Star Kingdom of Avalon

## Description

The Star Kingdom of Avalon is a human stellar realm located in the Lloegyr system. Originating from the planet Avalon, from which the Star Kingdom takes its name, it is a feudal society that has parallels with old Earth's Early Medieval Era, despite being a space-faring society.

## History

### Founding

Avalon was settled during the Second Wave of human expansion, and quickly evolved into a feudal society that saw parallels to Arthurian legend. The planet was colonised by primarily Welsh settlers and the newly founded stellar realm expanded throughout the Lloegyr system.

### Cydonian Schism

For a time, the Star Kingdom was relatively free of internal strife until seeds of dissent reared their head. From the settling of Avalon, the Star Kingdom's official religion was a form of Neo-Paganism drawing its roots from old Iron Age British traditions. Increasing numbers of Christian missionaries however, caused increasing agitation between the new converts and the rest of the population. Eventually the situation escalated until the monarchy and the most powerful lords allied to the crown mobilised their armies and put an end to the violence.

The agitators were exiled to the planet Cydonia and forbidden to spread their faith within the Star Kingdom outside of Cydonia. In return, the Cydonians would be allowed to keep their faith under the understanding that they were still vassals to Avalon and therefore were beholden to the crown.

### Expansion

After the troubles on Cydonia, the lords of Avalon looked to the stars for expansion as the Terran Mandate lost any form of formal control over its frontier colonies. Seeking to unite the local systems under one banner, a great crusade was launched in order to boldly go where no Avalonian native had gone before.

The Star Kingdom quickly came into contact with the Pacific Confederacy of Megacorporations, and following an initial staring contest between the two, a long-lasting trade relationship was established. Following this, Avalon expanded into the Casas and Almas systems, engaged in short term espionage activity against the Dewali, although nothing was traced back, and constructed four massive star fortresses around Lloegyr, collectively known as the "Last Wall".

## Avalon and Metadimensional Extroversion Syndrome

Following the war with the Dewali immediately prior to the Scream, Avalon has established perhaps the most draconian, regimented and dogmatic methods for the handling of individuals that have been diagnosed as having MES in the sector. All psychic individuals are registered upon diagnosis and must attend special training institutions for psychics, regardless of social standing. These institutions are run by the MES Research and Instruction Service (M.R.I.S, pronounced "*em-ris*"), and are a mixture of abbeys, boarding schools and military training camps.

Once committed to an institution, the young psychics are trained to keep their powers under control through a mixture of repetitive drills, mental conditioning and prayer. Once the instructors are satisfied, the students then progress onto learning how to use psychic disciplines. Upon graduation, the vast majority of psychics are employed by either M.R.I.S, the Avalonian military, or state intelligence. Those psychics born to noble families often opt to re-join their families, although they are nearly always removed from the line of succession due to the fact that they have not been trained at all for the role of being the family heir. It is not uncommon for the second child being the heir apparent to a family, due to the slowly rising proportion of psychically inclined children being born throughout the Star Kingdom.

Despite the deep distrust the average Avalon native has for psychics, the latest brainchild of M.R.I.S is Project Tynged (Welsh for "fate"). This project is considered controversial due to its stated goal: the creation of artificial humans designed to express Metadimensional Extroversion Syndrome. Whilst Project Tynged has met with failure for much of its existence, eight years ago the researchers struck gold when a viable fetus was created by using DNA from both an individual diagnosed with MES and one who did not possess the condition, the latter source being required to stabilise the fetus. Now, the first round of children created through this method have reached the age of seven, and will soon begin to attend an institution. Curiously, each child has always been an exact physical copy of the non-psychic individual whose DNA was used to stabilise their genome.

## Orders and Factions

Many minor knightly orders sprung up during the formation of the Star Kingdom of Avalon, yet by the time of First Contact with the other civilisations within the Thetis Omega sector four factions had gained prominence.

### The Rout

Consisting mainly of those colonists that had originally settled in the colder polar regions of Avalon, the Rout are privateers and raiders without peer. Over time, these raiders became folded into the official military of the Star Kingdom and provide the majority of ship crews and boarding parties. The Rout have a proud seafaring tradition stretching back to their Scandinavian roots on Earth, which transitioned to their naval prowess.

Unofficially, the Rout are unleashed when resistance needs to be utterly crushed. When massed for war, the Rout are relentless and unwavering in their task.

### The Daughters of Andraste

In the history of Earth, many knightly orders were formed under the auspices of organised religion. Avalon is no different and one of the most militant is the Daughters of Andraste. Dedicated to a goddess of victory, this all female order is made of those daughters who either did not wish for a standard courtly life or are considered to be 'too wild' to be allowed in polite society. Regardless of their reasons, the Daughters are devoted to the Star Kingdom and some of its most loyal knights. The Daughters have been traditionally based out of Sacris Station, one of the four star fortresses making up the Last Wall.

During the Cydonian Schism, the Daughters of Andraste were involved in much of the conflict and as a result are regarded as an example of what happens when people refuse to accept the truth of God's word. This is used as a precedent to restrict Cydonian knightly orders and military to the male gender. In the greater eye of the Star Kingdom, the Daughters are regarded as a slight embarrassment to their families, but are regarded well as a knightly order.

### The Knights of the Black Shield

In a feudal culture, there are myriad reasons that someone may wish to hide their identity. This may be as a result of dishonour, not wanting certain actions to be traced back to their liege lord, or simply wanting to pass unmolested. On Avalon, this is accomplished through the practice of painting one's shield and armour black. The 'Knights of the Black Shield' are not found on any official records, nor are they all necessarily knights. Their main purpose is to be used in black operations were any knowledge of their existence can be disavowed. In practice, their deniable nature is becoming of more use since the crusade was declared. Unsubstantiated rumours of a hidden Fortress-Monastery on Thoon continue to circulate, but have not been confirmed.

### The Order of the Temple of Longinius

Since the Schism, the knights of Cydonia have not been idle. The Order of the Temple of Longinius is one of the foremost knightly orders on Cydonia. Chafing about the restrictions on spreading their faith, the technicality of encountered systems not being part of the Star Kingdom allows them to claim that such systems were Christian before they were brought into the fold. Such tactics have raised eyebrows, and only work when the Order of Longinius and other Cydonian knights have been working alone. Whilst a blind eye has been turned thus far by the crown, such a situation cannot last without risking a repeat of the Cydonian Schism.

## Notable Persons

* Artwyria Igraine Penddraig
* Mordecai
* Admiral Taflyn Llewllyn
* Sprave Jorgensen