IV.  THE SECRET SOCIETIES

    The most frightening aspect of Neoliliani is its so-called 'secret societies'.  These shadowy organizations are remnants of the revolution (233 BP) that overthrew the supposedly corrupt Deleste dynasty in the pre-plague kingdom of Liliana.  As rebellion spread across the nation, the last Deleste kings cracked down on the peasantry, passing tyrannical laws that restricted the historic rights and freedoms of the people.  As conditions worsened, the people began to meet in secret, for public gatherings had been outlawed.
    These secret gatherings have become the favourite topic of poets and playwrights in Neoliliana.  Those days are considered to be romantic in a way that our own countrymen might consider the days of armoured knights and waving banners to be romantic.  According to the tales told here, nobleman, merchant, crafter and serf all met as equals, though I find this rather hard to swallow.  Still, small parlours and clubs grew into secret meetings of cults, whose hatred of the monarchy grew with each passing year.  They remained small cells of related citizenry, but they began to reach out to each other where they found allies and similarities in mind.
    When the monarchy finally fell, it was at the hands of the people in a mass uprising.  The Societies, as they had come to be called, heard a mass call to arms and rose up against the king and his loyal nobles.  There is considerable debate within Neoliliana itself over just which society began this call to arms, each society taking credit for itself.  After the fall of the royal family, the societies were the ones to pick up the pieces.  Although there was some squabbling and several societies were destroyed utterly, the majority of them came to a historic agreement which became the First Republic.  Eventually, the secret societies, their purpose fulfilled, evolved into the political parties present in Neoliliana today, each with its own agenda for the nation, but each looking out for the people in its own way.  Said 'evolution' came at the hands of a treaty signed with the Estontetsan empire, which allowed Neoliliana to retain its freedom if it got rid of the Societies.
    The above is the official history of Neoliliana, more or less.  But in our extensive research here, we have come across reason to believe that the official history is a lie meant to dupe outsiders.  It is my belief that these secret societies exist to this very day - more than four hundred years after they outgrew their usefulness!
    We believe that they use methods, including somehow-unique pieces of jewellry (we have managed to obtain one such piece, but see nothing special about it; it has been sent to the laboratory for testing) combined with secret signs or passwords, to certain key observers who can then vouch for their status.  It is an interesting contradiction that most Neoliliani will steadily go about their business, attempting to ignore such signs as much as possible.
    Neoliliana's constitution is the same one used in the First Republic, with some modification.  It includes a little known law known as 'the Strictures' which forbid anyone to talk about the secret societies on pain of censure, death, or somewhat vague societal repercussions.  There are several other incongruities which make me believe that these societies are present in many areas of Neoliliani society: the universities, the military, the academics, big industry, crime families, and especially, the government.
    This is extremely troubling to us.  Having relations with a nation that may be under the control of a group of unknown people, with unknown aims, is not in our best interests.
    Herein is listed information on the secret societies we have become aware of: