Thibby:History of the Lumii

Early History

For the large part of their history the Lumii developed as most species would on other planets. They created writing, art, poetry, developed nations in fertile river valleys and lived as peacefully as any species might. The only notable difference being the amount of snow they encountered on a daily basis.

As they approached the Iron age the Lumiites would slowly start to unify in one particular way: Their belief in the twin deities of the moon and sun, Ymir and Sarai. It began with a prophet by the name of Eluard the Serene, who preached the word of a life of prosperity to those who followed the example of the twin gods and the reliability and consistency of their paths through the sky.

The religion focused on strict ways of living life and each individual Lumiian’s role in society. It was said that if a Lumii could find their true role in the world that they would feel eternal peace. Part of this role was of course devout prayer to the gods, often Ymir for men and Sarai for women.

This belief spread like wildfire across the feudal kingdoms of Visra and within a few hundred years it would be the dominant belief system of the entire planet.

Uplifting

In 2616 as a Galactic Coalition aligned corporation was searching through what they believed to be unoccupied space they came across the icy world of Visra. Initial scans revealed enough rare minerals that the corporation decided no more need be performed before mining efforts began.

This came as quite a shock to the nearby feudal kingdom who, upon seeing great machines fall from the sky to tear apart the earth, decided it was the work of witches and began the burning of a nearby village that would lead to numerous deaths and a brief war. All of this in hopes that it would end this seeming apocalypse.

It wouldn’t be long before word of this incident made its way to the Coalition proper, and yet unfortunately not quite soon enough to stop the corporation from causing devastation upon the planet. Coalition representatives were sent to resolve the situation, giving the corporation a fine and moving on to decide that the best course of action would be to help the Lumii in return

Over the next decade after finding who they believed to be the most well reasoned leader they would decide to uplift the species. They gave them the technology they needed to fix their planet and harvest materials from asteroids to make up for the minerals lost, later bringing them in as a Protectorate of the Coalition, which they believed to be a great service to the Lumii.

The Century of Subjugation

As a protectorate of the Coalition the Lumii would at first be quite ignorant to their situation, taking decades for their leaders to fully grasp the enormity of what had occurred to them. Originally they would keep their concerns to their home planet and system, coming to understand the new technology available to them.

However as time went on and their understanding grew many Lumii would come to resent the situation. They saw the status of their planet as a humiliation, like they had been forced to become servants without ever meeting their master. Corporations were allowed continued access to the solar system of Visra, though no longer the planet itself, desecration of a holy site as they saw it. Often the Coalition would also send cultural advisors in an attempt to rid the Lumii justice system of the medieval punishments it was known to use.

Nations would begin to unite across the planet and an idea of Lumiian unity and furthermore independance began to take hold. The Holy See was truly formed in 2773 as Visra was united with the Coalition, unable to do much as they had already allowed Visra to decide for itself how the planet itself would be governed.

Secretly the Holy See would begin to prepare for a proper revolution, establishing what would eventually be known as the Holy Tribune to ensure both stability across the planet, and provide them with an elite force capable of resisting the Coalition’s forces.

Soon a new century would come, and their opportunity with it.

The Secession War

See The Secession War for more information.

Independence

As part of being a protectorate of the Coalition Visra was made to provide soldiers and even sent a few officers to the forces overseeing the Voltker Zone, an area that had been quite hard to keep in line as it was stripped of W-1. When the initial rebellions began to spark up and were brutally crushed the enlisted Lumii could not help but feel sympathetic to the cause.

When later the Federation was formed the Lumii saw it as their opportunity to break free of their shackles. At first they simply rebelled by not stopping any Federation forces that moved through their sector of Coalition space, allowing the raids that sparked the larger conflict. The Coalition was often given reports of how Federation forces simply slipped through holes in their surveillance network. This led to the worry that under the table Visra was working up to joining their side.

By the next year those worries would be confirmed, several worlds that were under Visra’s sphere of influence rose up and took control of Coalition strongholds. The Holy See declared these worlds to now be the sole property of Visra, forming a new empire overnight. Shortly after they declared an alliance with the Federation, calling it a pact for those who had long been subjugated by Coalition rule.

A Secret Front

With the war now in full swing The Holy See began to activate the Tribune as a true military force.While it was nowhere near the size of either the Coalition or Federation’s navies it had a surplus of commanders who were considered strategic geniuses as well as forces whose natural skill and loyalty was near unmatched.

While the Federation and Coalition fought large scale battles across the White Belt the Holy See would send Inquisitors to root out spies and and strike at weak points in the Coalition’s defenses. In some cases their efforts were so precise that many argue about whether Visra even had an effect on the war with how little Lumii were seen on the front lines.

However despite their desire to focus their efforts on the Coalition as revenge for the century under their rule they would often end up facing off a different force: The Rokhandans. Tribune Inquisitors would often face off against Directorate Agents as a war of secrets and disinformation was waged, each side trying to ensure that the true front lines would be given every bit of leverage that could be afforded.

The Tribune paid special attention to any opportunity to steal technology from the enemy, seeing it as their greatest weakness when it came to both the war and their place on a stellar scale. It was this that brought them into contact with the Stygian Ascendancy, and this that would cause an unfortunate end to the war.

The Raising of Visra

As the war drew on and the fronts of the war drew closer to Federation and Visran space the Seraph would grow desperate for an end to the conflict. The Federation had been considering for years the use of a superweapon, but had found little paydirt in the research they performed. It was then with great hesitation that the Seraph called on the Tribune to bring in contacts from the Stygian Ascendancy to aid in the creation of this superweapon.

When it was finally created the Seraph and the Supreme Commander of the Federation hesitated again, unsure if their situation was dire enough to bring destruction on such a scale.The Seraph suggested that they might pray on it, and invited the Commander to mass on Visra which he was more than happy to accept.

The day would end with disaster. As the Seraph conducted mass in the Vault of the Twins a strike vessel would slip into the system using the most advanced stealth technology available. It breached the atmosphere just as the Seraph and Commander were readying for a message to the people. By the time the Commander approached the podium a bomb would strike the heart of the temple and kill thousands. The Seraph was saved by what he believed to be Divine Intervention, but the Commander lay dead alongside all the mercy they could have afforded before. With this attack on the very soul of Visra the Seraph, the Council, and even the Grand Inquisitors of the Tribune could only call for divine retribution and for the fury of the gods to be unleashed on the Coalition. And so it would be that the superweapon was put to use and the war ended in tragedy.

A Free Visra

After the war was put on hold and each side licked their wounds the Holy See finally found a spare moment to pull itself together and enjoy independence. They devoted resources to restoring the Vault of the Twins after it had been near destroyed by the bombings near the end of the war, leaving only parts of the ruin in place as a reminder of what had happened.

They now turn their attention to maintaining that peace, taking a great part in the cold war that has now fallen over the galaxy. A number of resources being spent on helping the Poleisu earn back their independence, feeling a great connection to the aquatic race after having been in much the same situation for a century.

Most Knights having fought in the war were transferred to domestic jobs, such as tithe auditing and collecting, or other emergency services for the people. It's common for families of well established Nobles and Knights to take on the role of famous warriors of the old history. Detailing ones body in the likeness of ancient heroes is said to raise the morale of the people, and make them feel safe from heresy, or alien invasion. The deeper the bloodline of the family, the more their "House Hero" becomes akin to that of a super hero, complete with tall tales of their glory in combat, or vigilance.

With the introduction to social media and technology, the Federation has reported seeing an upbringing of cartoons depicting these heroes. While none of this media has ever been allowed to be broadcast outside of Visra, researches and visitors have mentioned being surprisingly entertained by the superstitious nature of media that is broadcast.

"The Lumii have quite a wild imagination since their upbringing, but an entertaining one none-the-less. The introduction to mainstream media has finally allowed these people a chance to tell their tales in a way never expressed before." - Federation Researcher, [REDACTED]

Domestic Issues

The Holy See does their best to reduce the amount of alien influence on their people as much as possible to avoid a second pillaging of their planet's resources like the Coalition had done. Only researchers and diplomats invited by the Seraph may enter the restrictive planet. However, even this strict vetting of visitors has sparked domestic issues.

4 years ago just after the war, A Federation researcher was brought in for an unrelated project, but decided against the Seraph's knowledge, to import a spice never encountered by the Lumii. Introducing the spice to a village, they took the spice, and began to grow it themselves. This spice had aphrodisiacal effects that became addictive, and before the Holy See knew what happened, the planet had an infestation of an alien drug. The Knights have had extreme difficulty policing growers and distributers, and the Inquisitors have had their hands full punishing heretics caught selling the spice. To this day, the Visran War on Drugs seems to be a never-ending conflict, and with such a massive population of 8.3 billion Lumii, the government is at their wits end attempting to contain this alien influence.

While social services from tithe collecting can allow even a poor Lumii to live a full life, the introduction of communication and social media occasionally creates spots of unionizing and striking, demanding better services for the amount of tithes being collected. Some Lumii populations claim that too much of the tithes go into planetary defense, rather than providing better living conditions for the ever-growing population. This critique of the Holy See is quickly censored on social media, and critics punished, likely by death.