Hexarchate

**This page will contain spoilers for Revenant Gun.**

> "*You couldn't pull the hexarchate apart and change it for something better. The fact that heretics always lost was proof of that. So you had to do the next best thing, the only thing left: serve, and hope that serving honorably made some small difference.*"
> ― Raven Stratagem, Chapter 12
>
>

The **hexarchate**, formerly the **heptarchate**, is an interstellar regime which dominates the history of the Machineries of Empire universe. The only story to predate the polity is The Chameleon's Gloves.

## Government

The hexarchate's governmental functions were carried out by its six **factions**. The three **high factions**, Rahal, Andan, and Shuos, corresponded to the three **low factions**, Vidona, Nirai, and Kel. The "high" and "low" designations were more a matter of tradition than practicality. The six factions were originally guided and administered themselves by a seventh faction, the Liozh, which was eventually declared heretical and purged, its roles being absorbed by the other factions.

Each faction had a hexarch, its highest-ranking administrator. The six hexarchs shared the same rank and power, though the Rahal hexarch was considered senior and spoke first when all six met. Internally, each faction had its own unique power structure. The Kel, whose hexarch was part of the increasingly psychotic Kel Command hivemind, and the Nirai, whose little-known immortal hexarch appointed false hexarchs to administer his faction for him, were uniquely structured compared to the other factions; the Shuos tradition of winning the hexarch's seat via assassination was also unusual.

All peoples and habitations in the realm were expected to abide by the high calendar so that the consensus mechanics allowed the regime's exotic technologies to work. To that end, the Rahal maintained and updated the high calendar and provided for the general administration of justice; the Vidona were in charge of education up to age seventeen, purged or reeducated heretics, and ritually tortured criminals and heretics for calendrical remembrances; the Andan provided diplomacy between the hexarchate and outsiders or groups it wanted to assimilate, as well as controlling the regime's culture and financial spheres; the Shuos provided intelligence and/or backstabbing, depending on who was talking; and the Kel military put down rebellions and defended the realm. The mostly-apolitical Nirai developed new and better technology for every faction, although their immortal hexarch's interests were behind much of the hexarchate's history.

## Geography

The hexarchate holds numerous marches of space. Borders include the Glover Marches, Gray Marches, Blue Heron border, High Glass border, Ivenua border, and Taurag border. Regimes near the hexarchate include the Taurag Republic, the Hafn, the Hausse, the Eels, and the Gwa Reality. The hexarchate has a long history of conflict and diplomacy with each.

Among the central marches, the Severed March is the location of the Fortress of Spinshot Coins, Station Tankut Primary, Tercel 81-7178, Minang System and the Minang Tower master clock; and Cobweb System. The overlapping Crescendo March is overlapped on its other side by the the Stabglass March, which is across the hexarchate from the High Glass border and notable as the location for the Citadel of Eyes, the headquarters of the Shuos. The Entangled March, which contains the Fortress of Scattered Needles and the nearby Footbreak system, is also adjacent to both the Severed March and Stabglass March.

All the way across the hexarchate, the backwater planet of Bonepyre, home of the Mwennin, lies in the Ausser March. Other marches include the Rosetta March and the Drowned March.

While the locations of the Citadel of Eyes and the Nirai headquarters, Station Mavi 514-11, are public knowledge, the location of the Aerie, home of Kel Command, is a closely guarded secret.

The Pale Fracture, a calendrical null, precluded a further wave of expansion with existing mothdrive technology.

## Technology

The realm used both exotic and invariant technology. Developments that shaped the hexarchate included mothdrive, which, with its increased range, allowed a rapid period of expansion; exotic means of communicating over interstellar distances; psych surgery; formation instinct; and immortality, manifesting both in the black cradle and in later variants. Much of the hexarchate's exotic technology stemmed from results in gate mechanics and was driven by the relentless research of the Nirai.

## Cultures

The regime encompassed countless cultures, large and small. However, every civilization, group, or individual assimilated into the hexarchate was required to abide by the high calendar and its associated social structure. Calendars or cultural quirks incompatible with the high calendar were considered heretical and their practitioners potentially subjected to reeducation, purging, or ritual torture as heretics. While languages were not regulated except as much as conformed them to the high calendar, the high language was the only preferred language, and the realm's countless low languages were regarded with suspicion.

In accordance with the high calendar, the hexarchate kept 30-hour days and 100-minute hours, adjustable for local dinural cycles. Though a ten-day week was the norm for faction personnel, the week was one of the few time measurements not regulated by the hexarchate, and different cultures often had different numbers of days in a week.

Numerological superstitions were rife in the hexarchate. Seven was disfavored, and "lucky unlucky four," associated with death, became a favored number of the Kel military.

Gender identity was usually not a point of contention, although there did not appear to be categorical words for sexual orientation. The advanced technology of the time meant that men, women, and alts could adjust their physical bodies as often and as comprehensively as they wish. As a general practice in hexarchate space, the terms "manform" and "womanform" are employed to describe people whose gender designation at birth is different from their stated identity. Body modification was common among the Andan and Shuos, though Kel conservatism made it rare in the military.

Group marriage was also common, especially when partners expected to raise children. Marriages were usually contracted for an agreed-upon length of time, with the contract specifying goals such as the creation of a shared household or lineage and could specify the manner of potential childrens' birth, desired adoptions, or contribution of genetic material from one or more donors. Most children in the hexarchate were creche-born, as had been the norm for several hundred years, though some cultures continued to practice body birth, and it was not unusual to produce offspring who were clones or clone-mods. There is no high language term for a non-custodial biological relationship between a parent and child; custodial parents, whether biologically related or otherwise, were clearly designated before the child's birth, and only those people were referred to as the child's parents.

## History

**Heptarchate** redirects here.

> "*The hexarchate has never prospered under single leadership.*"
> ― Commandant Kel Mishke
>
>

The hexarchate and its predecessor, the heptarchate, were a cohesive political regime for 1252 years. They incorporated the Kel, previously an independent starfaring people, and the single faction whose schism resulted in the split between the Andan and the Shuos. The work of Magistrate Rahal Ienora allowed high calendar remembrances to adhere to local day/night cycles. By the birth of Hajoret Kujen in 342, the heptarchate already contained "thousands upon thousands of worlds."

During the reign of Heptarch Nirai Esfarel, the development of the first mothdrive vessels allowed a period of expansion and prosperity for the regime. Further advances led to Esfarel's succession by Nirai Kujen, who had pioneered the mathematical field that made remembrances an integral part of the high calendar, along with advances in psych surgery and the black cradle breakthrough that made Kujen effectively immortal.

Notable personalities from the late heptarchate included General Andan Zhe Navo, widely regarded as the regime's greatest general; Vidona Oressa, who advanced medical studies in her faction; and Heptarch Liozh Henezda, whose heavy-handed politics resulted in the first of three unsuccessful secession attempts from the regime.

After his successes in the Axer and Aughen campaigns, the heptarchate assigned General Shuos Jedao to deal with the Lanterner rebellion.

Candle Arc.
Hellspin Fortress.
Liozh heresy/purge.

In the second attempt at secession from the hexarchate, Lieutenant General Kel Sumaarzaav allied with foreign powers to capture and hold a splinter realm, although it was reabsorbed after her death. The third secession attempt was spearheaded by another Kel general.

Institution of formation instinct.
Assassination of Hexarch Nirai Havrekaz.

Advances in augments during Jedao's lifetime led Kel Command to adopt composite technology, forming itself into a hivemind. Kel historians elide the contributions of Kel Command's fear of Jedao to the problems with Kel policy over the next few centuries.

During the following two hundred years, the hexarchate developed true machine intelligence. The servitors, set to the scut work of manufacturing, hospitality, and cleanliness, became a major economical underpinning of the regime while secretly developing their own culture. Although they had a chance to leave the hexarchate, they chose not to do so.

Andan meeting with Hafn.

Heresy at Fortress of Scattered Needles. Hafn invasion.

Death of Marish; assassination of Cherkad.

Swanknot Swarm.

Calendrical spike.

## Trivia

* A map of the hexarchate at the time of Revenant Gun was created for the author by Soren Roberts. Its full-sized version can be viewed from Yoon Ha Lee's blog.

## References

1. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 5
2. ↑ Calendrical Rot
3. ↑ The Factions: High Faction Rahal
4. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1
5. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 15
6. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 8
7. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 4
8. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 10
9. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 20
10. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 4
11. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 10
12. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 31
13. ↑ Hexarchate Stories: Hexarchate and Heptarchate Timeline
14. ↑ The Chameleon's Gloves
15. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 6
16. ↑ Hexarchate Stories: Hexarchate and Heptarchate Timeline
17. ↑ Hexarchate Stories: Hexarchate and Heptarchate Timeline
18. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 6
19. ↑ Seven Views of a Kel Secession
20. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 18
21. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 22
22. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 13
23. ↑ Hexarchate Map ca. Revenant Gun