Welcome to Gaia! ::

History in Brief
Centuries ago the inhabitants of Axant managed to pollute the atmosphere of the planet so thoroughly that a massive storm formed, covering virtually the entire planet. With the surface virtually uninhabitable those that survived the first strike of the storm were driven underground and forced to rebuild everything they could not save from square one. The largest settlements were rebuilt in massive caverns and tunnels carved out to connect the cities together. Over the years they developed the technology to harness the lightning striking the surface and channel it safely for use in the cities and along the underground highways. With this new power they have gone from simply surviving beneath the surface to thriving- power allowed them to return to their previous level of technology and surpass it.

Axantians
Whether naturally conceived and born or engineered all Axantians will still have some common traits- pale skin and eyes (typically blue or grey, though there is the occassional green). By contrast the hair runs very vibrant shades of what we might consider natural colors- red, brown, blonde and variants thereof. As far as build goes there are not many truly obese Axantians, but there are a fair few that are in somewhat rough shape due to dependence on technology. Height for adult females typically ranges from 5'8" - 5'10" and 5'9" - 6'2" for males.

Resources, Government, etc.
While all major cities produce a bit of everything each one has its specialty that it provides in trade for other resources- food, manufactured goods, machines, other technology. This way if something happens in the way of a natural disaster and a city is cut off or destroyed the rest are not totally crippled from the loss.

Most of the major decisions on Axant are made by the Council, which is made up of the citys' 'sverel' (mayor/leader)- however the major guild powers on Axant have been known to influence things from time to time. (Not unlike major corporations swaying votes.)

As far as court systems go it is largely like the traditional north american court systems with a judge and jury. Their is no real prison however- light offenders serve community time and anyone guilty of what would be deemed a greater crime is led to the surface and left there to the mercy of the great storm.

The Storm Children
Machines are not infallible, eventually they will break down. The storm children are those Axantians who are the mechanics for the equipment on the surface. They live almost above ground in shelters specially design to protect from the great storm. It is their life's work to make sure the grounding rods and the other harnassing equipment is kept in working order. They command a great deal of respect among other Axantians because not everyone would be brave enough to endure life on the surface.