The Blue Nova Republic

The Blue Nova Republic is a union of various states belonging to majority populations of different races, mostly slave races escaped from the Gatekeeper Imperium. These races include, but are not limited to, humans, kasatha, lashunta, ysoki, shirren and androids. But these are not the only races populating the Republic. Recent centuries have seen the Vesk native to the Sector, come out of militarized isolation. Skittermanders from within the Vesk Imperium have joined the Vesk in joining the Blue Nova Republic. Fugitive drow escaping persecution and execution for defying the extreme and deadly ways of the drow inhabiting the space just within the Vast Void. And many elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings have been drawn to the Republics longstanding support and encouragement of various arts and professions.

## History

About 4,000 years ago, the Fairfax Kingdom was sneaking propaganda into the Imperium for the slaves to see and hear. While the Imperium tried very hard to stop the flow of this propaganda through media outlets (few as the slave class had access to), they weren’t able to detect many of the moles and spies planted in the Blades and Barons who owned slaves in the more populous and strategic locations. This led to slaves beginning a revolution and a war broke out across the planet with escaped slaves operating on guerrilla warfare as the Fairfax Rebels has a millenia ago. While some operations met with colossal failure, countless more found resounding success in freeing and escaping slaves to hidden enclaves. When the greatest enclave, the Sanctum, was discovered, the slave rebellion was forced to make a hasty retreat into the other side of the Sector where a few leaders in the slave rebellion were in talks with the isolated Vesk Imperium for sanctuary.

Seeing an opportunity for growth and power to fight against the Gatekeeper Imperium who had been attempting to break their defensive line since first contact, the Vesk Imperium granted sanctuary in one of the systems near the Vesk homeworld. It was in this system, surrounding a blue dwarf resulting from a somewhat recent supernova, that the slave escapees landed and established their founding city; Liberation City.

With the support of the Vesk Imperial Navy’s warships comparable to the Keeper Fleets, the newly founded Blue Nova Republic began settling and growing on the planets around the blue dwarf. Each planet generally “belonged” to specific races that escaped the Gatekeeper Imperium, with Liberation City and the planet it was founded on, Sanctuary, being the central seat of government.

The Vesk Imperium became a state in the Republic a few centuries after. In that time, the Blue Nova Republic had given full support to the Vesk Imperial Navy to fight off invading Keeper Fleets. After a long and bloody war spanning decades, the Gatekeeper Imperium finally ceased operations seeing they were unable to break the defensive capabilities of the Blue Nova Republic. With the Vesk Imperium formally joining, it became the largest state in the republic, though the other states continue to grow and develop in other nearby systems.

Today, the Blue Nova Republic shares a very healthy trade alliance with the Fairfax Kingdom and a somewhat cautious trade alliance with the enigmatic Tunguska Conglomerate. While not presently at war with the massive and powerful Gatekeeper Imperium, the border between the two nations are always patrolled by the respective navies, never engaging but always on edge when the patrol fleets spot each other. The Blue Nova Republic is known to keep several powerful response fleets on standby, but the location of these fleets always remains a very well kept secret.

## Religion & Society

The Blue Nova Republic is a nation of many faiths. From Sarenrae across its human population, to Hylax leading the shirren visitors, Talavet instructing and teaching the kasatha and Yaraesa motivating the lashunta, many good-aligned faiths are practiced in the Republic. But it is Sarenrae and Desna who bear the title of the chief deities of the Blue Nova Republic. This worship is part of what creates such a great friendship between the Blue Nova Republic and the Fairfax Kingdom.

But the Republic overall is not exclusive to these faiths. Many different deities and faiths are practiced in Republic space. The only ones that are shunned are evil-aligned deities. While multiple chaotic-aligned faiths are generally allowed to be practiced, such faiths are usually shunned or at least treated with caution as such faiths can be capricious or may lend itself to endangering the Republic.

The population of the Republic is also not exclusive to former slave races of the Gatekeeper Imperium. While those races hold the majority of power alongside the Vesk through representatives in the Republic, nearly any other race with friendly intentions may be seen in the Blue Nova Republic. Understanding of other races is highly encouraged in the people of the Republic to foster a friendly and welcoming atmosphere in the nation. This often results in many envoys becoming prominent adventurers and important figures.

One of the noteable aspects of the Blue Nova Republic is its encouragement of the arts. This results in many of the metropolitan cities and urban areas appearing somewhat colorful, both in sight and sound. Art is a highly appreciated and desired commodity among the people and is one of the most frequently traded goods, matching the popularity of music in the nation. This has led to the Republic becoming the single greatest source of popular media across the galaxy, with even the Tunguska Conglomerate and Gatekeeper Imperium, though reception in thise nations is often limited and very seldom becomes known, especially from the Gatekeeper Imperium.

### **Social Ranks**

While social classes don't really exist, there is an unspoken and unofficial "social ranking" idea that tends to be seen at times in the Blue Nova Republic. It's more based on one's personal success in life than heritage. While the Republic itself, a congress of multiple representatives of various nations on planets belonging to the Blue Nova Republic, are the lawmakers and "rulers" of the BNR, the upper class tend to be the people who run successful businesses and corporations, and also include celebrity artists, actors and public figures. The military tends to be highly respected for protecting the Republic and keeping the peace and safety of the people. The common folk are often the amateur artists, the main workforce of the republic and the economic base of the Republic.

## Racial Populations

As a nation comprised mostly of slave races from the Gatekeeper Imperium, there is no real "majority race" in the Republic, though the Vesk might have a slightly larger population than any individual race in the Republic. While stereotypes have formed from this nation's interactions with it's own populations, a great level of respect has grown in the general population, leading to playful quips and jokes among many strangers which are typically followed by compliments or friendly greetings. Even though stereotypes exist, no races will enforce a view that they are above other races, and such opinions often result of the individuals being shunned or ostracized from the community.

Virtually every humanoid population exists in the Blue Nova Republic and has representatives in the Republic Congress.

## Languages

Nearly all languages are spoken in the Blue Nova Republic. The list of languages *not* commonly spoken is shorter, that being abyssal and infernal.