Zaran Empire

Founded in the year 1415 After Discovery, 892CE according to the Terran Calendar, the Zaran Empire began as a highly militant nation on a pre-industrial world. It took roughly a millenium of intermittent global warfare as well as a volcanically induced snowball-earth situation before the Empire united its world and expanded into space. It would take another nine centuries to develop practical FTL technology, by which time the Human-Covenant War had been more than two centuries past along with several other major conflicts over in the Orion-Spur. Now, roughly a century and a half later, the Empire has made first contact with the Galactic Federation and began interactions with the rest of the galactic community.

Holding governance over approximately one hundred proper colonies and over a thousand non-permanent outposts, the Zaran Empire officially claims one thousand and fifty-three systems, and unofficially claims everything within several hundred lightyears of settled territory. Their isolated location in a cluster out on the galactic rim has kept them from coming into conflict with others over said claims, but it has also left them reliant on outside groups to be able to get anywhere meaningful on a timely basis.

## History

Originally, the homeworld of the Empire (now called Unity) was inhabited by an intelligent civilization (later dubbed the Tenebrites) that had reached a very high level of technological development without venturing any farther than the other moons of the gas giant they orbited, beginning terraforming projects on the largest companion to their world. Instead of the rapid expansion that most other civilizations pursued, this one focused on inward developments, particularly experimentation with new power sources in search of an endless supply of power. This civilization eventually found what they sought in their discovery of the Aetherstream and how to draw energy from it; their cities were soon powered by massive facilities that generated and then contained rifts linking the Stream with Realspace. Unfortunately, this technology proved to be inherently unstable, and when one facility's containment failed it began a chain reaction of catastrophic meltdowns that bathed the planet in baleful energies, completely wiping the surface clean of life. The only survivors were the equivalent of doomsday preppers who had constructed underground vaults, and a scant few hundred individuals crewing the terraformation project on another moon that soon died from lack of supplies.

After roughly ten thousand years, the remains of the civilization on the surface are naught but dust and empty husks of buildings, but the after-effects of the calamity are still apparent as numerous rifts begin to open that link the world to Toril. These rifts go unnoticed by the civilizations of Toril for a long time, but life does begin to filter through them to begin colonizing the dead world. When the rifts were finally discovered, it would take some decades for explorers and pilgrims to establish self-sufficient settlements before the rifts turned unstable, stranding them. This unexpected loss of contact led to panic and a dark age that lasted for nearly a century, with several colonies managing to recover and remain cohesive, but the region once controlled by the human and gnomish colonies would recover for roughly a thousand years.

Roughly a century and a half after the recovery of the lawless territories, Zarus comes to power in a wealthy trade city after the assassination of it’s ruler, his father. The new leader then went on a crusade across the region, bringing order to the city-states and surrounding territories through military force, thus creating the Zaran Empire. The unification of the human territories under a central authority, combined with the violent purges of unlawful elements, greatly increased stability in the region and saw an overall increase in life expectancy and quality for the average citizen. The new Emperor proceeded to focus on building up his territories and infrastructure, tying the once separate cities together with standardized roads, aqueducts, and other public infrastructure; consolidating his power through populist policies that led to near ubiquitous support from the common people whilst sourcing all his officials from said common people. The Emperor would rule for fifty-six years before dying of age related causes, becoming deified as the Founder. Every emperor after him would be selected according to the guidelines he left.

The Empire would exist in relative peace for about a century before its rapidly growing population began to strain their farmland, eventually driving them to wage war against the neighboring and fertile Davish Clans. This war would last for roughly six decades before the Imperial development of gunpowder gave them numerous decisive victories. The Clans were fully assimilated as their land was subjected to a series of programs similar to the ones the Founder had enacted in the homeland. This aggressive expansion caused the other nations of the world significant concern, but their territories were separated by oceans, so they remained secure.

Shortly after the war, the Empire would go through an industrial revolution, aided by reverse engineering of foreign designs, they would go on to become a major industrial power, rapidly advancing as the state sponsored research into both domestic and military applications.

Roughly four centuries later, the world is beset by a global increase in volcanic activity as an invasion comes from below. The descendants of those doomsday preppers from the civilization before had ironically repeated the mistakes of those before, and their deep cities in the mantle had largely been flooded by magma, leaving just the shallow labyrinthes to hold their civilization. With the massive upswing in geological activity though, came the exposing of these deep tunnels to the surface, and the “Tenebrals” as they would come to be called sought to take this new space for themselves. Global war would break out. The war ended after roughly forty years, the Tenebrals being unable to hold much territory due to a lack of Air control, and they would finally be driven back into their tunnels for good by the presence of newly developed imperial Stratospheric Bombardement platforms. The two nations that remained standing at the end of the war were the Republic of the Scale, and the Zaran Empire, the latter of which quickly snapped up the territory that used to belong to the Dwe'Mer Confederacy which had collapsed during the war. The Empire also took the Republic as a protectorate, promising continued autonomy but also implying conquest if the offer was refused. With this, the Empire finally unified the world and renamed it “Unity”.

Nearly a century into reconstruction efforts, falling global temperatures due to volcanic activity forces efforts to be diverted into both subterranean and space expansion. Unity becomes an iceball speckled with anomalous green areas kept warm by a combination of geothermal activity and still-lingering fallout from the original calamity. Said “Green Zones” become hellish jungles filled with mutated flora and fauna, and surface cities are largely restricted to the relatively thin bands of reasonable temperature that separate the Green Zones and the frozen waste.

Meanwhile, the other moons of the gas giant Unity orbits are explored, and one is found to be nominally habitable, the one that once bore a terraforming project. This moon, dubbed “Brotherhood”, is turned into the first extraterrestrial Imperial colony. Expansion into the rest of the system would be quick, but the only major populations would be on Unity and Brotherhood for a long time, with other settlements being simple mining or research outposts. The Empire would also send out a series of automated probes to scout out nearby stars at relativistic speeds. These probes would then be followed by sublight colony ships equipped with experimental instantaneous communication technology that would then become the foundation of the empire’s interstellar communication network. The first Imperial colonies would enjoy the same autonomy that the Republic had, more a matter of practicality than anything else.

Roughly two hundred and fifty years after the first colonies are established, practical FTL is achieved, and the colonies are reconnected to the Empire-proper. The Empire expands as fast as its prodigious industrial capabilities would allow into the surrounding space, Colonizing any marginally habitable world, and even completely barren but resource-rich worlds, simply burrowing into the latter. A period of unrestricted expansion would go on for about 150 years before first contact would be initiated by long-range scouts with a major galactic power, the Galactic Federation.

## Political Structure

On paper, the Zaran Empire is a theocratic dictatorship. In practice, most power is delegated to increasing levels of locality. Day to day domestic operations are decided by an Imperial Senate, set up by Empress Selene II in the early days of interstellar expansion; All senate decisions are ultimately subject to the Emperor’s discretion, but precedent and the fact that they (nominally) represent the people’s will gives them significant authority. Individual worlds govern themselves similarly, with a federally selected governor drawn from the local populace holding authority with most power being delegated to elected officials. Only official imperial colonies have votes in the senate, but other parties (autonomous regions, protectorates, Interstellar-corporations, and the Church) have representatives and may voice opinions.

### The Church of the Founder

The nominal state religion, and also serving as the largest humanitarian organization within the empire. Whilst officially separate from the government proper, the Emperor is also the head of the Church, and holds significant sway over the church’s allocation of resources and activity. The church is mostly split into three major groups, The Shepherds, Scribes, and Crusaders. The Shepherds proselytize and carry out the Church’s humanitarian projects, and are the largest group. The Scribes are scholars, historians, administrators, etc. and are the smallest of the three. The Crusaders are fairly self-explanatory, they are the militant branch of the church, and serve as both local militias and the Emperor’s personal legion. In the event of a local rebellion, the crusaders would likely be the deciding factor, with both sides trying to convince them their cause is just.

### Republic of the Scale

This protectorate nation has expanded alongside the empire and has enclaves on most imperial worlds. It is subject to certain federal laws and inter-colony trade laws, but is otherwise free to do whatever it chooses. As a protectorate, it has no military of its own, but maintains militias and contributes volunteer forces to the Imperial military. The Republic’s economy serves as its biggest source of clout, being almost purely capitalist save for federal anti-monopoly laws, it has the largest consumer industry and Republic products can be found in every imperial market. The Republic has no state religion, and functions as a representative democracy.

### The Ministries

The Non-military parts of the Federal Government, there are four Ministries: Intelligence, Law, Prosperity, and Truth. The Ministry of Intelligence is dedicated to the gathering of information of every sort, Research and Development, Espionage, Exploration, etc.. The Ministry of Law handles law enforcement and arbitration. The Ministry of Prosperity handles the government’s side of the economy, from nationalized industry to colonization and social assistance programs. Finally, the Ministry of Truth is the mirror to the Ministry of Intelligence, it handles the dissemination of information, state-sponsored news, education, propaganda, etc. Each Ministry is subdivided into various departments that specialize in a particular facet of the Ministry’s responsibilities. Each organization reports directly to the Emperor, and their heads make up part of the Emperor’s council of advisors.

## Size and Population

The Empire contains roughly a hundred colonies over one million residents, ranging from that lowest threshold to numbers in excess of a billion. Unity itself holds roughly twenty-three billion individuals. There are approximately one thousand additional outposts of less than a million residents. The empire has a physical presence in one thousand and fifty-three systems, though some systems only contain a waystation for travelers to resupply.

Populations largely concentrate into massive city-arcologies, with urban planning centered around public transportation and distributed food production. A given city generally evolves into a rough wheel-shape, with space-hungry industries branching off of the city center as spokes. Food production is generally split into two types, community gardens/parks distributed throughout the city, and mostly automated algae farms out on the spokes, both make heavy usage of hydroponics. Racial composition is likewise split into two types, egg-laying reptilians and live-bearing humanoids, with the races able to interbreed within either category but not across the divide. This has led to a general trend of convergence within either category, and it is likely that the races will be largely indistinguishable after a few thousand more years. Until such a point, the races are fairly typical of fantasy worlds and as follows:

* Humans: Much like any other in the universe, their natural lifespans are roughly a quarter longer due to cross breeding with longer lived races.
* Elves: Thin, wiry, long lived and gifted with sharp senses. Elves are smaller and weaker than Humans, but less so than a couple thousand years ago.
* Dwarves: Short, stocky and solidly built, their average lifespan is slightly longer than an elf’s.
* Gnomes: Short as the Dwarves, but far thinner and more nimble, the Gnomes live longer than Humans, but less than Elves.
* Orcs: Taller and stronger than Humans, they have slightly shorter life expectancies due to a greater vulnerability to cancer and age-related illness.
* Dragonborn: The most prevalent of the Reptilian races, the Dragonborn look much like one would expect from “Humanoid dragon”. Scaly, wingless, but able to breathe out small gouts of flame. They live roughly as long as imperial Humans.
* Lizardfolk: Closer to traditional lizard-men, their tribal/solitary tendencies leave them as the least common of the reptile races. They live roughly as long as the Elves.
* Kobolds: The gnomes/dwarves of the scaled peoples, their lifespans are roughly equal to the Dragonborn.

And finally, there are the Revenants. The Empire’s answer to Smart AI, they were developed and deployed during the Tenebral wars as an answer to manpower shortages as a result of casualties. These machine-people are given life and self-direction through the recycling of souls. Fortunately for the moral, the process only works with willing donors, as corralling an unwilling soul is near impossible for Imperial arcanists, and even if successful, a Revenant made from an unwilling donor would likely be extremely suicidal. Revenants have an in-built “nudge” to almost always be doing something to stay occupied, this serves to both stave off AI-decay (often called “Idle Madness”) and ensure they do more than the bare minimum to remain functional. Revenants are largely equivalent to humans with regards to intelligence and “default framerate”, but can connect to additional hardware to expand their capabilities. As such, most Imperial vehicles are designed with Revenant operators in mind, and cybernetics development is mostly derived from Revenant related research. On average, a Revenant lasts roughly a century, but particularly stable ones can reach two centuries before beginning to suffer from cognitive decay.

The current Emperor, Velmenni the First, is the first Revenant Emperor, and has served for roughly a decade.