Description
Homeworld
Location
Capital
Lutetia
Lutetia is a small, impoverished city state nestled within the eastern reaches of Issunar, on Terra. Its remote isolation and ongoing internal struggles have played a part in its continued independence from the Terran National Government.
Despite its impoverished nature, Lutetia has carved a name for itself internationally for its artful and fashionable community. Lutetian art, music, fashion and cuisine are world renowned, and its rich historical background make Lutetia a marvel to scholars and historians alike.
For those living within Lutetia though, a very different picture is painted. Most of the wealth within Lutetia is concentrated into the hands of the small upper class, while the rest of the populace is left to live in squalor. Disease and illness run rampant in the poorer regions of Lutetia, and crime rates are record high.
Lutetia is ripe with supernatural elements as well. Urban werewolf packs run rampant through the streets of the cities, and vampires have staked a claim to the night. Necromancy, witchcraft, and wizardry are a thing of the norm among the populace, and an underground struggle wages between the Evêquec church and the supernaturals. Mercenary groups have risen to prominence within these internal conflicts, and their numbers can oft be found widespread throughout Lutetia.
For those RPing within Lutetia please be mindful that Lutetia's local culture is loosely influenced by a mingling of French, Gaul, and urban fantasy concepts, but due to general immigration, other cultural denominations are present as well in smaller number. Lutetia maintains a dark urban fantasy atmosphere with both modern and supernatural elements. Please be mindful that while Lutetia is inspired by French concepts, it is not France, nor do the locals speak French. The dominant language of the region is Quelayan, and while individuals are encouraged to maintain a 'french' feel to Quelayan words and character names, they should avoid words pulled straight from a French dictionary.
Furthermore, the players of Lutetia respectfully ask that all players joining into RP within the region try to respect and preserve the atmosphere of Lutetia. Please understand that no player within the Multiverse can tell another player what they can or can't play, and this is simply a polite request from the players of Lutetia to help them preserve the city for what it was made for: a dark urban-fantasy city with local character driven plot and low-mid power leveled characters to encourage more street level RP, and inter-group/city politics.
Government
Plutocracy with elements of autocracy and democracy. [More details pending]
Technology
Technology within Lutetia is in a constant state of growth, but is currently pushing into modern level of advancements in most fields of science. It should be noted though that Lutetia is a markedly poor country, and many of the more advanced technological comforts are a luxury for the wealthy.
The further you get from the capital of Lutetia, the poorer ones quality if life is liable to be and many of the smaller towns and villages are little more than dredges. Even within the capital itself, the slums are often devoid of proper sanitation and even electricity, while the wealth of the city is predominantly centered into its upper class neighborhoods.
Law Enforcement
Lutetian Law Enforcement is comprised of a single national police agency that is largely centered within Lutetia City. Smaller towns and villages are enforced by an appointed constable whose duty is to form a local night watch of citizens to maintain law. Larger towns might have the luxury of a fully functional precinct at their disposal. [More details pending]
Cultural Overview
-Details Pending-
Religion
The Evêquec faith is a militant-humanist theistic worldview dedicated to the exaltation and perpetuation of humankind and all facets of reality believed to be associated with it. It is fervently loyal to all things 'human' and abstinently against all things 'paranormal' or anything that may be percieved as not being human in nature and origin. This staunchly xenophic outlook is a stark contrast from the rest of Terra, a planet whose population includes a significant number of nonhuman species. As such, the Evêquec faith remains existent almost exclusively in Issunar and has virtually no presence in any other region of Terra.
The Evêquec faith believes in one god - Elueu - who created the universe and fashioned mankind in his image as his chosen race. All other sentient species are corruptions of Elueu's work, formed by Ténèbre, the Evêquec incarnation of evil, to destroy mankind. To save them, Elueu sent his daughter, Selene Evêquec-Fille d'Elueu, to defeat Ténèbre. Selene accomplished this at the cost of her own life and ascended to the side of Elueu upon her death, charging her former general, Jacques Eclaron, to continue her work on the earth on her absence. Filled with divine prophecy, Eclaron established the first church in the city of Lutetia and laid the framework for what would eventually be known as 'Evêquecism'.
Though the church once ruled all of Lutetia in a single-minded theocracy, a 'philosophical renaissance', occurring in the last two hundred years or so greatly shifted the balance of political power away from the church. Science, philosophy and art came to dominate Lutetian culture, and although adherents to the Evêquec faith remained strong, many believed that there should be a separation between church and state.
Further information on the internal structure, hierarchy, and history of the Evêquec faith can be found [link pending].
It should also be noted that while the Evêquec faith is the dominant religion within Lutetia, it is by no means the only religion. Other religious denominations and cult followings can be found in smaller numbers all throughout Lutetia.
Werewolves
Lutetia possesses one of the largest concentrations of urban werewolves in all of Issunar. Like all Issunar werewolves, Lutetian werewolves are characterized by their variable nature. There are two primary methods of passing on the genetic anomaly that is lycanthropy.
The predominant one is birth. Typically the pairing of two werewolves will produce a werewolf offspring, while the pairing of a werewolf and a human will leave the offspring with a fifty percent change of being born a werewolf.
The second method is through the bite of a werewolf.
Whether born, or bitten, each werewolf is characteristically unique with the DNA of the human bonding with the genetic mutation. As human DNA is infinitely variable, so too are werewolves. Werewolves that are born - or who where blood relatives prior to being bitten - are more likely to possess similar trait with one another, much as human siblings might share similar physical characteristics. A werewolf that contracts lycanthropy through a bite is far more subject to variable outcomes, and often there is no way to predict how the process will affect them.
Typically the turning process spans about three weeks, with an early onset of fever, aches and pains that steadily grows more debilitating around the second week. By the third week the fever spikes, and the pain is enough to drive a victim to delirium. When the fever breaks in the final hours, the first transformation isn't far off. A victim will typically describe these hours as feeling like they're being torn apart inside. The transformation itself typically spans only a few minutes, but is a brutal ordeal and many don't survive their first turning.
There is a small percentage of bitten werewolves who present with lunentia, a degenerative ailment that characterized by insanity. Early onset of lunentia can only be detected during shapeshifting, which will produce a feral beast driven by primal instincts and raw aggression. As time progresses though, the division of man and wolf will begin to blur until all sense of humanity is lost. In one famous documented case, an individual suffering from late stages of lunentia was found to have disemboweled his neighbors before feeding on their flesh. He was later arrested while running naked through the streets coated in the blood of his victims, raving about the moon.
Characteristics of Lutetian werewolves vary from wolf to wolf, and some may possess silver allergies while others don't. Others might have wolf forms, while others have bi-pedal hybrid forms. Some can change at will, others can only change on the full moon. Lifespan is equally as variable, though typically it appears to be tied to regenerative capabilities. Werewolves with true regeneration and the ability to heal wounds instantly seem to have indefinite lifespans, while those with accelerated healing have lifespans of a few hundred years. Those who heal as humans heal seem to live on par to human lifespans.
Culturally, the urban packs of Lutetia have a long and bloody history of pack feuding and criminal activity within the city. It should also be noted that the urban packs are more prone to developing their human aspects than the feral werewolves of the wilds.
Necromancy
Necromantic cults are an integral part of Lutetia's culture and history.
Hundreds and hundreds of years in the past, the necromancers of Issunar were revered and asked for help by the Evêquec church in a failing war. More of their soldiers were dead than alive, and it was the dead who turned the tide of battle and ultimately won the war.
With the war over, the church turned on the necromancers, who had been high standing citizens in their own land, and called them heretics and heathens. A short period of time passed where the church enacted a bloody inquisition, and untold numbers of necromancers were tried and put to death for their heathenish and unnatural acts.
The relationship between the church and the necromancers of Lutetia still festers and stinks like the maggot-ridden corpses of their ancestors, but not as loudly as before. Still, whispers can be more effective than cries.
The common necromancer is like everyone else, with families, jobs, and a neighborly charm. Many favors are asked of them due to their profession, and many find work ranging from exorcisms to séances, as well as raising the dead - a pointedly valuable trade skill among the underfunded law enforcement.
Legally there is no restriction over the practice of necromancy, so long as it's not used to carry out criminal activity. However, to raise the dead - even for the purpose of a police investigation - permission of the deceased via a will, or the permission of the next of kin is required.
Vampires
Order among vampire kind within Issunar is maintained through a monarchical rule of elder vampire houses. The heads of these houses form a council, and each house maintains absolute authority within their domain on matters of policing and enforcing the laws of their society.
There exists one elder house for every city-state and country of Issunar, and existing within each of these territories are several lesser houses.
Typically an elder house is headed by a single individual who delegates control of the towns and cities within his or her territory to trusted members of the house, or in some cases to lesser houses. The specific hierarchy and structure of each house varies from house to house.
Though each ruling house maintains their own laws within their individual territories, there are several laws that the council maintains over all of Issunar. These laws are typically regarding matters that directly impact the safety and continued existence of all vampire kind and further information on these laws can be found [link pending].
Further information regarding the Lutetian Vampire House can be found [link pending].
Military
Lutetia doesn't maintain a military in the traditional sense, but rather, the Evêquec church serves to function as its military. The paladins of the Evêquec church - the noble knights of the Evêquec faith whose skill in battle is surpassed only by their commitment to their god - make up the brunt of the military body. Garbed in highly-advanced plate armor that blends the best of arcane technology and wielding a deadly assortment of guns, swords and flames, the paladins of the Monastic Order are a fierce and formidable foe.
Though typically the paladins of the Monastic Order are charged with rooting out the servants of Ténèbre and fighting the evil of the First Ashes in the hopes of creating a world where mankind can exist in peace, historically they have often stepped forward to defend Lutetia from foreign threat, be it supernatural or human in nature.
Economics
-Details Pending-
Commonly Encountered Laws
Language: Quelayan is the official language of Lutetia, but most Lutetian schools teach Terran common as a second language, and with the exception of the poor and uneducated, most Lutetians speak it. Lutetia utilizes a somewhat unique dialect of Quelayan that is sometimes known is Lutetia-Quelayan, or Issunar-Quelayan. It is mutually understandable with Quelayan speakers native to Quelaya, but has developed into its own distinct dialect that can make informal speech difficult to exchange between speakers from Qualaya and speaks from Lutetia. This is due to varied idoms, slang, vocabulary and local cultural references.
Firearm Regulations: The restrictions regarding the possession of weaponry within Lutetia are somewhat lax; however, restrictions are in place regarding what types of weapons can be owned and carried. Firearms must be registered through a local law enforcement agency, and a permit is required to carry concealed side-arms. Open carrying of a licensed side-arm is legal.
Possession of automatic, plasma, energy, and other military grade weaponry is illegal outside of military use.
Non-firearm Weapons: Deadly weapons that don't fall under firearms are prohibited from being carried openly in public, but in most cases may be owned. This includes but is not limited to many archaic styles of weaponry such as swords.
Non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray, tasers, and stun guns are legal to be carried in public. Blades under the length of six inches are also permitted to be carried in public.
Psionics/Metaphysics: No restrictions apply to possessing or utilizing such things, but using psionic or metaphysical abilities on another person is treated the same as armed assault. Laws are also in place regarding the use of metaphysical abilities to engage in criminal activity.
Drug Regulations:
- Marijuana - Legal smoking age is 18
- Tobacco - Legal smoking age is 18
- Alcohol - Legal drinking age is 18
- Cocaine - Illegal
- LSD - Illegal
- Heroin - Illegal
- Opium - Illegal
- Methamphetamine - Illegal
Military Enlistment: 18
Age of Consent: 16
Driving Age: 16
Prostitution: Illegal
Polygamy: Not recognized by the state
Homosexuality/Gay Marriage: Not recognized by the state
Slavery: Illegal
Citizenship:
- Born in Lutetia
- Born to parents who are Lutetian citizens
- Marriage to a Lutetian citizen
Visitation/Tourism: Legal
Lutetian Groups and Organizations