Gari

The Enlightened State of Gari is the youngest of the three nations of Falgarias, formed almost a century ago by settling nomads from a distant part of the continent and bolstered over time with a fresh influx of people from the other nations, especially Faltur, seeking a better life there.

Inspired by the main god worshipped there, the Benefactor, Gari society puts a lot of focus on working towards the common good and betterment of the community. Whilst it has its rogue elements these are usually seen as a necessary part of the whole, and the people in power typically also have a hand in a seedy and powerful underworld which gives them both further influence and plausible deniability. Almost universal is the principle of working for the greater good of something, what varies throughout the strata of the society is how large a portion of people you are working for the greater good of.

Life in Gari is somewhat mired in bureaucratic elements that sit somewhere between religious observances and health & safety regulations. Many tasks take far longer than they would in any other nation as the appropriate rituals must be observed. Notable in terms of awkward limitations that people must work round is the fact that alcohol of all kinds has relatively recently been banned as deleterious to society. Whilst following the procedures almost universally results in safe and reasonable work the delays involved make shortcuts immensely tempting. This means that virtually everyone in Gari is aware of someone who can shortcut some of the most awkward and arduous steps involved in their personal lives (though the frequency with which they actually call on them varies). These bypasses range from acquiring flour on short notice (so long as you don’t ask questions as to whether it has been properly blessed) to ensuring that nobody inspects a worksite whilst the shortcut is taken (and making sure nobody asks any questions afterward).

Those who actually arrange these sorts of things fall into three main groups:

• The Family, made up of both the children of the existing family and those who ritually shed blood together to join.
• The cult of the Taker who beyond a mild sense of community understand that other devotees would take advantage of them just as quickly if they were to show weakness. A large number of formerly legal brewers have joined the cult and continue to offer their wares in secretive gathering places that double as shrines.
• Local gangs and individual ne'er do wells who haven’t yet caught the attention of one of the other two groups or the church of The Benefactor.

Outsider Description: One big dysfunctional family

The people of Gari are a diverse mix of all of the species typically found among the Myriad Nations, and whilst Humans remain the most common they do not hold much of a majority.

The people of Gari typically have at least two names, with a first name, a surname at the end, and any number of middle names.

Examples:

• Swara Patel
• Geoffrey Owen Wellspring

Gari is ruled by a council whose members are elected by the remaining members at any time they deem the addition of a new member necessary. Typically this is when an existing space becomes vacant. Selection is officially based on the extent to which one might be able to contribute to the state and its running. There is a special procedure by which these considerations are made, known only to members of the council. One day each week the council’s deliberations are open to public viewing.

The council currently has 19 members. Despite the diverse range of Genera in Gari, whilst the selection process is said to be entirely meritocratic and in the common interest, there are those who can’t help but note that they are almost entirely Human.

Anyone but the most naive of Gari’s citizens will be conscious of at least one council member with criminal links who is presumably kept in check by the remainder of the council, although this would not be a matter to discuss in polite company. This reticence to discuss prevents too much cross checking of lists of dirty council members.

The main crime in Gari is causing harm to the community in some way. When a member of the community feels wronged and the general consensus is that something should be done about this, investigative trials are conducted. Legal matters are handled in a rather theocratic manner, with auguries being read to provide evidence not just of crimes which may have taken place, but indication of whether the offender is likely to repeat the crime.

Punishments or other responses are doled out in a pragmatic manner entirely on the basis of the perceived impact on the community of taking a particular action. If someone fell from a ladder and landed on someone else, injuring them, for example, the response would be to put a plan of action in place which would minimise the risk of this happening again. In a situation where there is no chance of a repeat of the incident and thus no further risk to the community, there may be correspondingly no punishment no matter how bad the apparent crime may have been.

Oddly in cases of particularly lenient punishments for dramatic crimes there is a large chance of spontaneous knee fracture and similar unfortunate accidents afflicting the perpetrator with no apparent cause, at least that the now-victim is willing to speak of.

Gari is a very religion-focused nation, with a number of gods who are widely worshipped and have churches to represent them:

• The Benefactor, whose large temple in central Falgarias has almost as much progress on its construction as the official council chambers. Priests of The Benefactor serve in the role of a civil service in the general running of the nation. Notably the High Priest of the Benefactor does not have a seat on the council. Almost all citizens of Gari at least claim to follow the Benefactor.
• The Scholar and The Teacher, whose churches are both relatively small but generally considered a benefit to society with the exception of the rivalry between the two sets of worshippers. Outside of the direct priesthood there are few followers of either god who do not also follow the Benefactor.
• The Wanderer, a relatively new cult in Gari whose post-Moonrise expansion has led to questions in the church of the Benefactor as to whether its practice should be banned for its apparently infectious affront to productivity.
• The Taker, whose cult is an open secret, involved in large portions of the nation’s underworld. It is even said by some, though they are not willing to say it too loudly, that the high priest has a seat on the council.

• The church of the Wanderer has slowly grown from being a small cult, especially since the Moonrise Event. They are at odds with the church of the Benefactor, as their use of hallucinogenics and exploration of dreams is considered of little use to the community.