Holy Advari Empire

## Flag

The **Holy Advari Empire** is a monarchical, theocratic civilisation in the CDC-41-Gamma nebula that is the main government of the Advari. The Empire is currently ruled by Empress Valendra the Sixth.

## History

### Early history

The native species of CDC-41-Gamma, known as the Advari, apparently developed independently from the Humans of the Tantalus Cluster, but nevertheless exhibit some physical similarities. The Empire's established religion, the Faith Eternal, has obscured or destroyed much of the Advari's prehistory, but has retained a number of records for its own use, such as Sarparadin the Second's Fouth Canticle. The Advari once followed many different beliefs, many of which were centred around the idea of life after death and the promise of reward in an afterlife.

At some point in their ancient past, the Advari expanded across the nebula by means of Lauralyn Conduits and encountered the Wheel, a pulsar-like star in which they discovered the Mechanism, which they interpreted in divine terms and as an aspect of the deity Advar. The Faith holds that Advar provided them with high technology such as space travel. In deference to him, the species named themselves "Advari" and built a religion, the Faith Eternal, around him. According to the Fourth Canticle, a group of Advari known as the Lightsingers encountered Advar, who offered bounty in exchange for the Advari separating themselves from their past in favour of his divine truth. The Advari destroyed their historic records and vowed that they would never keep records except those blessed by the Faith Eternal.

The senior clergy of the Faith Eternal believe that Advar has charged the Advari people to maintain the number of thinking minds in the nebula below a certain threshold, with unknown but dire consequences if this limit is breached. Accordingly, the Faith Eternal upheld ritual sacrifice as a means of population control, and maintained an elaborate deception whereby hundreds of clerics would be sent to worlds long-since abandoned or left desolate, ostensibly to conduct religious worship but in practice as a larger form of sacrifice. Under this religion, the Advari came to believe that life outside CDC-41-Gamma, which they know as "the Sanctum of Advar", is impossible, and that the sacrifices of the Faith Eternal are intended to strengthen the Sanctum of Advar against "the cursed void beyond". They are in fact are intended to maintain the Advari's population below the threshold Advar is believed to have dictated. Senior members of the Faith Eternal's clergy refer to this process of sacrifices to maintain the level of population as "the Harmony", and have concealed the truth of this matter even from the rulers of the Holy Advari Empire themselves.

### Contact with the Tantalus Cluster

By the year 0304 PCU according to the Tantalus Cluster's calendar, the Empire was ruled by Empress Valendra the Sixth. In her reign, the Empire defeated an apostate movement on the planet Anisidora. Shortly afterwards, the lightship *Cloak of Mercy* made a violent first contact with ships of the Avalon Exploratory Initiative, sent 3,000 light-years by the Humans of the Tantalus Cluster to explore the nebula. Inquisitor Castian Vadric was personally assigned by the Empress to investigate the reports from the rim of the nebula.

The discovery of life outside CDC-41-Gamma seriously conflicted with the Faith Eternal's doctrine that life outside the nebula is impossible. While Empress Valendra was curious about the nature of the Avalon Initiative, the desire to maintain the "threshold" supposedly mandated by Advar led the Faith, led by High Cleric Darsellia Lantris and Lord Cardinal Hastus Arvannis, to actively seek destroy the Avalon Expedition Fleet. Two Advari lightships under Arvannis' command, trailing Castian Vadric, engaged four ships of the Avalon Fleet, destroying two and capturing a Tantalus gatehauler before the survivor, the CSV *Shabayev*, could escape. The gatehauler was brought within the Aegis of Invia for analysis.

In engagements such as the Battle of Maalsuwda's Holdfast and the Raid on the Aegis of Invia, where the Avalon Exploratory Initiative recovered the gatehauler, the conflict between the Humans and the Advari intensified, leading the Avalon Fleet led by Elizabeth Ancelet to choose to abandon the nebula in 0305 PCU. By this time, however, Castian Vadric had managed to establish a friendly relationship with Ancelet and the Avalon Fleet. Furthermore, Empress Valendra the Sixth began to reject the ceremonial nature of her role in reaction to the Faith's attempts to destroy the Avalon Exploratory Initiative: after an attempt by Valendra to prevent 577 subjects from Sirianadin from being taken for sacrifice was immediately countermanded by the Faith, she was driven to confront Lord Cardinal Hastus Arvannis on their true nature. Faced with this, Arvannis chose to admit the true nature of the Faith and expose Valendra to the Wheel. Concurrently, Advari lightships attacked the Avalon Fleet at the Battle of the Greenhouse, inflicting significant casualties before it could retreat through a Drift Gate back to the Tantalus Cluster.

## Government and politics

The Holy Advari Empire is ruled by a Imperial family, currently headed by Empress Valendra the Sixth. The Empress has both civil and religious functions, presiding over induction ceremonies for Clerics of the Faith Eternal and ritual public sacrifices. In practice, the Faith Eternal has a high degree of independence from the Imperial government, and the Imperial monarch is in fact a puppet who, despite being aware of this, is kept ignorant of the true extent of the Empire and their powerlessness. Whilst the ruling monarch wields great power and respect within the Empire, their role is subject to control by the Faith. High Cleric Darsellia Lantris implies that previous rulers of the Empire have attempted to push against their role within the Faith and tried to change the status quo for their subjects, but have quickly been shut down in their efforts.

The Inquisitors of the Ventris Ardenti are a body of the Imperial government tasked to identify and destroy apostasies against the Faith Eternal.

## Society

> *"And the Faithful shall endure only by the grace of Holy Advar. For beyond his Sanctum, no life can exist."*
> -Empress Valendra the Sixth.
>
>

Much of the Holy Advari Empire's population lives in poverty and squalor, with high technology being restricted to the Imperial Court and Faith Eternal. Only a handful of Advari are permitted to travel through the Empire aboard lightships, which are held to be sacred.

The Empire's religion, the Faith Eternal plays a major role in day-to-day life. Advar is the central figure of the Faith. The Faith holds that life outside CDC-41-Gamma, known to the Faith as "the Sanctum of Advar", is impossible, and even regards the suggestion as heretical. Ritual suicide is considered the highest possible act of sacrifice and devotion to the Faith. Said to be conducted to strengthen the Sanctum of Advar against "the cursed void beyond", the Faith Eternal's senior clergy are fully aware that the sacrifices in fact do no such thing, and are intended to maintain the Advari's population below the threshold dictated by Advar. This falsehood was deliberately chosen to appeal to the Advari people's sense of community and selflessness.

The Faith Eternal is led by a High Cleric. The office was occupied by Darsellia Lantris until her death in 0304 PCU. Cardinals of the Faith, such as Lord Cardinal Hastus Arvannis, are significant figures within the Imperial government.

## Territory

According to the Faith Eternal's liturgy, the Holy Advari Empire controls "hundreds of worlds" in CDC-41-Gamma. Its territory is notionally divided between the Inner Worlds, centred around the throneworld of Advar Primaris and guarded by the Aegis of Invia, and the greater empire beyond.

In reality, virtually the entirety of CDC-41-Gamma beyond the Aegis has been abandoned by the Advari, likely owing to the Faith Eternal's secret stricture to maintain the Advari's population below the threshold dictated by Advar. Areas such as the Diaconate Reaches or the planet of Deacon's Post, which is ostensibly an important Giftworld of the Empire, are still marked on the Empire's maps, but have in practice been abandoned for thousands of years. The dispatch of clerics to these regions is used as cover for their mass sacrifice.

The Empire's true territory consists only of the four Inner Worlds, of which three are known:

* Advar Primaris - Throneworld
* Sirianadin - Giftworld
* Anesidora

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *The Fourth Canticle*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 *Forlorn Hope*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 *Inclement Weather*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 *Dust and Shadow*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *Yesterday's War*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *Theirs Not to Reason Why*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 *The Promised Land*
8. ↑ *Theirs Not to Make Reply*
9. ↑ *Theirs Not to Reason Why*, "Others in your place have walked this path before, though not for long." - Lantris
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 *Contact, Wait Out*
11. ↑ *Beneath The Banner*