“In a world so focused on preserving the past, it’s far too easy to forget to look to the future. But worry not, dear friends, for this is about to change. No more feeble fables and futile faith. It is time for testing, innovation, and discovery.”

–Excerpt from the Founding Speech of Mayton, the first King of Mayton Greynes.

North of the Archive lies the modernist “utopia”, Mayton Greynes. The state is built with one thing in mind - innovation. Instead of the usual windy roads and oddly-shaped buildings, Mayton Greynes is a purpose-built grid of perfectly horizontal and vertical roads, with modern high-rise buildings on either side. Slicing through the center lies the Giant Canal, one of the many feats of Greynesian engineering.

Although a hub of pioneering research in most subject areas, outsiders would describe the culture of Mayton Greynes as “scientific”. All focus is on discovery rather than preserving history, with the ultimate goal being aiding future reform. In particular, the focus is on empirical discovery – stories, myths and religion as a whole are viewed as insignificant to development and often overlooked.

Despite not inventing the internet, (the Archive boasts that achievement), Mayton Greynes has become the primary manufacturer of communications technology. Therefore, the internet plays a huge role in the daily life of the civilians of Mayton Greynes. Almost everything is paperless, text communication through messaging apps is normalised and most buildings in the state require a digital login to enter.

In order to avoid the leaking of private (profitable) information to other states, the Mayton Greynes government has mandated corporations keep a high level of control over the internet. As a result, online privacy is often not an expected freedom. This control is stricter than the Archive's general control – all legal websites require a personal login to access, and messages containing certain “key words” are flagged and checked. However, all of this has always been public knowledge from the internet’s conception, and is generally accepted to be a favourable outcome. Uncontrolled forums do exist in legal loopholes, and tend to be used to convey anti-government opinions or tips on how to break the law. Some of these sites are set up by frustrated students or citizens, but most have unknown backgrounds.

Power within Mayton Greynes falls to those with information and money. As a result, criminal punishments often involve fines or the removal of access to certain sources of information, including removing password permissions for certain buildings and websites. Physical violence is not used to enforce the law, nor is it used to break the law – within the culture of the world as a whole, violence is rarely viewed as an effective method of exerting power, and Mayton Greynes is no exception in this.

Ever since its inception, 200 years ago, Mayton Greynes has been an absolute monarchy, ruled by the Mayton family, up until the current King, Alden.

As this is now the 200th anniversary, there are frequent celebrations and royal speaches.

Aiding in enforcing the King’s rule is the Glorybound Luminance as the Unified Magistrates of Mayton (known as GLUMM for short). This is a group of corporations, individuals and other entities, mostly focused on enforcing laws and matters of national importance.

Most people’s interactions with GLUMM will consist of GLUMM enforcers; who can be found throughout the state, as tax collectors, judges and bureaucrats. GLUMM will also often be seen promoting the king’s reforms and revoking information access to those who oppose it.

Mayton Greynes’ focus on innovation at all costs has cultivated a thriving capitalistic economy.

The largest of these companies is The Complex. Built up over many years, The Complex has grown both in and beyond Mayton Greynes. The company’s eclectic business strategy has pushed The Complex to the entity with the largest turnover, though GLUMM is generally considered more powerful. The CEO, Lars D. Perks, is a household name, known as somewhat of a counter to the royal family and GLUMM.

Another important company is the aptly named P.O.R.T. (short for Port Operatives and Regulatory Trust) which was responsible for the Giant Canal and is a common source of zero-hour contracts for the citizens of Mayton Greynes.

“If you want more than one job you’ve got to have at least some sort of inter-corporate qualification”

Lutown student on “Why did you choose to study at Lutown”

Lutown University is a thriving campus of students and academics from all over the world, centring on pioneering research, which is used to aid Mayton Greynes' progression. A variety of subjects are studied here, including the classics such as science or mathematics, to the more niche subjects such as archaeology and literature.

In an attempt to please both the Archive and the state, an agreement was reached that Lutown would share their research with the Archive after some delay (usually a few months); giving the corporations time to monopolise any new market before the research became public knowledge. Overseeing this process is the head of the university, Professor Juniper Knight, a stern former Archive worker. Everything published at the university must be proofread and reviewed by Professor Knight, and if not, the consequence is immediate expulsion from the university.

Due to these agreements, Lutown and the Archive have a long-standing relationship. The state and the Archive are generally cooperative as a result of this intellectual link, although there is occasional debate regarding data protection.

Mayton Greynes has a strong mercantile relationship with the Nemeus Archipelago, mostly through P.O.R.T trading for natural resources such as bronze. This model has led to domestic production in Nemeus being decreased in favor of quicker ways to make money via outsourcing, which, according to the definition of “economic success” developed by the Greynesian government, has strengthened both economies greatly.

Despite the fact that Endring's gods are divided on what relations to pursue with Mayton Greynes, Endring is widely hostile to Mayton Greynes's protection of their monopoly over networking equipment production; as Mayton Greynes weaponises their control to exert influence over other nations, which has led to the relationship between Endring and Mayton Greynes becoming sour.

Although “perfect” on paper, Mayton Greynes has its flaws – by constantly looking to advance the state, the ordinary people are often forgotten. Due to weak labour protection laws, many people work for several different companies in an attempt to “diversify their income”.

Many people who cannot afford to live in the modern buildings live in “New Buildings”, which are colloquially known as “Pockets”. These buildings, although modern and clean on the outside, are packed with small apartments owned by the royals. Over time, these apartments have become overcrowded, as the ability to pay rent became harder.

Dissatisfied with this socio-economic divide, over the course of Mayton Greynes’ history, there have been several non-violent attempts to overthrow the monarch. However, each time, these attempts have failed, which has led to the general impression that rebellion is a fruitless endeavour and it is best to work with the monarchy rather than oppose it. This doesn’t mean that everyone agrees with this impression though…