Votria (NFP)

It is said that if you give a Votrian a rock, he will use it to map the movements of the stars. Give him a fish however, and he will not know what to do with it.

Floating somewhere over the hollow canyons is the Monolith, a looming obsidian structure that casts an emerald light across the he craggy and unforgiving landscape it passes. It is home to the Votrians, a people who where once human but have now strayed far from their ancestry. They are a strange race, worshiping mathematical algorithms they claim hold the secrets to the cosmos. They have the uncanny ability to predict the comings of the Etherstorm to uncanny degrees of certainty, but besides that not much about them is known to the outside world.

History

The Seriem

It is said that when Chyrillion found the Seriem deep in the bowels of the jagged peaks, his mind was intrinsically changed by it. Written in an ancient language, the archaic runes on this large stone tablet tell the story of all creation. Though to most, it merely looks like a series of numbers bearing no visible connection. Legends speak of Chyrillion spending eight days in serene meditation, contemplating the understandings he had been made witness to. When the contemplation was over, he began his long journey back to the surface while slowly transporting the stone tablet. As he walked, others started appearing in the night to join him on his quest. First one, then two, now three, then five. Soon they where thirteen, all on the same journey. One unified purpose, one goal.

Patterns in the rocks

Chyrillion and his followers started working. Tirelessly through day and night they worked, arranging stones in the hollow canyon to form strange geometrical patterns. As they worked, their language started to change, becoming more abstract as it evolved in unison with their new understandings. They had developed new ways of thinking, and new forms of thought. Their bodies no longer needed nourishment, now consumed by their. When twenty one weeks had passed, they had covered the an area roughly two kilometers wide with their geometrical patterns. And so they sat down, meditating in unison at the intersections of the diagram they had created, and they waited. Waited for the coming of the Etherstorm. When it came, it is said the entire canyon shone with green light for two nights and two days, casting long shadows across the mountains surrounding it.

The Monolith

Some scholars argue that only divine intervention could have allowed the first Votrians to survive so long without food or water. They claim that the Monolith itself could not have been constructed using only rocks found in the canyon. Nevertheless, this is what happened. The Votrians had glimpsed some fundamental secret of the universe, and when the Etherstorm came their Monolith was constructed for them, feeding on the mathematical concepts they had denoted with in the stones. In the shape of a vast and looming Octahedron, made of black stones that glow in greenish colors, the Monolith is a truly magnificent structure. At its top sits a large emerald shard, that gathers Etherlight from the storms, powering the structure as it floats.

A unified mind

As the Etherstorm pelted the hollow canyon with its might, transforming the diagram, Chyrillion was absorbed into the Monolith, becoming a part of the structure itself. His life essences blended with the the structure, becoming a purified expression of the Seriem . His comprehensions now made eternal as his body melded together with the very rocks he had so carefully arranged. It is said that he became the Arcanym, his soul the spark that made it's first gears turn, his mind the fundamental essence that flowed in its first breaths.

Demography and Population

The Votrians are a very secluded society that almost never allow outsiders to see their city. Though it is not unheard of for an outsider to join the Votrians, it has happened so rarely that most people do not know of it.
They practice polygamy to an extent, but do not produce offspring in the conventional sense. Instead, they form groups of three, five or eight and breed their offspring through a complex process known as unification

Territories

All of Votrian society exists inside the Monolith, which floats around in the hollow canyon. Though most people regard the entirety of the hollow canyon as Votrian land, they themselves rarely leave the monolith and do not regard the land it moves over as belonging to them. The monolith moves slowly across the valley, sometimes disappearing for months in the mountains, other times appearing outside larger cities to trade predictions for Etherium.

Military

The monolith itself is a well guarded structure, sporting ether-powered defense mechanisms and various forms of weaponry. The Votrians themselves do not practice any form of combat, instead relying on creatures known as Morlusks to protect themselves when they leave the monolith. During their invasions of Liyanor, they conscripted various mercenary armies in addition to the Morlusks for the land invasion, staying inside the Monolith themselves.

Technological Level

Sourcing

The Votrians have developed a way to sustain themselves without biological food, through a process they call sourcing. Each night they connect themselves to the great Etherium shard that sits atop the Monolith and gathers Etherlight, which they feed on through small Ethergems inlaid in their bodies. This process changes the Votrians, whose minds become infused with Etherium, and is perhaps why some scholars do not regard them as human anymore.

Unification

The Votrians do not mate as other humanoids do, instead employing a form of polygamy known as unification. They arrange in groups of three, five or eight choosing partners they harmonize mentally with, and hatch either one Votrian infant or twins inside breeding pods not unlike those used by the Fractions. In this way, the Votrian society can control their population, only breeding when they need it or the Arcanym states it.

Religion

The Votrians practice no religion besides the worship of the Seriem. Though it is said that their founder Chyrillion, has since ascended to divinity, becoming the deity of mathematics and ciphers.

Foreign Relations

The Votrians are endured in most societies, when they do decide to come trade, mostly because of their predictions regarding the Etherstorms. They are on hostile terms with Liyanor due to their many attempted invasions of their land, but otherwise hold no particular relation with any other nations.

Agriculture & Industry

The Votrians do not need biological food to sustain themselves, and as such hold no farmland and practice no agriculture. They have developed beyond the simple needs of humans, instead sourcing their nourishment from the light of the Etherstorms. As far as industry goes, they are horders of knowledge and information, storing it inside the Athenaeum. They are experts at calculating the comings of the Etherstorms through the use of the Arcanym, and sell this knowledge to other nations in exchange for Etherium.

Trade & Transport

Besides the Monolith, which is in and of itself a way of transportation, the Votrians have created a vast network of tunnels deep in the mountains, where they originally though to harvest Etherium These tunnels have since become mostly abandoned, since the veins there where not large to begin with. It is thought that some Votrians still live in these tunnels, but not much else is known, and any adventurers who dare venture in to them are rarely seen again.

Education

Each Votrian infant is taught the language of numbers before any conventional language. They are molded from six months of age, by being subjected to various alchemical processes and the effects of understanding the Seriem itself. Once a Votrian reaches full maturity, at the age of nine, it may choose it's particular field of interest and begin it's lifelong journey towards knowledge, studying in the Athenaeum.

Infrastructure

The Arcanym

The Arcanym is a large mechanical contraption that produces an endless stream of numbers, a unification of the ponderings of chosen Votrians who have subjected themselves to the hive, becoming Fractions. This series of numbers and mathematical concepts is the basis of every choice made by Votrian society. It dictates where the Monolith goes, and when the Votrians leave it to trade. Like a clockwork, the gears of the Arcanym turn, feeding on the gemstones that sit at the base of its pillar-like structure. Runes and arcane etchings encircle it, illuminating the brass mechanisms that feed power into its core. Like the branches of a tree, various tubes extend from it's top connecting it to the pods where the Fractions lie in perpetual meditation. It is an ancient mechanism, constructed at the dawn of the Votrian nation and made possible by the discovery of the Seriem. The Arcanym holds fragments of Chyrillion's soul at its core, and the entire structure and rumbles and wheezes, exhaling puffs of steam as it works at unifying the thoughts of the Fractions.

Fractions

A fraction is the name given to those Votrians that have decided to subject themselves wholly to the Arcanym. They are submerged in tubs of liquid that connect them to the Arcanym, and lie there in eternal pondering. Their thoughts are fed into the machine, are unified and translated by it so that they may then be expressed through the Torculim. It is possible to guide the fractions, which the Synod often does when they need to expand upon certain ideas, or are in disagreement on the meaning of their interpretations. They do so by submerging various works of literature, art or arcane runes into the tubs where the fractions rest, who then consume them and feed them back into the Arcanym.

The Torculim

Above the Arcanym, sits the Torcalym, a large gilded printing press that continuously outputs the unified thoughts of the Fractions, printed on long metal sheets in the form of mathematical algorithms and and arcane runes. These are cared for by The Keepers who organize them for later study and interpretation.

The Votrian Synod

The Votrians synod is the main authoritative structure in the Votria, a council of prominent Votrians who do not wish to become fractions, instead focusing on interpreting the ideas expressed by the Arcanym. They function like a democratic council, arguing and discussing their interpretations of the Arcanym, voting on the ideas they see as most logical. The Votrian synod handles the day to day affairs of the Monolith, where it goes, when it lands to trade and other decisions they deem necessary for their population.

The Athenaeum

The pride of the Votrian society is the Athanaeum, a vast library that takes up roughly a third of the Monolith. In it, the collective understanding of the Votrians is meticulously documented and organized by the Keepers. The collect the original metal sheets that are printed in the Torcalym, rolling them up into large cylinders. The interpretations made by the Votrian Synod are also stored here, often on metal or stone tablets. In addition to things produced by the Votrians themselves, they collect all forms of writing made by other cultures, and this takes up a considerable part of the Athenaeum. Anything from religious texts and philosophies, to poems stories or songs is of value to the keepers, as they pride themselves on their vast stores of knowledge.

'tis only logical

Founding Date

No-one knows for sure, though they started appearing in outside societies around 500 A.E

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Alternative Names

The Cryptics

Demonym

Votrian

Power Structure

Unitary state

Economic System

Command/Planned economy

Currency

The Votrians have no currency of their own, but value Etherium above all else when trading with outsiders.

Major Exports

In very rare cases some nations have been allowed to hire or buy Morlusks. Other than that, Votrians sell their Etherstorm predictions, which are highly valued in other nations.

Major Imports

Etherium the most important resource for Votria, and is the bulk of what they trade for. In the absence of Etherium, they have been known to accept various works of literature, oftentimes old texts containing myths and legends.

Legislative Body

Fractions of the Arcanym

Judicial Body

The Votrian Synod

Neighboring Nations

• Liyanor (NFP)
• Marquadhia