S'southi

"If there were to be a race that embodied the horseman of death, it would be the S'southi"- CassandraThe S'southi, also known as the Rjalyi or the Horde was a massive and extremely powerful political entity based within the S'souveia Jluis that invaded the Milky Way galaxy in 2560.
== History ==
=== Prehistory ===
Prior to the foundation of the S'southi Empire, the race that bared the empire's namesake worshiped an incredibly complex pantheon of thousands of gods who embodied the nature of the universe as perceived by the primitive S'southi people. Over time, this pantheon slowly faded as the S'southi gradually developed into a thriving and united civilisation, with the polytheistic beliefs of the S'southi now having declined to only a handful of important gods and goddesses. 
Following their transformation into a space-faring civilisation, the S'southi quickly spread unopposed across much of the Galaxy, and within a mere few hundred years the S'southi had close to a thousand worlds under their control. The state, which had up until that point been ruled by an archaic clan federation-based system, underwent a series of reforms into a centralised despotic empire roughly 1,000,000 years before the common era, marking the founding of the S'southi Empire and the beginning of a million years of total S'southi dominance over the Andromeda Galaxy.
==== S'southi - Do-Ilus War ====
Shortly after the foundation of the S'southi Empire, the young-but-powerful state came into contact with another sentient race, the Do-Ilus. The warrior-like nature of the Do-Ilus and the hyper-aggressive tendencies of the S'southi lead to a conflict beginning almost immediately, with the technological and numerical superiority of the S'southi being counterbalanced by the sheer ferocity and strength of the Do-Ilus. The war raged on and the S'southi eventually managed to lay siege to the small empire the Do-Ilus had established, forcing the warrior race to concede defeat or face annihilation. Impressed by their strength, skill and determination, the S'southi enslaved the race but were quick to give them full citizenship as "honorary S'southi". In the coming millennia, the Do-Ilus would eventually evolve into the Ilus and would become culturally indistinguishable from the S'southi
==== Wars of Subjugation ====
Following their victory over the Do-Ilus, the S'southi came into contact with several other species within the galaxy. Unlike their previous enemies, these new civilisations were no match for the power the S'southi had amassed, and alongside their new Do-Ilus warriors, they enslaved each and every race they encountered in a brutal series of massacres and conflicts.
=== Height of Power ===
"Beyond our own galaxy lies a power greater than both of us."- Shadow-of Reflection-and-Retrospection speaking to Desire-of-RedemptionBy 100,000 BCE, the S'southi had enjoyed entirely unopposed expansion and growth. Their empire now encompassed the entire galaxy and their fleet now numbered millions of vessels. From their capital in S'southeia, a planet of incomprehensibly advanced structures and defended by a fleet of hundreds of thousands of ships, the Empire ruled with an iron fist. Their height of power signified an era of peace in a formerly extremely violent galaxy, as the S'southi brutally annihilated all opposition both internal and external without discrimination.
This age of peace and prosperity would soon be interrupted as darkness crept from a nearby galaxy engulfed in turmoil, with the fate of all living beings within Andromeda about to become bleak.
=== S'southi - Flood War ===
The S'southi encountered an unknown extra-galactic species on the very edge of the frontier of the S'southi Empire. After attempting to communicate with these foreigners, contact with the fleet sent to deal with the incursion was lost. Shortly thereafter, the Flood arrived at the planet Bast'exm and gained total control over it and all inhabitants of the planet within a matter of days. By the time the planet had fallen, local S'southi ships had quarantined the planet and S'southi reinforcements had already arrived and established a containment grid around the entire system. The infectious nature of the Flood, and therefore the extreme danger they posed to all life, was recognised by the S'southi almost immediately and the planet of Bast'exm was annihilated by a coordinated heavy bombardment, fracturing the planet and reducing it to a field of debris. The Flood managed to break the quarantine zone imposed around the former planet of Bast'exm and therefore the entire system was annihilated in a similar way, however it was too late as the Flood managed to escape to several neighbouring systems.
In the Milky Way Galaxy, the Forerunner-Flood War had come to a close with the activation of the Halo Array leaving the Flood infection within the Andromeda Galaxy as potentially the only remaining and active Flood infection in the universe. The S'southi, however, unlike the Forerunners, were not blinded by internal division and decadence. Rather, they were quick to recognise the sheer threat that the Flood posed and responded with an amount of force that could be defined as ridiculous, with the deployment of almost the entire S'southi navy and therefore hundreds of thousands of ships to deal with the infection which had, up until this point, only spread to a handful of systems. The Flood, on the other hand, were at a severe disadvantage compared to how they were during their war with the Forerunners. They were not able to add to their numbers with every battle, as S'southi vessels were partially organic and almost impossible to infect, and the S'southi themselves rarely ever faced the Flood in direct ground engagements, rather they preferred to destroy entire systems to kill a handful of Flood forms. Eventually, the S'southi had annihilated the infection and the threat posed by the Flood was no longer present - however the S'southi were not willing to take any chances, razing an entire arm of the galaxy just to ensure that the Flood was no longer extant.
=== Sriao Dod'da and the Great Decadence ===
Shortly after the defeat of the Flood and the destruction of an entire arm of the galaxy, the S'southi Empire suffered from an unknown and possibly mythical event known as the Sriao Dod'da in which the empire declined economically and militarily almost overnight, with their fleet going from being in the millions to a mere three hundred thousand vessels by 50,000 BCE. This number only continued to decline as the Empire entered a period of stagnation and decadence, with very little technological and military growth being observed until the onset of the Forefather War.
==Species==
=== Current ===
==== S'southi ====
The most widespread and powerful race within the galaxy. They ruled the entire galaxy for shortly over a hundred thousand years before the collapse of their empire, and at the height of their power had fleets of billions of vessels. Despite this, by the time of the Forefather War they were a weakened species with a stagnating and slowly declining empire with only under a hundred thousand vessels on hand.
===== S'southi Ex'dai =====
A genetically modified and improved version of the S'southi that represents the apex of S'southi evolution. They made up almost the entire warrior class and therefore there are only a handful of surviving members of this species following the Forefather War.
==== Ilus ====
The Ilus are a warrior species that was considered honorary S'southi citizens rather than slaves and made up atleast 5% of S'southi ground forces. They were almost driven to extinction during the Forefather War.
==== Dxefov'n ====
A beast-like race that was enslaved to the S'southi.
==== Lih ====
A race formerly enslaved to the S'southi. Many members of this race now exist within the Milky Way but are being hunted by Lights of Purity-led death-fleets.
==== Deggao ====
A race formerly enslaved to the S'southi.
=== Former ===
==Branches==
==Religion==
The S'southi worshiped a pantheon of deities which primarily revolved around encounters between Forerunner entities such as the Forefathers or Precursor entities such as The Watcher. Despite this, the gods that these entities were perceived as were already extant in the pantheon for centuries and had their roots long before the founding of the empire.
===Pantheon===
====Sal'esam'ai====
Sal'esam'ai was an ancient deity that represented unrivaled power and knowledge, and was the prime deity of the S'southi pantheon. Binding Enlightenment, a construct from the Forefathers, was interpreted as the embodiment of Sal'esam'ai.
====Ka'strohne====
Ka'strohne was an ancient deity that represented hard work and loyalty. The Forefathers, with the exception of Binding Enlightenment, were seen as the embodiments of Ka'strohne.
====Laeon====
Laeon was a relatively modern deity that represented the unknown and the guardian of all that is beyond. Laeon initially was interpreted to be the Milky Way galaxy by the prehistoric S'southi, but was soon shifted by the S'southi's encounter with The Watcher, in which The Watcher became the embodiment of Laeon.
====Seos'tri====
Seos'tri was an ancient deity that represented the apocalypse. Initially believed to be in slumber in another Galaxy by the ancient S'southi, Seos'tri soon was believed to reside within the heart of every Galaxy, which lead to the S'southi gaining a strong aversion to the Galactic Center and black holes by extension.
====Es'pare====
Es'pare was an ancient deity that represented death and was lord of the underworld. Es'pare was believed by the S'southi to be one of the strongest deities, second only to Sal'esam'ai. According to S'southi mythology, Es'pare was entombed within a distant galaxy by Ka'strohne and Seos'tri after Es'pare gained too much power, from which he twisted it into a place of despair and horror.
====Gresata====
Gresata was an ancient deity that represented love and reproduction. Despite being such a seemingly passive deity, S'southi mythology describes Gresata as a strong and vengeful god. Said to rule over the "Sesaimaelas't", a place of peace and love, Gresata was often actively seeked out by the S'southi. Cassandra was mistakenly identified as the embodiment of Gresata by Sark during the Forefather War.
===Heresies===
====Cult of Es'pare====
The Cult of Es'pare was the most organised religious sect within the S'southi apart from the main pantheon. Focusing all worship on Es'pare, the stated goal of all members of the cult was to free Es'pare from their imprisonment and assist them in their conquest of the galaxy. 
====Cult of Gresata====
The Cult of Gresata was a pacifist cult within the S'southi. Believing that life was created for the sole purpose of love and reproduction, members of the Cult of Gresata almost entirely lived within closed-off societies in which they practiced these actions freely.
====Oracle's Teachings====
The teachings of the Oracle, a prominent member of prehistoric S'southi mythology, were a very popular set of loose religious teachings. These teachings rejected the ideas of the Caste system and believed all are equal, and that the S'southi could only achieve divinity through absolute peace. Despite their want for peace, those who followed the teachings were encouraged to commit great atrocities in order to achieve said peace.