Fiction:Jum'Ari Empire

The Jum'Ari Empire is a militaristic monarchy where the Emperor is supreme and controls his people's every action. This is not a dictatorship, however; the inhabitants of the Empire, the Jummoth race, willingly serve their emperor without question. The word Jum'Ari is Jummothian for "The Servants of the Ancestors" or "The People of the Ancestors", the word "Jum" meaning person or being, and the word "Ara" meaning "Ancestor." The official translation however, is "The Chosen of the Ancestors." They have advanced technologies, their largest cities covering entire planets, utilizing every single energy source available. The Jummoth Empire is closely knit together, and from the heart of the empire, the Z'Urh system, to the edges of the Jum'Ari domain, not a single system lies uncolonized. The Jummoth are continuously expanding, adding many systems to their rule each year. They are an empire dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the universe, gaining more knowledge, and finding their origins on the ancient homeworld of the Yth-Ara. Anyone wishing to enter the Jummoth Empire, should either bring a large army, a huge pile of sporebucks, or a very, very durable spaceship. All outsiders are treated with open hostility by the Jum'Ari, and even the slightest attempt on crossing their borders will be met with blaster fire. They are civilised beings, however, and will allow any intruders to declare their intent... before being blasted to bits.

Inhabitants


Jummoth

The Jummoth (meaning 'intelligent being' in the Jummothian tounge) is a race of psychic insectoids, that inhabit a large number of systems in the Katar Sector of the Milky Way. They are the main inhabitants of the Jum'Ari empire, and they make up more than 99,9999999 percent of the empire's population. (The last tiny bit being the Emperor and his sons) They are fiercely intelligent, and posses powerful technologies and machines. They constantly pursue greater knowledge and power, and worship the Ara'Yth race, who they believe to be their ancestors. (Yth-Ara means 'Divine Ancestor' in the Jummothian tounge.)



Yth-Ara

The Yth-Ara is believed to be an incredibly ancient race, stretching far back into history's dark depths. The only known Yth-Ara to this day is Sz'Szhar, the Emperor of the Jum'Ari Empire and, according to Jummoth beliefs, the ancient being who is directly responsible for the existence of the Jummoth. The Yth-Ara are, by the Jummoth, presumed immortal, though this has never been proved. However, Sz'Szhar is certainly many millenia old, likely older. His three princes, X'Loth, Q'Rahk and Zaz'Q, are children of him and an unknown Jummoth female, and are therefore not purely Yth-Ara. The three has acted as the warlords and tacticians for the Jum'Ari Empire for more than 2,500 years.

History
Creature Stage: According to Jummoth historicans, there never was a 'cell stage' of the Jummoth. The Yth-Ara Sz'Szhar supposedly fled from the ancient Yth-Ara homeworld, trying to escape from a great, unknown enemy. He happened upon the Z'Urh System, and the planet of Crantus. He hid a large amount of Yth-Ara eggs on the planet, but his enemies found him not long after. Sz'Szhar fought the invaders alone in a hundred-year-long war. The invaders were defeated, but before they fled, they cast a curse on Sz'Szhar and the eggs. Sz-Szhar was imprisoned in a magnificent mountain, and the eggs were degenerated and mutated. Out of the eggs came the Jummoth. Even in their cursed state, the Jummoth shared many traits with their Yth-Ara ancestors: Keen intelligence, fairly long lifespans (Of about two to three centuries) and minor psychic powers. However, it would take the Jummoth almost a billion years to reach the status of sentient beings. All along, Sz'Szhar watched his children through his own psychich abilities, hoping for their future.

Tribal Stage: Eventually, the Jummoth reached sentience. They invented primitive weapons and instruments, as well as a complicated language, consisting of various clicks, hisses and throat sounds. The Jummoth began training their psychic abilities, and used it to track prey by reading it's position from it's mind, addle the minds of enemy tribe members, and for those who truly mastered the art, bend nature itself. Unfortunately, the latter ability was incredibly complicated, and it required many shamans at the same spot to manipulate nature in all but the smallest of manners. In time, Jummoth shamans learned to communicate with the "Great One in the Mountain." Thus, worship of Sz'Szhar's mountain was the first official religion on the planet of Crantus, and it was shared by 90 percent of the Jummoth tribes. The rest were arrogant and proud, and swore allegiance only to themselves. Even with most of the Jummoth tribes following the same religion, wars between the various tribes happened time and time again. However, a few centuries after the beginning of the tribal age, a tribe named the 'Xar-lum' (meaning 'Brave Explorers) appeared. The tribe was cunning and mighty, and was adept at both diplomacy and warfare. The tribe quickly gained both many allies and enemies, and after a few centuries, the allied tribes merged with the Xar-lum, and the many enemies were crushed one by one. At the time where Jummoth were first taught by Sz-Szhar how to bend and forge iron tools, the Xar-lum ruled over almost the entire northern continent of Jakk'Yszh (Jummothian for "Land of Wonders".)

Early Civilization Stage: The Xar-Lum tribe became the earliest civilization the planet of Crantus would ever see. The nation prospered economically, and internal trade between the Xar-Lum villages was vital. Eventually, their country came to be known as Zykk-Jakk, the White Land, named after the snowy clime of the region they inhabited, and the Xar-Lum people prospered. When other countries inevitably were founded, the Xar-Lum people started trading with them, slowly conquering the continent by economical means. The few villages and cities who refused trading with the Xar-Lum were eventually wiped out and conquered by larger nations, who were friendly to the inhabitants of the White Land. Eighthundred years after the founding of Zykk-Jakk, the entire Jakk'Yszh continent was owned by the Xar-Lum. A thousand years later, the monarch of the Xar-Lum merchant empire, Trade Master Ju'al, turned his eyes away from Jakk'Yszh, to the rest of the world, where eager Jummothian immigrants had colonized the land and forged their own nations. At that time, the world was divided by three great nations (and a handful of minor independent cities here and there): The Xar-Lum Merchant Empire to the northwest, the Z'Syrh Dominion, led by the power-hungry and half-mad Lord Z'Syrh III to the South, and finally the Yth-Kalum Crusaders (Yth-Kalum is Jummothian for Divine/Holy Mountain), a proud nation of religious fanatics who served the Great One in the Mountain. The Crusaders were led by the cunning Lady Q'Lax and they ruled the lands to the far east.

Modern Civilization Stage: A this point in time, technology was vastly improving. The cities grew, modern vehicles were created, including better ships than before. This meant that crossing the oceans who divided the three superpowers of the world was was easier than before. The greedy eyes of Lord Z'Syrh III set upon Jakk'Yszh, and after building a massive fleet, the Z'Syrh Dominion attacked the capital port of the Xar-Lum trade empire. The city fell, and the Xar-Lum leaders immediately started negotiating peace with the Dominion. With the promise of stopping all trade with the Yth-Kalum Crusaders and aiding the Dominion economically, Lord Z'Syrh halted his attack. Both the fleet and the city was rebuilt, and with the cooperation of both nations, both became much greater than before. The Z'Syrh Dominion went for the vast domain of the Crusaders, while the Xar-Lum continued to aid them in any way they could. The Crusaders were, after a long and bloody war, utterly crushed. Lady Q'Lax surrendered, and thus the entire world was at peace again. Not long after, Trade Master Ju'Al came up with a plan. That the entire planet should unite as one, and that it should be governed by a council of some sort, because he knew that no Jummoth could handle ruling an entire planet. The Tri-Council was formed, and Trade Master Ju'al, Lord Z'Syrh III and Lady Q'Lax became the first councillors, the latter because she had demonstrated her cunning and leadership abilities during the Dominion/Crusader war. Finally, the Jummoth Empire had been formed.

Pre-Space Stage: The cities grew, scientists all over the world of Crantus cooperated, and technology vastly improved. Rockets and sattelites had been launched into space, and the Jummoth had visited their planet's moon. However, technology was not nearly good enough to make a proper spaceship. Eventually, a faction of former Crusader loyalists went on an expedition to the mountain of Yth-Kalum. Inside, they found a being out of legend, the Yth-Ara Sz'Szhar. He was imprisoned in an otherworldly fashion, and it took Jummothian scientists decades to find a way to unlock his prison. When Sz'Szhar was finally released, he immediately presented himself before the aging Tri-Council. After a display of his psychic abilities, dwarfing that of even the greatest Jummothian psychomancers, and his seemingly boundless cunning and wisdom, the Tri-Council bowed down before Sz'Szhar's might. Sz'Szhar was proclaimed emperor by the Tri-Council, after a massive planet-wide election. After this, the empire started changing vastly. Sz'Szhar new much about the ancient Yth-Ara civilization, and he aided the scientists tremendously in their quest for constructing proper spaceships. After three centuries, the renamed Jum'Ari empire had a fleet of spaceships, minor terraforming technology and colonizing tools. They started expanding vastly, and after another twenty-five years, the empire expanded over ten fully terraformed and colonized systems. And more would join them eventually.

Culture and beliefs
Religion is not overly important in the Jum'Ari empire. There are no ceremonies or sermons of any kind, no prayers or offerings. Jum'Ari beliefs are based around philosophy and the meaning of existence. Philosophic writings are stored in the three library wings of the great palace of Sz'Szhar on Crantus, known as the Halls of Wisdom. The most famed philosophies of the Jum'Ari are the Scrolls of Existence, who are the basic pinnacles of Jum'Ari beliefs. There are ten Scrolls of Existence:

Scrolls of Knowledge

Written by the eldest of the Three Princes, X'Loth, the Scrolls of Knowledge explain the importance of knowledge and gaining more:

Scroll of Knowledge I: ''Knowledge is vital to survival. Every city, every invention, every spaceship and every succesful empire is built upon a solid foundation of Knowledge. Who can defeat one who Knows all?''

Scroll of Knowledge II: ''Power is a useful tool, but how to use Power if you do not Know? Powerful empires have crumbled because they did not Know how to defeat their enemy. Thus, Knowledge is key to victory.''

Scroll of Knowledge III: ''Freedom is good, but what to do with Freedom if you do not Know? The one who Knows can take the right decisions. Taking the wrong decision will bring only ruin and loss of Freedom.''

Scrolls of Power

The Scrolls of Power are written by Prince Q'Rahk, the second-eldest of the princes. They explain why it is needed to be strong and powerful to survive.

Scroll of Power I: ''Power is key to all. How can you do anything if you lack Power? To colonize a planet, you need the tools and resources, the Power, to do so. To defeat an enemy, you need skills and strength: Power. With Power, your wishes can come true.''

Scroll of Power II: ''Knowledge is great, but what good is knowledge if you are Powerless? A weak, frail sage cannot defend himself against a warrior's blade, no matter the bounds of his Knowledge. To keep your Knowledge from falling into enemy hands, you need Power.''

Scrolls of Power III: ''Freedom is wanted by every sane being in the galaxy worth mentioning. Some, however, take great pleasure in stealing other species' freedom. Thus, one needs to be powerful, if one is to keep Freedom as one's own.''

Scrolls of Freedom

The Scrolls of Freedom are written by the youngest of the three princes, Zaz'Q. They explain the importance of Freedom.

Scrolls of Freedom I: ''When something goes the way one wants, one is happy. When something goes the way one does not want it to go, one is unhappy. Thus, the Freedom to choose yourself, to make things go the way you want, is the greatest treasure of all, and the key to all happiness.''

Scrolls of Freedom II: ''Knowledge is useful, but what good is Knowledge if you do not have the Freedom to keep it to yourself? A slave scientist or spy who gathers Knowledge for an other being is not free, and not happy. A book holds much Knowledge, but only it's master, the reader, benefits from it. A slave is nothing but a book.''

Scrolls of Freedom III: ''Power is important. But if you are merely a tool of another, and you can not use the power you have for your own goals, you are powerless and unhappy. A sword is powerless without a wielder, so is a slave.''

Scroll of Order

The Scroll of Order is written by the Jum'Ari emperor himself, Sz'Szhar the Yth-Ara. There is only one Scroll of Order, and thus it is the longest and most detailed.

'What do we want? What do we seek? What do we strive to obtain? Happiness. For what being does not want to be happy? What being does not want things to be as best possible, whatever that may be? Thus, we strive for Happiness. But how to obtain Happiness? Happiness is obtained through having things exactly the way one wants them to be. Complete and total Order, where nothing goes wrong. Thus, we strive for Order. But how to Order things if one is a slave? How to shape one's existence as one wishes, if another controls one's every action? To achieve Order, one needs Freedom. Thus, we strive for Freedom. But how to Order things if one is powerless? How to shape one's existence to perfection if one has not the tools and abilities to do so? To obtain Order, one needs Power. Thus, we strive for Power. But how to Order things if one is unenlightened and dumb? How to keep one's perfection from crumbling, how to prevent things from going wrong, if one does not know how to prepare for that? To obtain Order, one needs Knowledge. Thus, we strive for Knowledge.

We want Happiness, the Prize of Existence.

That requires Order, the Goal of Existence.

To obtain that, one needs Knowledge, Power and Freedom, the Tools of Existence.

'We do not share our Knowledge. We do not let anyone halt us in our quest for Power. We will not allow our Freedom to be taken. We do not meddle in the quest of Order of other beings. Nor do we tolerate any meddling in our own. All beings must go their own way in their quest to Order the universe as they see fit. But the ultimate prize, total and complete Happiness, can be achieved by one empire only. Only one empire can Order everything.'

And we shall not falter.

The Scroll of Order is the dearest treasure of the Jum'Ari, and the original scroll is kept safe under the highest security inside the core of the palace of Sz'Szhar. The scroll reflects the goals of the Jum'Ari: Domination over the universe, so that eternal happiness can be achieved, albeit for the Jum'Ari alone.

The Halls of Wisdom also contain thousands of other scrolls, containing famous quotes, philosophical writings and also a great many scrolls of Jum'Ari law.

Government and society
"Should everyone have a say, the weak-minded will bring only ruin. Only the strong and wise should rule."

-Jum'Ari philosopher

Ever since Sz'Szhar was proclaimed emperor, democracy has been abandoned fully. The Jum'Ari empire is ruled supremely by Sz'Szhar and his three sons, for the sheer reason that they, in both sheer cunning and psychich power, dwarfs every other ruler of the Jummoth to this day. It is written in Jum'Ari law that should someone stronger and wiser emerge, worthy of leading the Jum'Ari, Sz'Szhar and the Three Princes will step down from their seats of power. As the ultimate goal of the Jum'Ari is eternal happiness, a lot of focus is set on the well-being and happiness of the citizens. The government style resembles communism; not a single Jummoth is without work if they are capable of it, and every Jummoth has access to proper amounts of food and rest. For all 'minor tasks' such as fixing machines or building things, robots are used. The Jummoth themselves never tend to be involved in any kind of manual labour. Instead, they primarily are either scientists, technicians, architechts and the like.

Education and upbringing As Jummoth females lays many eggs at a time, anywhere from 8 to 20, a Jummoth is not brought up by his or her parents. Instead, the eggs are stored in great egg stations. When they hatch, they are taken care of by educated Jummoth who are experts in child care and education. While they are still assisted by robots, these Jummoth are some of the only ones to engage in manual labour. It takes 35 years for a Jummoth to grow up, and for that time, the egg stations function as their home and school. All children are treated equally, because no one knows their parents' identity. This way, no matter if a Jummoth child's parents are great and famed scientists or a (by Jummoth standards) simple engineer or technician, it is only the talent and skill of the child that matters, and all children get the chance to become something great. Because no ordinary Jummoth will go through the stressing process of taking care of their children, procreating does not bring very many negative things with it, and is seen as any Jummoth's duty to the empire. Females who lay many eggs in their lifetimes are held in high regard.

Education normally starts in the eleventh year of a Jummoth's life. There are three main lines of education, science, engineering and military, as well as a few minor ones, such as child care and architecture. While creativity is encouraged, as it sometimes leads to wonderful inventions and great discoveries, fully devoting oneself to art and music is looked down upon in Jum'Ari society, because it is not directly beneficial to the further expanding of the empire. Thus, very little entertainment is available to the citizens. However, the Jummoth generally do not mind, spending their spare time on productive things, like honing their psychic powers or evolving scientifical theories. Ever since the times before becoming sentient, Jummoth have organized themselves in hive-like systems, where everyone has a purpose and one rules supreme. Being a part of something greater and doing everything you can to further it's cause is the normal nature of the Jummoth.

Leaders

"A strong leader is worth ten thousand soldiers."

-Jum'Ari Philosopher

The Jum'Ari empire has four major leaders:

"Dictator? Oppressor? I am none of those. The Jum'Ari seek my guidance willingly, and I do not let them down."

-Emperor Sz'Szhar

Emperor Sz'Szhar is an ancient, psychic being known by the Jum'Ari as an Yth-Ara. Also known as the King of Order, Sz'Szhar directs and oversees the expansion of the Jum'Ari empire from his palace on the planet of Crantus. He dictates and writes the law and controls every aspect of the empire. He is the only being in the empire that is in any way above the law. Even his sons, the Three Princes, adhere to his rules. His psychic powers are tremendous, capable of creating small tremors, tearing down stone buildings and mind-controlling those who are weaker than himself. While Sz'Szhar is incredibly knowing about the universe and technology, he claims that his knowledge is but a fraction of that of his ancient kinsmen, the Yth-Ara.

"Technology is power incarnate."

-Prince Q'Rahk

Prince Q'Rahk, also known as the Prince of Power or the Red Forgemaster, is the one directly responsible for the colonizing of planets, construction of cities, the developing of technology and finding ways of utilizing newly discovered science. He resides in a star system approximately 30 parsec from the Z'Urh system, on the volcanic, but habitable, resource-rich planet of Haarj. The red planet's name, Haarj, is the Jummothian word for Power, and it is indeed on this planet that many Jummothian technological tools are fabricated. The almost-planet-scaling Haarj City is one great factory, where spaceships, terraforming tools, colo-nizing vehicles and cannon tower parts are being constructed 24/7. The workers of Haarj are the most esteemed technicians and engineers throughout the empire, and are chosen by Q'Rahk himself. Q'Rahk is known as a quite furious fellow, and a creative soul unlike most common Jummoth.

"One's mind is one's strongest weapon."

-Prince X'Loth

The greatest loremasters and scientists of the Jum'Ari empire are found at the planet of Rabburax (Jummothian for Knowledge) 25 parsec from the Z'Urh system, serving X'Loth, known as the Blue Sage and the Prince of Knowledge. The vast oceanic planet is base for massive particle-accelerators, nuclear reactors, stargazer towers and other scientifical constructs. X'Loth and his researchers constantly invent and discuss theories, study the universe and research atomic phenomenons. X'Loth rules over the Rabburi-Glabar, the "Library of Knowings", a vast bunker with thousands of theabytes of data, stored in giant cubes that work much like microchips. X'Loth is known as a very silent, calm and patient person, and is responsible for overseeing the further development of Jum'Ari science.

A slave and a tool are no different.

-Prince Zaz'Q

Prince Zaz'Q, known as the Prince of Freedom or the Yellow Warlord, is the top general of Jum'Ari military, second only to the emperor himself. He resides near the borders of the Jum'Ari empire, many parsec away from the homeworld, on the planet of Gazhur (meaning Freedom in the Jummoth tounge). Gazhur is a desert- and mountain-covered planet, home to the main base of Jum'Ari military, Borz'Gazhi ("Keep of the free ones" or "Keep of those who are free"), which covers almost the entire planet. Here, motherships, strikecrafts, carriers and the like, as well as their pilots, the most top-trained Jum'Ari elite-soldiers, can be found in tremendous numbers. It is from here that Zaz'Q commands the Jum'Ari forces, along with his top lieutenants and officers. The Jum'Ari has met a few new empires back when it was still weak, and Zaz'Q has won quite many battles, and a few wars, against these enemies, ultimately leading to the destruction of the forementioned. Zaz'Q is a cunning tactician and strategist and a surprisingly humorous and philosophical type of person.