Lumis

The Kingdom of Lumis De Küningsraach Lumis
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: Am Interetze vän Allen
Anthem: Küningsläid
Map versions
Capital	Witzenbourg
Largest city	Witzenbourg, Tousons
Official language(s)	Common tongue, Lumisian, Corcois
Official religion(s)
Demonym	Lumisian
- Adjective	Lumisian
Government	Constitutional Monarchy
- King	King Wilhelm I
- Legislature
Establishment	1229 AN
Area
Population	1,958,195
Currency	Zaikir (Ƶ)
Calendar
Time zone(s)
Mains electricity
Driving side	left
Track gauge
National website
National forum
National animal	Haven Hawk
National food	Schnitzel
National drink	Mead
National tree	White Oak
Abbreviation	LUM

I have only been to the illustrious Kingdom once, but it was one of the most enlightening experiences I've ever had in my life. The people there live in the most pastoral way, with the most technological device in any home being the cursory light bulb, powered by a link to the fusion reactors in the cavern ceiling that also power the monumental light show of the sky.

—Edward Coldstone, Cira: A Legacy (1675 AN)

The Kingdom of Lumis (Lumisian: Küningsraach Lumis) is a nation and independent territory subject to the sovereignty of the Ciric Confederacy. Located in a massive underground cavern, the kingdom exists almost entirely within the governorate of Wrighthaven, though it technically occupies none of the same land. Lumis is commonly thought of in confederate consciousness as an idyllic land under the ground of the confederacy that calls to mind the fairy tales of stoic knights and tranquil villages, with the entire kingdom rejecting the technology of the confederacy except in two instances; the first being a system of artificial lighting and fog generation at the cavern's ceiling to give the kingdom the appearance of a surface country, and the second being an elevator at the capital of Witzenbourg, called the Himmelswagon (Sky Chariot) by locals, which is the only way in or out of the kingdom.

Geography

Physical Geography

A landscape photograph of Cours by a confederate journalist

The Kingdom of Lumis is located entirely underground, in an area that was once a mining colony in the early 1200s, though the caverns that Lumis expanded into eventually underwent heavy terraforming to force the land to succumb to the desires of the miners. The caverns were transformed into five distinct layers, each with their own biomes specifically imposed upon them to fit the desires of the settlers.

The first layer, closest to the surface, is the layer of Brunsheim. The area encompasses a traditional mediterranean climate with lakes and two major rivers, the Otros and the Sämeck, breaking around the hill upon which the city of Witzenbourg lies, which is just one of the many rolling hills of the layer. The gentle rolling hills are only broken by a series of three lakes in one of the lower valleys, and the range of small mountains that bounds the layer, crawling around the cavern wall, called the Addelbeck Mountains. The southern and lower regions of the layer are dominated by the Hazelbark forest, which contains no actual hazel, but is mainly made up of various decidious trees along with some pines.

The second layer of Lumis is called Ärd, and is accessible through switchback path that descends through a cave in a mountain of the Addelbeck range. Ärd is far more mountainous than Brunsheim, with the centre of the region comprising a much taller and rockier alpine type mountain range called the Frostspëtzen. These snow-capped mountains are criss-crossed by the beaten paths and rocky trails of the kingdom, and are surrounded on all sides by an expansive tundra with evergreen forests and frozen rivers. Nestled among those high mountains lies the layer's largest city, Osterfeld, capital of the County of Zossen.

The third layer is the smallest, and it is called Cours. Cours, being the centre of the Corc region of the kingdom, is very similar to Brunsheim. It possesses the same mediterranean climate and geography, though the hills of Cours range from more prominent than those of Brunsheim in the north, to near nonexistant in the southern part of the region. Cours also only possesses one lake, though it is much larger than the lakes of Brunsheim; this lake, Lac Grandeur, is also the location of the layer's largest city, Tousons, capital of both the Duchy of Aquitaine as well as the entire region of Corc.

The fourth layer is the largest one, called Beauport, and it consists mainly of the Verdant Jungle, which is a hilly rainforest that grows many different types of plants and animals, including some genetically engineered for artificial biodiversity by the confederates on the surface. The jungle is sparsely inhabited by humans, with most tending to live in cities surrounding the Mer de Verre (Sea of Glass), including the layer's largest town of Port Blanc, capital of the Duchy of Côte Blanc. The sea had already existed prior to the terraforming of the layer, as it had been an underground lake connected to the frozen rivers that run through Sypyr on the surface.

The fifth layer is the last one inhabited, and was barely terraformed because of its proximity to some of the lower depths that contain large pockets of magma; the best that could be done for this layer, Elodia, home to the Archbarony of the same name, was to transform part of it into a desert as opposed to leaving it as a volcanic wasteland that it had been prior and still is partially, in the areas in the northwest that surround the shield volcano called the Montagne Rouge. The city of Morósse, capital of Elodia, lies near the entrance to the layer, and is pretty much the only connection through which the cities in the desert can have access to agricultural materials.

Political Geography

Before one can understand the system of political and administrative divisions employed by Lumis, one must understand the terminology used by the kingdom, which is drawn from old feudal systems of governance, and translated into the languages of Lumisian and Corcois.

Name	Consists of	Description
Kingdom	Grand Duchies and Archbaronies	The Kingdom consists of the whole of Lumis, and is presided over by a King or Queen; the Kingdom consists of the Grand Duchies of Rotswald and Corc, as well as the Archbarony of Elodia Lumisian: Küningsraach Corcois: Royaume
Grand Duchy	Duchies and Counties	The two Grand Duchies of the Kingdom, Rotswald and Corc, are presided over by a Grand Duke or Duchess, and consist of lesser Duchies and Counties Lumisian: Grosherzogtom Corcois: Grand-Duché
Archbarony	Viceroyalties and Baronies	The one Archbarony in Lumis, the Archbarony of Elodia, exists as a territory subservient directly to the King or Queen though it is the size of a Duchy or County, and consists of two or three viceroyalties and baronies Lumisian: Erbaronie Corcois: Archibaronnie
Duchy	Viceroyalties and Baronies	A Duchy is a division beneath a Grand Duchy which is ruled over by a Duke or Duchess and consists of viceroyalties and baronies; though they are the same size as Counties, Duchies are considered more prestigious than Counties Lumisian: Herzogtom Corcois: Duché
County	Viceroyalties and Baronies	A County is a division beneath a Grand Duchy which is ruled over by a Count or Countess and consists of viceroyalties and baronies; though they are the same size as Duchies, Counties are considered less prestigious than Duchies Lumisian: Landgraviate Corcois: Comté
Viceroyalty	Cities and Towns	A viceroyalty is a division beneath a Duchy or County which is ruled over by a viceroy or vicereine, and tends to consist of a number of villages and towns between four and six; though they are the same size as baronies, viceroyalties are considered more prestigious than baronies Lumisian: Visereuesraach Corcois: Vice-Royauté
Barony	Cities and Towns	A barony is a division beneath a Duchy or County which is ruled over by a baron or baroness, and tends to consist of a number of villages and towns between three and five; though they are the same size as viceroyalties, baronies are considered more prestigious than viceroyalties Lumisian: Baronie Corcois: Baronnie
Cities and towns	N/A	Cities, towns, and villages make up viceroyalties and baronies directly and are ruled by a lord or lady.

The political divisions will be listed, along with which layer they exist upon at their Duchy and County divisions, along with the noble house that currently holds the position of leadership for that division (the noble families of Duchies and Counties tend to also be the family of each of the viceroyalties and baronies that constitute them).

• Kingdom of Lumis (House of Holsetz-Charmant)
  • Grand Duchy of Corc (House of Chartreuse)
    • Duchy of Aquitaine (House of Lyon) (Cours)
      • Viceroyalty of Emôn
      • Barony of Sayneirre
    • County of Vincenne (House of La Croix) (Cours)
      • Viceroyalty of Grand-Montagne
      • Viceroyalty of Menton
    • County of Évreux (House of Laval) (Cours)
      • Barony of Au-Sud-du-Jaune
      • Barony of Aurillac
    • County of Le Mur (House of Var) (Cours)
      • Viceroyalty of Sous-le-Ciel
      • Barony of Le Bel
      • Barony of Beauchamp
    • County of Libourne (House of Aveyron) (Cours)
      • Barony of Montbéliard
      • Barony of Vaults
    • Duchy of Côte Blanc (House of Chartreuse) (Beauport)
      • Viceroyalty of Valette
      • Viceroyalty of Le Port
      • Barony of Orange
    • Duchy of Somme (House of Loire) (Beauport)
      • Barony of Bergerac
      • Barony of Rousseau
      • Barony of Vercourt
    • County of Essonne (House of Valerie) (Beauport)
      • Viceroyalty of Muret
      • Barony of Nord
      • Barony of Orly
  • Grand Duchy of Rotswald (House of Rautsbourg)
    • Duchy of Gilead (House of Rautsbourg) (Brunsheim)
      • Viceroyalty of Klütz
      • Viceroyalty of Lehrte
      • Viceroyalty of Broogsden
    • County of Merzig (House of Konräd) (Brunsheim)
      • Viceroyalty of Ufhaus
      • Barony of Hauptsbend
    • County of Zimmensdorf (House of Uster) (Brunsheim)
      • Barony of Haan
      • Barony of Stuhl
      • Barony of Greiz
    • County of Rendsmark (House of Stauf) (Brunsheim)
      • Barony of Nolzstein
      • Barony of Wiltz
    • Duchy of Herten (House of Welf) (Ärd)
      • Barony of Trieben
      • Barony of Neislock
    • County of Werne (House of Heinrich) (Ärd)
      • Viceroyalty of Dahn
      • Barony of Burgenraf
      • Barony of Tolbeck
    • County of Zossen (House of Dahlen) (Ärd)
      • Viceroyalty of Baiersdorf
      • Barony of Käischinger
      • Barony of Aulendorf
    • County of Düren (House of Eisfeld) (Ärd)
      • Viceroyalty of Arkendorm
      • Barony of Schopfheim
    • County of Falsraam (House of Emmingsbach) (Ärd)
      • Barony of Norklocken
      • Barony of Rahden
      • Barony of Stein
    • County of Hörstel (House of Krempe) (Ärd)
      • Viceroyalty of Sehnde
      • Barony of Oberkraun
  • Archbarony of Elodia (House of Bourçonne) (Elodia)
    • Viceroyalty of Sous-le-Monde
    • Barony of Béthune
    • Barony of Elise

History

Mining Colony

The Arma mining colony that preceded the Kingdom

Before Lumis existed, Wrighthaven, which was its own country at the time, established a mining colony searching for materials to produce more steel, which was built near the city of Haven, on the southwestern part of Sypyr, called Arma. This colony was overseen by a chief deputy, which is also a system that preceded the governing system of Bryconia, which was also founded by the Arma colony; the chief deputy at the time of the colony striking into the massive cavern that formed the basis of the Kingdom was Percival Langue, who was also the brother-in-law of Joanna Langue who founded Bryconia.

This colony eventually shifted most of its operations underground into the large cavern it had discovered, with Percival championing the abandonment of Arma and the construction of a village underground where the tunnel led to, which Percival envisioned as becoming a well-to-do city in Wrighthaven, and named it Witzenbourg in his native language, which was the spoken tongue of the Lumendaffe. Arma quickly fell into disuse as its main use became its location above the simple lift which would eventually come to be known as the Himmelswagon but was known in its early days as "Lift Number 05".

Following this migration is when much of the terraforming of the layers of the cavern was undertaken, with the caverns being expanded out to encompass as much room as the colonists desired, and the colonists importing soil and plant seeds from the surface to allow the carving and reshaping of the landscape to however the colonists desired. Brunsheim was created in this way, with several enormous drills breaking up the top rocks of the cavern floor into soil for planting, and with a number of extremely bright lights being installed in the ceiling to flood the cavern with light. These measures eventually morphed over the couple hundred years they were undertaken, from 1082 when the migration first began to 1209, with the general landscape of the layers being gradually shifted to not just be more livable, but to recreate surface lands of more northerly latitude, and thus was integrated a day and night system for the lights in the ceiling and coloured fog generators to give the appearance of the sky. More plants and varieties of rocks and soil were brought in, not just for living and comfort but for sheer variety and accuracy to the surface.

Increasingly, colonists began to think of themselves separately from the confederacy that they came from, and more as a singular entity. Percival was instrumental in the spread of this way of thinking, incorporating the growing feeling and identity of independence with an old folk religion followed by some Lumendaffe people, devoted to a pantheon of gods. These thoughts circulated, and, as more and more villages sprang up around Witzenbourg, adding yet more sustainability to the colony with crops and large-scale agriculture, a kind of cultural renaissance struck the colony, and more and more people, especially the administrators who had already begun to form the basis of an elite aristocracy, began to be obsessed with the idea of ancient history, especially feudal systems which had expanded and subsequently regressed throughout the known world. Presaging the independence of Lumis, administrators began organising themselves into insular families, or familial houses.

Secession and Early Organisation

The administrators of the colony finally decided to declare independence, led by Percival III

While there wasn't explicit animosity between the colonists and the Wrighthavanian government, the colonists' desire for independence had developed into a burning nationalism that pervaded the burgeoning aristocracy and the lower classes alike. In 1209 AN, Percival III who was chief deputy of the colony at the time called the administrators to a meeting in the administrative building in Witzenbourg. Over a period of three weeks, the administrators debated and voted upon and finally drafted a declaration of formal independence from Wrighthaven, which would come to be known as the Declaration of Witzenbourg. The declaration was published to the Wrighthavanian government, who put up a feeble political resistance, but had at that point extracted sufficient raw materials from the colony and had resigned itself to allowing the colony independence. The administrators imposed an entrance tax upon people entering via the newly christened Himmelswagon, and set about the new task of dividing the polity into administrative districts.

Originally, the colony was formed as the Republic of Lumis, which it was so named for François Lumis, a colonist who had been elected as the colony's first and only president. François, a good friend of Percival III, who had chosen not to campaign for the position of president due to his own feelings that he had already partaken of too much power, attempted to divide the republic into states based on the layers of the cavern. These states quickly decentralised themselves into substates, which followed the overall massive decentralisation of the republic as a whole, with the new constitution of the republic granting most powers to the states. François quickly became a symbolic figure of Lumisian "unity", until he was approached by Charles Chartreuse, who was the son of a former administrator of the colony. Charles proceeded to run a campaign to transition the republic into a kingdom, and devolve the power system feudally instead of allowing for power abuse by unchecked and unregulated power dissemination under a republic. Public opinion in favour of a kingdom of Lumis soared, and in 1227 François was named Prince Regent in preparation for the transition, and Charles Chartreuse was crowned Charles I of the House of Chartreuse in 1229, beginning the Chartreuse dynasty of the early Kingdom of Lumis. The kingdom was quickly reorganised into two Grand Duchies, those of Rotswald and Corc, which remain to this day.

Early Monarchs

A portrait of King Charles I, the first King of Lumis and member of the House of Chartreuse

Much of the history of Lumis before the insurgency of the Käisers of the House of Franz Joseph is the history of the individual Counties and Duchies, the rulers of which most often held more power within their domains than the ruler of the Kingdom due to the feaudal devolution of power. At the coronation of Charles I, who later earned the nickname "the Valourous", Charles I was also granted the countship of Witzenbourg, which was at the time a piece of territory surrounding the eponymous city of Witzenbourg. Charles, who had developed a taste for the cultural influences that would also eventually result in much of the culture of Alexandria, chose to move the capital of Lumis from Witzenbourg, which was populated by the Lumendaffe, to the city of Tousons, which was the capital of Corc and was primarily influenced by he same culture that was popular with Charles.

Tousons lay within the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Aquitaine, which was at the time ruled by Duke Philip I of the House of Tripoli. Charles summoned Philip I to the royal Palace of Witzenbourg and demanded Philip allow Charles to quarter the Kingdom's seat of power in Tousons, and to give Charles the dukeship of Aquitaine. Philip flatly refused and retreated to the city, with him and Charles mustering their respective armies and war broke out between Witzenbourg and Aquitaine. King Charles roundly defeated Philip at the battles of Beige and Amors, allowing him to take Tousons and executed Philip and demoted the entire House of Tripoli, declaring himself Duke of Aquitaine.

After fifteen years of rule, Charles I abdicated the throne and named his son, Charles II, King of Lumis, as well as Count of Witzenbourg and Duke of Aquitaine. Charles I remains only one of three monarchs of Lumis to abdicate, and his alleged reason for abdicating rather than ruling until his death three years later was to assure that his succession passed exactly as how he wanted it to instead of being open to the machinations of various local lords. The reign of King Charles II, who was called "the Pious", was largely categorised by his heavy personal integration with the church of Tyrus, god of justice and civilisation in the Lumendaffe folk religion, Amarvinism. Charles sponsored the construction of the Saint Capet Salonic Monastery at the edges of Lac Grandeur, a monastery dedicated to the worship of Salon, the Amarvinist god of healing as well as death, and also fostered the Tyrusian Knightly Order of the Silver Rose.

The reign of Charles II closed with his death, giving way to the reign of his daughter that he had with the Countess of Vincenne. Queen Adelaide I, the Cunning, as she was known, was the last noteworthy monarch of the Chartreuse dynasty. Adelaide was responsible for the conquest of the Verdant Jungle and the establishment of Port Blanc as a major city for the Kingdom, indirectly empowering the Duchy of Côte Blanc. Adelaide also successfully repelled a rebellious attack from Duchess Marie III of Somme, though the expenses and battle-weariness resulting from this minor war ultimately resulted in her son, Louis I, being deposed.

Louis I, the Short, reigned for only two years before being deposed by Karl I of the House of Trieffen. Louis had barely had the opportunity to begin the recovery efforts planned to assist the Kingdom in recovering from the war fought against the rebellious Somme.