Fiction:Valian Empire/Races

Fiction:Valian Empire/Species

The Valian Empire began as a demographically-homologous state over 70,000 years ago. As it conquered the Rohse Galaxy, it acquired billions of non-Volanti, or “alien”, citizens, which have sometimes been the cause of conflict and discontent. Some of these alien races form an important part of the modern Valian nation, and have contributed much to the greatness of the Empire; others are considered nothing more than third-class citizens. All have a limited voice in the government, and are represented in the scilitarisus, a small council formed especially for the leaders of these formerly-independent peoples. Below are some of the most numerous and/or well-known sentient races of Rohse, and the locations each inhabits.

The Scilitarisus
The sci’litarisus ypro’des (from the Volanti scirilis, “vassal”, risus, “assembly”, and ypro, “alien”), literally council of the alien vassals or vassals’ council, is an multi-species committee within the Valian Secretariat made up of 9 representatives of former alien nations of Rohse, all of which are now client states of the Empire.

Each of the represented peoples is allowed a single member on the scilitarisus, to be chosen through whatever methods they choose. Council members are allowed to keep their native titles on an honorary basis, but are formally addressed as niri, or “friends’’ of the Empire. Most are cultural figureheads rather than actual leaders, overseen by the Prefect of whatever province their holdings are in. The scilitarisus was one of the methods employed by the Valian crown during the Expansionist Wars as the alien nations of Rohse were put down and absorbed into the Empire, with the purpose of appeasing their populations and avoiding popular uprisings. Thus, defeated nations’ leaders were not officially removed, but rather placed under the “protection” of the Volanti even as their domains were swallowed whole. The niri do hold some benefits despite their lack of political power, afforded a position of privilege within Valian ranks (somewhat equal to the members of the Valian Diet). Like members of the Volanti nobility and the [[Fiction:Valian Empire/Monarchy|royal family, the niri are allowed to enter Volaris.

Habylese
A galactic stereotype holds that all Habylese are either bankers or musicians- which is a fair assumption to make. A fierce and ruthless people, most Habylese make excellent businessmen largely due to their cultural inheritance: they come from a planet that had to fight others at every turn for most, if not all, of its history. Their homeworld, Habyqe, is located in a mineral-rich sub-cluster in the southern rim of Rohse. With the Valian Empire’s expansion during and after the Cyric Wars, the Habylese were quickly embraced by the Volanti as efficient bureaucrats and administrators. Habyqe was eventually near-abandoned as hoards of Habylese flocked to other planets in the Centre and the Petal Rim; many simply relocated to the newly-colonized world of Coruvan, parsecs away, which quickly became both rich and powerful as the Tharysian Trade Route and the Arcelican Run were re-drawn to intersect in that very spot. Curiously, however, Habylese tend to either be uniform and work-minded, as befits accountants, or the polar opposite: a handful of them, seeking a completely carefree environment, have become great musicians (their four lungs and air-inflated heads render them excellent at wind instruments).

Habylese are quite odd-looking; they evolved in a marshy and salty environment, and take after squids in some respects, with a great, bulbous forehead and tentacled mouths. They have not two but three legs and bright-red dotted skin.

Masaari
The Masaari are, above all, known for the aptitude for mathematics. Engineers and astrophysicists rather than warriors, they developed their own, independent form of space-travel thousands of years before the Founding, quickly establishing a sizeable republic with a Senate on the capital of Rigu Massar, with nearly a hundred colonies nearby. They were, however, no match for the Volanti’s campaigns as they streamed southward from the Core in a conflict known as the Cyric War. The Republic surrendered almost immediately; Masaari were deported throughout the galaxy as laborers, on account of their four bulky arms. However, eventually their knack for engineering came back unto the stage, with new schools on Massar and other worlds attracting students from all around the galaxy. Massian universities have become some of the most prestigious in the galaxy, compulsorily attended by all Masaari as well as a collection of other sentient races.

Masaari mathematicians are renowned throughout Rohse, famous for their knack for calculus, map-making and navigation. Nonetheless they are quite physically intimidating; broad and muscular, with great domed heads, black eyes and rough, spotted skin. However, most are devout pacifists.

Today the species has fared well within the Imperial regime. The Massian Republic remains a prosperous inter-stellar state with colonies throughout the Rohse Galaxy. It is home to the great majority of the Massari population, who inhabit some twelve-hundred planets in nearly a thousand star systems.

Bithlorian
The Bithlorians’ homeworld of Bith has had a long and often turbulent history. Steaming calderas, dry plains and twisted crags of orange and red sandstone pockmark its surface, and despite being permanently blanketed by dark storm clouds, the planet is the opposite of cool. Its atmosphere is extremely dry and devoid of oxygen, prompting its only sentient species, the Bithlorians (who call themselves the Nazig), to have evolved with the ability to breath zathane and other poisonous gases.

Today Bith is the crowning jewel of a string of industrial systems in northeastern Rohse that once made up the Bithlorians’ former nation, the Izig Confederacy. The Confederacy was absorbed into the Empire during the beginning of the Pax Arabastii, and its ruling Council replaced by the system of imperial officials that was customarily installed in defeated alien nations. Over time, manufacturing and corporate interests took over, so that the modern Bithlo-worlds are completely covered in refineries, smokestacks, mines and warehouses. The long-necked, green-skinned Bithlorians themselves are well-known industrialists, and run some of the largest foundries, factories and shipyards in all of Rohse, primarily meant to supply starships to the Imperial Legions and the private sector. Like all peoples in the Empire that suffered the same fate, they have their own representative in the scilitarisus: Niri Zazig Kelog.

Nadian
The brightly-coloured, cat-like, lithe Nadians are among the best-placed alien races in the Empire. Adapting to imperial rule immediately after the Third Imperium took over their home region, their race as a whole has dedicated itself to ensuring the safety and prosperity of their homeworld of Laica, famous throughout the galaxy for its triennial Ast’rikk Races and the great stadiums where they are held. Their efforts have for the most part succeeded. Many Nadians have ably learned to climb the ladder of imperial government or serve as power-brokers and negotiators between the Volanti and alien peoples; Laica has fared exceptionally well, made capital of the Dalirian Sector in southern Rohse.

Due to their secretive and cynical disposition, Nadians make excellent politicians and spies. Many work in the Valian Secretariat as bureaucrats or aides, and they can be found almost anywhere in the galaxy, from Volaris, Kanto and Valmar in the Centre to Vantaal and Taidelem in the Maze and even the urbanized globes of Kalkim and Vondace on the far side of the Petal Rim

Sianhar
The Sianhar are perhaps one of the strangest sentient species in Rohse, and one of the few non-bipedal forms of life that have developed within the galaxy. They resemble giant floating jellyfish, with six enormous tendrils and a massive curved head above. Most are brilliantly coloured, ranging from dark blue to neon purple and pink, and have several glowing eye-like appendages (but no actual eyes). Despite general opinion, they are actually gas-propelled, which keeps them above the rough floor at all times. Though they’re able to discharge tiny electric shocks through them, their tentacles are relatively weak, being able to lift no more than a few pounds. Despite their physical setbacks, however, Sianhar have found a place among the other races of Rohse in which they are nestled quite comfortably- moved by an urge to explore, lone Sianhars can be seen wandering on moist worlds throughout the galaxy. They are able to recall large pieces of information, which has led to them having a reputation as wise and knowledgeable (if shy) beings, and Tesila, a type of rare plasma which they secret as a by-product of their breathing cycle, is quite prized throughout the Rose.

Because the Sianhar did not have any sizeable inter-stellar state upon their conquest, they were not given a seat on the scilitarisus (their sole possession was their homeworld, Bysyn, located in the Bysyn Sector in the southeastern edge of the galaxy).

Gedess
The Gedess are highly cultured individuals who are deeply invested in a variety of causes and industries across the galactic disk. They pride themselves, however, not on their wealth, but on their cultural heritage. The Gedess Worlds, an informal collection of Gedess-majority planets found in the Gaede Sector in southwest Rohse, are covered with charming decorative gardens and romantic stone manses. Enormous plantations own most of the land; the cities are famous for their high-brow entertainment including casinos and spa resorts, and the climate, always temperate and sunny, adds to the general beauty of the place, which attracts a wide clientele of vacationers every month.

Industry and trade are practically non-existent: the Gedess were a largely agricultural society before the Volanti arrival, and continue to be so, albeit in a much more modern manner. The Gedri, a sub-species, act as slaves and servants, while the Gedess-only landed aristocracy preoccupy themselves with the finer things in life.

Plunii
Thousands of years before their subjugation and assimilation into the Empire at the conclusion of the Cyric Wars, the Plunii had built one of the largest empires in all of pre-Founding Era Rohse: the Plunii Alignment of Planets. In fact, the Alignment was so large that, once the Plunii were beaten (they, the Nyn’tehsi and the Massari were the only races to resist the Volanti invasions), a new province was created solely out of ex-Plunii space. Officially known as the Angor Province (and colloquially as the Plun Province), this is one of the Empire’s least Volanti-populated regions, and where most Plunii still reside. To erode the power of the former capital, Plueya, a strong military force occupied the region for thousands of years, and the province split into dozens of sectors.

The Plunii were always an advenced space-faring civilization. Living all the way in the westernmost edge of explored space, they developed their own form of faster-than-light travel and established dozens of colonies within decades (this is the main difference between the Volanti and Plunii peoples: the first was over 100,000 years old when they first met, while the latter was a toddler in comparison. Plunii have enormous brain-to-body rations (and fittingly large heads), and are amazing scientists, which is why their technology is considered top of the line. However, they also tend to be deeply spiritual and superstitious, which means they make poor space-travel companions.

Nyn’Tehsi
The Nyn’Tehsi are a fierce and aggressive reptilian species- and they have the scars to prove it. Their homeworld, Ekido (known as Nyn’Tehn in their native language), was overlord of the entire Kasta star cluster in southeastern Rohse for several millennia after its armies conquered most of the cluster’s other native species and drove them into extinction one by one. The Shenosi – meaning “empire” - of Nyn stemmed from there, a quasi-feudal, intensely militaristic society that prospered for ages before the arrival of the Volanti. The Nyn’tehsi were one of the few races in southwestern Rohse to actively oppose the Valian forces in the Cyric Wars- and the only one of them not to be destroyed afterward.

Nyn’Tehsi tend to be spasmodically violent and surly when they’re not; this has made them unwelcome in most corners of galactic society, which suits them quite well. Isolationist by nature, most remained within Kasta and ignored the outer galaxy even after the forced opening of their cluster: they quickly rebuilt their citadel worlds once the Cyric Wars were over and resumed their quiet life. The handful that choose to venture into outer space may often find work as bounty hunters or join the ranks of the Valian Legions as tacticians, but it’s more common to spot one in the illegal fighting pits of Biloma in the southern Paragon Cluster or Vemorax in the Petal Rim.

Koburan
A striking difference to the Nyn’Tehsi, who inhabit the same cluster as they did in ancient times, the Koburan are another sentient species native to the Kasta cluster in southwestern Rohse. Before the Volanti’s arrival they had fought several conflicts with the Nyn’Tehsi, the stronger of the two, and had eventually been made into their vassals. Because of this existence as subordinates, there are no Koburan representatives on the scilitarisus: the Nyn’tehsian niri represents them as well as his own people.

Like their neighbors, they are prone to isolation, and have stubbornly maintained their millennia-long traditions even in the face of Valian supremacy. Koburan theatre is enjoyed everywhere in the Empire as an alien curiosity, and it is common to find impoverished or down-on-their-luck Koburans who have fled their home to become actors in traveling troupes. For the most part, however, it is rare to see these bright-green giants out of the cluster.