Spires  E894789-2

          Size: Large : D=12,800km              Atmosphere: Dense Tainted
          Hydrographics: 40%                    Population: 40 million
          Government:Civil Service Bureaucracy  Law Level: High
          Tech Level: 2 (Circa 1600)            Star port:  Frontier

World Discription:
	Spires is a very new planet, only a few primitive plants had evolved 
by -1385 when the planet was colonized.  The Second Imperium seeded the 
planet with modified versions of Terran plants and animals.  These species 
were genetically engineered to better survive in the dense atmosphere.  
	Spires is mostly land, with 4 small seas, and dozens of large lakes 
scattered about.  There is the High Sea, near the north pole, Two Middle 
Seas, called the Upper Middle Sea, and the Lower Middle Sea and a Low Sea 
near the southern pole.  These seas are fresh water and are the only 
significant area where native species survive. 
    The planet currently is in an age of extreme vulcanism, with hundreds of
active volcanoes. Earthquakes are also common. The volcanoes spew tons of
rock and ash into the air tainting the atmosphere.  Visitors often remark
about the smell of the place, the volcanoes also spew sulfur compounds into
the air, giving the entire planet the aroma of rotten eggs.  This volcanism
has also created a great deal of obsidian, with which the populace turns into
many different types of tools.
	Most Spiri live around the Middle Seas, but Spiri have explored their 
entire planet. Spiri who seek isolation have settled in the far reaches of 
the planet.  The area around the Middle Seas is temperate plains, excellent 
for farming.

History:
	Spires was colonized during the Rule of Man, by settlers from Terra 
itself. During the Long Night, their civilization collapsed and they 
regressed to a very primitive state. Since then their technological 
development has been hampered by the fact that there are very few workable 
metal deposits, and that the planet lacks fossil fuels.  When the planet was
discovered by the expanding Third Imperium, it was interdicted.  The Scout
Service thought the planet was an interesting anthropology setup, and wanted
to observe it develop.  When the Dawn League surveyed the system they
discovered the primitive Spiri. Unlike the Imperium the Dawn League didn't
think humans made "interesting experiments" and they contacted the Spiri. The
Spiri were delighted to find out that other humans existed; all knowledge of
Terra and the Rule of Man had become the basis for myths and legends.  The
Spiri were quick to join the Dawn League and many individuals wanted to help
explore the stars.

Government:
	Spires is governed by the Guilds, the Guilds were set up millenia
ago, as a way to regulated trade.  Since then they have grown in power and in 
scope. They now regulate almost all aspects of life.  The Guilds have grown
into a sizable, bureaucracy.  It can take several months for news and 
information to travel from one side of the planet to the other, because of 
this the Guilds are slow to react to unexpcted problems.  
    To help solve this problem, every 10 years, the finest men and women 
come to Yuko, the capital of Spires, There they compete in the Contest of 
Champions.   The Contest of Championsis a series of races, 
athletic competitions, and mental puzzles.  The winner is made Archon, or 
supreme ruler of Spires.  The Archon is the nominal head of the Guilds, but
has little to do with day to day business, but when a decision needs to be
made, instead of forming a committee, the Archon decides.  He is kept up to
date on issues, by a council of advisors.  The council is made up of the
other top contestants in the Contest.  The Archons from previous years 
wander the planet as roving problem solvers. 

Culture:
	Most Spiri are very spiritual, and spiritual matters are given 
considerable thought.  All Spiri are given a basic education.  This 
education usually lasts 5 years. It concentrates on teaching students basic 
mathematics, and how to read and write.  A small amount of history and 
retoric are also taught.  The ability to think for oneself is instilled in 
all children at an early age.  The education starts at age 5, by the time 
the students turn 10, they are needed to work in the fields.  

	The population of Spiri lives in many small villages, and a few large 
cities of several hundred thousand. Agriculture is the primary industry of 
the villiages. Each of the small villages shares a common religious or 
spiritual belief.  Religion on Spires is very sectarian, when an 
irreconciliable disagreement over a spiritual matter arise, the solution, 
usually involves the minority leaving the community and setting up a new
village somewhere else.  Off world anthropologists suggest that this also 
helps allieviate population pressure.

	The cities are much more metropolitian, they began as small towns on 
important trade routes.  Thousands of people eventually came to live and to
prosper as merchants.  The mixing of people of many different faiths, 
created some conflict, but for the most part, the Spiri are nonviolent when 
it comes to Spiritual matters.  To help insure that disagreements remain 
non-violent, the Guild has prohibited the carrying of weapons.  

	In the capital of Yuko, the Guilds have formed a center for higher 
learning, the Academy of Higher Thought.  Here the best and the brightest 
Spiri are educated. Children who have excelled in the basic education are 
sent to the Academy to learn more.  The Academy develops both the mind and 
the body.  Students are taught philosophy, history, logic, mathematics and 
what science the Spiri know. The body is developed through athletics and 
through the martial arts. Many Contest winners have received an education
here.	 
 
Society:
	The Spiri are a very spiritual people.  They follow many different
creeds and beliefs, but the most common is a version of Plato's idea of
forms, mutated through 5000 years of history.  The basic principle of the 
theory of forms states that for all objects there exsists on another plane,
the perfect form of that object. When one person says "chair," another knows
what the first means, even though they might be thinking of another variety
of chair.  It is because thjey both have a common language that "chairness"
implies the same sort of object. A form, then is an extra-planar perfect
definition.

    As to the radical variant of Platonic thought, it refers specifically
to some of the conclusions of The Republic. There, Plato argued that the 
perfect form of government would be a benevolent dictatorship. Now, this 
obviously is in conflict with the nature of the Spiri.  Therefore, the 
Spiri accept Plato's Theory of Forms, his Rhetoric Style, and the Socratic 
Method, but reject the benevolent dictatorship.

    The Spiri view psionics as the ability to work on the Plane of Forms. 
They might view the benevolent dictatorship as possible of the Plane of 
Forms, but not in a flawed universe with flawed people. They would argue 
that a philosopher-king, even if he understood the Form of the Good, would 
be tainted by an imperfect universe.

	The Spiri believe that Plato was Philospher King of the ancient 
civilization of Atlantis.  The Atlantis myth is a myth of mystically 
powerful people who, for a while, brought much good. Later, they became 
despotic. The exact location of Atlantis is quite disputed, most Spiri
believe that Atlantis is on the mythical home of the Spiri, Earth.  Others
believe that the Spiri were always on Spires, and that Atlantis is hiding 
somewhere on the planet.  These Spiri have set off on many great quests to
find Atlantis.  

	Once Spires joined the Reformation Coalition, it learned the truth,
that Earth is not Atlantis, but people, technologically advanced people, 
but people none the less. This event has precipitated a spiritual crisis on 
Spires and some religions would have ended, or become more fundamental in 
their denial of reality. There are a number of cults which deny that Earth 
is the mythical Atlantis and would go off in search of the true Atlantians.  			 

Spires only had a fragment of the Dialogues of Plato.  The copies that they
did have have been copied and recopied, translated and retranslated over the
millenia, the result is quite different than the orignals.  Now that the
planet has contact with other planets, it is able to get copies that are
closer to the originals.  Many people have expressed an intrest in reading
the "new" dialogues, and the Academy has bought many copies from off world
publishers and is distributing them across the coutnry.  They are also
sending wandering techers, to discuss the significance of the new writings.
Other cults deny the new "rediscovered dialogues" and consider them false.
The Academy is viewed by these people as either, in the best case,
misguided, and in the worst, heretics.

Psi and the Spiri
    The presence of psi among the Spiri is rare, and a trait which is
passed in a matrilinear fashion, but only manifests itself in males of
the Spiri. The families which possessed this trait quickly became
important, and in a manner of speaking, the local gentry. Not that
there are any classes among the Spiri, but the families possessing this
trait came to be the mediators of disputes. The pursuit of psi powers
among the Spiri has led to almost a cessation of aggressive tendencies
and an almost fanatical devotion to development of the mind and
philosophy. This focus on the development of the mind and the body has led
to the Great Houses leading an aestic lifestyle, and they tend to have few
children.  So, despite there power, the Psi among the Spiri do not often 
hold important posts in the government or bureaucracy, although they are
usually treated with a certain degree of deference by all.

	The Great Houses of the Spiri believe that the psi ability originated
among citizens of the long fabled Lost Continent of Atlantis. Their
philosophical leanings are a radical variant of Platonic thought. The
technology level is low by choice. While they accept the theories
of forms, the reject the benevolent dictator on empirical grounds:
there never has been one. Rather, they favor individual freedoms above
all else and most of the government is geared towards protecting
individual freedoms {6}.

	They are aware of the fear (and possibly hatred) that many
outworlders feel towards individuals possessing psionic abilities. They are
therefore careful in their use of it - only using it when necessary and for
good.  Other Spiri know about, but do not understand their abilities, but
the Great Houses leave them alone, so they return the favor.  Some
intellectuals have tried to research psionics.  The Great Houses don't mind
this, every person much pursue his own destiny, and possibly an non-psionic
will have insights that a psionic individual would not.

      The Spiri believe that outworlders place too much emphasis on 
technology and not enough on development of the mind. They fear the 
Oriflammi and their Centrist policies as it could change the very nature of 
Spiri Society. As such, they ally themselves very closely with the 
Federalists, and quietly enjoy the actions of those among Helios.

by Lewis Roberts (lewis@chara.gsu.edu, www.chara.gsu.edu\~lewis\roberts.html)
and Brian Mason (mason@chara.gsu.edu)