Venus (Yuan-ti, Vedalken, Simic Hybrid)

# Overview

**Planet Name:** Venus

**Native Races:** Yuan-Ti, Vedalken, Simic Hybrids

**Capitols:**

Ssetsis - Ssethic Imperium

Kaladrith - Vestrilian Scientific Federation

**Environmental Landscape:** Warm, wet climate comprising of a mix of jungles, marshes, and oceans with near nonexistent polar regions.

**Political Landscape:** The Ssethic Imperium exists in a totalitarian state under Tyranous  the Devourer. Each major settlement is overseen by an Executor who reports back to a single Grand Executor that exists as Tyranous’ Lieutenant

The Vestrilian Scientific Federation (VSF) operates as a collection of provincial governments organized under a collection of representatives that form an overseeing elected council dubbed as the Inner Orrery.

**Leader(s):**

Tyranous the Devourer - God Emperor of the Ssethic Imperium

Maklu the Scheming - Grand Executor of the Ssethic Imperium

Inner Orrery - A rotating collection of elected representatives that oversee the VSF

**Culture:** While the Imperium’s culture is deeply rooted in mutual distrust,  war-like expansionist tendencies, and near religious worship of their Emperor, the VSF values intellectual pursuits, discovery, cooperation, and the idea of pushing towards heightened levels of existence through technological and sociological advances.

**Demography & Population**:

Ssethic Imperium - Approximately 750M citizens, nearly 90% of which are Yuan-Ti

Vestrilian Scientific Federation - Approximately 500M. 50% Vedalken, 25% Terran Races, 10% Simic Hybrids, 15% other

**Foreign Relations:** The Imperium exists in a near constant state of Xenophobic mistrust with most other governments. While they do enter into trade agreements, they are nearly always short term and almost always involve numerous escape clauses. The VSF on the other hand, while locked in a near constant state of one level or another of conflict with the Imperium, enjoys particularly positive relations with several other foreign governments and is often looked to for their scientific expertise in system-wide matters.

**Military:** The Imperium maintains an impressive military presence at all times, both planetary and naval and their espionage network is decidedly formidable. As such, the VSF maintains a robust defense force which focuses less on numbers and more on technological advantage. Their orbital defense network is one of the most advanced in the twin systems.

**Religion:**

The Ssethic Imperium’s state religion is the god-like worship of Sseth and Tyranous the Devourer. The VSF, on the other hand embraces a wide-variety of religious preferences, though their own ancient shamanistic religions have largely been abandoned for atheistic scientific pursuit.

**Agriculture & Industry:** The Venusian diet includes a vast array of fruits, vegetables, meats, and animal byproducts. Amongst the most iconic are Ravudine, a heavily enhanced leafy crop that grows below the surface of the water in expansive marsh-farms, Branach, an urchin-like fruit that resembles oversized clusters of Rambutan, and the Horned Panalo, a rhinoceros-like herd animal that has a semi-reptilian appearance and whose meat is considered a delicacy amongst the Yuan-Ti. The industrial capacity of of both the Imperium and the VSF is particularly robust with the VSF’s orbital industry edging out the Imperium’s planetary based workforce through technological advantage

**Trade & Transport:** While the VSF enjoys significant trade and as such has numerous established routes with other planets, the Yuan-Ti nearly only trade when absolutely required or when some sort of intelligence is to be gained.

**Infrastructure:**

The infrastructure of the Imperium is such that their cities are a technological mix of architecture that nearly always exists in a near state of harmony with their jungle home. Great canopies exist above Ssetsis and mighty trees weave their way between and sometimes in the middle of their larger buildings.  The VSF on the other hand has cities of pristine looking semi-curved high tech settlements. While preservation of the natural environment is a task, it is not paramount as VSF technologies typically take environmental integration and natural resource removal supplementation in mind. Though the trees and grass they are supplanting may be gone, their natural benefit remains in the technology itself.

**Pictures:**

# Introduction:

Considerably warmer than Earth, Venus has a distinctly tropical climate with great jungles and marshes spanning across its ocean divided continents. Though its rainfall retains a small amount of acidity that renders a subtle sting on the skin of those unaccustomed to it, Venus has yet become a natural well-spring of numerous different lifeforms.  Life on Venus is thought to have developed particularly long ago and both anthropologists and archaeologists agree that it is likely that there are potentially numerous yet unknown civilizations that have risen and fallen prior to the rise of the modern nations. Chief amongst the Venusian races is the **Yuan-Ti,** and the **Vedalken,** though any mention of Venusian life would be woefully incomplete if it did not reference the winged reptilian **Couatl** or the more recent Guardian Project birthed **Simic Hybrids.**

Though the Yuan-Ti are thought to have first inhabited Venus’ expansive jungles and the Vedalken are believed to have formed their first tribal societies in its Marshes, Today, both species inhabit a variety of thriving settlements across the globe.  Many Venusians live amongst its densely populated megalopolises while others inhabit remote jungle suburbs, sea-side settlements built on artificial ground at sea level or within one of the Vedalkens’ great domed subsurface cities.

The Venusian diet includes a vast array of fruits, vegetables, meats, and animal byproducts. Amongst the most iconic are Ravudine, a heavily enhanced leafy crop that grows below the surface of the water in expansive marsh-farms, Branach, an urchin-like fruit that resembles oversized clusters of Rambutan, and the Horned Panalo, a rhinoceros-like herd animal that has a semi-reptilian appearance and whose meat is considered a delicacy amongst the Yuan-Ti.

While an untold amount of civilizations are thought to have risen and fallen over the course of Venus’ history, two have thus far stood the test of time and stand as jewels of Venusian society.

# Nations of Venus

## The Ssethic Imperium

According to the annals of the Imperium, a great being of legend arose amongst the earliest tribes of Yuan-Ti whose nine reptilian heads towered far above even the mightiest of creatures the jungle could offer.  Presenting himself as Sseth, the foretold conqueror of myth, the creature quickly subjugated the squabbling Yuan-Ti tribes and forcibly unified them under his banner.  Under their god-king’s rule, the Yuan-Ti spread across the jungles like an unstoppable wildfire, consuming all who would oppose them in a tide of relentless expansion. Though other tribes unified against them, all but the most powerful were cast aside with ease and absorbed into what was dubbed as **the First Ssethic Imperium**. A tribute in name to the absolute power Sseth held over the Yuan-Ti,  the Imperium reigned over two separate continents for a thousand years under the watchful eye of Sseth himself before finally falling to its own corrupt schemes that set the scene for the Vedalken hero **Kaladrith the Unforgettable** to finally slay the Imperium’s god king, throwing the Imperium into an untold age of internal strife and conflict known as **the Great Shattering**.  During the Shattering, the remains of Sseth were said to have been buried within **the Hall of Sseth**, a great palace erected at the peak of **Mount Merrshaulk** where Sseth ruled over the Yuan-Ti for a thousand years.  It is said that each of his nine heads were taken by the god king’s former lieutenants where they were enshrined as a reminder of their own power.

The nations formed from the fractured peoples of the Imperium assembled under the banner of these **Skull Bearers** to pledge their loyalty in exchange for being spared from their wrath.  What followed was a series of terrible and bloody wars that saw the frequent exchange of the heads themselves until nearly five hundred years later, the influence of the Skull Bearers waned after the **Culling of Gurthaxis**, a historic coup that saw the end of the regime with the same name that had served as oppressors to the Yuan-Ti for much of the Great Shattering.

For centuries following the Culling, the Yuan-Ti grew and evolved as a people, seeing the rise and fall of several civilizations in the process and the fading of Sseth’s legacy into the pages of myth.  Just like that, a name that had once been feared above all others on Venus had become nothing more than the subject of a tall tale.

### Tyranous the Devourer

It is said that a thousand years following the Culling of Gurthaxis, that the **High Priest Guanar** of the **Cult of Smaragd** was presented by a humble farmer with a gift of a strange egg that had been buried in the cavern tunnels beneath his land. The egg itself was like none other than had been witnessed and emanated an aura of unspeakable power.  It was then that Guanar executed his entire council, the farmer, and any others who had witnessed or heard of the event. Guanar searched far and wide in secret to find information on ways to incubate the egg, using his ruthless cunning to survive.  He eventually discovered an ancient ritual that was said to have been used in the birth of Sseth himself.  The ritual called for the slaying of untold Yuan-Ti, but this was no deterrent to one as determined as the High Priest.

Through his cunning, lengthy resources, and clever manipulation, Guanar oversaw the completion of the **Abyssal Ritual**.  When the ceremony was finished, the egg hatched, revealing a six-headed serpentine creature, unlike any that had been seen outside of the imagery of Sseth himself.  Over time, the creature grew to towering proportions in secret under the guidance of Guanar.  When it eventually emerged from hiding, the beast announced itself to the Temple of Smaragd in the language of Sseth, Abyssal, as **Tyranous the Devourer**, herald of the mighty forebearer himself. The powerful six-headed creature turned on Guanar, consuming him and the entirety of the Temple before beginning its conquest and assimilation of the surrounding nations.  When word first spread across the great jungle kingdoms that a creature in the image of Sseth himself had appeared, the news wasn’t taken seriously, but as city after city began to mysteriously fall, the surrounding nations grew worried.

But by the time they had, it was too late.  Nothing that they could muster was a match for such a creature or the forces it now commanded and one by one, the scattered Yuan-Ti nations fell to the mighty beast until it led a powerful host unto the **Hall of Sseth** itself.  When Tyranous had finally conquered **Ssetsis,** the storied ancient capital, he took the **Throne of Sseth**, sat upon it, and declared the second coming of the **Ssethic Imperium**.

To this very day, Tyranous continues to oversee the Imperium as their immortal god-king and is considered one of the most feared beings in the entirety of the solar system.  Many Vedalken scientists believe that Tyranous must possess some sort of essence of magic to have lived for so long, while others believe that he is the product of a perfect genetic anomaly that allows for near constant cellular rejuvenation and rebirth, resulting in their apparent immortality.

### Ssetsis

Sprawling out far and wide in all directions surrounding Mount Merrshaulk, the capital of the ancient Imperium spans across four of the nine territories of the Skull Bearer nations of old.  Though ruthless cunning is the rule in the city like the rest of the Imperium, it is impossible not to notice its surprising beauty.  The city features architecture that is heavily integrated into the jungle itself rather than pushing it back all together.  It is commonplace in several parts of the city that a thin canopy still remains over entire city blocks thanks to massively towering trees.  As a method of preserving this natural beauty, Ssetsis features a massive subway system to aid in rapid transportation.

Ssetsis, like the rest of the Imperium, operates under a totalitarian state with Tyranous sitting at the head.  Each city is overseen by an Executor who distributes the Emperor’s divine will, with Ssetsis itself being headed by the Grand Executor who serves as Tyranous’ chief lieutenant and commands the entirety of the Imperium in his name. The current Grand Executor is Maklu the Scheming, a particularly ruthless leader who has maintained power by ruling with an iron fist.

Though its leadership is cruel and heavy-handed, life in Ssetsis is relatively peaceful as a result, while remaining not overly inviting to most outsiders.  There is an understanding amongst the Yuan-Ti that everyone is always playing an angle, but after being raised in a lifetime of this behavior, it is simply commonplace to approach even the most casual situation with a manner of up front skepticism. To outsiders, this may seem to border on outright hostility, but to a citizen of the Imperium, such distrust driven precautions are simply a way of life.  Everyone knows that to trust someone is to invite a dagger in your back. It is not the fault of the one with the weapon, but of the one who lowered their guard.  This, combined with a corresponding looming distrust for the Imperium amongst many nations, has resulted in a significantly low population of other races in Ssetsis.

### The Pureblood Infiltration

Following the Yuan-Ti’s discovery of intelligent life on Earth, the Imperium immediately began to devise ways to infiltrate their governments.  While many ideas were proposed and summarily rejected, one caught the attention of Tyranous himself.  **Nikathu**, a prolific Yuan-Ti scientist brought to the Grand Executor a plan to gather DNA of Earth natives and to then introduce it to Yuan-Ti with a certain level of genetic compatibility. The result of this project would be Yuan-Ti who could pass as **Purebloods** of their associated host race.  The Imperium could then train and plant agents on Earth who could infiltrate Earth’s governments in order to begin sinking the Imperium’s fangs into the unsuspecting populace without anyone knowing better.

What followed would lead to years of earth’s UFO sightings, abduction stories, and even the famous Area-51 incident.  Still, as the Yuan-Ti gathered information on the races of Earth, the Terran governments didn’t give any credence to such concerns, chalking them up as fringe conspiracy theories.  During this time, the Imperium scientists worked tirelessly with the hesitant cooperation of several Vedalken research firms in the development of techniques to adapt Earth’s races to the Yuan-Ti genome.  While most races are nearly impossibly incompatible, humans showed a surprising amount of compatibility, enough so that within a year, the first Pureblood was birthed and shown to the Grand Executor and Tyranous himself. After receiving overwhelming approval, Nikathu led the Imperium’s scientific efforts in mass producing the first waves of Pureblood Yuan-Ti.  The new purebloods underwent significant training in espionage and Earth cultures before being deployed across the globe using ship’s equipped with Vedalken developed stealth systems.

Though these Purebloods would prove to be instrumental in spearheading several major infiltrations of Earth governments, they were widely looked down upon by the Yuan-Ti themselves, seeing their human-like characteristics as weakness. As a result, sentiment began to grow amongst Purebloods that would eventually lead to limited integration of some Pureblood Yuan-Ti into certain segments of the Earth’s populations. This effort was delayed significantly when in Earth year 2013, the Imperium’s largest on-Earth spyring was uncovered by a joint Terran and Martian coalition.  Though the incident saw a significant decrease in the amount of purebloods produced, enough already existed that would see the cementing of Pureblood Yuan-Ti as a people from that point forward.

## The Vestrilian Scientific Federation

Rooted in Vestrilia’s long history of inter-tribal politics, knowledge exchange, and perhaps most importantly the collective need to defend against an ever present Yuan-Ti driven threat to their existence, the Vedalken dominated Vestrilian Scientific Federation (VSF) is comprised of a collection of progressive local governments who form beneath a centralized government that possesses limited oversight. This natural check and balance system acts as an early deterrent against corruption and encourages independent initiative by each of the VSF’s provinces, especially in the form of research and development.

This natural tendency to favor advanced technologies has long served as a defense against Imperium aggression, though has also attracted no small amount of espionage alike.  There is an ever-present silent war being waged between the Imperium and the VSF fought in cyberspace, and in the dark alleyways between the pristine structure of civilization. While many citizens of the VSF grow up to become key contributors in the Federation’s research efforts, a significant number of those very people will do so in a counter-espionage capacity, whether that be in the form of specialized cyber-security experts, or positions with a more direct approach.

The VSF’s territories are largely spread between the vast marshlands that the Vedalkens call home as well as great undersea domed cities, built with technologies developed with the assistance of local Merfolk.  The native Merfolk people who once participated in bloody wars with the Vedalkens, have long since moved past the aggression of past ages and now enjoy trade and an overall amicable relationship with the VSF.

### Kaladrith

Serving as the capital of the VSF and the sitting place of the President and Council of Provincial Representatives, Kaladrith is a hybrid of both a marsh city, built on artificial land as well as an undersea settlement, with its western third extending outward below the surface of the water. The Vedalkens have employed a combination of various technologies in order to seamlessly adapt their great city to the wet planetary landscape and it is said that its beauty is a wondrous sight to behold.  In just a matter of a day or two, one could see two very different looking sights along the coast as areas previously submerged below the sea are now revealed during low tide, noted for having significantly larger fluctuations than the Earth’s. This leads to a phenomenon where the city’s coastal district appears to change locations relatively regularly.

At the heart of the city is the **Kaladrith Provincial Research Center**, a great nexus of cutting edge research facilities which pioneer ground breaking research and is considered amongst the most prestigious stations for a scientist to be posted at. It is here that the VSF first cooped with the Imperium on what would become project Pureblood, where they first developed their famous shipboard stealth systems, and where they collaborated with the Terrans in what would become **the Guardian Project**, a secret project designed to transform willing participants into super-soldiers, capable of combating the growing Yuan-Ti menace in the defense of the VSF.

It is perhaps no coincidence that the VSF’s primary seat of government is a mere handful of city blocks away from the Research Center. Amongst the storied buildings in the government district is **the Grand Orrery**, the sitting chamber of the Council of Provincial Representatives. In this massive dome-like chamber which doubles as both an observatory as well as a planetarium, there are two distinct areas: An outer **Provincial Ring** with seats for each of the provincial representatives, and an **Inner Orrery** with eight seats representing key appointed government positions that orbit around the Sun which contains no seat and represents knowledge and enlightenment. Both the seats in the Provincial Ring as well as in the Inner Orrery are able to move about the dome on a multi-level design which has been refined since its earliest track-based technology to allow the occupant to move their chair around the chamber.  On the chamber’s dome wall can be projected any number of visual information and it is a form of practice that the occupants of both areas will move their seat to an area of the room that indicates their stance on issues being discussed.

### Marine Station Utopis

Founded with the blessing of the VSF in the early 25th century, Marine Station Utopis was built upon the second of the Venusian colony vessels to land during the Terran climate driven exodus. Though its initial core systems were integrated with a handful of Vedalken technologies, the undersea station experienced numerous failures during its earliest days and would have likely failed entirely had it not been for the VSF stepping in to take a more direct approach in the city’s planning and development. This involvement is evident when traveling through the city in the form of the significant leaps in engineering visible as one moves outward from its center. Though the city’s heart is based on archaic technology that requires significant maintenance to keep operational, this area that has been dubbed **Utopia** has also become the heart of Terran culture on Venus, featuring the world’s most notable Terran restaurants, theaters, museums, and religious institutions. Amongst this nexus of Terran culture, is **the Blue Meridian Concert Hall**, a storied venue which has hosted some of the Solar System’s most popular performers and has seen a recent uptick in relevance due to the sudden popularity of star musical performer, **Morgan Graves.**

Utopis Station is equipped with one of the world’s most advanced deep sea dockyards which is the frequent launching point of expeditions into Venus’ abyssal trenches. The findings of these expeditions have given way to breakthroughs in understandings of no-light high pressure marine habitats as well as advanced submarine technologies. Non-research or military related expeditions are restricted due to the high risk nature of such missions and waivers are required to be signed for all those who manage to find a way to book such trips. As such, rumors abound regarding the truth of the secrets hidden within the depths below Utopis ranging from Yuan-Ti conspiracy to a hidden threat in the depths of truly horrifying nature.

### The Guardian Project

In light of the Yuan-Ti’s perceived abuse of Vedalken provided scientific cooperation that led to the Pureblood Infiltration, the Vedalkens secretly began research into a series of hybridization projects through the 23rd and 24th centuries. While many near breakthroughs occurred that led to lesser leaps in a variety of technologies, success only came once the Vedalkens turned to the common link in all of Project Pureblood’s successes: Terran DNA.

In exchange for cooperation in the Guardian Project and related programs, the VSF granted Terrans colonization rights in the early 25th century which led to the founding of Marine Station Utopis. And though the Terran’s intellectual contributions did not directly net the immediate results the Vedalkens were looking for, their added genetic diversity proved crucial to solving a critical need which had previously eluded project scientists. Finally, in the late 26th century, through the efforts of the Simic Scientific Coalition, the first successful hybridization trials were completed. These **Simic Hybrids** are genetically engineered people featuring combinations of features between Vedalkens, Humans, Elves, and a variety of other biological materials. The resulting new people were trained as specialized soldiers whose mission was to combat the Imperium’s growing power-base. Simic Hybrids are said to have been instrumental in the balancing of powers between the Imperium and VSF as seen in the 27th century and have become today renown for their prowess on the battlefield and their unyielding dedication to both the protection of the VSF as well as their incredible adaptive abilities which allow them to thrive in nearly any environment.

## Celestis Station

Orbiting outside of Venus’ atmosphere is the VSF’s own answer to Atlas Station: Celestis. This marvel of advanced technologies is a testament to Vedalken engineering. Though it only spans half the size of Atlas, it’s power production easily doubles it and its forward thinking modular design allows for a wide variety of uses. While the station’s research wings and spaceyards are particularly noteworthy, it is also home for a significant number of peoples from a number of species. Before the seven month war, Celestis was perhaps best known for its deep space observatory, **The Deep Link**. Through this technological marvel, scientists were able to collect untold amounts of previously undiscovered data from incredible distances away and it is said that even to this day, study of this data is ongoing. Unfortunately, when the seven month war hit, Celestis became the target for a particularly deadly orbital battle which saw the crippling of the station and the destruction of the Deep Link by Yuan-Ti combined naval and intelligence agencies. Since its destruction, significant effort has been undertaken to not only restore the technological masterwork to its former glory, but to push its previous capabilities even further. Will the VSF complete work on the new Deep Link before Yuan-Ti saboteurs are able to bring it crashing down again? Will they discover new marvels of the distant universe? Or will they use it for some other purpose to finally tip the scales of their ever present conflict with the Ssethic Imperium? Only time will tell.