named after a stone. The ranking of the stone in question depends on how valuable it is. The rankings are as follows from highest to lowest.

 Emerald
 Painite
 Taaffeite
 Musgravite
 Grandiderite
 Diamond
 Alexandrite

## Holidays

### Wintertide

Wintertide is a national holiday celebrating the end of a year, it begins on December 1st and ends with the New Year. During Wintertide, schools give less work and employees are given time off to spend with their families. The typically rigid society relaxes and people are able to express themselves more freely throughout Wintertide. As such, artists are typically flooded with commissions and requests of people trying to give their loved ones gifts for the hollidays. Gift giving is customary only to those in your family and lovers, should someone be presented with a gift by someone who is neither family nor their lover, it will be interpreted as something similar to a confession and the gift may be rejected.

Though it spans throughout the entire month, the holiday is only truly celebrated during the final week of the month (the 24th-31st). Food stalls are set up which get steady business throughout the month. During the last three days of the holiday, a grand ball is held in Elurra Palace which all citizens regardless of rank are invited to. Those who are lower in rank do not typically attend, though there are some who enjoy the festivities enough to do so. The first day of the event consists of speeches, mingling and a few performers. During the second day, there is a short opening speech given by the monarch to usher in a plentiful new year and wish good fortune to the nation followed by more performances. The third and final day is usually the most well attended, with an opening speech from the monarch yet again, a large feast, and finally the waltz. The floor is opened first to the ruler and their lover, previously Thada and Svjetlo and currently Vyn and Jessie, where they perform the first song alone, which is typically choreographed beforehand and practiced in preparation. Following the first song, members of the council are invited to join the floor with their guests, then members of blue diamond, emerald, painite and so on until everyone is permitted to dance. The king, queen and council members typically retire as soon as the musgravite class joins the floor, both to not crowd others and to prevent themselves from having contact with those who are considered "extremely beneath them."

Finally, the holiday concludes with the coming of the new year and the northern lights, which the people of Gellis believe to be their loved ones who have passed, dashing across the sky in a final display of hope and parting.