Order Party

The **Order Party of People**, also known simply as the **Order Party** and formerly as the **New Order Party**, was a political party run by Lazarus Herst that held a de facto authoritarian regime over the nation of Albion from 1792 until Lazarus' death in 1795.

## Ideologies

Lazarus Herst believed that Albion society before his rule, as well as most societies before it, were built on the pursuit of pleasure, which inevitably led to their natural decay and eventual collapse. Instead, Lazarus believed, a society should be built on virtue: how well its citizens can serve the nation, without giving into their impulses to the detriment of society. As such, Lazarus' ideal society was one that used deontology to evaluate the virtue of every citizen, prolonging the life of its best citizens for as long as possible and vice versa. Additionally, Lazarus opposed the aristocratic system that came before him, as a virtuous society could only logically be ruled by its most virtuous citizen.

## Policies

Under the Order Party regime, each citizen was given a merit score based on how often and how severely they broke the Party's Four Virtues. These virtues included:

1. Moderation. Violations included lust, indulgence, and uncontrolled emotions. Each violation deducted 7 merit.
2. Diligence. Violations included refusal to work, untidy work, and incorrect work. Each violation deducted 3 merit.
3. Beauty. Violations included vulgar art, fashion and music. Each violation deducted 2 merit.
4. Truth. Violations included telling lies, keeping secrets, and possessing literature. Each violation deducted 1 merit.

Those who loyally served the Order Party were awarded 10 merit for low-ranking positions and 20 merit for high-ranking positions. Citizens could also negotiate with the Party to earn merit for offering valuable assets or information.

The Order Party held weekly merit exactions at the Order Party tribunal, where a number of citizens were interrogated to determine their merit score. Once the scores were calculated, Lazarus would use the Golden Idol to add or remove years from their life equivalent to their merit score. Assuming these exactions took place on the same day every week with no breaks, a total of 50 exactions were held, with the first taking place on May 31, 1794, and the 50th on May 9, 1795.

## History

In the 1792 election between the New Order, Loyalist and Moderate Parties, the New Order Party won a plurality of Members of Parliament (36 of 97). However, it was largely believed that the Loyalist and Moderate Parties would consolidate, invalidating Lazarus Herst's plurality, and appoint either Loyalist leader Leopold Blanchard or Moderate leader Augustus Vallantine as Prime Minister. This changed the next day, when Alistair Koch and James Turner, two people affiliated with Lazarus through the Brotherhood of Masks, murdered Augustus and framed Leopold. This caused enough infighting between their respective parties that they refused to consolidate, securing Lazarus' position as Prime Minister.

During the Order Party regime, the media was controlled to make it appear that their government was vastly popular, but many people despised the Party in private. One such person to oppose the Party was the King of Albion, who refused to acknowledge its authority. The Party planned a peaceful march on the Bellchester Castle to take place on May 15, 1795, but before it could, Lazarus was shot by Peter Battley, his drunken nephew who had won a cannon from gambling. The blast killed Lazarus and broke his Golden Idol, leading to the immediate fall of the Order Party.

## Known members

* Lazarus Herst (High Arbiter)
* Alistair Koch (Arbiter)
* James Turner (Arbiter)
* David Gorran (Enforcer)
* Nicolas Maker (Record Keeper)
* Walter Keene (Position unknown; expelled March 1795)