Holy Aranyatri Empire

The **Holy Aranyatri Empire** is a theocratic empire that have descended from the people of the Zheng Hu Flotilla that mutated into the Aranyatri. They arise from a bioluminescent planet of Varzea, a tropical planet covered in darkness yet has glowing plants that feed of geothermal energy and greenhouse effects.

## History

### The Beginning

#### First Century of the Divine

After the "Great Exodus", many fleets headed over to the Alpha Centauri System to escape from a doomed Earth. Yet along the way, a mysterious wormhole appeared that flung every single flotilla into an unknown galaxy and unknown times in that strange galaxy. This also include the Zheng He Flotilla that was flung and crashed landed into a dark world where the sunlight doesn't penetrate the clouds yet has beautiful bioluminescent plants and animals. The people are the former inhabitants of the Hindu-Polystralian Union and the Arab-African League that survived the great ordeal. But things got worse.

In the first week, the people slowly started to mutate by the unknown substances in the galaxy along with some of the stellar gases that permeate through the solar system and the rest of the galaxy. Many started to develop orange, birch white, scarlet yellow, oak brown or jet black skin depending on their original ethnicity. Then they start to develop "freckles" on their arms and faces that glow depending on their mood and true feelings which makes it impossible to hide or pull off a good poker face. Two weeks later, they develop psionic abilities that allows them psychokinesis and various other psychic abilities. Because of these, they hear the voice of a woman in their heads. A sweet, loving and caring voice that lure them all to a tree. A large tree with glowing lights that fade in and out and stands as high as Mt. Everest. They all gathered around the tree as it released a pollen onto the people that have gathered around.

The pollen that the tree released given all the mutated humans a special resilience to all the substances and give everyone a sort of euphoric feeling that stopped the mutations with the last bit being having their eyes glow in fiery amber, uranium green, brilliant sapphire, glowing hazel, bright sky blue, or burning red. The hair also changed color equal to the color of their skin tone or darker or lighter depending on areas highly concentrated with the strange substances. This was the birth of the Aranyatri race and their religion, Tree of the Life Mother, but officially known as, The Holy Church of the Life Mother's Tree.

#### Second Century of the Divine

After a hundred years, the Aranyatri started amassing an empire with the first empress (or divine speaker), Shinu el-Ghazal, descendent of the admiral of the Zheng He Flotilla, Shaadiq el-Ghazal, leading the Aranyatri. She help her people forge an empire that follows the will of the Life Mother that preserve life and co-exist with the glowing plants and other natural beauties. Much of the architectural styles are loosely based on the old Hindu and Islamic cultures that have beautiful gardens of glowing flowers. Much of the old technology was replaced with vines, roots, bark and all natural parts that later become very adaptive in the vacuum and harshness of space. Circuits are replaced with botany veins, electricity surge through vines, screens replaced with crystallized sap, and the children of the Life Mother are used as the core for the ships with lesser trees being used for smaller ships. Their communications are done via telepathy that is amplified by the saplings of the Life Mother that can be done with no interruptions from everything else unless by another psychic being.

Once the ships went up, many saw sunlight for the first time in two-hundred years since their ancestors landed on the dark planet along with two moons. It was a beautiful sight to behold as they start expanding the empire across the solar system and beyond.

But soon they will realize they aren't the only ones in this galaxy.

## Government

The empire is a theocratic monarchy that follows the Divine Speaker. It is a matriarchal society since the religion follows a goddess that resides in a tree of the planet, Varzea. As expected, the Divine Speaker and nearly all seats of power are comprised entirely of women that hold the Life Mother with great regard.

Executive power falls upon the Council of Ministration that are comprised of 25 ministers, each of whom also acts as the head of one of the government's departments. Acting as the head of the state and the Council of Ministration is the Divine Speaker that acts as a quick and decisive decision maker during times of crisis and emergencies when the ministers couldn't decide or act swiftly during these times. They all do communicate via their psychic link for fast and quickly resolve meetings in imperial affairs.

The Council of Senates make up the legislative branch of the Holy Aranyatri Empire that make laws passed by the senators of various regions of Varzea and colonies of the empire. They also do many regulations in the empire and make some decisions with the Divine Speaker agreeing or disagreeing in these meetings. For it is the Divine Speaker that has supreme authority in such matters yet it is rare for the Divine Speaker to intervene.

## Society & Culture

Much of the empire's society is women dominated as they are in charge of the affairs of the government as well as religious matters. Men do most of the fighting, farming, mining and many other forms of hard labor since males are stronger. However, the females have the authority as they produce hormones that allows them to manipulate males easily thanks to the Life Mother.

Much of their architecture is loosely based-on Islamic, Indio-Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist architecture mixed with nature.

The Life Mother is the primary religion of the Holy Aranyatri Empire after the tree gave them a pollen that stopped their mutations. Yet it also allowed them to communicate with their goddess with the DNA of the pollen integrated into their own combined with their psychic powers. However, women have a much closer connection to their goddess because their neurological pathways are far greater than men's.

## Military

The Holy Forces of Aranyatri is divided into three branches: Aranyatri Land Forces, Aranyatri Air Forces, and the Aranyatri Navy.

All vehicles, space suits, weapons, air craft and even ships are a fusion of technology and plant matter. This allows them to have their technology to "recharge" through photosynthesis and able to travel through vast distances with the sun. However, they still have some bits and pieces that feed on heat and greenhouse gases from their surroundings and especially all the substances in space thanks to the plants from their homeworld.

Their space suits and power armor are comprised of very strong vines and a special type of bark that is heatproof, freeze proof, and able to absorb all sorts of energy from energy-based weaponry. It also provides oxygen while it feeds on carbon-dioxide.

Thanks to their psionic abilities, they can coordinate and react faster without any verbal communication.

## Economy

Much of their economy comes from agriculture. Agriculture provides more than just food for their citizens. Some of it is processed into raw materials needed to create much of their technology without harming much of the environment. Yet there are special plants that assist with creating their technology and are the most difficult to cultivate.

There is also a special type of mineral filled with energy and has some sort of cosmic radiation that is harmless to them yet possess a great amount of elemental power. They have a composition similar to quartz and comes in a variety of colors. The colors are based on elements such as red for fire, white for light, light blue for ice, brown for earth, etc. Thanks to these, they are able to terraform a planet in a few years rather than century. These strange crystals, once used up, can regain their energy pending on the type of color they are while absorbing the exact same strange substances and energy of the Shroud.

## Stellaris In-Game Information

**Holy Aranyatri Empire**

 Origin

 Ethics

Egalitarian

 Civics

 Species Trait