Perspectives on History     In the previous chapters, an attempt was made to present the history of Lur-Asko in as neutral a way as possible, without a specific factional bias nor any information that is inaccessible to the common person. It presented all major sides of the biggest controversies. Of course, this effort is often not made in-character in Lur-Asko. Instead, the ten philosophies and their associated factions tend to emphasize radically different ideas of history, and take specific sides in the major disagreements. To assist in accurately roleplaying various adherents, a summary is given here of each philosophy's stances.

Nihilism    Despite its status as likely the oldest philosophy, Nihilism makes by far the least assertions about history. As nothing in life has any real meaning, neither does history. Although Enlightened Nihilists warn about the dangers of the Aterr, even they tend to present this in an ideological way rather than by exhaustive historical references to the reign of Imætis. Survivor's Coders, meanwhile, will readily change their opinions based on whatever promotes their survival in the moment, and Mystics consult history books only if they find some sort of emotional enjoyment therein. Broadly, the contradictions and disagreements of history are taken as confirmation of the world's ultimate meaninglessness and impermanence.

Rationalism    Rationalism tends to have the most optimistic view of history. Due to the ideal of Progress, Rationalists believe that society is (or at least can be) always moving forward. They argue that the overall story of history gravitates toward reason, advancement, and responsible freedom.

    The Fall is obviously the most common protest against this optimism. Rationalists typically respond by saying that progress does not mean constant progress - they readily admit there are periods of regression and disaster. They point out that irrational forces led to a compromise of Rationalism in the Third Era; Vanguardists tend to emphasize safeguarding against other philosophies in the future, while Ethicists emphasize internal consistency and foolproofing. Still, even when reason is compromised, they argue that civilization still advances. Although the Fall was an immense setback, it also resulted in a pluralistic society that has resisted draconic assault for centuries, thanks to Eer'Kalla being weakened by the war waged against it by the Alacris. There is no reason that modern Lur-Asko cannot one day develop into an even greater golden age than the Ancient Ones enjoyed.

    Despite what others see as a leap of faith on this point, Rationalists tend to exhibit grounded and skeptical stances on the more specific questions of history. They avoid assertive claims about the origin of dragons or the Restless Sleeper, carefully weigh the pros and cons of controversial powers like the Magi or the empires, and emphasize well-sourced evidence over ideological rallying cries when studying conflict. They tend to sympathize with their Alacrian progenitors on divisive issues such as the treatment of the Subject Species, but many modern Rationalists are willing to criticize the Ancient Ones as well.

Heritage Ascendancy    History tends to be rewritten by every instance of Ascendancy, but usually contains some element of a return to a superior past - often portrayed as a more traditional or orderly one. Originally, Ascendancy relied on the revival of religious values that were being lost to Rationalism. With those religions long since gone, Third Era, Wynthian, and Magi Ascendants claimed to instead be rebuilding the "true order" of the Alacrian Golden Age before the Draconic Wars. Imperial Ascendancy put its own twist on this, borrowing from both the Golden Age and the unique traditions of each species, in order to pit each empire's idea of the lost past against those of the others. Only Cevelky seems to have avoided the lost-past emphasis, but Cevelkian Ascendancy is rarely taken seriously even by other Ascendants.

    In the modern day, the dominant strain of Ascendant history is the one espoused by the Knights of Order. They seek to revive the glory of the Imperial Age and thereby secure Lur-Asko from chaotic destruction. Most Ascendant history books are essentially polemics against a chosen enemy - usually the Declaration system, the white dragons, or the Aterr - combined with praise of a certain set of Imperial or species-cultural traditions. Even today's fairly inert Creator religion tends to step back in, most iconically in Wynthia's exaltation of Eulissis as "Creator-Blessed," but also in appropriation of Lur-Asko's modern concept of "providence." These historians tend to view history as not an end in itself, but a means of rallying people into a new system of order, and eventually an Ascendant State.
Red Draconic    Red history tends to be heavily narrativized, and is always portrayed as a struggle of virtue. In a story of one era, mortals prevail in their inner battle, leading to peace and order; in others, they give in to Phonoss, creating suffering and disaster and Fall. Notably, what is portrayed as a positive or negative period is itself determined by the Thirteen Virtues. Some of what others would call golden ages are criticized as eras of debauchery, and many times of trouble are shown as catalysts for growth and heroism. Many tales of history focus on one or more agee'oy, or "sacred ones" - mortals whose virtuous conduct in the story is meant to become a role model for the reader.

    Interestingly, the Red Synod itself plays very little role in the writing of history, as do their Vicars. Such authorship is viewed as properly left to devoted acolytes, virtuously working the lessons out for themselves rather than copying them from a dragon. As a result, Red history has come to assert many controversial things that the Synod does not explicitly confirm, though their silence could be viewed as tacit endorsement. The most iconic examples are the villainization of the Restless Sleeper as a cosmic malevolence that caused the asteroid incident, and the in-character claim by many agee'oy that the Creator's providence has preserved and guarded Red virtue throughout history. Indeed, Red tales are far more spiritualized than any other form of history, to the point that detractors accuse them of losing their historical roots altogether. Reds respond by questioning the usefulness of writing that has no value in promoting virtue.

White Draconic    White acolytes create historical tales in much the same way as the Reds, though of course for a mirrored, inverted purpose. Rather than morality plays about the good and evil choices of mortals, White history portrays only the futile and inevitable. They retain the title agee'oy, but apply it to those who either accepted the futility of virtue and devoted themselves to the White order, or inadvertently did just as much damage despite good intentions and outward appearances. Assertions about the Creator are much less frequent, though the Restless Sleeper and the Aterr pop up as frequent "villains."

    White works are also notorious for mocking their own Red inspiration. Some are actually stories of the same "sacred ones" as famous Red tales, choosing to focus on those figures' failures and crimes rather than their supposed virtue. Often, the White origins of these books are concealed, posing as innocuous parody or rational critique. Red acolytes often attempt to use their social influence to ban or boycott these "slanderous" works, greatly delighting the actual White authors when mass quarreling and political division ensues.

Dark Path    Dark historians are meticulously careful to avoid portraying the forces of history as any sort of duty or destiny, as such an idea would itself become a form of "false light" exalted above the individual. The Dark are much more interested in simply learning from history, gaining what power and insight they can from it. Even the separatist Path of the Rift has its share of historians interested in chronicling Lur-Asko, despite apathy towards what others would call history's "lessons."

    Aterr history in particular is known for what some consider outlandish assertions, such as the extraterrestial theory of draconic origins. Their works abrasively deconstruct the motivations of historical hero and villain alike, always reframing ideological struggles as mere contests of desire and power. The Dark Ones view most people as unreliable narrators of their own motives, let alone historical figures embroiled in grand movements of false-light delusion. Still, even non-Dark historians occasionally dare to consult and cite Aterr tomes, usually because the ancient faction preserved significant evidence and testimony regarding the Fall.

    Of course, many Aterr find society's history to be predictably tedious and insane, and turn their attention primarily to their own faction's difficulties and triumphs. Rather than the normal marking of Ages, they often divide history according to the Five Unities - the times at which the Aterr were largely united, to world-changing effect. These correspond to the original rise of Vys in the Draconic Wars, the campaigns of Eclipsis, the leaderless-yet-united struggle of the Ternary War, the reign of Imætis and his allies, and Læsensha's seizing of the Resistance. If and when there will be a Sixth Unity remains to be seen, but if history is any indication, most Dark historians opine that it will be a time of great danger from the dragons. Path of the Will adherents in particular think of history as a grand struggle between the Dark and "the Enemy" - still not a duty or destiny, but an inescapable practical reality that the dragons are not inclined to let the Darkened survive without a final battle.

Methodianism    Despite the conservatism of Methodians relative to many other modern thinkers, their histories rarely focus on anything before the Imperial Age. In part, this is a conscious avoidance of Ascendancy's trademark wistful longing for an ancient past, but it is also a product of the Declaration's origins: the first Methodian historians were largely those who had kept secret records of the Imperial Age's atrocities. Today, Methodians' preferred historical works focus on practical realities of the recent Ages, chronicling what has and has not worked to prevent corruption and tyranny. The "common sense" of the philosophy tends to distrust anyone who makes sweeping assertions based on historical arguments, just as it distrusts extremism in any political work.

    When historical questions arise about issues prior to the empires, Methodians tend to prefer the grounded takes of Rationalist historians, occasionally blended with Red heroic tales. Chivalric Methodianism in particular is known for its own Red-inspired style of historical biographies, always focusing on honorable and noble individuals, regardless of their beliefs. Still, they ground their portrayals of heroism in the practical good brought about by those figures, not their sacred virtue or philosophical devotion.

Preamblianism    Early Preamblians had little time for history, basing their beliefs on what they viewed as self-evident principles and "natural" law. The Ministry of Chaos focused on revolution, not historical revisionism. Once Preamblianism was established in a few Hal'Tayatic cities, its "histories" were largely records of the voluntary contracts so prized by their legal system. Preamblian thinkers were shaken out of this state, however, by the ever-mounting evidence from ruin discoveries that the Golden Age Alacris had an economy that was centrally planned by machine intelligence. If Preamblianism was to be taken seriously, it would have to contend with history's greatest civilization apparently rejecting their entire market system.

    Undeterred, Preamblian thinkers turned with enthusiasm to the ancient records. They wrote many critiques against the Alacris, as well as other high-control factions they viewed as historical failures, such as the Fallen Acolytes. Although Preamblianism is based on the inviolable axiom of non-aggression rather than simple practicality, their historians still work to demonstrate that systems of coercion are not as "golden" in their consequences as many would believe. They point to the Fall as evidence of the fundamental weakness of coercive societies, and make similar arguments against later fallen rulers such as the Magi, Imætis, and the emperors.

    Recently, Preamblians have had difficulty distancing their own fault-finding critiques from those of the Whites, leading to a new strain of positivity within the tradition. For example, many chronicles of history's hidden black markets and voluntary associations, to compete with the heroic content of Red and Methodian biographies.

Post-Declarationism    Post-Declarationists view their movement and philosophy as profoundly grounded in history. What was once a desperate attempt to legitimize the Opened Hand has rapidly become an exhaustive effort towards systematic historical analysis.

    To post-decs, history is reliably cyclical - a constant struggle between classes. The cycle begins with inequality created by trade and market forces, resulting in revolutionary struggle of the common people against the privileged. This in turn provokes counter-revolutionary reactions and new justifications manufactured by the upper classes. The First Alacrian Era is the archetypal cycle: mounting economic inequality amplified by the Nucleonic War and the climate crisis, the revolution of the Vanguard Rationalists, and the counter-revolution of Heritage Ascendancy. If the impoverished masses succeed in their revolution, golden ages can result, as occurred for the Alacris; if the revolution fails or is left incomplete, the wealthy are further entrenched, as in the Declaration realms after the overthrowing of the empires. In either case, history's cycle always looms above, threatening to repeat itself in new inequalities or revolutionary explosions.

    Although the cycle of history is said to occur regardless of the beliefs of those involved, post-decs obviously believe the propagation of their philosophy will empower and accelerate the revolutionary side of the struggle. They hold that previous revolutions ultimately failed due to a lack of explicit conviction about sentient beings' duty to resist inequality. The Continuist and Centralist subschools disagree on what would happen after a true post-dec revolution; Continuists believe the revolution must be perpetual and always on-guard against new counters, while Centralists believe the cycle can be escaped, completing the revolution with a final utopia.

Prismatic Unity    Curiously, Prismatics are among the most history-focused of philosophies, despite their refusal to allow that history to form any sort of authoritative explanation of the world. They study history exhaustively in order to hamper the exact function it often serves: the justification of monocultural power. Prismatic historians are known for their work to deliberately seek out lesser-known perspectives, recovering lost records disregarded by the other philosophies. They are less interested in puzzling out what "truly" happened in the past, and much more invested in ensuring that every possible perspective on events is valued or at least known. Their intense interest in histories - some might say obsession with them - is a major break from original Nihilism, and one of the most significant reasons Prismatic Unity is no longer viewed as a Nihilist subschool.

    Most notably, Prismatic historians are responsible for the harshest critiques of Alacrian conduct, even that of the Golden Age. Fueled by new discoveries in Alacrian ruins during the Adventuring Age, these critiques are the primary reason anything at all unflattering is known today about the Golden Dismissal or the treatment of the Subject Species. Prismatics now form a small but loud minority in the historical and archaeological departments within the University of Hal'Tayat - an iconically Rationalist institution, but one that tolerates them for their willingness to challenge biases and prevent the calcification of academic tradition.