Our mileages definitely vary, I think Hallifax is a very, very bad place to be (as a player, not as my character) and would call it a very authoritarian, stern, propaganda-fueled, paranoia-inducing evil. The way its whole system works, I think, is one big instance of "necessary" evil that is horrible in its "rationality" which puts the individual under the group or another individual who is deemed to be more intrinsically important by the virtue of increadibly frustrating bureaucratic laws which the common citizenry have no real control over in any situations. Also, caste system.

It may not seem like such a bad city because of the shiny exterior, but I really think the subtle implications of such a system even existing is horrible.

But hey, popular opinion shapes how people roll with faction RP, and I realize that my interpretion is not the most common one.

EDIT:

Additionally, Hallifax does strive to be particularily good. It attempts to spread the virtues of Science and Art (which are the highest values it holds) to the rest of the Basin. In the end, what Hallifax is trying to do is their own strain of "the greater good". As First Amongst Equals, naturally.

It is all about equality, art and science. Everyone ends up equally opressed by authority in the end

Pffft, if that's true people might actually stop calling mag evil for a while! I would assume they still do anyways.

Agreeing with llesvelt, you should be very afraid of Hallifax. It's like a child trying to do good. You know they are evil little monsters, yet they will believe thoroughly that they are right thing. But it IS fun to role play.

Now i'm not sure if anyone has mentioned religion. But that is something interesting to check up into.

But with Tenebrae might as well tell you what I experienced right?
Celest, in it's beginnings is religiously ruled. There was some ooc immersion that was put into it. I was tried and tested and kicked out of the city as a novice because one of the Gods thought I was an alt of some guy in Mag, trying to spy on the city (still pissed off about that as an original newbie, no apology was given.. meh). It was a serious city, not sure about it now. Yet many of it's members defected to Mag and carried it's seriousness there.

Got sent to Serenwilde by Lady Shinza, and found it more laid back there. Glomdoring was still not out yet. They carried a more neutral state there, but it's either you are running through the woods with panpipes or you'll get tired of it. Mag was also declaring war on serenwilde every so often, just to keep them in line.

Glomdoring came out, members of mag, serenwilde and celest joined in. You have to remember the best thing about Lusternia, and maybe one of the bad things is the amount of god/goddess involvement. it's not like imperian were mortals take control over everything, but it gives a very nice room to try things out. Glom is joked as the emo commune of the basin, but it is a bit more than that:

Everyone sees themselves as good by the way:
Celest is was seen as the goodie-two shoes with the inquisition. You can be a goodie two shoes, but still make what others can consider evil mistakes.
Serenwilde can be referred to as the tree-huggers, but that was then maybe. You might like that, you might not.
Glomdoring and Mag
Both are dark, but not everyone who walks in darkness is evil. Just like not all those who walk in light are good.

But you will need to take in account for races to see how the views of each commune and race differs.

Hallifax is law based city, used to be a business - rather than a city.
Gaudiguch is seen at Hallifax as a joke. Raiding there has been easy, though there was an argument that all of Hallifax and Gaudi should just switch places, as it would make more sense.

Now one last city that needs to be mentioned that you could try to join, if the clan is still accepting more people, is Deepnight. You won't have any more skills than what you earned through your previous guilds, but it was built by Ritcher and can be accessed through the aetherplex.

anyways, hope my experiences help you somehow. Goodluck.

New Celest is Resurgence of the Light, the city which intends to bring the world back into the loving embrace of the Supernals, restore the Celestine Empire to its former greatness and provide a safe and unified future for the Basin of Life, free of wars and the horrors of the Soulless.

New Celest is a band of corrupt rebels who reject the former Emperor Ladantine's authority, prefer that people be killed and have their bodies destroyed than to see them revived by the powers of the Taint. They want to commit genocide against the viscanti and illithiod races, killing innocents and combantants alike.
---
Magnagora is the Engine of Transformation, a glorious nation that has cast off the shackles of prophecy and outdated religious law to embrace a new future, one of industry and of the blessings of the Taint. Death itself has died in Magnagora, the dead walk among the living and the life eternal is open to all who will swear themselves over to the Engine.

Magnagora is an authoritarian state governed by undying lich-lords and their horrific demonic Gods. Serfs and can be enslaved, murdered or tortured at the whim of their undead masters while cannibalism and countless other excesses are practiced by a nobile class thats hold themselves above the law. The very soil of Magnagora is corrupt and touched by the Soulless Gods.
---
Hallifax, the Beacon of Harmony, is an orderly social community where the highest positions are reserved for the brightest minds. Supersition has been replaced by science and art, music and culture are pursued rather than military expansion. The small are cared for by the great, the poor by the rich and the weak by the strong.

Hallifax is a bureaucratic, legalistic nightmare where the common man has become a slave to the State and the State has become a God. Lives, livelihood and liberty have been sacrificed on the alter of the atheistic, materialistic, authoritarian ideology that is Collectivism.
---
Gaudiguch is the City of Freedom and the City of Enlightenment. "Do what thou wilt and let that be the whole of the law." is the creed of Gaudiguch. The freefolk of that city are at liberty to pursue any ideal or philosophy that they please, so long as they do not harm the city itself. Gaudiguch is rich with elightened individuals and freedoms.

Gaudiguch is a cesspool of illogical extremism and mindless debauchery. They are ruled by the mob and the mob is ruled by a dozen demagogues each arguing for some mad scheme or philosophy. Any sort of vice imgainable and many not imaginable by any sane mind can be found in Gaudiguch for a price. The masses are keept distracted by this mindless revelry as the powerful plot to rule the Basin.
---
Glomdoring is the Heart of Darkness, the Forest Without Mercy. The history of Glomdoring is a history of successes. It has always ruled the Basin of Life and will always rule it. Nothing matters but Glomdoring. Glomdoring is beautiful and perfect and powerful beyond all comapare. It has never been tainted and it has never been defeated. Glory be to Glomdoring.

Glomdoring is a pathetic mockery of Gloriana, corrupted and nearly destroyed by the Taint Wars. The ground of Glomdoring is infertile and life only survives there by adapting to the Taint that scourged it. The commune is ruled by madmen and fanatics, who refuse to accept that Glomdoring was ever tainted or that it could have ever been tainted. The refuse to see the truth: That Gloriana is dead and Glomdoring is but a festering corpse.
---
Serenwilde, the Grace of the Moonhart, was established by Ellindel, the first wiccan. The Elder Gods have placed the Nature Spirits as the protectors of the forest and Maeve herself granted Serenwilde the first Nexus of Power, the Mother Moonhart Tree. With it, Serenwilde will heal the scars left by the Soulless and by civilization, returning the Basin to the idealic paradise that the Elders once knew and loved.

Serenwidle is a barbaric nation of backwards savages, bent on destroying civilization and all progress. They worship mindless beasts and fae that are, in truth, like little children, easily swayed with sweets and kind words to favor any veiwpoint. Maeve is flighty and insane, as often praising the Serenwilde as demanding that they bow down to their enemies. Truly, the Serenwilde is full of weakminded fools.

Why does everyone ignore Gaudiguch's secret society aspect.

1) It is too secret.
2) It does not exist.

To the outside world, both come out to the same thing, so it is easier to pick option #2?

Well, this COULD be an allusion to the secret societies, diamondais.

Also you don't seem to actually have a secret society yet. I know a lot of people in the Illuminati are trying to come up with something for them to keep secret.

Basically this.

Hell, they should incorporate that into their roleplay. It'd be easier to sign a covenant to the effect of "We don't have a secret, but they don't know that!", and then just smile mysteriously when people ask them about it. Even if people claim to know their secrets (or lack thereof!) the Illuminati could nod condescendingly and say "That's what we want you to think." Way less effort, right?

Yeah, Gaudiguch's situation is a classic catch-22: If you advertise your secret society, it is no longer a secret. That makes the theme difficult to bandy about as a key aspect of the city, although referring to it generally in OOC contexts such as this one is a gray area of sorts (the problem being that Lusternia players readily mix their meta-game knowledge with their character's IC knowledge).

Actually, I hope it's option #1 for them. If Gaudiguch has a bona fide secret society going for it IC that few know about (despite the fact that the "secret society theme" is well known in general), kudos to them.

Why is Glomdoring so powerful? What about them has made their commune so succesful? Is it guild skills, force by numbers, or just the will to take over?

Aloysha, your descriptions of the cities/communes is spot on .

As for an imbalance between cities and communes, that would be true if all the cities united and both forests united. Since Mag hates Celest, Gaudi hates Halli, and Seren hates Glom (and all the hate is mutual and reciprocal), it doesn't happen. There have been imbalances at times, but those are player-made alliances that rise and fall, and eventually things change. Every nation (except Halli and Gaudi at this point, because they are new) has been the powerhouse in the game at one or more times, and the cycle will continue.

EDIT:

A mixture of all three. Glomdoring has always had the will to take over, and maybe even the guild skills to do it. But it was definitely the massive, sudden influx of the top combatants in the game that cemented them together. Glom just has too many powerful Demis and Ascendants for anyone else to topple them right now.

A while ago (about 1 real-life year, I think?)*, Glomdoring was not particularly powerful. In fact, it was tread upon and abused by Serenwilde and numerous other organizations. Enemy attacks were relentless and continual; life was difficult. Basically, the commune was in a rut.

A new generation of Glomdoring players (assisted by older players, of course; but the new blood was a key factor) worked their butts off, learned to fight as a team, and rose to the occasion, defending and building up the forest. This was not easy.

The commune's newfound success attracted a number of good fighters from other organizations, who then switched allegiance to Glomdoring. This turned Glomdoring into the zerg-like chipper shredder you see today... although recently I've heard whispers that Glomdoring's power is declining just a tad.




That's the gist of it, anyway, as told to me by someone I consider to be an eminently credible source. Still, it's their opinion, so keep that in mind.

*EDIT: Actually, the revival itself began about 2 RL years ago, I think. What I meant to say was that Glomdoring has only been the 800-pound gorilla for 1 RL year. It took 1 RL year to reach that point.

I wish more in the Serenwilde were like that. Or at least the barbaric savages part.

It is easier to worship bunny-rabbits.

I remember hearing from someone that Serenwilde use to be the big bad super power of Lusternia before Glomdoring.

Yeah, Serenwilde was on top. And then Shuyin left for Glom and half the games combatants followed him eventually, including Viynain.

The two of them being badasses who were raised as True Ascendants by Serenwilde. ):

Fixed!

That's perfect, Aloysha!