Draknid Imperium

> "Peace. Pride. Grace." These are the pillars our Imperium has stood on for two hundred millennia. Countless stars, innumerable worlds, billions upon billions of sentiens swear their allegiance to it - and for a good reason. We are the safeguards of order! The paragons of culture and sophistication! As long as we stand, Dranvamus **will** shine as a lone light in the darkness!
>
> - High Chancellor Vesperon Maltris

The **Sublime Draknid Imperium** (High Dracid: *Sapasir Dominicus’Drak’niar*. Also known as the **Draknid Imperium, DI** or simply **The Imperium**) is an ancient and extensive hegemonic empire reaching across much of the galaxy of Dranvamus. With a so-far unrivalled military, commercial and industrial network supported by connections throughout the Known Cluster, the Imperium is arguably considered one of the most prominent political and economic powers in the known universe. An ever-present and undeniable part of intergalactic politics, with influence across all of known space.

In addition to its cultural and military supremacy, the Sublime Imperium and its people are one of the most ancient societies in Dravanmus’ history, with a history dating back to well over 250,000 years, the Imperium is perhaps one of the oldest of the known modern powers with a legacy vast and ancient, the remains of past deeds scattered across the cosmos. A realm so old that some consider it to be all but eternal. Headed by purportedly-divine paragavati or "Paragons" and ministered by the Grand Senate of Alcanti, the Imperium is a behemoth of industry, commerce and military power.

Despite this beauty and the majesty that the mighty empire rightfully boastful of, the Imperium bears its own dark secrets; for within its gilded halls, the Imperium has long been a playground for questionable politics and grand games between the noble houses that hold sway over the Imperium's councils and commercial enterprises. Who through this behemoth have shaped galactic history in Dranvamus and other galaxies.

## Territory

Officially, the Imperium exists wherever in known space its society is present. Its borders are defined not by territorial claims but instead by influence and presence. More practically, the Imperium’s presence is absolute within Dranvamus’s inner sectors. The Crown forming the epicentre of the empire and where its society is busiest and wealthiest, with the neighboring regions of Mandate and Dragon’s Reach forming an “outer core” of Imperial dominance.

Beyond this core, Imperial influence can be tangibly felt in Twilight Spin and Sanctuary, where their hold is maintained by signature elder civilisations under their patronage such as the Deonari Conclave.

In Outer Dranvamus, the Imperium’s presence is increasingly of provincial management. Where its influence and coreward dominance strongly influence galactic politics in the core’s favour.

Imperial territories are divided into several administrative levels. Each one is managed by a ranking governor and a council, with power to legislate over lower divisions

**Provinces** are top-level administrative divisions. Normally defined by political and astrographic divisions such as alien territories or the presence of certain spatial phenomena. They represent the primary body of the Imperium and most span thousands of light years. They can be alien members of the Imperium, colonial administrative regions or administrative territories. Each province in the Imperium is managed by a praetor who governs with the consent of a provincial senate, a legislative body of representatives.

**Territories and protectorates** are sub-diviions of provinces. Typically spanning several hundred light years in diameter, the two designations represent colonial expansion zones (territories) and alien civilisations too small to be granted provincial status (protectorates). Under the principles of the Draknid Peace, alien civilisations designated as protectorates have the power to uphold their own laws and legislative processes that can override the priority of provincial law (but not imperial law). These

Each province in the Imperium will have its own Senate. Located in a regional capital which can either be a cub world or an alien homeworld depending on the province. Provinces are left to their own devices as to how and how they select representatives and how many.

Above provinces are **administrative zones**. These are multi-province territories. Compared to other subdivisions, these are largely administrative, governed by a secreteriat appointed by the Office of the Paragon. Whose office is responsible for delineating regions, financing cross-regional infrastructure and overseeing cross-provincial organisations such as Domestic Security and the Royal Infrastructural Agency.

## Political Structure

An immense beast of an empire, the Sublime Imperium is a delicate and byzantine network of bureaucrats, plutocrats, civil servants, statesmen, regional leaders and liaisons. To handle management, the Imperium is both mildly decentralised - giving a fair amount of autonomy to its hundreds of provinces and territories - and to a degree feudal. With such confusing networks, the Imperium relies on a considerable degree of soft rather than hard power. The Imperial Government proper being responsible primarily with administration and top-level cohesion.

### The Paragavatus

*Uriel Ultanos, the incumbent head of state as of ID.219315 Ultanos*

Central to the Imperium's integrity is the royal **Paragavatus**. A common interpretation being "paragon" (from High Dracid: *parag’avatus* “master of kings” from *paraga* “commander” *vatus* “king, leader”). The **Paragon** acts as the official head of state, a hereditary position held as the highest, most prestigious office possible. So defining is the Paragon as an exemplary figure that informally, the imperial calendar defines whole eras by the rule of a single (or a succession) family line.

Such is their importance as head of state, the eras of imperial history are defined by which paragon dynasty is dominant. Each being known as an era (the first recorded case being the Oskavaran Era and the current era being the Ultanos Era). Though most dynasties have been some form of Draknir family, occasionally more than one has rule or a non-Draknir has been coronated. Historic attitudes among draknir themselves (and thus their culture) mean that "paragavatus" is not strictly masculine or feminine. And women have held the title as much as if not more than men - though history has been murky on this, particularly older eras. Most Paragon liens however have come from one of a hundred or so Grand Houses.

Paragons are believed to be exemplars of the Draknir. Pinnacle figures physically and mentally and imagined as beings bestowed with divine nature upon coronation. It is said society looks to them for guidance and as an example of how to live their lives. In principle, the paragon is an exemplar; a figure close to perfect in body and mind. But this does not mean a paragon is above engaging in brutality or depravity. And the prestigious title has been historically stained by tyrants and mad figures overwhelmed by the political responsibilities they possess. A thousand traditions and principles are said to safeguard the office of the Paragon from abuse, negligence and ineptitude. Even if as, history suggests, these many safeguards are not foolproof.

Beyond being a divine head of the Imperium and a guiding cultural figure. The paragon's office holds several municipal duties including commemorating new grand houses, appointing members of the Upper House, confirming judges of the Royal High Court, consulting the military as its supreme commander, meeting provincial leaders and a whole host of duties, events, festivals and ceremonies to entertain and consort with both the aristocracy and the general public.

The position of Paragon is hereditary, with succession by way of the crown prince being selected personally by the incumbent. Whatever method is used - be it through cermonies traditions or plain old diplomatic efforts - the paragon being a king-of-kings serves as the one unifying element in

As an institution, the paragon is more than a singular figure. They are surrounded by a household of attendants, advisors, planners, managers, security experts, tutors and more to ensure they not only perform optimally, but raise a strong dynasty as the crown moves from one paragon to the next. The Imperial Chancellor being *primus inter pares* among the paragon's advisers. As well as a household of staff including a personal secretaries, heads of security, consultants of state, tutors in matters of governance, royal caterers and various household ministers who liase with provincial leaders.

### Grand Houses

Perhaps as well known as the empire's military might, the Imperial Aristocracy is one of the keystone principles when one thinks of the Sublime Imperium. Originating from the networks of planetary governors and industrial magnates in the Imperium's early history, the wealth, power and prestige of the Imperium can be traced back to the hundred or so illustrious clans both draknid and non-, who play a dynamic and dangerous game of competition and intrigue to attain power and control.

Internal cohesion is thought to be maintained largely by a dynamic equilibrium that exists within the system. House names rise and fall with reputation, building dynasties, establishing royal lineages before squandering them. The Royal High Court, distinctly sequestered from the rest of the political system, keeping a competitive balance while representatives in the Grand Senate ensure a powerful few do not make all the decisions. Though draknir take immense pride and interest in history and lineage, it is not impossible for a new grand house to emerge through egalitarian means such as business success. The ability to call one’s family a grand House comes typically as a gift from the paragon.

Although seemingly anachronistic at first glance. The oldest houses' earliest history as a mix of governors, business executives, investors old money, the means the aristocracy finances itself ranges wildly from old-style land rental to vested commercial, investment and industrial interests. With prestigious house names Such as Valocanus being attached to some of the most galactically-renowned of corporations.

Grand houses range widely in size and power due to this competitive nature. The smallest hold a parcel of land somewhere in the outskirts while the largest host imperial dynasties of their own over one or more administrative zones.

### Grand Senate

Because of the Imperium’s immense scale and the variations of governing systems within its many members, the direct election of representatives would mean that a single minister would speak for billions. Instead, regional senates operate semi-autonomously from the Grand Senate. With ministers of the Grand Senate known as high ministers representing their regional governing body.

A bill submitted within the grand senate requires being passed by both the House and the Presidium to become imperial law. Different from provincial law as these apply across imperial space and to the provinces. Enforced by cross-imperial Domestic Security forces and the Imperial Civil Service.

The way a region picks its high ministers is up to the provinces themselves. Some states run popular elections while others have their high ministers personally appointed by the state’s government or the head of state personally.

Representative districts, or wards, are divided between two types of representative. State representatives, whose wards are divided by population, and provincial representatives who speak for provincial divisions and protectorates, with each province or protectorate holding two seats each.

#### Praelatoral Presidium

The highest denomination of governors in imperial space are the Praetors. Emperors in their own right, praetors oversee the management of smaller denominations and provincial sectors more directly than the capital. Peer to them are the Praelators, nobles of a pair who assemble regularly in the upper house of the Grand Senate called the Presidium. Their role being to scrutinise and ratify bills passed by the lower house. The number of Praeletors who sit on the Presidium is roughly double the number of Praetors under register. Praelators are selected by appointment of the Chancellor and Paragon from the ranks of the praetors, who are sworn to divest themselves of their former positions to sit permanently in the capital.

Praelators' seniority allows them to also act as consultants and advisers to incumbetn governors. And while technically they hold no offical power over lower branches of governance, senior Praelators are highly sought after for expertise in governing the imperial territories.

## Military

The Imperial Military represents by far one of the largest organised militaries in the Known Cluster. Drawn from draftees and volunteers from millions of worlds and stations, a fully-mobilised imperial military has the potential to drown planets in soldiers and swarm entire clusters with starships.

Defense of the Imperium is divided between three major military branches:

* **The Astrals:** specialist forces drawn from volunteers of the the Crown Worlds. GIven high-spec equipment found nowhere else.
* **The Aether Corps:** Starship crews and spacebase personnel responsible for crewing the warships and military transports of the military.
* **The Ground Legions**: Volunteers and draftees (depending on the province) who operate as bulk ground forces holding ground and providing planet- or station-side firepower.

Within the provinces the level of militarisation varies depending on the province. Some are completely militarised and, as a result, provide common stock troops for the military. Others will either supply technology or specialists if they cannot provide large armies or are not built for any military specialisation. Alongside the mainline forces are the Auxillia Corps, who serve as a compliment to the regular armed forces and consist of non-citizen volunteers such as vassal citizens, pro-Draconid foreign citizens and migrants seeking citizenship. Outside of Imperial space, the Auxillia corps are most commonly posted on allied planets and stations, and for some as as much the face of the Imperium as the Astrals are.

The most famous of all military branches are the Astrals. Distinct form the ground legions, Astrals primarily draw their number from the Crown Worlds. And unlike other branches, almost no expense is spared as each Astral is considered a valuable investment. A rare example of a volunteer of the imperial crown being fit for military service, survivability in the field is considered of paramount importance. As a result, Astrals receive some of the best defense systems the state can afford. Technologies both defensive and offensive that are almost unrivalled in their effectiveness.

Because of the wide variety of cultures and native doctrines, regiments in the Ground Legions will carry the name of their province alongside their division’s specialty.(for example, The Yuali Irregulars specialise in jungle combat and guerilla warfare. While the Vencortian Mechanised uses IFVs and personnel carriers for rapid deployment). These roles are not set in stone, and provinces will typically divide their forces further into specialist regiments.

* **Drops** - orbit-to-surface drop specialists and space-to-space combat troops equipped with high-maneuverability [url:https://www.worldanvil.com/w/imperium-draknir-star-drake-studio/a/war-skin-technology]war skins[/url]‌.
* **Rangers** - Behind-lines and scouting specialists. Rangers are each deployed with a suite of rapid-adaptation gene mods.
* **Wraiths** - Bionic special operations experts. Similar to Rangers, each agent is deployed with bionic augmentations to fit the mission profile.

Astrals rarely stay on a particular posting for long. Typically deployed where they are needed and withdrawn when suitable garrisons arrive to hold ground. This means that while they are commonly drawn from the citizens of the Crown Worlds, they are a rare sight within the core territories themselves.

Manning the starships and deploying the soldiers where needed is the Aether Corps. While the Astrals are drawn primarily from the core and the Ground Legions from the provinces, the Aether Corps is far more egalitarian. Accepting volunteers from both halves of the Imperium equally. The resources required to build and maintain their starfaring capability make their capabilities much more uniform than the Ground Legions. With all ships following designs approved by Military High Command.

The Aether Corps boast their own frontline forces. The Imperial Star-Guard. Similar to the Ground Legions, Star Guard act as a bulk military force, specialising in boarding actions and station-based combat. While not as lavishly equipped as the Astrals

## Industry and Commerce

> *Towards Alcanti you will find,
> Their Cities of gold and glass.
> ‌Heaven and glory is what they invite,
> Hubris and vanity is what they cry.*
>
> "The Empire of Gold and Glass" by Tuleas Gar'thensar

Sitting at its physical and metaphorical heart, the crown worlds of the Axah and Ohlon sectors are the very centre of commerce in the Imperium. Sustained by goods manufactured from automated factory complexes and continent-scale farming operations, the crown worlds of the Imperium enjoy an phenomenal amount of wealth, which serves to service the primary service industry in the region. Having reached a post-scarcity level and with manufacturing done largely be automation, much of the working population in these regions work in the knowledge and finance sectors such as the continent-spanning universities, technology hubs, city-sized banking sectors and deeply-connected creative arts communities. Much of this industry is dynamically exported to the rest of the Known Cluster, with trade capitals such as Araveene at its very heart.

Tourism is also a major economic factor within the crown world regions. The immense wealth of the cities and stations in these regions has generated the proverb "spires of gold and glass" to refer to the elegant, expensive and ostentatious design of the many modern towers that grace their skylines, while a highly refined knowledge of climate maintenance has converted numerous crown world planets into paradises for tourism. Although the cost of living is extremely high, crown world cities are famous across known space for their clean and beautiful streets.

Much of the Imperium's industries are automated though the use of industrial-scale quantum replicators, sophisticated robotics and megascale manufactories such as Artificial Rings and Singularity Industrial Zones such as Deep Core. The scale and spread of the industrial sector has made the Imperium as a whole notoriously resilient to conquest through attrition. The Imperium is a major exporter of numerous manufactured goods such as starships, terrestrial vehicles, refined Ansite, heavy and exotic materials, weapons, medical equipment and art. Thousands of new commercial liners, freighters and warships are built in orbital drydocks across its Imperial territories. Most of the shipbuilding in Andromeda is performed between a self-competing triumirate of shipbuilding firms known as the Shipwright's Triumvirate; Valle Astroengineering, Domcar Manufacturing and Utopis Fleet Concern. These three are also the source of the vast majority of the Aetheral Talon Body's armaments and warships.

Alongside numerous geoengineering projects, the Imperium's extent and technological capability give it access to rare exotic materials such as monopolium and neutron-degenerate matter. It is not unheard of for stars to be stripped of matter to be compressed to create the basis of singularity cores, to be used in other megascale projects such as Star-orbiting cities or supplying its military. Some of the most ambitious projects undertaken within Imperial space include artifical moons created from lifted planetary material and arranged in gradual layers over the course of decades. Some rumours persist of the existence of artificially-constructed planets the size of Alcanti or larger, made in a similar way to the way the Imperium currently builds moon-like objects. One of the most fearsome sights the imperium has been known to enact is "Solar Execution"; when for whatever dreaded reason, industries are granted the right to utterly deprive all planets and asteroids within a specific star system of worthwhile minerals, microbes, animals and flora. A process that can turn the most luscious systems into ashen wastelands within a few weeks.

The most powerful industrial sites in the Imperium are gravity vortex manufacturia, more colloquially known as Senvinus factories for their proximity to energy-farming Senvinus Reactors. These manufacturing zones - often located around gateway nodes andblack holes - served as precursors to the Deep Core Industrial Zone and are some of the most highly prized and high-output facilities in Imperial space, most of which are leased by Black Star Energy.

With the prosperity of the crown worlds as its point of access, The Imperium is a major player in universal commerce, with the colony of Araveene (the nexus of market and financial trade in the Crown) as one of the leading commercial capitals of known space. Alcanti meanwhile - the imperial capital and at one time the financial heart - followed a close second before the Imperium's meteoric return to prominence during the New Dawn. This power over international markets and the freedoms it offers to resident corporations makes Imperial-made goods and cultural items popular in numerous nations throughout the Known Cluster. As a result, the shares of thousands of businesses, corporations and economic ventures from throughout most of known space are publicly traded on the Araveene Stock Exchange.

### Commercial power

Overall, the Imperium is a market economy nigh-unparalleled in terms of economic scale; a complex network of intra-empire exchange channels between provinces and sectors to provide for production chains which are supplied by various provincial economies. The diverse nature of the Imperium's territory permits a degree of freedom for each province to specialise in a few economic sectors or even a single one, with the Imperium as a whole being rated as a major importer and exporter internationally.

While it's sheer scale makes self-sufficiency theoretically possible, the Imperium is a critical importer of raw materials and food supplies to feed the megacities of the Crown and the continent-scale factory sectors that pepper the inner reaches of Imperial space. The outer sectors supply the footprint of the Crown Worlds while simultaneously supplying each other. Many provinces primarily specialise in a select few industries, supplying their neighbors with what they offer while purchasing what they need to develop. The hundreds of provincial states - many of which joined the Imperium out of an allure for the wealth of the crown worlds, or forcibly overtaken by the Imperium's sheer military might - add an immense diversity to the quantity of goods the Imperium exports. Indeed much of what the provinces produce is either sold to the core worlds or sold internationally.

## People and Culture

The Imperium is home to a total population of several quadrillion sapient beings, spread in populations of decreasing density outwards from the Crownward worlds. However this spread is not uniform due to the provincial system. While it is true that it is common the coreward sectors to have populations in the tens of billions, this can allso be the case for established provinces in the outer segmenta whose capitals and central worlds have existed for long enough to be inhabited by billions each. Despite these anomalies however, census records indicate that, in many cases, there is still a progressive decrease in population density per star system the further form the central territories a location is. The extreme age and prosperity of the Imperium makes these coreward sectors however quite comparable to each other in terms of population size and education. Not just limited to space, quadrillions of sapiens make their homes on star-orbiting and interstellar habitats (or Orbitals) scattered throughout Imperial space.

While the Imperium is famed across known space for its incredible affluence, it is estimated that only a fifth of the population enjoys the kind of affluence that comes to the mind of outside cultures. This one fifth - mostly concentrated in the Crown - live in incredible opulence while much of the Imperial population live in much more modest conditions. With many regional capitals developed almost as enclaves for central populations. This long tern has resulted in long-lasting tensions between the affluent central populations, outer territories and the provinces.

The Imperium also plays host to migrants from many foreign civilisations who either moved to the Imperium under choice, a desire for opportunity or had at one time been subject to conquest. There are also numerous aliens who live in the Imperium as vassal-citizens - a subgroup that consists of alien populations occupied in wartime but refused to pledge themselves to the Imperium. Due to the industrial capabilities of the Imperium these vassal-citizens are restricted in their state freedoms. They are unable to live as freely as other species and cannot migrate from certain areas (such as an assigned planet) without permission from a state official. Despite this lack of freedom the Imperium does offer vassal-citizens food, shelter, contact work and a chance to raise offspring, which is regulated by law.

### The Imperial Ideal

As a culturally diverse empire of hundreds of alien subsidiary territories and thousands of alien species, it is almost impossible to describe the overall culture of the Imperium in specific terms. The image used most often by many, as a result of the political dominance of the species that developed it, is to describe the culture of the Draknir. Draknir themselves are often regarded as erudite, historically passionate and lovers of the fine-arts. The prevalence of Draknid influence throughout many aspects of broader Imperial culture has created a generalisation even within some parts of itself that all of the Imperium's citizens bear an elevated opinion of their society while indulging in the fruits of diversity and high education. Which for some such as the Imperium's noble castes is not far from the truth. For a long time the Imperium has been a popular gathering location for aspiring artists, musicians and designers looking to express themselves and show their skills to an ever-hungry public, or perhaps gather and mingle with patrons from among the interstellar elite.

Despite this image of sophistication and sense of aloofness, aggressive sports such as arena combat, military simulations and game hunting are still popular. With a great demand for high-intensity sports such as racing (personal, animal and mechanical), stunt performances and Olympian events such as archery, rifle-shooting, gymnastics and javelin-tossing alongside. Although broad legislation forbids intentional death in all of these, there exists an underground culture where death is a possibility and fewer restrictions exist as to what can be permitted. Naturally, law enforcement also combats these underground rings in the name of personal safety.

Pride in education is another paramount value. Scattered across Imperial space are branches of the Alcanti Royal Academy and the Alpenix University, galaxy-spanning institutions that both cater and enlighten trillions of students and offer resources and funding to billions of professors and doctorate holders ("illuminates" in Dracid parlance) every year with millions of smaller institutions that are either a partner of one of them or operating independently of both. Imperial educational institutions act as major contributors to the development of science and technology and have historically been at the forefront of theoretical research such as Psionic Theory and the Orovilus Psionics Development Program.

The Imperium's open outlook to interior commerce and international business are one of the chief driving reasons for its influence over galactic commerce; their prevalence making Imperial-originated art, business, design and engineering a commonplace sight in physical and virtual marketplaces throughout the Known Cluster. There is an underlying desire for success in many of the Imeprium's societies, which drives the desire for self-improvement and influence in many of its citizens and fosters a celebrity culture of artists, performers, businessmen, scientists and politicians of all kinds of species, some of which gain international acclaim. The sheer scale of the Imperium means even largely domestic celebrities have audiences of billions and may still potentially pass the ears of international viewers and persons of interest.

In a contrast to the open permissal of cultural proliferation, the judiciary system is infamous for its no-tolerance policy on crimes such as piracy, sapient trafficking and government subversion. However there is only one charge that can be sentenced with execution and that is conspiracy against the state. The no-tolerance policy on piracy has fostered a reputation in the Imperium's Royal Agency for Internal and Domestic Security (RAIDS) of being more of a paramilitary organisation than a form of domestic law enforcement due to a reputation of shooting pirates on sight and working alongside the Aether Corps in pirate-hunting. Those crimes that do not result in death however, are often in the form of "neurosleep", where the prisoner is kept comatose in a personal berth, but aware of the passage of time and given neurologically-inserted stimuli in order to deter insanity from sensory deprivation.

### Technology and Education

In terms of technological capability, the Draconid Imperium is immensely sophisticated in numerous scientific fields; particularly materials science, energy, essence theory, spacetime theory, exotic physics, genetics and cosmology. Presently it exists as one of a small number of technological rivals to the Delpha Coalition of Planets, a fact most evidently demonstrated in the Imperium's ability to hold its own against the Coalition's forces during the Great Xonexian Schism. Notable technologies devised by the Imperium's scientific institutions include hyperspace cannons, magnetic drives, quantum replicators, singularity siphons, artificial wormholes and neutron effusion.

As a home to leading institutions such as the Alcanti Royal Academy of Science and several leading research and development firms such as XenoGenesis, the Imperium is a leading centre for science and technology in known space. The numerous public and private sector scientific and academic institutions make the Imperium a honeypot for trillions of students and academics annually, who are often drawn to the numerous continent-scale campus networks owned by the leading universities or the city-scale high-technology R&D organisations that settle in Imperial space. The optimistic attitude to scientific development has also drawn the interest of tech companies throughout the Known Cluster, prompting some to move or establish laboratories to take advantage of the incentives provided by the Imperial government.

The Imperium is also a key player in the gigaquadrantic scientific community. Imperial-based institutions, such as the Alcanti Royal Academy, partake in joint research projects into various fields with several of its allies.