Your Heritage

1. Your History

1.1 The Exodus

    This world was first settled in year 0 by people from the planet Vilis.  Before that they had come from the Sword World Gungnir.  They were unhappy with life on Vilis because the planet was not being governed properly, and so they set out to find a new home.  Digitis, as this world is called by offworlders -- and by our ancestors -- was not colonized and yet could support life.
    The government of Vilis was glad to see our people leave -- they wanted to impose their own rule on our laws, and our people kept pointing out the flaws in the Vilisian way of life.
    Our people bought a fleet of fifty-seven trading ships, and made their way to their new home, bartering their possessions for fuel and spares to keep the ships flying.  Even so, three ships were lost on the way.

1.2 The Landing

    By the time the Fifty-Four reached our system, the ships were in poor shape.  Many would never be able to fly again.  So they picked a landing site by the forests near the equator, near to the mountains, and south of the Great Gap.  The place was chosen for its protection from possible storms and because there was a clear area inshore, with natural building materials available.  That clear area was of course a Scar, and what they thought of as building materials were forest stalks.
    The first settlers proceeded to build First City on the waterfront.  Examinations had already been held on the voyage, and so they could start building as soon as they landed.  The first buildings were erected from materials they had brought with them.  First City was powered by the fusion generators from the Fifty-Four.
    It was important to our ancestors that our world would be independent and self-sufficient, so as soon as the houses were complete they started building industry.  Factories were set up to build the tools that would build new factories from local materials, and which could build mining gear to get those local materials.

1.3 The Exploration

    The planners had chosen five as the ideal number of cities.  The sites would be chosen after surveying the world in more detail.  So they took spares from the ships that would not fly, and repaired the ones that would, removing all the parts that they no longer needed.
    The ships then set out to explore the planet.  From First City they first went to find the metal and natural energy that would be needed to build the factories and new cities.
    In the southwest, they found rich supplies of metal in the broken lands near the south pole, and vast oil reserves in the plains nearby.  So right away the next two city sites were chosen.  Brodha would be built on the coast near the oil fields, where there was also good land for farming.  Sloriay would be built in the broken lands themselves, where the metal ore would be mined and processed, and rock quarried to build the road between the two cities.  They would use floating ships to carry the oil and raw metal from Brodha to First City.
    That meant they would need many ships.  The harbor at First City was not big enough to hold all the ships they needed, and so the planners chose the fourth city site.  On the western coast of the promontory to the southwest of First City was a huge natural harbor, protected from weather and not needing any work to make it useful for an enormous port.  They decided that this would be where they wanted any offworlders to land, so that they could berth in the harbor rather than build landing fields.  So they followed the fashion of their ancestors and called the city Down Port.  They would also move the government there when the city was built.
    Other ships had searched to the southeast and found vast grasslands.  Here they would build a city for farmers, inland so it could serve them well.  This city would be Sirrily.  A road would be built to the sea and a small port constructed so that their food could be shipped all over the world.

1.4 The Killing

    Until now, everyone lived at First City.  The miners, the oilmen, and the farmers took their new equipment and moved out to their city sites to start work, while the industrialists stayed at First City ready to build equipment for Down Port when they received the materials from Sloriay.
    In the meantime, First City needed more space and more building materials. They had already been taking wood from the huge wall at the edge of the forest, but it was hard to break free and they needed much more.  They had not yet tried to go into the forest -- except for those who had run away to live a life of nature and were never seen again.
    They had already seen that where the ships had been flying over the forest, the trees had started to collapse and lose their strength, falling to the ground and starting to rot.  The shockwave in the air above the canopy seemed to have damaged the leaves somehow and had caused the trees to die from the top down.  For many kilometers in the direction of Sirrily, the forest was falling away.  The trees where the leaves had not been disturbed were still strong, and the new open ground was rich with vegetation.  At the edges, the withering trees were starting to form a wall like the one around First City.
    The builders decided to collect building material here.  They wanted a large supply so that they could ship it to build houses at Down Port.  They planned to clear the wall from the edge of the forest, and then cut trees back before a new wall could form.  They would clear land to expand First City, leave good farming areas, and gather wood for building.
    So they took explosives that were now made in Sloriay, and blew up the hard wall.  Cutting machines moved into position against the strong wet wind, and started clearing the trees rapidly.  As they cleared them out, the wind died down and dried out, and work became easier.
    After several months, there began to be problems.  The trees they were cutting were wilting before they could get to them, and ships on the route to Sirrily reported that the whole forest was starting to wilt.  The farmers found that in the dry thin air, the soil that was left from the clearing was blowing away in the wind, and all that would grow was thin scrub.  The Forest between Great Gap and the mountains was dead.

1.5 The Building

    The city building continued.  Materials from Sloriay were used to build factories at First City, which used local materials and tools to build factories for Down Port.  Once the new factories were working, the first ones that had been made with offworld tools were broken up and used as scrap.  Soon the new factories built refineries for Brodha, and power plants to run on the oil, and the last of the fusion generators was shut down.
    Huge sea-going ships were built at Down Port, and sea lanes were set up between the cities.  Finally the last spaceships could be taken apart.  Our world was truly independent.

1.6 The Sheriffs

    The forests had not been forgotten.  While our people settled in the southern hemisphere, in 241 some brave explorers left First City to sail to the land across the Great Gap, which was still all forest.  They were led by Gregory Valanda, who believed that there had to be a way to enter the forest without killing it.  They decided to make an airlock through the forest wall.  They drilled through a short way, enough to fit an airlock in the hole.  They then worked by hand, digging through the wall, and passing everything through the airlock.
    After weeks of work, they broke through into the forest.  Gregory Valanda stepped through and was the first to stand on an undisturbed forest floor.  He breathed in the rich moist air, and pronounced, "I swear I shall protect this forest, keep it safe, and live in harmony with all that is here."  Thus was born the oath of the Sheriffs.  Gregory Valanda named this forest "Cormor" after his mother, and on his return to First City set up the forest administration there.  He was appointed the first Sheriff of Cormor.
    He returned to the Cormor Forest in 243, this time with all the equipment he needed to live there for several years.  He did so, studying the life of the forest, and practicing farming and construction that were harmless to the land.  It was at this time that he discovered that each forest was a single organism, a single plant which spread through the ground and through the air for thousands of kilometers.
    He again returned to First City, and this time presented a plan to assign Sheriffs for all the forests of the northern hemisphere (for there were none in the south except the first forest, and it had died long before).  He presented the material for a competency exam, and as a result the other seven Sheriffs were appointed.  All have as their duty the stewardship of their forest.

1.7 The World Today

    Our world today continues the tradition of our ancestors.  We are independent and self-sufficient, with industry and farming in the south, and the forests under the protection of the Sheriffs in the north.  Railways have been built all over the world to replace the first roads, high in the air to protect the land underneath.  Bridges have even been built across the Great Gap, and railways streak their way over the Forests to the Forest Homes.  The vision of a world of five cities, governed properly, has been realised.

2. Your Government

2.1 The Principle

Government should be performed by those who do it best.

2.2 The Practice

    Examinations test the competency of all those who serve.  No-one is allowed a job at which he is not competent.  Should a job become vacant, it is passed on to the next heir in line, if he is competent.  If he should fail, it is opened to every citizen.  The job will be assigned to the highest qualified applicant.

2.3 The Ripple

    If a man accepts a new job, he must leave his former job.  That former job is open to every citizen, and will in turn be assigned to the highest qualified applicant.

2.4 The Citizens

    Citizens are all those who accept our ways and laws and commit to residence on our world for life.  Janns, being descendents of those who ran from First City, are not citizens and may not hold jobs; they must live the life of nature that they have chosen, and may not leave the Forest in which they reside.

3. Your Culture

3.1 The Language

    Our ancestors who settled here spoke Anglic, but you must remember that our world is founded on independence and self-sufficiency.  Having a primary language that is borrowed from other worlds does not satisfy that.  So while we learn and use Anglic in our lives every day, it is not our primary language.
    Our own language is taken from the speech and writing of the Janns.  Their language and script does not resemble any other language in the universe.  Their ancestors wanted to start a natural life anew, and so did not speak, read, or write in the presence of their children.  Those children grew up inventing their own language and writing, which they taught to their own children and so on down the generations.
    While the Janns are too primitive to be civilized, the Jannish language and script is a unique product of your world.  So when you use Jannish, you do so independent of any outside culture, and thus are reminded constantly of your self-sufficiency.  Use Jannish with pride, and do not be discouraged at its difficulty.

3.2 The Ygellity

    Every citizen must live with the principle of The Ygellity.  This states that every citizen has his place, and no place is more or less important than any other.  The Sheriff of Cormor and the sewage tank scrubber are of equal standing.  No citizen on our world is inferior, and no citizen is superior.  All are qualified for their jobs, and so all perform for the greater benefit of us all.
    Even the citizens who are not qualified for any job are living by The Ygellity.  Those citizens are maintaining The Ygellity in their own way, by not taking a job that is beyond their competence.  Thus their contribution to our society is no less or no greater than anyone else's.
    Never forget The Ygellity.  It is every citizen's duty to dedicate their life to The Ygellity.

3.3 The Pietiir

    The Pietiir is the opposite consequence of The Ygellity.  This states that a citizen who is not qualified for his job is a traitor to society.  To maintain The Ygellity he must resign immediately or be living under The Pietiir.  A citizen who does not take any job when one for which he is qualified exists is also a traitor to society and living by the principle of The Pietiir.
    Never forget The Pietiir.  It is every citizen's duty to dedicate their life to the eradication of The Pietiir.

3.4 The Janns

    The Janns have neither The Ygellity nor The Pietiir.  While they may be despised for not having The Ygellity, they must never be respected for not having The Pietiir.  The Janns are too primitive to understand higher concepts, good or bad.  In this they are like animals: they can act good or bad, but do not understand the meaning of either.  As do animals, they merely exist from day to day, with no purpose or civility, no past, and no future.  They are not citizens and never will be.  They have no rights and no place in our society.
    Do not waste sympathy on the Janns.  Their ancestors chose their way of life for them, and they live it to the full to this day.  From those who ran away from First City, they have devolved so far that they are no longer human.  Do not make the mistake of applying human standards to them.

3.5 The Offworlders

    Those who visit our world are to be treated as guests.  Be generous and friendly to them, because while they rarely live by The Ygellity, they know no better.  Be proud of what we have built here, and how we have achieved the perfect society, but do not preach.  Let them discover in their own time what we have here, so that they will come willingly and with sincerity.
    At the same time, be on your guard.  Offworlders often try to convince us that their way of life is better, that their technology is better, that their goods are better.  They are not better, just different.  There is nothing wrong with owning offworld goods, but remember independence and self-sufficiency, and use them only in addition to, not instead of, our own products.  Do not base any part of your life on offworld materials.