Draconic Humanism

Draconic Humanism is a notable branch of the Draconic religion that is found within countries where the religion enjoys either a strong minority or a majority within their countries' populations. Draconic Humanism has its most politically powerful presence within Adrestia, where several members of its Regency Council are devoted adherents to its tenets. This sect of Draconic combines elements of National humanism with its own Traditionalist views to form, at the same time, both a religious and political ideology that has rapidly gained force within Ralgon in recent years. In the Imperial Federation that formed in the wake of Ralgon's transformation after the Ralgon War of Succession, the ideology took a harmony-based approach, intending to provide leadership down to the local level through the use of semi-democratic institutions led by local elites in every polity of the empire.

The movement first came into being within Ralgon not long after the wider National Humanist movement gained popularity outside of Benacia from 1683 AN. The movement slowly spread to Ralgon following the Tarr Rebellion, when the then-government of Adrestia looked on in admiration of the brutal efficiency at which the Benacians crushed existential threats during the events of that time, especially compared to their nominal overlords in Valeria.

As of 1706 AN, the movement is most notable internationally for the grip it held over power players associated with key contenders for Ralgon's then-vacated imperial throne, to include the young and seemingly palpable then-Prince Masamune IV of Adrestia. This prince was later crowned after his faction's total victory in the Ralgon War of Succession as Emperor Anarion, taking power in 1726 AN, at the head of a much-changed movement than one characterized by its formerly hardline, xenophobic roots. The movement tempered its attitude towards non-Ralgonese and those not observing the national religion after 1715 AN as the Imperial Federation found itself expanding rapidly into areas that were not majority (or even plurality) Ralgonese or closely related religious or ethnic groups.

The movement trends towards universalism, in the sense that leaders of the movement claim they are building a strong Imperial Federation to bring peace, order, and harmony to Micras, in doing setting a strong example for others to follow, regardless of national religion or ethnic group. However, some roots of human supremacy (albeit with a much wider stroke of that brush) are central to the ideology's commitment to building the environment to suits its masters, to include social and political infrastructure. The only major temper to this latter trend, aside from Emperor Anarion himself, is the need to promote harmony even with the lowest subject, led by the belief that the grateful subject is both better guided and follows orders far more readily than a battered one.

Basic Tenets & Beliefs

In short, the traditional core of this movement combines the basic tenets of Draconic with many of the teachings of National humanism, with a broad stroke of universalist applications formed by Emperor Anarion after he formally took power 1726 AN. National humanism and later rebrandings and offshoots originally found a strong foothold within the military-dominated state of Adrestia near 1695 AN, itself then a nominal part of the Holy Ralgon Empire. As the state transformed into the Imperial Federation over the following two decades, key differences formed that, most notably, include what is defined as "human," as Ralgonese people have both human and Elfinishi characteristics, along with Menelmacari and other major ethnic groups in the Imperial Federation.

Draconic Humanism differs strongly from its dogmatically more traditional counterpart in that the more strongly religious adherence to this doctrine calls for strong resistance to "threats to Thr'or's Creation." (Thr'or is the creator god who gave his own body to preserve and protect the universe for all time.) This provides a religious, rather than nationalistic, reason for adhering to humanist principles, while protecting local traditions and allowing for more harmonious rule over the empire, as opposed to political crackdowns and complete top-down control, which would burden state administration due to inquisitions, rebellions, and other preventable distractions.

Protecting God's Creation

In current geopolitical context, this refers to extermination of what remains of the creatures that Ralgon fought during the centuries-long Great Swamp War that formally concluded in 1680 AN when the majority of Great Swamp fauna was exterminated, along with a majority of the hostile dragons on Drag'os. More recently, this threat to humanity has taken a wider tone under Draconic Humanist tenets: namely, that of the undead that ravage Northern Cibola and, more recently, portions of Drag'os following an outbreak of the infection over there. Given the threat of zombified dragons, bugs, and humans alike, militant forces have begun to adhere to the ideals of protecting humanity so that they can more easily see Thr'or's Grace through their own works. Of all the tenets that Draconic Humanism stresses, this is singularly the most important that sets this sect apart from Draconic Traditionalism and other formerly mainstream denominations of Draconic throughout Micras.

As these threats became proportionally far less severe after the late 1720's, the ideology shifted to stress the continued protection against nefarious non-human forces threatening the living, and nefarious humans themselves that seek to destroy the harmony between humans, their creation, their nation, and each other. A focus on peace through strength, constant building and maintaining of both human and environmental infrastructure (built-up logistics for the former and nature preserves for the latter), and increasing efficiency and cooperation between state and local institutions were instead the primary ideas of this part of the movement after 1730 AN.

Strong Central Government

While the traditional Draconic Traditionalism adheres to and celebrates diversity in all forms possible, Draconic Humanism holds a narrower view. That is, it celebrates human diversity, and the mythologically important wise spirits of the world take on a far less physical approach. In a word, the "wise dragons" and the "spirits of the great trees" that occasionally impart knowledge and wisdom are sources of spiritual renewal. Outside of sharing spiritual guidance, such spirits are so rare and, consequently, so weak, that their contributions to protecting God's Creation is negligible. Given that this remains the most noble activity possible for a Draconic Humanist, the concept of relying on spiritual help as a core principle of any grand strategy is unthinkable.

Instead, the various ethnicities and races of humans acting in concert to provide constant progress is strongly stressed. The role of a singular head as a strong guide (namely in the person of the Emperor) is usually stressed, leading to strongly mixed economy, government, and an unusually strong chain of command and state control over the military.

State Harmony: A Religious View

In the eyes of Draconic Humanists, they would disagree with other National Humanists in exactly one unnegotiable respect: the purpose of religion. For the majority of National Humanists in Micras, the sole purpose of religion is to contribute to the protection of the state. To a Draconic Humanist, the purpose of protecting the state is to allow the pious to adhere closely to their religion and contribute to their nation. These actions would thus cause Thr'or's Grace to light the world and ultimately strengthen spiritual well-being throughout the world, at the same time as providing a strong beacon for other humans to follow, both in faith and in action. This would, in turn, provide some sort of aid to the Gods in maintaining a form of spiritual balance without sacrificing their strength to intervene in temporal affairs.

Diversity is, by mandate of their spiritual beliefs, celebrated by Draconic Humanists. However, they still stress cooperation and unity as a community. Centuries of near-constant warfare has taught the Ralgonese populations that only one thing unites a state, and that is a cause bigger than itself. Therefore, the goal of Draconic Humanists is to maintain the State's constant effort towards overcoming national obstacles (preferably those spiritual in nature) to encourage espirit de corps within the population. This trend transmuted to the Imperial Federation, taking on a more universalist character by necessity of expansion outside of traditionally Ralgonese lands.

To this end, Draconic Humanists already see within Ralgon and Ralgonese states -- especially the Imperial Federation -- a strong apparatus of governance to achieve a far better version of itself. In the early 1700's, the chief architects of the modern Draconic Humanist movement saw the power void left after the death of Emperor Shiro I of Ralgon as a tool to place a far stronger mode of centralized authority into power, one that would not abandon lands callously as had happened in the wake of the 1680's general crisis that saw most of Drag'os lost to The Green, and then (even worse) to foreign powers that seemed to share absolutely no heritage at all with their people. Consequently, revanchism formed a significant part of most Draconic Humanists' political ideologies, even if such did not form some part of their religious beliefs. This morphed into a desire for national expansion both inwards (economics and demographics) and outwards (securing uncivilized/ungoverned territories and stabilizing frontiers).

Organization

The organization of the Draconic Humanist movement is, ironic to its principles, highly decentralized due to political events rocking the Ralgon Empire in the first decade of the 1700's AN. The religious sect as an organization has three centers of power.

The first center of organized Draconic Humanists is in Gondolin, where the court of Adrestia surrounds its child Prince with strong adherents. The Vizier of the kingdom, Duke Nikamura Hawkins of Gondolin (the scion of the famous Duke Kazuma Hawkins) heads the Draconic Humanist Front within the Regency Council, himself having embraced those tenets sometime in the late 1690's. The movement has centered around the Duke and his young Protege, the infant Prince Masamune IV. The Prince's parents died under mysterious circumstances, almost certainly on the orders of Masamune II for sedition and treason in early 1701 AN. The Prince himself died of old age on 1704 AN at the age of 46, leaving only his three-year-old grandson, Masamune IV, on the throne under the care of the Regency Council. The Duke since packed the Council with people at least tolerant of Humanist and Draconic Humanist ideals, in an effort to allow the Prince to genuinely adopt and adapt those ideas for himself when he comes of age.

The second center of organized Draconic Humanists resides in Glacier City, within the very halls of the Holy Draconic Temple. The movement is led from the City by the Elder of the Draconic Knights Templar, whose actual name remains a mystery, as he has been in the Order most of his entire 86-year life. The old knight embraced Draconic Humanism slowly over the course of the 1680's, and then spread the ideals to his Knights, who swiftly accepted these new teachings and incorporated them into their practices (and vows) of protecting adherents to the faith against border violence.

The third center does not originate from an MCS-recognized Draconic population. Instead, militant groups operating in the former Zamma have embraced the movement, and due to constant war and internal strife, have found a stronger version of the Draconic religion to strengthen their military position in the region. A separate, self-proclaimed order of the Draconic Knights of Zamma, led by Kenshiro Hatake, recently took command of an Adrestian Royal Navy garrison in the region in the wake of the recent succession crisis boiling in the midst of Emperor Shiro's final illness. Commodore Hatake learned to embrace the religion in an effort to unify Adrestian and Zamillian efforts, and established a very strong foothold in the territory of Dragon's Reach before the close of 1705 AN, not long after the Emperor's death.

History

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