TyreaMagnolia: Inward Perfection
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Quote:"We hold this truth self evident, that innovation, knowledge, and magitech are the way forward for our people. The preachers of the angels who had enslaved us have no place here, nor do any other rhetoric of those who place themselves higher than mortals. The people must collectively hold the power to determine the nation's destiny, less we find ourselves constrained by the savages outside our borders."


Birico Liza. Representative of Starlight Engineering

Quote:"Though understanding the secrets that govern the world, we have gained powers others associate with divine intervention. We can develop fast-spreading plagues, cure what would be seen as permanent, and even alter the forms of man. With this knowledge comes the greatest responsibility, one the savages wouldn’t know the restrain to. The only example necessary would be the mess people call Barsburg these days."


Niloni Nolsa. Representative of the Chemist Socierty

Quote:We can only trust in our one intuition, for the rest of Aegis is blinded by both their faith, and their kings. Their minds are often clouded by powers, worshipping gods that have no place for civilized people. It is a peculiar position we find ourselves in, inhabitants of a world lacking understanding nor true compassion. We maintain our safety through our technological edge, even when numbers aren’t in our favor. If however, a nation reaches our level of magi-tech, all hope for Magnolia would be lost.

Oakanan Macaza. General of the Magnolian Guard



Quote:“Down to the plains of monstrous savages and up to the peaks of the divine enslavers, we stand together in the center. Our minds are clear, our knowledge is extensive, our hands guide our destiny, and none shall interfere.”

“Magnolia Infinive, for today and all days!”

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Progress through collectivity.


Perfection through perspective.


Infinitive to the cycle.


 That is the motto of the Magnolian Council and the majority of its citizens. Founded in the year 530 after the fall of the Sarris Dynasty, focusing on both technological progress and safeguarding its citizens from a savage world. Magnolian is comparatively small compared to the empires of Barsburg, Aen, and even the Essharian empire in its prime. What they lack in numbers and resources is a collection of magitech knowledge from millennia of innovation, far longer than any nation in the entity of Eternia.

They have persisted due to their edge, prying resources from the depths of the earth, sending airships out to foreign lands, and constructing machines to pad out their numbers. They hold technological secrets that give them the opportunity to decimate armies and level cities. There was a time before Barsburg made huge strides in magitech where they could have launched an assault on the entirety of Aegis and unified it under the banner of Magnolia, securing them from any domestic threats. 

They didn’t, for it wouldn’t be in the nation’s interest. An empire is great but can only last for so long. Building such a structure for the short term isn’t in the interest of the council, building a government that can safeguard its people through magi-tech and internal unity is. Sustainability is the name of the game to the majority of Magnolia, to continue the status quo, to keep their culture and society alive for centuries to come. Those who are more expansion-minded tend not to find the support to get a seat on the council, and those who do tend to have very short careers.

Progress T[b]hrough Collectivity[/b]
All Magnolian citizen contributes to the collective structure of the nation. Whether they be a scientist working to unearth the secrets of the world, an artificer constructing weapons for the guard, or a sewer worker maintaining hidden machinery below. The people should take strides to both benefits themselves and the people around them for the good of all.

Perfection through Perspective
The Magnolian people must look to themselves and their peers, not to the outside world filled with vile savages. In this isolation they have formed their own identity, sustained their society, and carved a crooked lens to the outside world. Their technology might advance but their culture rarely changes. Over time they became self-sufficient, their technology and vocational expeditions keeping their small nation from being stomped by bigger powers. To them, the Magnolian way is the only way.

Infinitive to the Cycle
The council of Magnolia has persisted where surrounding kingdoms rise and fall, a point of pride amongst its people. A clear example that a nation that doesn’t seek an empire can both sustain itself and provide for its citizens. They think of themselves as an special people, ones who can stand on their own two feet without anyone having the power to interfere.


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Nexus
The capital city of Magnolia, where the angels originally made landfall and began their experiment millennials ago. In years past Magnolians called in Sarinea as decreed by the Sarris dynasty, or simply the city once the Council took power. In modern times the capital is officially dubbed Nexus, due to it being at the center of Magnolia, the beating heart where resources come and flow to the rest of the nation.
The city itself is a marvel of both traditional magnolian architecture and magi-tech advancement. Towers several stories tall, hanging gardens, impractical domes, and fantastical illusions coving the night sky. It is as beautiful as it is functional, with it remarkably easy to get around through the various roads and the airship towers that can take you anywhere in Nexus.
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The Council
Magnolian society is governed by the council. Based in the capital city Nexus and made up of various representatives from both the provinces, the Magnolian Guard, and recognized organizations known as departments. The council is expected to meet at least once a year to review policy, propose new laws, issue censuses, and give requests to the departments. The council has the power to propose changes to the law, organize and dissolve departments, issue orders to said departments, issue punishments up to the death penalty without trial, and conduct foreign relations. There is no truly central figure within the Magnolian government. The closest they have to an executive is the speaker of the council, a member elected eternally to inform the public of the council's decrease and mediate the meetings. They don’t get a vote, with the position being mostly ceremonial.

Much of Magnolia’s governmental work is handled by recognized organizations known as departments, such as the Science Committee. The Council has integrated them within the government, funding their operations and giving them a seat on the council. In exchange, they are expected to aid in the functions of government by providing resources and completing specific tasks for the nation's benefit.

The Big Five
There are several departments recognized by the Magnolian council, though five stand above the rest. Each of these factions has multiple seats on the council and plays a critical role in the function of the government.


The Magnolian Science Committee 
Perhaps one of the most influential of the departments. They are responsible for researching new magitech, conducting scientific expeditions, and monitoring foreign nations outside of magnolia from the safety of invisible airships. They are one of the few groups that can leave Magnolia without the permission of the council and tend to be the most educated about the current affairs of Eternia.
The Science Committee is managed by the Director, a mysterious figure that had held the position since 1514 AC. It’s an open secret that they have achieved a form of immortality, though the method they used is classified.


Some say that the council doesn’t really matter and that the Science Committee is the true power Magnolia. That they control the council, endorsing its supporters we’ll their opposition mysteriously vanishes. These are however simple conspiracy theories that have been logically disproven by the Science Committee.

Starlight Engineering 
The industrial powerhouse of the nation, tracing its origins to the artificer revolution that deposed the Sarris dynasty. They are made up of Magonolia’s most prized artificers who supply the other departments with equipment, enchantments, airships, and even synths with council approval.

The Chemist Society 
A less prestigious but equally as important cousin to Starlight Engineering. They are Magnolia's most talented alchemists and healers, with their potions able to cure terrible diseases, alter the body in significant ways, and even bring creatures back from the brink of death.

The United Mining Guild
Once a dozen different mining operations have been reorganized into one monolith. They are responsible for both domestic mining projects and taking airships across borders, including deep into the Genjing mountains, and even as far as Agatha. It’s dangerous work but a required task to sustain Magnolia’s technological edge

Department of National Culture
A group of artists and managers who were founded in the year 1514. They conduct sensors and sponsor various cultural and artistic projects. Their most famous function plans various celebrations to promote Magnolian values and unity. 

The Magnolian Guard
The Magnolian Guard isn’t considered a departed but rather their own force, the magi defenders of Magnolia that safeguard its people. They are commanded by a general selected by the council, focused on both internal and external security. Several divisions exist within the guard such as the airship navy and the council guard, which are overseen by various captains.
Given that Magnolia been any major wars in centuries they tend not to see much action other than peacekeeping and defending departments on expeditions. Service in the guard is seen as less prestigious than being accepted into the departments, often gaining recruits from unaccomplished magi seeking to rise through Magnolian society. The military is often seen as a temporary stepping stool with few devoting their lives to it.


Slang

“Magnolia Infinitive”
The national battlecry. Whether it is mudder as disaster approaches, a guardsman facing difficult odds, or the last words of a citizen. It conveys that no matter what happens both their nation and society will survive, that they will persist where other nations have fallen, that their way of life will continue despite what happened to one individual.

“Divine Spawn”
A common derogatory term levied at those who aren’t human or synthetic by Magnolians. It stems from an old Magnolian belief that the divine beasts saw that humans had too much free will and proceeded to reshape them into instinct-based creatures. Those turned into the enthralled slaves of the divines, who act no better than wild beasts. Although it's a disproven theory it still persists among the enclosed population.
“Freefaller”
A catchall term for any Magnolian who has left their homeland. They are free from the council’s constraints but have fallen into the world of savages, one they can never return from. Freefallers are a controversial topic in Magnolian culture, with some morning their loved ones we’ll others decry them as idiots and savages themselves.


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The Outside World


Since the year 1420 AC, Magnolia has cut the last of its limited contact with other nations. What was once a land of opportunity has been painted as a savage wasteland where powerful magi oppress those under them. It is where might make right and those without such power are forced to kneel. It is where these magi fight over the most minor disputes, with the loser being tortured, enslaved, killed, or worse. All Magnolian citizens would be bombarded with these stories from both media and reports by the Science Committee. Only in Magnolia will everyone have a place. Only in Magnolia can a non-magi have a decent life. Only in Magnolia does every citizen benefit from the system. This has frightened most from looking into the outside world, we’ll also serve to keep reforms stagnate due to fears of the system being corrupted into that reflecting the 'savage' world around them.


There is some truth to this perspective but it doesn’t shine a light on the full story. Those who get a glimpse of the outside such as the Science Committee have a more accurate view of affairs, though with a layer of superiority along with it. They are passive observers, for the most part, flying in their invisible airships, only interfering to retrieve lost technology and the occasional abduction. 
Even though they are conditioned to see the world through a bias, a few Magnolians have decided to leave the nation for the wider world. There are plenty of reasons to drive an individual to strike out on their own. No matter that reason once they leave the border without council certification, they are banished and branded a freefaller for the rest of their days. They can never legally return home and are mourned as if they had died.
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