Now they enslave mages to harness their power.

History	Culture and Society
Mars	Government
Mordecai and Mages

HISTORY

Edanith traces its roots all the way back to an ancient kingdom called Connlaoth, a country that was once known for its pristine beauty. Located in a lush valley and surrounded by snowy mountains, it truly was an Eden on Earth and its people treated the land as such; Connlaoth’s people always did have a certain respect for the Earth and its creatures and had learned to live in harmony with it, balancing civilization with the natural world. Even their religious beliefs (though Connlaoth had no established religion) reflected this as they tended to be very animistic.

However, there was a darker side to Connlaoth.

Magic was illegal there and simply being born a mage was a crime punishable by death. It didn’t matter if you had actually done any harm with it; you could be a simple healer and have saved dozens of lives and still the penalty would be the same. However, it must be noted that this was not a matter of simple, unfounded prejudices; Connlaoth had its reasons, and valid ones at that. According to their history and beliefs, the country was formed in the Earth days of the New Earth, back when it was still recovering from that destructive cataclysm and was in the beginning stages of rebuilding itself. It was a chaotic time when humans had to band together to survive, and it was during this time that one such band of people was visited by a stranger who turned out to be a divine messenger come to enlighten them of the reasons behind the Earth’s destruction—and how to prevent it from happening again.

The reason? Magic. Rampant, unchecked magic was responsible for the Earth’s destruction, a plague-like force that, no matter how pure the intentions of the user, would only corrupt the user in the end. The Connlaothians could look at the world around them to see evidence of this in the form of mages abusing their power and using it to harm more than they healed and that only helped to validate their view. Magic was dangerous, far more dangerous than any man-made weapon, because it could manipulate the environment in frightening and unnatural ways and inflict mass destruction upon it, as well.

Connlaoth never persecuted mages because they really wanted to. In fact, while the average citizen feared the magic, they very rarely feared the actual person behind it—if anything, they felt sorry for the mages as they saw that they could be any one of them, just unlucky and cursed with an incurable affliction. But because of Connlaoth’s love of the Earth and desire to protect it and its people, and because of their belief that they’d been visited by a divine messenger in the past, they honestly believed it was their duty to cure the world and eradicate magic. In short, they believed they were something of the Earth’s chosen people.

Obviously, that sort of opinion and policy would be highly unpopular in a world filled with mages and Connlaoth’s relationship with other countries was superficial at best and disastrous at worst. In the early days, Connlaoth tended to mind its own business and focused on cleaning up its own country first before trying to clean up the world, and here and there they even formed truces with magic-supporting countries out of pure necessity, considering there was only one Connlaoth and many, many mage-nations. But as time went on and the country grew in size and power, that began to change.

Connlaoth had always been an advanced country. In place of magic, they had to rely on technology, and when the rest of the world was still fighting with swords and spears, Connlaoth had pistols and crossbows. Their weapons became known as some of the most advanced and powerful and this didn’t change as the times progressed and technology advanced. For a long time Connlaoth, which eventually became known as Edanith, lead the technological revolution but it wasn’t long before Aedolis not only caught up with Edanith, but in some ways surpassed them. While Edanith was interested in technology it tended to focus on it on a smaller scale, ever-conscious of the Earth and avoiding those inventions which could cause mass destruction and waste. Aedolis, on the other hand, was too caught up in its greed to care as it pillaged the Earth for resources, carelessly dumped its byproducts, developed weapons that would not only take out their enemies but also severely damage anything around their enemies, and launched its war campaigns on the rest of the world to acquire more land and power. .

That was when Edanith decided it was finally time to fight back and fulfill their chosen duty as steward of the Earth. Aedolis was certainly the epitome of magic-induced corruption. Edanith fought against Aedolis as other nations were either conquered or fled the Earth entirely, determined not to back down. While it may have seemed that Edanith would be at a disadvantage with Aedolis' military full of mages and weapons of mass destruction, Edanith was able to put up a good fight. Besides, by this time Edanith’s policies against magic had changed a little.

Edanith was no longer interested in killing mages; by then it had found a more effective method that was also more beneficial to both sides—instead of killing mages, they enslaved them. So while the Edanithians got to harness that magic and keep it controlled, the mages got to live. Maybe it seems hypocritical, but the Edanithians believe that as long as they keep the mages leashed, as long as they are in control and giving the commands, it’s okay. After all, they were given a divine duty and they’re not casting the spells themselves. They are simply harnessing that power while keeping it tightly controlled the way a rider might ride a dragon. The dragon is dangerous, it can kill, and it has a lot of power behind it. It’s up to the rider to keep all that power in check and control the animal. On its own, that dragon might burn villages and be a nuisance—but with someone having control over it, it can serve the very people it might have once bitten. Either way, it’s simply too dangerous to remain unleashed, but it would also be far too much of a waste to simply kill it. Edanith has that same sort of attitude toward magic and mages.

So with mages under their own control they were able to hold out against Aedolis for a time, but eventually even they recognized that it was a futile effort. By that time the Earth was simply too ruined and Aedolis too large for it to be worth sacrificing lives for. Why die for something that was dying itself?

Like so many others, Edanith left Earth. Their destination? Mars. Mars had started to show some signs of terraforming and so the Edanithians, with their affinity for and understanding of nature—and with a whole host of mages under their control—decided to try to turn that planet into another Earth.

But they haven’t lost all their ties to the old Earth, either. That was their home, the one place where they feel truly connected, and they resent Aedolis for having forced their exodus and for killing the Earth. No, Aedolis is still their mortal enemy and they continue to wage war against them even from Mars—which is conveniently close to the Earth. After all, what will happen when Aedolis is no longer satisfied with the Earth?

The next likely place for them to look is Mars. And Edanith is simply not going to allow that.

Today, Mars is significantly warmer compared to what it once was as it now has an atmosphere and enough oxygen to be able to breathe safely, though the air is still a little thin, like the air at the top of a small mountain.

Because of the melting polar icecaps in response to the warmer temperatures, Mars now has a small ocean and a few large rivers snaking across the planet. There is some volcanic activity on the planet, as well, especially from the enormous Mount Yuet (which you may recognize as being Olympus Mons). Here, obviously, the temperatures are quite a bit warmer.

There is some plant life on Mars now as the Edanithians have brought native Earth plants (and animals) with them to the planet, and the planet is looking rather green and healthy now around the colonies. It helps that the planet no longer has to do its terraforming all on its own now—the Edanathians’ enslaved mages have proven very handy in that regard, especially those mages whose powers deal with weather, plants, and the elements in general. Essentially, Edanith is now molding the planet into what they want it to be and pushing its terraforming along more speedily.

Though the planet still has a long way to go before it’s anything like Earth once was, compared to how the Earth is now it’s a gorgeous place with plants and animals thriving about the colonies and with plenty of fresh, unpolluted air to breathe. And when night falls (only half an hour later than it would on Earth) the sight of Mars’ twin moons is surely a sight to see.

The Mordecai have no magic abilities of their own, but they can control the magic in those that do possess it if the proper link is formed. People born with this ability are in high demand in Edanith and any and all people found with the ability are drafted into the military and, while they gain ranks in the military like any other soldier, they do gain special privileges and treatment because they’re such a valuable asset.

Each Mordecai can control at least one mage, though there are the rare few who can control multiple mages. Mordecai are linked to their mage via matching silver headbands—though the one the mage wears is bolted to their skull and hardwired to their brain. Thus, removal is next to impossible unless done by the proper medic, and even if It wasn’t connected to the mage in that fashion, the mage would still not be able to remove it—they are simply physically incapable of it, unable to even touch the band if they so much as think about removing it. Similarly, so long as that band is on their head they cannot use magic on their own—they can only use it when linked to a Mordecai and specifically ordered to perform a task.

While Edanith gains many of its mages from outside sources, that is not the only way it acquires them. Efficient as ever, Edanith breeds and raises its own mages in special facilities. Thus, not all mages are as eager as one might imagine to be free; for some mages, that lifestyle is all they’ve ever known. And while mages have no human rights under Edanith’s constitution, it really isn’t quite as horrible a life as one might imagine.

The Mordecai tend to treat the mages in their collective well. Mages are a valuable resource so it is imperative that they are kept healthy. Thus, senseless beatings and the like are rare and those who do go overboard in reprimanding their mages are appropriately disciplined. But if anything, the relationship between mage and Mordecai is surprisingly positive; because of the amount of time the two remain mentally linked to one another, it’s not unusual for there to be a certain level of intimacy between the two, even friendship in some cases.

Obviously that failed, but Edanith is still the only nation that knows the secret to terraforming a planet. And while Edanith respects nature, this is not to say that they are unarmed. Mages can be used as a weapon by Mordecai, and Edanith has impressive weapons technology that span from hand-held devices and firearms to spacecraft. While they may not develop weapons that can wipe out a small planet or leave a radioactive crater in a larger one, they do still develop powerful weapons that can level cities and take out spacecraft. As long as the weapon will not permanently deface the land, as long as it will simply cause damage that can be undone, damage that the land can easily bounce back from and that will not continue to cause harm after the initial blast (as radiation does, affecting generations of various organisms), then the weapon is acceptable.

Even on Mars, Edanith is ever respectful of their new home. They have the technology they need to ensure very little goes to waste, and that what would normally be wasted is recycled and reused. Food is raised organically without any extra chemicals and with the help of mages specializing in plant-magic, ensuring the land is encroached upon as little as possible. An exception is made with livestock; Edanith has the technology to harvest a few cells and grow choice cuts of meat from it. Livestock produces a lot of waste and Mars currently doesn't have the space available to support many free-range herds. This isn't to say Edanith doesn't have things like, say, junk food and fast food. They do! But it's all at least harvested fairly naturally before it gets turned into that tasty stuff that has very little health value.

While Edanith has the scientific know-how to do it, they do not like to genetically alter their environment or themselves. Aedolis' genetic engineering of dragons is also considered a crime against nature, not to mention unnecessary and superficial body modifications such as cybernetic parts (except where necessary, such as in the case of an injury).

Edanith is an egalitarian society for the most part, excepting mages, of course, as they are not citizens.

Every citizen of Edanith is protected under the constitution. This allows basic freedoms like freedom of speech and freedom of expression. All citizens over 17 years of age are required to vote. These rights and duties are, of course, not extended to mages, who are not citizens.

The government is divided into two sections; the Public Wing and the Private Wing. The members of the Public Wing are politicians, elected to manage their own electoral areas. The highest position in the Public Wing is the Consul, a sole leader with near dictatorial control.

The Public Wing follows the following order of rank, starting at the lowest elected seat:

• Provincial Council Member
• Regional Council Member
• Senator
• Consul

The Private Wing consists of a plethora of branches. The Brach of Commerce, the Branch of Trade, the Branch of the Military and the Branch of Law to name but a few. The Branches oversee their individual section of society. They are controlled by the Senate and Consul, and the Consul retains power to dismiss and appoint staff within them at his or her pleasure.

Edanith is divided into regions, which are then divided into provinces determined by population. The provinces change form time to time, but regions stay the same. Every five years elections are help for Provincial seats. Each province votes to elect the Provincial Council Members for their province. Nine members are elected for each province. The Provincial Council Members then form Provincial Councils. Each Provincial Council elects one of its members to become a Regional Council Member. They then form the Regional Council for that region. The Regional Councils then vote for Senators within their own number. The number of Senators from each is determined by population, with the minimum being one and the maximum ten Senators.

The Senate then elects a Senator to stand as Consul for a two year term.

The Consul, because of his short term, must please the Senate in order to stay in office; the Senate must similarly please their Regional Council to remain in the Senate and therefore be eligible for the Consulship. This trickles down, so in effect the Consul must do what is in the best interest of the people if he or she wants to maintain the needed votes.

While in theory this system works for the people, only the rich can truly become Consul, because they are able to bribe enough Senators to get elected.

The Senate has power over the Private Wing, but the Consul still retains power over the Senate. The Consuls powers are almost unrestricted. He cannot dismiss the Senate. He cannot remove the basic rights of the people, unless decreed by the Senate in a time of crisis. The Consul is free from persecution and completely above the law while he is in office, but legal action may be taken after he steps down. Disobedience to the Consul is deemed treason, and in some cases punishable by death.

[Submitted by Chocotastic]