FrivYeti/2eUndercity
Back to The Lunars of Second Edition
The Undercity
Weaklings and the fat sit on top of the city, and imagine that they understand it. But beneath the fat dogs and pampered pets of the world, a different civilization bubbles. Primal despite its technology, the city is a place of survival, of tribes in the guise of businesses, lords, and street gangs. And beneath it all, the Undercity waits. And the piper will call the tune.
History
Deep in the Wyld, many Lunars began to question the wisdom of retreat. The Sidereals had turned the mechanisms of cities against them, but that was no reason to abandon the world to them. Instead, as they prepared, these Lunars travelled the Unshaped, seeing the divisions that existed even in formless Chaos.
As the Shogunate faltered, these Lunars began to slip in. Slowly, one by one, they made their way to the great cities of the Shogunate, and laid the groundwork for their true goals; the fall of the corrupt and those who would take what was not earned. They worked for the overthrow of the weak, supporting those who seemed strong. The Contagion set their plans back, as they fought and died alongside their urban tribes, but they have recovered.
Now, every metropolis in the Realm boasts an Undercity, somewhere where the gangs and businesses have advisors and leaders who are not what they appear. Their very existance is a secret that the Sidereals, as a whole, have yet to truly understand. The threat that they bring is invisible, but when they are done, the world will have changed without anyone being aware of it.
Organization
The Undercity works on a careful network of favours and understandings. The favours of elders are more powerful, and thus they can acquire more support, but any member of the Undercity who goes back on his word will find himself quickly outcast, cut off from all support from fellows, even attacked. Manipulation and deceit are common, but never to family.
The Undercity extends its network of favours into the mortal world, although most mortals are never aware of exactly who they owe. In particular, criminal gangs, invisible minorities, slaves, and those who are unjustly oppressed find themselves the target of Undercity recruitment; either out of idealism or power-lust, these Lunars seek to turn the weak into a weapon against the strong.
Approximately one-third of Lunars find themselves in the Undercity. First Age Lunars such as Lilith and younger Lunars like Seven Devils Clever consider themselves members, spreading and changing by their presence the nature of the world.
Goals
The goal of the Undercity is to remove the entire concept of aristocracy and hereditary power from the face of Creation. Power, either physical, social, or mental, should be gauged based on personal abilities, and connections should be forged on the ability to get things done. The Undercity intends to change the Realm, and the many nations of Creation, into places where the deserving are given power and the weak are crushed, but hope to do so generally without overly violent struggle. Ultimately, their goals are destined to bring them into conflict with their fellows, but for the time being they support the other Lunar factions.
