Sacred Chiron

One of the Great Powers in The Void, Sacred Chiron is an Imperial state ruled by the Autarch, an Emperor-like figure. Chiron was originally a primitive feudal nation made up of many small tribes and ethnic groups. The Ximbri, who would later become known as the Chironites, conquered and assimilated or destroyed these other peoples. The United Culture found this feudal society and attempted to uplift it, giving them new technologies and trying to reform their social mores. The Chironites eventually revolted from their benefactors, perhaps sensing that their culture was under threat of assimilation, and forced the UC out. Modern Chiron still holds a grudge against the UC, and challenges them wherever possible.

Chiron is apparently a very religious country, with faith in Sahaquiel being part of their cultural morality. They also have strong notions of genetic purity, and practice some form of eugenics.

## Weapons

*See Chironite Weapons*

Chironite weapons are generally of average to high quality, and emphasize reliability and rate of fire over other concerns. They also tend to be highly specialized for specific duties, which would logically cause logistical problems for maintaining many different kinds of weapons. The Weißenschwert C41 for example has an extremely high rate of fire and a large magazine compared to the Nachtmacher C45, which has a lower rate of fire but is more reliable.

The current chief armament of the Chironic Heer (Army) is the Schwarzvald C5 Rifle, a bolt-action rifle, and the Nachtmacher C45 SMG. Both are being gradually replaced by the Volksverteidiger C10, a very impressive select-fire assault rifle chambered in an intermediate cartridge that can serve both as a high-ROF weapon up close, and an accurate rifle from long range.

The most common Machinegun, the Kurschat-Lickertt MG-38, is a monstrously high rate-of-fire weapon chambered in a powerful rifle cartridge, being both reliable and capable of deadly suppressive fire. It suffers slightly in terms of accurate single or burst fire, however.

Babel Grenades, probably the Chironites' signature weapon, seem to function as a combination between defensive grenades and smoke, physically warping the trajectory of bullets while "killing" individuals caught within the radius of its unnatural field of energy. The individuals "killed" by Babel fields are simply rendered comatose, sometimes recovering, and sometimes remaining vegetables for the remainder of their lives. Because it is very difficult to tell the difference between an individual who is suffering from shell shock from an individual who has been "fed to the ghosts" by a Babel field, this has led to field hospitals full of millions of effectively dead people who must be cared for as though they had a chance of regaining sentience.

## Culture

Chiron is a largely rural society, with crofters (small farm-owners) making up a large portion of the population, supplemented by the more recent rise of urban centers. The Chironites value hard work, discipline and morality above all other things, though they have a fondness for drink that is somewhat at odds with their reputation for seriousness. There is a degree of regional variance between the different provinces of Chiron, which were once duchies and kingdoms, but the State, particularly under the current government, has launched a pan-Ximbrist educational program aimed at bringing them closer together.

The great majority (99% or more) of Chiron's population are Sahaquielists, either Orthodox or Reformist, and a thin sliver of the country is atheist or some obscure religion. Atheism was a larger phenomenon in the country prior to the return of Richtofen to power, and his apparent immortality has inspired many to return to the church--which of course is very much under the thumb of the government.

The Chironites are a very militaristic people, trusting the armed forces above all other groups in government. The Ximbri military tradition spans back centuries, and is unlikely to change any time in the future. The government is closely entwined with the military, particularly the SNVP, and government officials tend to dress in uniform.

Chiron currently has a very extensive Eugenics program, consisting of mandatory physical conditioning and testing during teenage years, and the sterilization or euthanization of physically inferior specimens. The mentally ill are generally sterilized, though there is a large debate in Chiron's eugenicist movement as to what illnesses are congenital and what are environmental, and the SSS has recently exempted schizophrenics and autistic people from the purges, on the grounds that they represent a parallel evolutionary track the loss of which would lessen the Ximbri race.

Women are awarded special honors if they achieve highly in their tests, and are also given a "State Dowry" of a size depending on their scores. This dowry is paid out to a couple when they marry, and is meant to encourage timely and proper homemaking. Chiron has very rigid divorce laws (no-fault divorce does not exist) but a very robust safety net for single mothers--particularly for the widows of soldiers.

In Chiron, the largest and most important holiday of every year is Ascension Day, the day when Sahaquiel Twelvehands rose from the Unterwelt to bring life to the Void. The holiday is celebrated traditionally through sacrifices and the burning of vanities. Poorer Chironites often shave their heads on Ascension Day, whereas wealthier ones make large displays of destroying or giving away their own wealth. Traditionally, the Autarch and his household smash all of the windows out of the Imperial Palace on Ascension Day, which are then replaced by a hereditary class of artisans, who produce exact replicas, down to individual blemishes, of the destroyed windows.

Sacrifices to Sahaquiel are seen as providing powerful magical protection to the Ximbri people. The poor will sacrifice mice, or even insects if they have nothing better. The wealthy will sacrifice bulls or expensive birds. During times of extreme crisis, human sacrifice by the state is occasionally practiced, with the victims being criminals or prisoners of war.

The Chironic religion is led by in part by the "Angel-Eaters," mystics who congregate around the Babel Tar pits in Chiron's inner reaches, and use its power to divine the future and (supposedly) God's will.

## The Black Wind

At some point near the end of the Second War of Containment, the Chironites performed a great feat of Void Magic, summoning what was called "The Black Wind" to destroy their enemies. The individuals killed were not only killed, but erased from existence. People forgot their names and faces, and written records of them were burned out of books by some profane magic. This atrocity targeted its victims by some contrivance of the blood, and killed a colossal number of people, and caused chaos as entire societies collapsed, having had large portions of their populations erased from existence overnight. It is unclear who was destroyed--or why. It is also believed that the Chironites paid a terrible price for this magic, the debt of which the Autarch must now pay through means unknown.

## Trivia

-Chiron's language seems to be German, and it's fairly obvious that they're meant to be reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

-Jimmy has said that each of the Powers in CotV is meant to represent a certain form of government taken too far. Chiron represents Nationalism, with National Socialism being the extreme end of Nationalist thought.