Imperium of Nitav

The Imperium of Nitav is the governing body that controls its namesake, Nitav, and the star systems near it. A deeply religious, hierarchal, and authoritarian organization, they have had absolute authority over Nitav for well over a thousand years, the size of the Imperium being limited only by their lack of faster-than-light warp technology, prior to encountering the Magdoran Conglomerate. Since then, the Imperium has served as a self-imposed vassal of the Conglomerate.

## Structure

The Imperium's structure is closely tied to that of Shalva, the religion of the Elbians. As such, many of the high-ranking members of it are also highly honoured priests, with those deemed closest to the perfection of the Titans taking the highest possible positions. The only exceptions to this are roles that aren't represented in the religion, such as military leadership.

Normally, there is no one Elbian with absolute authority over the rest of the Imperium- instead, the 14 who are considered the most holy form a council, which as a whole has that form of power. They do however have a place for a single individual to rule, but this has only occured when someone fitting the description of the Tiv, from old Shalva lore, has become known to them.

## History with Magdora

First contact between the Imperium and Magdora began in Asc. +132, after an incident known as the Prefire War. This incident occurred when a Conglomerate survey vessel gate-warped into Nitav's sphere of influence. This act in itself brought the Imperium's fleets into high alert, assuming that this ship was a potential invader- or a rogue pirate ship, like others that had appeared in the years prior and since. The survey vessel fled to the edge of the system,- where it would take days, if not longer, for the Imperium's ships to catch it,- and called for assistance.

That assistance would come in the form of a small- though at the time, one of the largest- battleship flotilla, that warped to roughly the same place as the survey vessel originally arrived at. Both the Magdoran fleet and the Imperium fleet were ready for active combat, though both were just barely out of range of each other.

Before they could engage each other, however, on the surface of Nitav, ancient Titan computer arrays began activating. Given their holy nature to the Elbians, this was quickly noticed, and hence determined that the computers were in communication with Magdoran ships. Believing this to be a sign from their gods, they managed to quickly call for a cease-fire, which the Magdorans had also received, thanks to a group of priests using said computers- and more specifically, the Titan language,- as a means of transmitting and translating it.

In the aftermath of this incident, it was still unclear *why* the computers had reactivated after so long- but nonetheless, it was a great boon to both sides. Using the Titan language as a basis for translation, both the Imperium and the Conglomerate agreed to cooperate in future, though the former was much more vehement about doing so "To serve the chosen". While the Elbians would continue to practically worship the Magdorans in future, their side of this bargain would include greatly advancing Magdora's deep-space structural design, improvements to logistical networks, advanced metallurgical and alloy manufacturing, and of course, access to a great deal of Titan artefacts- many of which being completely new to the Magdorans, primarily in the form of the many manufactorums that covered Nitav.