Exalted State of the Mumin

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Exalted State of the Mumin
Flag of Mumin Flag [[|85px|Coat of Arms of Mumin|frameless]] Coat of Arms
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Location of Mumin
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Capital	Mola Ram ruins
Largest city	Garlyano ruins
Official language(s)	'Neo-Adamite tongue' (vulgar Greek in "heavenly script")
Official religion(s)	Neo-Adamite gnosticism
Demonym
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Government	Theocratic autocracy
- Rišamma	Adam II
- Legislature
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The Exalted State of the Mumin (Neo-Adamite: ⴻⴽⵍⴻⵒⵜⵢⵙⵎⴻⵏⵉ ⴽⴰⵜáⵙⵜⴰⵙⵉ ⵜoⵓ ⵎoⵓⵎíⵏ), also known as the Exalted State of the Believers or Kingdom of the Monad on Earth (Neo-Adamite: ⵠⴰⵙíⵍⴻⵉo ⵜoⵓ ⵎoⵏⴰⴷ ⵙⵜⵉ ⵖⵉ), is a political entity located in the mountainous north-west of Keltia, around the locations of the former states of Ranentsi, Hatay and Karnali. While not directly bordering any existing state on Micras, it is located inbetween Stormark's northern Keltian claims.

The Exalted State had its origins in the mysterious Neo-Adamite gnostic religious movement that arose in the Keltian Green and was first recorded during the War of Lost Brothers. The state is ruled autocratically by Adam II, the mysterious self-proclaimed "Rišamma", leader and presumed founder of the Neo-Adamite religious movement, and his ranked-supporters among the možags (apostles) and ganzeḇrānā ("Treasurers of the Faith") in a secretive and totalitarian fashion. The neo-Adamite belief system plays an almost absolute role within the style of governance and day-to-day living of the Exalted State, with the purported goal of it to achieve "total spiritual purification of the First Plane of Existence" and "transcendence to the 42nd Heaven".

Politics and governance

The Exalted State of the Mumin is a theocratic state, with the little differentiation between the religious establishment and political authority and them effectively being the same entity. The head of state is the Rišamma ("Leader of the people"), the neo-Adamite religious leader, which has been held by Adam II since the first recorded instance of the neo-Adamite movement. Rišamma Adam II rules in an autocratic manner, with most legislation and political decisions being made simply by his decrees or statements. No official legislative institution exists, although he often counselled by the možags (apostles) and holds occasional informal assemblies with them and the ganzeḇrānā ("Treasurers of the Faith") to discuss political and religious matters. At the local-level, lower priests known as the tarmidānā (Disciples) often serve local governing and judicial functions to enforce the religious guidelines of the neo-Adamite faith. The Exalted State's military force also serves a semi-political role, with military leaders attending assemblies discussing political matters and playing a part within the enforcement of the law. It is known that political decisions and discussion among the ruling class are often held in private within religious buildings or the residences of the religious establishment, giving the impression of a secretive-style of governance.

Foreign policy

The Exalted State is relatively isolationalist in terms of its engagement with the wider international community of Micras and abstains from participation within international organisations or initiatives. The neo-Adamite leadership is known to have a hostile view upon most "hylic" civilisations and occasionally indicates expansionist and jingoistic intentions against other nations through the rhetoric of sermons or announcements. This policy has seen the Exalted State termed as a hermit kingdom.

However, the Exalted State does engage in trade of resources and military equipment with neighbouring states and also maintains ties with foreign non-governmental groups which it recruits either to serve as mercenary "war servants", help build infrastructure or provide humanitarian services. The Exalted State is known to recruit and provide bases inside its territory for foreign insurgent groups which are willing to provide their services to the neo-Adamite military forces. One notable example is its recruitment of escaping Muslim militants and refugees from the Hasani War, which has included members of the Islamic fundamentalist group al-Hasaniya and other Turkic or Coriak ex-militants with ultra-nationalistic or radical religious views.

Culture

The culture of the Exalted State of the Mumin is heavily inspired by the dominant and official religious faith of the country, neo-Adamism, and can be seen in all aspects of life. The Exalted State's culture is generally seen as a blend of 'Levantine, Near Eastern and Keltian culture', especially Greek and Syrian culture. The local cultures of non-believers and remnants of the region's former civilisations also persist, but are heavily repressed publicly and are seen as going extinct. The Exalted State's civilian society has been described as conservative, patriarchal and collectivistic.

Religion

The neo-Adamite religious movement is a variant of gnosticism which incorporates aspects of different Gnostic sects and other faiths, sharing aspects of both traditional gnosticism and organised religions. The central premise of the Neo-Adamite faith is that the currently perceived material existence in which mankind lives was a false prison created by the Demiurge, a malevolent false god that was originally an angel, to prevent man from experiencing true spiritual bliss through the divine spark and ousia (essence) of the Monad. The Monad is regarded as the real god and created the Demiurge, other æons (angels), man and animal to experience its ousia. However, the Demiurge was disgusted by man and animal experiencing the ousia and initially trapped the first humans in a material prison in the form of garden to prevent them from experiencing ousia. The Demiurge attempted to trap them in the material garden by creating material pleasures to distract them, such as sexual pleasure and enjoyable taste. However, the other æons left a remnant of the ousia in the fruit of the garden's most beautiful tree to allow them to retrieve their divine spark and the two humans ate the fruit in an act of rebellion against the Demiurge. To further punish man for this rebellion and attempt to escape the material, the Demiurge created 39 more layers of existence and initially sent the first humans to the second lowest layer (Terra) where the animals had already been expelled before expelling the offspring of the first humans and all animals to the bottom plain of existence (the First Plane of Experience) with additional pleasures, desires and physical torments to distract them from experiencing the ousia.

The neo-Adamites seek to re-achieve spiritual bliss in the hopes of transcending from the material world to the 42nd Heaven, where the Monad and the æons reside, through acts of devotion that increase experience of the divine spark and ousia. To achieve this purification, it often involves living an ascetic lifestyle according to the Monad's alleged decree through his messengers on Earth. While the neo-Adamites don't necessarily believe in the concept of sin and repentance, their system of enlightenment and illusion features particular similarities through following divine guidelines. Neo-Adamites are expected to fully remove or limit causes of illusions in their life to achieve total transcendence of the self and recieve the divine spark. In regard to the traditional concept of sin and repentance, despite the noted similarities, such dualism is rejected as 'false dualism' and dichotomous figures in nominal opposition to the Demiurge (such as Satan) are seen as his emanations to cause confusion among believers.

The holy text of the neo-Adamites is the Codex Adamicus, claimed to be the Monad's divine will revealed through Rišamma Adam II and written down by his možags (apostles), which describes the guidelines of achieving the divine spark and the acts that cause enlightenment and illusion. The neo-Adamites claim to follow the guidance of previous messengers as well, including numerous historical prophets and philosophers, although Rišamma Adam II's seem to take precedence. The most important messenger of neo-Adamism after its current ruler is Adam, the first male human, and the story of his rebellion in the garden is seen as an inspiration for all humanity.

The neo-Adamites have an organised clerical structure within their faith, led by Rišamma ("Leader of the people"). Aside from his možags, who are seen as his spiritual companions, the next preceding level of clerics within the neo-Adamite hierarchy are the ganzeḇrānā ("Treasurers of the Faith"), the high priests, and then the final level of clerics are the tarmidānā (Disciples) who lead religious sermons and other religious activities among the laity. The laity is referred to as mumin (believers). The governance of the faith has a top-down approach, where the Rišamma appoints the ganzeḇrānā and individual ganzeḇrā appoint the tarmidānā within their jurisdiction.

The neo-Adamites hold numerous beliefs seen as controversial by outsiders, including harsh opposition to unbelievers (referred to as hylics), belief in a Flat Earth-style cosmology and the rejection of modern astronomy, polygamy, violent discrimination against sentient non-human life (as they are seen as agents of the Demiurge or devils known as archons), ultraconservative cultural values and the faith's justification for Rišamma Adam II's ruling style.

Other religious groups

While public practice or display of religions other than neo-Adamism is prohibited, private worship is permitted and neo-Adamites are generally not allowed to forcibly convert those who do so (despite the societal pressure to so). Notable faiths that are known to exist within the territory of the Exalted State are Christianity, Islam, Melusinianism, Bovinism, Hinduism and even Tianchaodao. When the Exalted State hires mercenaries from abroad, commonly as 'hylic war servants', they are allowed to reside in communities separate from wider neo-Adamite society and practice their faith openly and freely.

Language

The neo-Adamite holy language is a 'vulgar' variant of Greek written within a so-called heavenly script, in which the documents in the 42nd Heaven are allegedly written. Other spoken languages include English, Bulgarian and Sanskrit. The population received migrants from various areas during the War of Lost Brothers and the Kalirion Fracture, the Palesmenian conflict and the Haifan Civil War, bringing newly-spoken languages into the area. Hylic war servants, such as escaping militants from the Hasani War, have also brought languages from Krasnocoria into the territory.

Technology and science

While there is a general sentiment of opposition to technology and science within the neo-Adamite faith, for either contradicting its cosmological beliefs or opposing its ascetic and conservative values, technology is not rejected in its totality within the Exalted State but rather exists in a highly-regulated state for military or propaganda use. Televisions, computers and radios are widely-owned among the populace, although the use of satellite technology is prohibited and less efficient methods are used for the communication and transmission of these devices. The small amount of television and radio channels in the Exalted State are state-run broadcasters that broadcast religious, propagandist and 'approved' entertainment programming, while Internet access is highly restricted through the state-controlled online access routes and Internet Service Provider which only allow access to a few dozen state-run sites.

Sport

Most popular sports on Micras are regarded as frivolous distractions that lead mankind away from transcending the world of the Demiurge and are prohibited and actively repressed by the Exalted State. However, not all sport is seen within a negative light and ancient human sports such as stadion, pankration, ōllamas and pygmachia are actively promoted. The Exalted State holds it own annual multi-sport event featuring these sports, often featuring athletes who are members of its military forces or religious clergy, which is a festival of semi-religious importance and broadcast on the Exalted State's media.

Public women's sport is prohibited, however it is known that neo-Adamite men with multiple wives often organise competitive fights or wrestling matches between their wives (often nude or scantily-dressed) for their own sexual pleasure.