Lemuen

The Incident: While exploring ancient, dangerous ruins with Mostima, Fiammetta, and Andoain, Lemuen was attacked by Andoain, who sought to use the "Black Lock" and "White Key" relics to reform Laterano.
Medical Condition: The attack resulted in paraplegia, requiring her to use a wheelchair for mobility.
Rehabilitation: Since waking from her coma, Lemuen has been in rehabilitation. While she can walk for short periods, she still requires a wheelchair for, or prefers it to preserve strength during, extended mobility.
Combat Utility: Despite her physical limitations, she remains an exceptionally skilled 6-star Deadeye Sniper, continuing to fight from her wheelchair. She has been described as able to use her rifle with lethal precision while seated, even performing impressive feats like reaching high positions and using it to "drift".
Recovery Prognosis: Rehabilitation is ongoing, and it is expected to take many years or potentially decades to regain full, normal function, with no guarantee of complete recovery.

Lemuen is a complex Sankta from Laterano characterized by a stark contrast between her outward gentleness and her inner steel. Often described as having the "kindest look in the world" while being a "rose with sharp thorns," her personality is defined by several key traits:

1. Deceptively Gentle and Calm
   "Lemuen the Silent": Known for her calm and quiet nature, she earned the moniker “Lemuen the Silent” during her formative years.
   Sweet Demeanor: On most days, she is described as being as “sweet as wild honey,” maintaining a polite and graceful presence even while confined to a wheelchair.
   Role Model: Her official records from the Seventh Tribunal note she was an honor student and a disciplinary committee head, seen as a literal “model angel” by many.
2. Ruthless Efficiency and Precision
   Cold-Blooded Mission Focus: Beneath her tender appearance, she is remarkably cold-blooded and ruthless when the situation demands it. This trait was more pronounced in her past as a commando.
   Unwavering Determination: If she decides on a goal, she will do her best to achieve it regardless of obstacles—such as climbing a signpost in her wheelchair to secure a vantage point.
   Sarcastic Wit: She is known to pull cruel jokes on her close friends, Fiammetta and Mostima, showing a playful yet biting side.
3. Protective and Resilient
   Caring Sister: She is deeply devoted to Exusiai, her adoptive younger sister, and continues to provide emotional support even while recovering from a five-year coma.
   Unusual Tolerance: Unlike many Laterano residents, she shows a higher degree of tolerance towards the Sarkaz, preferring negotiation over the typical Sankta discrimination.
   Mental Fortitude: Despite her severe physical limitations, she remains a terrifying force on the battlefield, proving that her spirit and strategic intellect are undiminished by her injury.

Landmarks
Tower of Revelations: The ancient stone belfry that is said to be the foundation of Laterano built by the first Saints. Every hundred years, the Laterans gather under the belfry to celebrate the arrival of the new century with a series of rythmic explosions, in an event known as the "Century Celebration," which has been documented to be held at least ten times over the last millenium.[16] Since its construction, the bell has not been rung for a thousand years until the Summit incident in the year 1099. The ringing of the bell usually symbolizes grand changes in history.[1]
Pagus Stevonus Central Hospital: The only hospital located in Pagus Stevonus, which is frquented by numerous kids going for their daily check-ups.[17] The director of the Psychology & Empathy Department there is researching a phenomenon called errari.[18]
Universitas Michaelionis: The institution where Stefano Torregrossa graduated from with a double major on international relations and classical philology.

Pagi and avenues
Pagus Stevonus: The name likely alludes to Saint Stephen.
Pagus Ambrosius: The name likely alludes to Saint Ambrosious
Pagus Faber
Pagus Theodosius
Pagus Ecclesia
Pagus Michaelion: The district where the Notarial Hall is located, as well as various firearm workshops.[13][14] The name alludes to the Michaelion, a Roman sanctuary dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel.
Pagus Griffin
Pagus Saint Marcel: The district where the Sunset Chapel is located at.[15] The name alludes to Saint-Marcel, the ninth bishop of Paris.
Via Thervatius: The name likely alludes to Saint Servatius.
Via Theodoros
Via Jovita
Via Borgos
Via Canelé: The name alludes to a traditional sweet pastry from Bordeaux, France
Churches
Sanctilaminium Ambrosii
Shrine of Nurtury
Landen Monastery
The Basilica: The main church of Laterano where the Pope resides; the headquarters of the Lateran Church

notable people
Luciana Giallo
Marcello Giallo
Idida
Ludovico IV: A former Lateran Pope and predecessor of Yvangelista XI. He also issued the Silver Papal Gun-Knight Medal of Honor during his mandate on February 14th, 1029. He's likely named after Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor from the House of Wittelsbach, also known as Ludwig IV.

Laterano's sanctity—once the foundation of its geopolitical influence—has deteriorated following the widespread public revelation of the true historical origins of the Sankta. With that sanctity now undermined, Laterano can no longer rely on diplomacy or summits alone to maintain its standing. In response, the city has begun reexamining its longstanding pacifist policies, including reactivating the Landen Guards, in an attempt to reassert its influence abroad and restore confidence among its citizens.

The "Lateran Outbreak" of late 1101, also called the "Lateran Calamity," completely altered the nation's course of history. Everyone in Laterano was described to have fallen into a mysterious dreamscape in which Laterano was hosting the second Summit of Nations. The faux Summit was hosting a ceremony that granted the Sankta's halo to all non-Sankta present in the name of "spreading the gospel of peace". Furthermore, every Sankta outside of Laterano simultaneously experienced a phenomenon similar to becoming Fallen, prompting them to return to their homeland. This calamity was caused by the Law, which was in reality a machine created by the alien "Predecessors". The Law was deviating from its original functions, so in order to stop the disaster, it was forcefully deactivated.

The aftermath of the disaster revealed some of the most shocking truths across Terra: Sankta are actually descended from the Sarkaz, whom the former have demonized for millennia. This revelation, together with the "death" of their "Lord", resulted in the upheaval of the Lateran faith,[10] dealing a crippling blow to Laterano's name. In three months after the "Outbreak," there has been a large-scale exodus of its citizens who refused to accept the truth, and the Notarial Hall has recorded persistently high suicide rates, unrest, and widespread emigration, delaying reconstruction of the Holy City. Yet Laterano endures; those who remain are determined to rebuild their shattered home and restore it to the paradise it once was.

The War of the Four Nations between 1029 and 1031 that annihilated Gaul drastically altered the geopolitics of the Terran heartland. Fearing that the situation would further deteriorate, the residing Pope of the Church, Pope Yvangelista XI, established the Legatus institution in 1069 as a hope to ease the tension via diplomatic methods.[8][9] To further enhance his goal of establishing global peace and uniting every nation under one banner, Pope Yvangelista XI launched the first "Summit of Nations" on March 1099 serving as a platform to various Terran nations to discuss national security. The Lateran Declaration given by Yvangelista XI ushered in the first international conference in Terran history.

In October 1099, the nomadic abbey Sanctilaminium Ambrosii re-established contact with Laterano and was recovered by the Curia

Since its foundation, the Lateran City has become a shining beacon in the middle of a suffering world, providing guidance to the lost.

But before the artifacts' arrival at Londinium, the excavation team was suddenly raided by an anonymous group. All of them were unfortunately murdered by Originium explosives which destroyed the santos in the process. Furthermore, Kylian was found missing with his jeep. At first, police believed that the excavation was in fact a hoax in which Kylian had leaked the archeologists' location with some Sarkaz mercenary groups, and he was labeled a national traitor and a religious extremist due to his ardent belief in the Lateran faith. But further investigations showed no proof of their presumptions, and Kylian seemed to have evaporated all of a sudden. Two months later after the incident, Kylian was miraculously found at the Victorian border with severe wounds and an unhealthy mental condition. Despite the police's attempted interrogation in the hospital, they found that Kylian could only constantly murmur. Before his ultimate death, the police could not gain important information regarding the archeological hoax, and the missing santos remains a mystery in the museum.[7]

Although labeled as a "scandal," the archeological accident brought heated debates regarding Laterano among the public. Some presumed that the whole scandal was in fact Laterano's attempt to silence dissidents that could challenge the Church's authority; the raid was in fact done by Lateran secret agents rather than some random mercenary group. Most importantly, the surviving sketches of the santos arouse the questions regarding fallen Sankta. In response, the Lateran Church refused to recognize those santos and refuted many of these questions as unproven rumors, and the whole scandal eventually died down as a popular urban legend.

After the cardinal's coup, Laterano managed to recover and continue its status quo, butthere were still secrets that where being kept from the public eye. The Kylian Excavation Scandal of 1042 almost shook the very foundation of Laterano. Born into a Victorian family practicing Lateran faith in the former Taran region, Kylian Dougal was originally an ordinary geological surveyor who had aided his Infected colleagues to retain their job despite Victoria's discriminatory laws. While he was surveying on the eastern side of the Targangils Prime Vein, he and his team accidentally bumped into an iron artifact covered with Originium which he quickly identified as a Lateran firearm. News regarding the excavation quickly reached the Royal Museum of Londinium, and the incumbent curator quickly dispatched a professional archeological team to dig out the remaining artifacts.[7]

After days of excavation, Kylian and his archeological team uncovered several well-preserved santos, but many of them contradicted traditional Lateran santos: they possessed either monstrous features or their faces were carved in cubical shape which archeologists believed to be the personifications of the Lateran Law. All of a sudden, Victoria believed that they had uncovered the oldest site of the first Sankta civilization that could rewrite the history of Laterano, hence replacing Laterano's millennia-old cultural and geopolitical influences in the Terran heartland. Two days after the excavation, the excavation team eagerly delivered these santos back to Londinium waiting to be displayed in the museum.

Entering the modern era, a religious coup d'etat would catch Laterano by surprise two centuries ago. It was perpetrated by a Sankta cardinal who, despite being terminally-ill, was was famous for his intellect and kindness, known as the "Closest Sankta to the Lord." At the age of thirty, the cardinal was already a considered a viable and favorite pope candidate. But as time passed, he became more zealous and paranoid; He continued to, albeit in a radical manner, preach, reallying followers and reach out to foreign envoys to check the incumbent pope's authority. The situation escalated to a coup instigated by the cardinal and his followers on which he tried to usurp the pope's throne, only to be executed in the square by the Apostolic Knights at the Basillica's square. The pope also resulted critically wounded that day.[6]

Earlier on, the cardinal had come across a mysterious Feline in an Ecclesia Requietum, who made him realize that he could do even more than just interpret the Lateran scriptures like the then pope, but his limited time prevented him to put his ideas come to fruition. It wasn't until he struck down the pope when he realized that death was never at his doorsteps, which only drew him further into madness before his ultimate demise.

Since its foundation, Laterano has been miraculously preserved from natural disasters and wars throughout millennia. Laterano has become a beacon of peace and stability that seeks to spread their gospels to pacify the Terrans through their religious influence. In exchange with their relationship with other Terrans, Laterano remains neutral in many conflicts by serving as diplomatic mediator.

The first non-Teekaz Terrans who adopted the Lateran faith were the Liberi. The Lateran Liberi originated from homeless refugees seeking refuge in Laterano from Catastrophes more than a thousand years ago. According to The Saints' Travels, the Liberi hunter-gatherer tribes first met the Sankta while they were following a burdenbeast herd to hunt them. The Sankta began to sing their gospels and drive the burdenbeasts to the city, and the Liberi were amazed by the serenity and purity of the Sankta by seeing their city as a heaven born from a miracle. To integrate with the Sankta, these Liberi tribes settled around the outskirts of Laterano and adopted their religion and culture. In turn, many Sankta were sent as missionaries to the Liberi tribes and constructed their first villages.[3][4] Many Liberi had become a part of Lateran culture, while some were sent as missionaries outside of Laterano to spread their gospels. These missionaries who sought to build a second paradise on Terra later settled in the southern coastline which later became Iberia.

The Sarkaz religion, on the other hand, says otherwise. According to their oracles, the first Sankta were in fact a direct descendant of the Teekaz that split themselves from their cousin race through an unforgivable betrayal. The first Saints of Laterano were born from their contact with the Law in a suicidal mission to excavate relics underground that could protect their collapsing civilizations. After facing countless lethal traps that almost annihilated the excavators, these survivors reached the catacomb where the Law resides, and they immediately received their Sankta traits as if their memories as Sarkaz were forever erased.[2]

In the beginning, the Sarkaz did not bother about these first Sankta. But after their civilizations collapsed that forced them to be scattered across Terra as a diaspora, many Sarkaz realized that only the Sankta civilization was well preserved from the mercy of the alien Ancients and Elders. Sarkaz became bitter over them by chanting their betrayal as neglection of their suffering. To worsen their situation, the Sankta became cohorts with the Sarkaz's enemies by erasing their connections with the Sarkaz and demonized them as irredeemable sinners bringing the curse of Oripathy. The complicated relationship between the two races has resulted in a never-ending feud that lasts until the present days.

The moment the first bell was rung from the Tower of Revelations, the Sankta gathered up under the belfry to set up their first settlement, laying the foundation of Laterano.

According to the Lateran Scripture, at the dawn of human civilizations before the common era, Laterano was founded as a safe haven for the Sankta to defend themselves from the Sarkaz. Following the "descent" of the first Sankta led by the first Saints unto Terra to redeem the people from suffering, they faced countless violent attacks from the Sarkaz which they deemed they were enemies seeking to annihilate them due to their "wickedness" that drove their "envy." The first Saints united the Sankta community under one banner by constructing a belfry, known as the Tower of Revelations by later generations, that rang its bell to pacify the Sankta and brought visions to guide them there. After gathering all the Sankta across Terra, the Saints proclaimed they received a vision from the Law to build a city around the tower which became the first settlement of Laterano.

Laterano, formally known as the Lateran City, is a Terran country bordering Iberia and Victoria. It is a theocracy and the homeland of the Sankta race with a decent population of Liberi. The nation is ruled by the Pope, the spiritual leader of the Lateran Church, with a constitution that guarantees thirteen rights to its citizens.

Laterano is famous for both its stern religious influence and its rather lax culture based on their obedience to a religious entity known as "the Law." Most Lateran citizens are ardent believers of the Lateran Church, yet they are granted the freedom to live their preferred lifestyle as long as they are in accordance with the Law. Due to the peaceful nature promoted by the Church, Laterano miraculously survives countless geopolitical conflicts throughout millennia thanks to its political neutrality, and many Terran nations praise Laterano as a "heaven on earth" in return. Nevertheless, while appearing almost flawless, the hidden dark side of Laterano is not publicly known due to the Church's attempted whitewashing of its history from their religious demonization of the Sarkaz races, the Sankta's supremacist view regarding other races, to their seemingly segregation from their Liberi citizens due to cultural and racial differences.
As the "discoverer" of firearms, Laterano is notably the leading manufacturer of firearms that holds a monopoly over the industry in Terra. Laterano is also the only country with liberal gun laws in which all Laterans are mandated to own a firearm for self-defense, whether being military personnel, law enforcement officers or civilians, while following strict regulations. The usage of firearms in Laterano is so prevalent and advanced that they form the backbone of the Lateran military force.

Since her recovery, Lemuen has been spending time in therapy, and she is now able to walk for a while without using a wheelchair. While she has left the Pontifica due to her injury, her physical strength and marksman skills remain excellent to a point that she could use her rifle even in a wheelchair. As a matter of fact, she even won the wheelchair rapid-firing contest that the hospital organized last year, although the doctors would later ban her from participating.[6][7] In the meantime, she remains in contact with Exusiai in Lungmen via mails.

Lemuen is the cardinal of the Seventh Tribunal of the Lateran Curia and the sister of Lemuel (better known as Exusiai). But despite being siblings, Lemuen was actually adopted by Exusiai's parents long before latter's birth.[1] Nevertheless, she is kind to her younger sister and grew up together with her and her friend Mostima.

Upon graduation, she and Mostima joined the Pontifica Cohors where they worked as commandos. Oddly enough, Lemuen was never interested in becoming a commando until that point, and simply enlisted to be with Fiammetta. Despite her tender look and nature, Lemuen is actually a more cold-blooded person, especially when the situation is not favorable or when she gets annoyed.[2][3] She was particularly more ruthless in the past, even gaining the moniker of "Lemuen the Silent".[4]

However, a tragedy in Kazdel changed her fate. In the year 1091, Lemuen, Mostima, Fiammetta, and their leader Andoain were sent by the Lateran Church to annihilate a band of Sarkaz bandits that frequently raided Lateran merchants. During the mission, the team bumped into an ancient underground Kazdelian ruin. But upon discovering the ruin's relics, the "Black Lock" and the "White Key," and its secret, Lemuen was immediately kidnapped and hurt by Andoain, who wished to use the relics' power to reform Laterano, while Fiammetta was absent due to a false signal from the enemies. In order to save Lemuen, Mostima was forced to fire on her leader. By the end of the incident, Lemuen was hospitalized and fell into a coma for around five years, only waking to learn that Mostima had become a "fallen" Sankta due to her action and Exusiai had left the country to search for the missing Mostima.