Fiction:Aoshtai Galaxy

"It is no easy matter for a foreigner to understand our galaxy. For millennia, the Golden Throne was all we had ever known: we lived and died for it for untold generations, our civilisation bound together by tradition, honour and justice. Now, traditions are broken, honor is meaningless, and justice is nowhere to be found – and the Throne itself is now just a chair. For the races of Aoshtai, one question had remained forever since: 'What do we do now?'"

- Duchess Carnio of the Bound States of Os

Aoshtai, the Golden Realm (also known to Gigaquadrantic cartographers as Aegis-AO51, or to some as Rhya) is a large spiral galaxy located in the Aegis Cluster of the First Gigaquadrant. Isolated for billions of years from the rest of the Gigaquadrant by sheer distance and inadequate technology, Aoshtai became home to thriving and dynamic civilizations. Over the course of time, empires rose and fell, until one race calling themselves the Aoshanti, or Throneborne, united under a single ruler, conquered the galaxy, and gave it its name.

For a thousand generations, the Aoshanti Emperors ruled in overlordship over the galaxy's many races and creeds from their capital of Abzu. The galaxy was prosperous and at peace until the covenant that Priphon the Conqueror had made with Rhya, the Guardian Soul of Aoshtai, expired. The Empire's slow decline into decadence and dysfunction was well advanced by that point, and two enemies from without––the galactic invasion of the machine consciousness Jinohl and the raids of the barbarian Nibbairu race––precipitated the gradual collapse Golden Throne. After the sacking of Abzu, known forever as start of year 0 of the new galactic calendar, the galaxy was cast into an age of darkness and violence.

Fourteen millennia have since passed and the galaxy still lives under the shadow of these ancient giants. New civilizations have emerged from the ashes of the old, some attempting to recapture the glories of the past––others seeking to put it behind them so they can meet the future with open arms.

Prehistory (9 billion AR - 1,000,000 AR)
Among the great galaxies of the First Gigaquadrant, Aoshtai is comparatively young. The Aoshanti believed that the galaxy was formed 9 billion years ago when the great being Rhya made the Aegis cloud her home. Under her steady stewardship and supervision, the galaxy ordered itself around her. From disparate clouds of dust, stars were formed, debris coalesced into planets, life emerged in the unlikeliest of places, and the galaxy was shielded from the forces of chaos and disorder.

Whether it was because of its sheer distance from the rest of the Gigaquadrant, or by Rhya's agency, the galaxy would not fall under the sway of the great precursors of old, though evidence exists of their visits to the galaxy. Life incubated and developed naturally, giving rise to a diverse and dynamic array of thriving minor societies. Many cities and early wonders were built, laying the foundations for galactic civilization. The Aoshanti had greater knowledge of this period, but much of this was lost in the sacking of Abzu and the fall of the Empire. 

Government and politics
Aoshtai has not bowed to a single galactic authority since the time of the Abzu Emperors. However, a corpus of symbols, laws, languages, and traditions from that time have survived to the present, and serve as the basis for galactic relations. While the nations of Aoshtai may be unified by this common heritage, they are divided by most everything else. Conflicts over legitimacy, resources, forms of government, ideology, competing claims to the Golden Throne, and survival force the galaxy's great powers into alliances and conflicts in what is commonly referred to as "The Great Game" in the courts and capitals of the galaxy.

Civilizations
"The civilizations of Aoshtai are built upon a giant’s tomb."

- Unknown

The Old Core (Concourse)
Dense with ruins, including the Imperial Seat and the Monad Gate, the Old Core is said to be deeply haunted. Ghost stories abound: sensor readings identifying ships where no ships exist, pristine derelicts identical to those used by the ancient Realm drifting utterly lifeless through space, mysterious transmissions found bouncing endlessly between collapsed megastructures.

Deeper inside the Old Core, it's said, one finds even stranger things. A dead world covered in perfectly spaced meter-high blocks, each one carved with an Aoshanti face. A mountain made of golden thrones that have melted and run together under the pitiless heat of a dozen orbital mirrors. A transmission frequency broadcasting a voice that does nothing but endlessly repeat numbers.

Explorers who delve too deep into the Old Core usually never return. Those who do return often appear to have committed suicide, coming back in undamaged ships completely vented of atmosphere, their databanks wiped clean.

Calendar
The dominant calendar of the Aoshtai Galaxy is the one used by chroniclers and historians of the Age of Darkness. They used the Fall of Abzu as year 0, making all dates before it as "ante ruinam," or "AR" and all dates after it as "post ruinam," or "PR."

For the sake of simplicity, every Aoshtai year corresponds with a Christian calendar year. The year -11,759 B.C. corresponds to year 0 PR.

Quotes
"It is no easy matter for a foreigner to understand our galaxy. For millennia, the Golden Throne was all we had ever known: we lived and died for it for untold generations, our civilisation bound together by tradition, honour and justice. Now, traditions are broken, honor is meaningless, and justice is nowhere to be found – and the Throne itself is now just a chair. For the races of Aoshtai, one question had remained forever since: 'What do we do now?'"

- Duchess Carnio of the Bound States of Os

"We came to Aoshtai to escape the persecution of our brothers in the Milky Way... We wanted independence - and we will fight for it if we must."

- Chancellor Kuuruan, Ankoran Confederacy

"It is only here that the maggots of the stars feast on the decaying flesh of a godrace; congregating to spread their faux order across Aoshtai."

- Nepsono mercenary

"Time is passed. The Empire is gone.. but we remain on its decaying bones. We remain.. and we will rejuvenate. Rejuvenation is possible, but the harsh memories of ages past must be wiped away, cleansed and able to bring back the order that was, and always will be, Supreme. The Aoshtai Galaxy will return to its place as a united power, and the Aoshanti will be at its helm again."

- Tendentious Mind

"The age of empires is over, now we must face greater difficulties. The Eye of the Miter will ensure our seat on the Golden Throne."

- Aacherask

Community

 * Aoshtai is a collaborative project by Charles Murray, MadmanLava, Parazrael, DrodoEmpire, Luxor, InfestedThunder, Shiznasty, Imperios, Legodrew, and many others. Its primary purpose is to provide a respectful, open, and collaborative writing environment where everyone can contribute.
 * Aoshtai, and its Discord, is coordinated primarily by Charles Murray.
 * Decisions regarding Aoshtai's history, theme, makeup, and mechanics were taken through consensus. When disagreements occurred, matters were put to a community vote; compromise then ensued based on the results.
 * The Aegis Cluster was created by Fwasd (Irra).
 * The galaxy has its own Discord, shared with writers of other galaxies of the Aegis Cluster. This is our link.