Estasia

(adj: Estasian)

History:

• The nation known for its military in both settings, training and using people and technologies from all across the Gunstar.
• Interesting to note that in Vanilla Estasia herself actually saved a titan in the early days, while in Gunstar she sacrificed herself to ensure Autochthon's escape. Well, I found it interesting.
• In general, Estasia's Vanilla history is one where they try to take over other places but suck at holding it. War is their bread and butter, they're woefully under-equipped for anything else should the need arise.

Culture

• Alchemicals: “Estasian nationalism tends to either crystallize or wane as Alchemicals grow in age. There is a pervasive and very strong bias against Exalts who delay their ascension to Colossus status, although the nation does not especially urge its Champions to become patropoli.”
• “The youth of Estasia dreams of the glorious battles of the Militat. Even other castes value discipline, physical prowess and Valor, considering these the pinnacle of aspiration. Visitors often note a pervasive atmosphere of subtle intimidation: an Estasian tendency to puff one’s chest out, gesticulate fiercely, drop shoulders or clench fists when arguing. Working songs are alarmingly bellicose, and the Populat display gaudy medals and ribbons—denoting exceptional efficiency, organization, or production—on smartly-cut garments. Populat young and old smile and salute Militate marching through the streets, and the Militate salute right back, marching to larger meals and better quarters than those who consider themselves lucky to have encountered a hero today.”
• “Estasian families are much like the rest of Autochthonia, though parents take great pride in a son or daughter born Militat. Castes here remain as rigid as anywhere else, but nationalism is forever in high favor, so there is little stigma attached to marrying outside one’s caste. Children are raised in communal crèches until puberty, then separated and educated according to caste. This early solidarity helps to maintain the close pride of Estasian society. There’s little stigma attached to homosexuality, but there is strong social pressure to “settle down” with one of the opposite sex.”
• “Relationships between Militat are strictly forbidden; this prohibition is made palatable by the sex appeal enjoyed by Militate within Estasia. Female Militate are required to file for permission to breed several months in advance, and can expect to be sent back to Cidon on training duty for the gestation period. Love and sex have no place on the battlefield, and a family is acceptable only within the confines of the homeland. This attitude does not prohibit soldiers from inquiring into foreign loves, so long as they are willing to break off the relationship when Estasia calls. Many a lector’s ballad has touched on the difficulty and tragedy inherent in doing so. Foreigners who embrace Estasian Virtues are welcomed, but taboos against maintaining an outside cultural identity prohibit un-Estasian expression in any but the most secluded of circumstances. All foreigners must pass a rigorous immigration process if they wish to become Estasian; whether or not this is more difficult than love overcoming the innate sense of superiority, few can say. Consequently, immigration to Estasia remains limited.”
• “In the Time of Glory, the Four Virtues had been recognized as holy elements of the cosmos, perfectly embodied by the Unconquered Sun. Exarch determined that a superior Drudge caste could only be formed in adherence to the Virtues; despite only half-remembering early treatises on the subject, he commissioned works of art that glorified the militaristic Virtues of Conviction and Valor, so that the Drudge would toil more gladly in service to the Militat.
• Modern Estasian art—that which has not been stolen from other countries and mocked to support Estasian nationalism—exists to glorify these Virtuous ideals. After thousands of years of refinement, such displays are subtle, highly abstract depictions of Virtue; a statue of a soldier is considered a crude representation of Valor, whereas the Grieving Militat—a statue of a soldier with a hardened face marred by grief over the blood on his hands—is considered a national icon, a sophisticated depiction of the struggle between Conviction and Compassion. Indeed, Estasians consider the interplay between Conviction and Compassion, Valor and Temperance—the so-called Warring Virtues—to be high art.
• Lectors put on elaborately overwrought plays where all four Virtues mix, judging the relative superiority of each. The Last of the Rodent Cavaliers, a famous poem, laments the final charge of the doomed rats’ riders who placed Valor above their Temperance and drove the species into extinction through battle losses during the Fifth Campaign. Traditionally, Conviction and Valor are considered the ideals, in accordance with Exarch’s mandate—the call to war and the needs of Estasia are considered intertwined.
• Estasians consider public and open displays of Virtue to be worthy of emulation as long as this does not inhibit one’s duty. Honesty is held as paramount and a fundamental element of respect. Some of Estasia’s less-popular philosophers have judged this national obsession with wearing one’s heart on the cuff to be a subtle rebellion against the longstanding Alchemical influence in society. Estasia’s Champions are encouraged to display their Virtues just as the people do. Many find that these displays help to maintain a healthy Clarity.”
• “The idea of Alchemical superiority is one that synergizes well with the prevalent attitude of hero-worship; similarly, the easy prowess of the Champions appeals to the Estasian ideal of might making right. Preceptors (and, occasionally, the Adamant Caste) have stamped out numerous cults of veneration over the course of Estasia’s history, but they scurry and multiply like cockroaches in the darkness.”
• They embrace a wide range of food in their hope to bring all the nations together.
• “In many ways, this belief is the nation in microcosm—Estasia is doing push-ups in the rain, forever.”
• “Since the Disharmonious Rebellion of the Fifth Campaign, no Estasian outside the regulators, preceptors, Vicar or Militat are legally allowed any training with weapons, aside from bare-fisted practice of martial arts. In the past, the Militat trained Populat levies as a rough sort of home guard, but this is no longer the case. Yet Estasian society has not adapted well to this change, being so focused on physical might as a measure of one’s worth. Regulators must regularly break up the fight clubs that spring up in factories between shifts.
• There are few Lumpen in this hard nation. Instead of using tattoos to mark social outcastes, citizens who violate minor regulations are flogged or flayed, then ordered to perform particularly dangerous duties; successful completion means the stigma of their offense is removed.”
• The Militat are an Estasian exclusive caste, slightly above the Populat, containing also elite soldiers called the Evocat, regulators/officer corps called Venator, and a Sodalt called a Vicar.
  • They're detailed in mentality and culture quite a bit starting on p. 46, it's actually interesting stuff to an extent but I'm not sure if it'll pertain to our Gunstar so it's currently not in here.

Physical Descriptions

• “Estasia’s motion, a wide circuit around the Pole of Metal, constantly takes the nation near the elemental poles. The rapidity of movement causes a great cooling effect, resulting in dropping temperatures and a pervasive, perpetual fog rolling across frosted and cracked sub-plates to cling to low-valley settlements. The temperature never drops so low as to become inhospitable, but it remains uncomfortable to the populace—only Kamak is colder. The nation’s high-ceiling chambers collect condensation, which drops down constantly in a torrential downpour offering only brief respites.
• Canyon-like trenches of pipes and corridors lay carved into huge plains of metal and crystal. It is inside these trenches the towns and tram lines of Estasia exist, fighting one another for space and heat and refuge from the damp. Cities break the surface, rising high above the trenches; massive tenement blocks stacked atop one another beside great waterfalls, tall towers topped with spiraled minarets sluicing off the constant water. The cities are shining reflections across the plains and lakes of stagnant water, their sisters and brothers a dim light on the horizon. Few large settlements exist outside of Estasia’s cities, the largest being Militat training camps and staging areas to access international tubes and the Reaches.”

Cities

Lux: 'The Illuminated Capital' (Patropolis, originally Luminous Exarch, Orichalcum caste)

• “Were Lux solid, he would resemble an octagonal pyramid, his eight sides studded with minarets, sloping streets and thousands of landing platforms. The patropolis, like the Alchemical that preceded it, favors splendor over simplicity. The patropolis’s eight sides—each a thick polyhedral wedge—float thousands of feet apart, orbiting a slender spire of pure orichalcum miles above Estasia’s chill metal expanses. The spire houses the core systems of Lux, wirelessly transmitting power to the Municipal Charms of the wedges; they also broadcast several audio stations, hosted by various animating intelligences within the spire and by avatar-fragments of Lux himself.”
• “Having grown separately for millennia, no facet of the pyramid is precisely alike, and they would not fit together were Lux to attempt joining them. One wedge is visibly smaller than the others, having been destroyed, scavenged and rebuilt over centuries. No walkways or tram tubes connect the wedges; instead, paramagnetic beams extend from the spire to gently hurl individuals and cargo from specially-marked ports on one side to another. This curious feature has defined much of Estasian fashion—besides the expected sharp-cut military style, clothing tends towards sleek outfits studded with pouches, sealed pockets and belt loops. The patropolis himself boasts that he has never dropped anyone, though he allows individuals he disapproves of to experience brief moments of free-fall to remind them just whom they inhabit. Rumors of broken corpses littering the plain around Lux pervade Estasian culture.”
• “The geomancy necessary to support Lux’s broadcasting and paramagnetic lift web is highly consumptive. Lux is inefficient in his splendor, but the patropolis is a hypocritical display tolerated in a nation that prides itself on austerity.”
• Gunstar: “In the arms factories of Lux, Populat laborers work to assemble voidfighters, warstriders, and the titanic siege weaponry of the Realm Defense Grid.”

Cidon:

• Gunstar: “In the metropolis of Cidon, newly-Exalted Dragon-Blooded go through five years of flight school in the Steel Crucible of Dragons Academy, undergoing a hyper-accelerated regimen of Solar training to prepare them for service in the Gunstar Defense Line. On the rain-slick plains below, the mortal soldiers of the Deliberative Army train for war, a legion four thousand years in the making.”

People of Note

Sebast: Autocrat of Lux, Supreme Autocrat of Estasia.

• Not much importance, really, the idea is he knows he doesn't hold much power, but he dreams of a cultural conquest.
  • Ehhhh, there are shinier baubles to me.

Ramahu/Instantaneous Transmission of Judgment: Awesome soldier who's the heart of the team.

• But twist turns out he's an Adamant caste that's become the mask.
  • Not the worst hook, but ehhh-stasia amirite???

Honor-bound Odalisque: Tactical and strategic supergenius, Orichalcum caste of Cidon.

• She graces students with her knowledge, but brands them for their ignorance.
  • Can't think of much beyond flavor here

Dakkon:

• “Dakkon’s long life has been marked by the highest Estasian virtues. His career as a regulator has seen great triumphs, from his famous arrest of an entire hundred-man Voidbringer cult to his rescue of Lux’s autocrat from a monstrous gremlin-spirit. Such victories are responsible for his promotion to command over all regulator forces within the patropolis of Lux.
• He is equally renowned for his martial arts prowess. Many Estasian soldiers and regulators have trained in the Five-Dragon and Live Wire styles under his instruction, and his skill rivals that of the greatest mortal masters of martial arts, such as Luk War-Saint of Jarish or Sova’s legendary Inspector. His striking appearance makes him well-known, even to the Populat on the streets–few regulators sport a pair of mechanical limbs, fight with electrified chains, or have gone completely bald. Black-skinned and tall, Dakkon still boasts an impressive physique despite his age.
• But great deeds are not enough for Dakkon. In his old age and growing wisdom, he despises Estasia’s rapacious philosophy in the aftermath of the Elemental War between Sova and Yugash. His vision now is one of unity and peace, not martial glory. As a master of Live Wire style, Dakkon is well-versed in the history of the Flashing Wire Collective, once an international brotherhood of martially-skilled regulators. Now, the Collective is little more than a dueling club fraught with nationalist tensions—but Dakkon hopes restore the greatest of Autochthonian international endeavors to its former glory, inspiring the Eight Nations to unite in cooperation and mutual defense.”
  • Stats on p. 132.