Vulcanian Worlds

> "*Countless galaxies, even more stars, and even more worlds to conquer. For the Divine Vulcan and his legions shall be stationed from star to star, stretching across the desolate ocean we call home,*"
>  *- General Colanir of the Exploration League*
>
>

The Vulcanian Empire was home to quadrillions of inhabited worlds across almost all of known space, and some of the unknown. Thousands of new worlds were explored and conquered every day in Vulcan's name, with the Exploration League planting the imperial flag on every remotely habitable world. Planets were inhabited by Thrákes and some Imperial Colonists pre-selected by the exploration league. The classification and management of these planets fell on the shoulders of the Office of Economics, where thousands of bureaucrats worked endlessly to keep up with the never-ending deluge of newly conquered worlds.

The cloning technology which created the Thrákes prevented the empire from being spread too thin, at the expense of the population, which by the latter days of the empire was a soulless pile of bodies, expendable and undependable. The majority of worlds inhabited contained one sole viceroy, sitting upon his throne in a Capital City and ruling with near-unchecked power. But some might have been ruled by Valhalla directly, or some without a viceroy at all. While being populated by uncounted trillions, it's possible to travels millions, if not billions of light-years without finding a single other object in space.

No being has ever mapped all the planets discovered or conquered. The numbers are only estimates based on reports that were constantly being written. Nobody had the time to count them all, let alone read them. The Exploration League, while it was directly led by Vulcan, had little to no regard for the pace of the empire's expansion. Worlds were ponderously colonized the majority of the time with colonial regulations regularly ignored. Only on special occasions did officers travel to see a new planet, and only once did Vulcan Himself come. The empire was in a state of constant change, or rather expansion.

The Empire is full of planets, not all of which discovered. Some housed life, some harbingers of death, and some containing aliens which boggle the mind. Cursed rocks floating across the infinite abyss of space were conquered and colonized daily, rogue planets outside the jurisdiction of any galaxy were mined until their core freezes away. Wars were fought on unknown planets by unknown enemies, stamped out before word even reaches the nearest general. Scrolls hundreds of feet long found deep within the **Kunnüstabók** tell of worlds abandoned, destroyed, or reduced to anarchy. The expansion of the empire knew no end.

## Types of Worlds

### Divine Worlds

Given to specially marked worlds of central importance to the empire, **Divine Worlds** are

### Assembly Worlds

Different than Factory Worlds, Assembly Worlds were planets designated for the assembly and initial distribution of heavy military machinery such as Gunships and Jotunjárns. These worlds were vital to the military powerhouse which was the Vulcanian Empire. Housing massive orbital transport stations and a number of Káupskyps, these worlds were carefully designed to efficiently exchange military goods across their local province. Each world could've been housing thousands, if not millions of heavy machines ready to be distributed across the empire across multiple cycles. In the latter years of the empire, **Cosmic Pinholes** were in development to send some of these planets to different **Battlefront Worlds** for easier weapon distribution, though these plans were never fully realized. After the collapse of the Vulcanian Empire, these planets became independent war merchants, selling the only equipment to any kingdom that could afford it.

### Battlefront Worlds

As wars rage across the stars, many worlds fall under the spell of war and are classified as **Battlefront Worlds**. These worlds are unsafe for civilian life and when possible inhabitants are ordered to leave or be drafted into the **Vulcanian Army**. If the classified world is located on the exterior of the empire, it is likely the world will permanently become a warzone due to near-constant invasions. These worlds are forever cursed to be bombed from orbit or be subject to endless hoards of **The Eldritch**. These planets quickly turn into hellish landscapes incapable of hosting life, reducing former cities to rubble and turret ammunition. These worlds are where most of the empire's billions of soldiers end up. Soldiers are jostled in dropships entering the planet and are given one single command, which is to hold the line. Most never make it out. In the rare case that fighting on these worlds end, the local Viceroy will send millions of **Thrákes** to repopulate the planet, or become clay targets if fighting starts up again.

### Void Worlds

Void Worlds are planets that are either too difficult or impossible to colonize. Most gas giants of close-orbit planets are listed.