House Ashtali of Cardalir

House Ashtali of Cardalir (commonly known as House Ashtali or the Big House) is advertised as a constitutional parliamentary federal republic yet is a single-party system as control of parliament is held by a right-winged party led by a group of wealthy business leaders (timocratic oligarchy). The House is made up of 8 Stellar Provinces, and a population of 36 billion making it the largest House by volume and the most populous. Despite the being created at the same time as House Anoway of Paomahi, House Ashtali is considered to be the second House in the Assembly.

The largest of the houses

Composed of the Tal race

Homeworld is Lokash

They are vicious when it comes to political gain, and the current leaders of the House are ruthless in debates over territory, power, and elections into seats of power.

They’re actually pretty great. Regal, and majestic, and definitely suited for power.

### Government

The Cardalir Dynasty. A strong leader engages in feats of conquest within his own family and in the government to eventually rise to the position of Imperator, which holds totalitarian powers. Leadership changes hands frequently due to conquest, with each new leader more ambitious than the last.

## The Talae

Individual - Tal

The Talae are the largest race that is a part of the Assembly.

They have The Vintal as slaves.

Small abolitionist movement inside Gallar Province.

Language - Germanic/Semitic

Naming Conventions: private name, family name, trade name, public name(s)

## Interpretation of the Diaspora

Much of Ashtali subscribes to the Diaspora, having worked the idea into most of the internal religions. Many of the Talae quite like the idea of being blessed children of the Precursors.

They view the seeding of the galaxy with human DNA as a form of evolution. They believe the most superior ancient race in the galaxy “spread its seed” via comets to expose their genome to all the elements the galaxy had to offer to force development towards their maximum potential. The strong will rise to the top, and the weak will fall in the service of the progress of the Master Genome.

## Dominant Culture

The primary culture of the Ashtali deals a lot with Western expansion and the idea that progress is everything. Their family structure is built on couples who strictly adhere to marriage and laws as that is considered the ‘ideal’, although couples don’t raise children very frequently. Frequently, children are raised communally between parents, grandparents, other extended family, and neighbors.

Because this culture is focused so much on progress, entrepreneurial pursuits and management are valued qualities overall, without much respect to how people are getting there, or how kind they were while doing it. This creates a harsher setting in which relations are valued, but not very substantial (business partners and not friends).

The dominant religion among this culture is the Diaspora following. However, they are a more liberal sect of it (Whereas the ‘Īdao would be considered Orthodox) as religion is not as highly valued in their culture.

There is a secondary religion centered around a small polytheistic pantheon. However, further research into religious texts draws many parallels to the Precursors and in many ways is similar to the following of the Diaspora. (Related in the way Christianity and Islam are on Earth)

In terms of holidays and celebrations, there are many large celebrations and several minor ones throughout the year.

### Political Strengths

The Talae are ambitious and outspoken. They almost always had a say in Assembly issues.

### Political Weaknesses

Submissive to wishes of Anoway as Anoway knows the location of Lokash. Continual rivalry with Tinarrah.

## Provinces

8 Provinces - 14 Worlds - 29 Districts

Cardalir Province, House Ashtali of Cardalir.

Lannaf Province, House Ashtali of Cardalir.

Ichavia Province, House Ashtali of Cardalir.

Borshiir Province, House Ashtali of Cardalir.

Gallar Province, House Ashtali of Cardalir.

## Connection to Sparta

Ashtali bears a strong resemblance to the culture of ancient Sparta. Men tend to follow militaristic and capitalistic pursuits while women handle domestic affairs and local-level politics. With the more liberal revolutions spiking all through the Assembly, these traditional gender roles are followed less strictly. However, the general consensus among the Talae is that the genders are separate but equal--each with distinct responsibilities but not necessarily above the other overall.

Another similarity between House Ashtali and Sparta is the reliance upon slaves. The infrastructure and daily life of the Talae is centered around the slaves that they hold.

Think Sparta.  Highly militaristic. No use for the arts, music simple, food simple.  The society centered on the military.

* Cultural values: Physical strength, conquest, mental toughness, competitiveness.
* Strengths: The Ashtali are physically very strong, mentally very disciplined, and socially extremely well organized and efficient. They are highly adaptable and willing to sacrifice at great lengths to achieve their goals.
* Weaknesses: The  Ashtali are deficient in the areas of empathy and imagination. Their music, art, and other culture are rudimentary. Even though their society is highly organized, their competitive nature can lead to frequent conflict, skirmishes, and even civil war within their own ranks.
* Social mannerisms: Aggressive verbal and physical posturing, demonstrations of strength and pain-tolerance, respect for the Alpha Leader (male or female), but frequent challenges by aspiring Alphas.
* Attitude towards other races: Diaspora races are seen as being “people,” but their value is seen hierarchically, with Paomahi at the top, Cardalir as the second, Tinarrah as third, Shodor as fourth, Melek as fifth, and Uck reluctantly included as last. They seek to deny the fact that Earth is also part of the Diaspora to stop them from claiming an Assembly seat at the Council of Capital Point, where they see them as potential rivals. Even after Earth has established its seat in the assembly, the  Ashtali seek to find ways to disprove its identity as a Diaspora race (a la a “birther” scandal argument). They promote the conspiracy theory that the Terrans were created as imposters by the Greys (due to all of the tissue samples they collect) as a way to infiltrate the Council of Capital Point).
* The Ashtali see themselves as the heirs to the First Ones who seeded human DNA throughout the galaxy, and seek to ascend to the top of the “Hierarchy of the Star Seed.” They are jealous of the Anoway and plan to someday subjugate them. However, they see the Tinarrah and their influence in the Assembly as a political obstacle to these ambitions. They  Ashtali can fairly easily influence the Diswali.
* The  Ashtali purposefully seek out signs of other potential Diaspora races. Their intention is to enslave or to annihilate them so they cannot ascend to the Council of Capital Point, thus complicating the political structure of the Council and interfering with  Ashtali ambitions to rule the other Diaspora races

The  Ashtali do not see non-Diaspora races as “people,” but as mere beasts.