Themes: what makes life good, religion, politics, (oc)cult, secrets, looking for a successor
Jean's long life has been full of community service, religious leadership, and a genuine desire to help people. Now, it is nearing its end, but their work is not done; not even close. They have no biological family, but all those who believe are their family in spirit. And it is from this community of believers that they need to choose their successor. There are candidates who might be able fill their shoes, but Jean will have difficult choices to make: and still, there is so much work, so much suffering to help with.
Jean is, of course, not only a priest. In La Cage, even the spiritual leader needs to work with the others and, maybe even more importantly, have fun with the others. It is among their neighbours, with drink or darts in their hand, that Jean takes inspiration for their sermons.
Everybody who lives in La Cage is mostly poor and desperate. The families and professionals living in Apartment Blocks are the ones who really try to keep some semblance of normality in their lives. The Block B consists mostly of tradesmen and people of other desirable professions. People with no exceptional wealth or status, but the ones who are good and honest at their job and are beneficial to the La Cage. Educated, but not burgeois - teacher, nurse, students, social worker or people jilted from Block A. They mostly want to stay far from the troubles and extreme ideologies (to a small degree of success) but are willing to help each other as much as they can - like a big family.
The annual Pétanque Club Final is one of the most-hyped events of the La Cage calendar! Every year, Team Blue and Team Red go head-to-head in… well, what is honestly a pretty chill match complete with good-natured competition, electing the next Club President, and a few drinks in the sunshine. Even though this year’s teams seem to be divided along slightly political lines, there’s no reason to think their wholesome friendships cannot withstand mild disagreements as they have in previous years.
Suzerainists believe in self-governance for Revachol and the very intense need for its independence. They mostly follow right-wing values, some of them are very nostalgic towards pre-Revolution imperium, and some of the Revolutionary communists might find themselves also aligned with this point of view. They are hostile towards the Coalition, partly Moralintern and very much towards corporations. They have a lot of revisionary sentiment.
Suzerainists mostly gather around the leadership of von Bergens, but there is a possibility for some discussion on who is best suited to lead them. They wear a Revachol sun as a symbol of clear allegiance to Revachol.
Globalists are people who mostly believe in some version of the current status quo, want to be under the Coalition control, believe that corporations can be reined in/ controlled/ regulated only by international control, or are not a problem at all. They would mostly tend towards centrist, centre-left ideas and they do not mind things taking quite some time. They wear blue forget-me-nots, showing allegiance to Moralintern and Coalition. At this moment, Globalists are hardly organized. The Moralintern mission in the block is trying to stay away from local politics. Jacqueline Baciu is considered a hero by some, old, washed up, and possibly corrupted by others.
In the darkest of places, people often seek solace in the Innocences. Order of Dolores Dei the Merciful offers a shelter or helping hand to those seeking it, trying their best to cater to the poorest with their charity work. They are apolitical and oppose violence, but their lot is hard and thorny. Most people visit the masses just for the sense of belonging and social aspect, some of the members are true believers, very few are of pure hearts and others just see it as a way to feel better about themselves. Can a real change be made for the people in need, or is it destined to be drowned out by idiots who want to give out pamphlets about Dolores Dei and chess tournaments?
