Directorist Ardesch

After the collapse of the Ardeschen Empire during the Sixteenth Age, the country was reorganised into a dictatorship and an empire under the Directors. Historians of later times referred this part of Ardeschen history as "**Directorist Ardesch**".

This also includes its successor state of the Republic of Pure Lotharesch, which was established to the east of Ardesch.

## Flag

The flag depicts a comet or a meteor against a light blue-green background. The background's represents harmony and prosperity, and the comet represents the downfall of its enemies or the favour of its many gods.

## History

At the prime of the Sixteenth Age, the Tuksharan Empire built fleets of flying fortresses to take over Jerde, but the locals of the continents of Palkyras and Randros developed their own technologies to stop the Tuksharans' conquests.

Ardesch thrived during the Sixteenth Age after Emperor Herimann built it as an empire and the Gunpowder Wars, as it competed with Naria (Verucci) to acquire spices and land from the westerly empires of Kawwajutas and Redjetesh, and as it built its industry to fight the Tuksharan Empire and its flying cities. Just as it was prospering, the misrule of one of its latter emperors, Aldaforas III, dragged it into a global financial crisis, and when he died without any heirs, the various competing factions all over the empire tore it apart in a civil war.

Ardesch became into a battlefield between dozens of city-states that emerged from a government crisis. That civil war that took the lives of 70 percent of Ardesch's population led to the rise of a charismatic leader, a playwright who styled himself as "The Grand Director". Taking advantage of the fear that their southern Scenarian neighbours would invade them, he unified the broken factions to resist the Scenarians, before embarking on a campaign of sabotage and conquest against the countries of the north to build an empire to challenge the repeated assaults from Scenarium and the global superpower of Tukshara.

To enforce obedience throughout his empire, the Grand Director sentenced all of his opponents to hard labour, mostly in dire, slave-like conditions to humiliate them like his rivals did (This led to viral outbreaks in parts of his empire). The Director wiped out the Scenarian forces that occupied his realm's southern provinces, before waging war against his nation's rival, Zarijana, to finish the Ardeschen emperors' ancient goal of continental dominance. He was then killed by a heart attack, and his war against Zarijana stopped.

The Second Director turned his forces southwards and competed in a space race. He also set up a territory for the Maardau cultists to practice their barbaric customs freely, and rebuilt the northern half of Teranchir (the capital) with many temples, halls, laboratories, and schools. Angered by the tolerance of the Maardau and other quarrelling cults, another officer killed the Second Director and seized the government to liberalise it, seeking more wealth from trade and improving relations with other realms.

### The Republic of Pure Lotharesch

Eventually, the Third Director was overthrown by a force of left-wing guerillas, who took advantage of his failing support as his country's economy failed. Under the authority of a bandit, Lothar, some of his supporters fled east to Ardesch's former colonies to establish the realm of Lotharesch to continue their leader's policies of racial purity and efficient dictatorship, in contrast to Red Ardesch's inept obsession with crusades and internal bickering. However, Lotharesch ruled its territories with mass executions of hundreds of suspected "deviants" and "race traitors".

Lotharesch's armies were joined by rogues, outcasts, and criminals from Ardeschi society and elsewhere, who were angered by Red Ardesch's strict laws, harsh punishments, and vigilante revenge attacks along its eastern provinces. For a while they seized control of Red Ardesch's eastern territories when it fought against secessionists in the western shores, but were stopped and driven back. As Lotharesch battled Zarijanians and the Utopianists in the south, rebellions broke out at parts of the country, seeking to put an end to Lotharesch's rulers and their massacres. The Stewards also sent armies of clones to kill the Darroskei, to punish them for refusing to allow them to set up new bases along the west coast, but their armies were defeated.

With Red Ardesch weakened by the Utopianists' assaults, Pure Lotharesch waged war against Green Ardesch, as its leader sought to kill the latter's people for "racial treason" (for not following its ideology). When the Utopianists conquered Red Ardesch, the Lothareschen went on hunting parties to kill the mechanised Ardeschis, but they stopped when the Utopianists turned towards Lotharesch and destroyed much of its military.

After the Utopianists were driven out of Teranchir, the Second Republic of Ardesch annexed parts of Lotharesch, and conquered those that fought against its existence.

## Geography

### Teranchir

* The Cold Hall - a personal palace of the Grand Director. He demolished the theatre where he grew up under and rebuilt it as the biggest palace of the whole city and his personal temple, where he was worshipped as a god. It was named after its huge dome, which made the hall colder to make visitors more frightened of his authority.
	+ During medieval times, the Cold Hall was a marketplace. After the Plague, it became into a theatre, with the southern wing being a brothel until the end of Nolaar's reign of terror.
	+ In Red Ardeschi times, the Cold Hall was demolished and rebuilt as a pleasure palace, often frequented by richer Ardeschis and their clone courtesans for carnal pleasures. Sometimes, the immigrants were given free access to anywhere in the Pleasure Palace, but they also get to enjoy other attractions, such as libraries, a spa, a swimming lake, and even a skiing hall.
	+ During the Technocrats' era, the Pleasure Palace was abandoned, as more people went to other venues and mechanised their own bodies. Months later, the building collapsed, and the last unmodified peoples of Ardesch (both local and foreign) gathered there as a city. Its former bedrooms were converted into archives, and humble tents and huts were set up along its halls where the resisters slept every night. It was also their fortress when the Utopianists exterminated the mechanised Ardeschis.
	+ On the foundation of the Republic of Ardesch, the Pleasure Palace was a historical site, an open-air museum that displayed the tragic history of Ardesch. A smaller theatre was rebuilt where classical plays were held once more.
	+ During the Reorganisation Wars, the Cold Hall was rebuilt as a laboratory.
* The Field of War - a huge field where members of the Directorist army and party gathered to worship their leader and gods. Prisoners and criminals were executed before a great brazier as human sacrifices to the Great Director.

### Elsewhere

Thirty-Nine Holy Cities - Thirty-nine cities consecrated by the Great Director using mysticist manuals and astrology.

## Government

Throughout its thirty years of its history, the three Directors ruled Ardesch as dictators. It promoted an ideology that stressed on total obedience to its Directors and the war and solar gods, adapting a Rannarisk philosophy of racial purity into a cult of worship towards the Directors.

In Lotharesch, its Directors became into stewards, who served more like high priests for the Ardeschen/Lotharesch race.

Even though Directorist propaganda stressed on total unity and devotion to the Director as a "son of the great sun god", the Directorist government was split between several factions:

* Militarists/Dortachelas - who seek to dominate the whole continent of Randros by conquering the south and east.
	+ Herimandilas - who seek to finish the "ancient goal" of conquering Zarijana.
* Heathenists/Irbesalchiras - who promote ancient philosophies as national laws, from polytheism to astrology and environmentalism. Their influence included regiments based on constellations and patron deities, ritualistic sacrifices, chaplains and alchemists, and propaganda being based on ritual chants.
* Racialists/Rozurchalas - who seek to keep the Ardeschen people racially-pure
	+ Artachulas - who seek to make the Ardeschen people the ruling race of a proposed world empire. Some adherents support enslaving other races or exterminating certain peoples as "divine punishment". Others suggest that only the strongest and smartest Ardeschens should have many children, while the disabled and "deviants" were to be killed off or enslaved.
	+ Rannarists/Mie-Rannorlas - who seek to make Ardesch and its people subservient to the Kingdom of Rannar or to any of several racialist militants from Rannar. Many of them were executed as traitors.
	+ Successionists/Harchenderlas - who seek to create an enhanced clone race to repopulate Jerde.
* Technocrats/Gurtechelas - who focus on technological advancement.
* Magnates/Maghanchelas - who support the companies that finances Ardesch's military.

During the Second Director's reign, these factions have become into political parties, which occasionally broke out into assassinations and bombings. Due to these actions, Lotharesch functioned as a one-party state.

Clones were not allowed to vote, unless they were married to a human.

## Economy

Directorist Ardesch functioned on an economy that supported Ardeschen private businesses while under the commands of its central planning. When not manufacturing military supplies, the Ardeschen economy focused on infrastructure, mining, synthetic materials, and manufacturing vehicles.

## Military

The Directorist military consisted of two main branches: the Regular Armed Legions, and the Vanlachun. The Regular Armed Forces comprised of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and (for a brief moment) Space Force. The Vanlachun (named after Ardeschen death spirits) were the secret police of Directorist Ardesch, consisting of single-sex squads that enforced law and assassinated important targets among Ardesch's enemies.

All members of the Directorist Ardeschen military were trained under a strict and harsh regimen that left them fanatically obedient and ruthless to the Directors and their officers. Some of their officers also betrayed their comrades to achieve higher ranks.

As much of Ardesch's people were destroyed during the Civil War, the Directorist military relied on cloning to quickly replenish its numbers. Its programme was developed and innovated from several military experiments and aristocrats' pet projects during the Imperial era, until even a single speck of a human cell was enough to produce hundreds of people within a day.

Military clones (including female ones) were forbidden from taking a true human or a civilian clone as a spouse. They had to take only military clones as spouses, which were usually given as rewards. They were also forbidden from becoming commanders, with few exceptions.

## Society

Directorist society was mostly based on its leaders' propaganda, which supported making the Ardeschen people (as a race) "pure" and "superior". Much of its education was about racial biology, culture, geography, physical fitness, and combat training.

Directorist Ardesch also had its own clone population, which was produced by the thousands to finish its war. Initially, male clones outnumbered the later female clones in a ratio of 6:1, as these were used in the armed forces to wage war against other nations or to enforce order, so the female clones were given male spouses to produce more civilians. This also led to polygamy being legalised in the Directorist regime for men: other countries mocked that policy for being hypocritically ironic, becoming like its arch-enemy Zarijana.

Directorist Ardesch was a patriarchal society, where even though women were valued as "racial treasures", they were required to work for the home, family, and their husbands. Nonetheless, the authorities also required women to do physical exercises and work at factories separate from men. To make up for labour shortages caused by barring women from workplaces; clones, foreign workers, and slaves were used.

Heterosexuality was compulsory in Directorist Ardesch, to the extent that non-heterosexuals were forcibly "corrected" or punished as "degenerates".

## Religion

The Directorist regime altered Ardesch's native religion to the extent that it glorified war, the Ardeschen race, and the Director as the new god of the Ardeschen people. While most other beliefs were banned (especially atheism and Mazdajasna, the religion of the arch-enemy), several minority pantheons and Trismegian communities were tolerated as long as they also worshipped the Directors.

## Trivia

* Directorist Ardesch was inspired by Nazi Germany and the Francoist regime in Spain.