[Lunatis] Part 1 - an overview

While Golarion is handy because it's just all there, frankly I think it's a stupid setting. It just tries to do too much. I could just use some other setting, but I think I'm just about as inclined to just start from scratch and do something of my own.
There was something I had in mind a long while back, so now's probably a good time to solidify things. This is going to be part 1 of a probably long series of posts to cover this setting.

This universe is small. Tiny, by most universal standards. Small enough that it would be feasible to travel from one end to the other using conventional travel. And quite possible: there's no space. There is breathable atmosphere throughout the entire universe.

In the centre of the universe is the primary landmass, home to the mortal masses. Around this are an enormous number of moons. Each moon is the domain of a member of the Lunar Council, with a size proportional to the power of the member. The smallest have diameters of only a kilometre and belong to minor members of the Lunar Council, while the largest, such as the sun, have diameters of around 100 kilometres and belong to the most influential council members. Orbits can be stable, or quite erratic, or in some cases geostationary.

The aforementioned Lunar Council are basically gods, although they tend not to consider themselves such, and tend to interact with the mortal realm in person much more than conventional fantasy gods. Indeed, most people will meet the major members in person several times throughout their lives. Or at least an aspect of them. In part, this is how a proportion of the economy works: people do favours for the gods in exchange for some other thing they need. Usually the favours revolve around gaining political prestige or discrediting rivals in the complex politics of the Lunar Council (because they can't do these things themselves of course: They have important other matters to attend to and can't be seen interfering with other member's business), but can also include other tasks that they are unable to perform themselves.

Each member of the Lunar Council has a ministry, which is the part or aspect of the universe that they are responsible for. However, due to ancient mutual agreements, they can only actively extend their power in locations where their moon is visible or the moon is visible and obscured by no more than 5 metres of intervening matter. Alternatively, they can also exercise power through magical crystals known as Kyrd. This makes useful Kyrd, such as those that produce light or create food, highly prized. However, since it takes substantial effort for members of the Lunar Council to produce a Kyrd, only the most powerful members of the Lunar Council have Kyrd in common circulation around the mortals.

As with any political organisation, there are factions. These factions are more... violent in their expressions of loyalty than most of us are used to. The factions align with various ideals of how the universe should be run. Major factions are:
Goldcloaks - advocate a single, strong leader to enforce order and allocate everyone to an ideal role for their particular talents.
Greencapes - Everyone gets a say in how the universe is run, with no central body.
Redshirts - The Lunar Council has too much power, and should use their power more to help the 'mortals'
Tophats - Power to those who can seize it, who run it as they see fit.
Fancies - Most of the Lunar Council have no idea about the universe or how it works; the Fancies seek to set everyone to finding out more about it and maybe even pushing the boundaries.
Silver Heart - Turn the universe into a paradise. Relax and have fun thereafter.

At the current time, some of the factions are in open warfare and occupy large portions of the planet. Notably the Silver Heart possess no lands, but are spread throughout the universe.

More to come in more detail.

Onwards to Part 2 - Major Cultures I