Peace through Order The United Persan Descendants was a member of the Mou'Cyran Accords "United in the hopes of a better future..." |
“A dead man once said that hidden beneath our facade of civilization and nicety is a Dominatus - that the angry rage of unrestrained ambition, the uncontrollable desire to dominate, the addiction to the feeling of being feared is solely what drives a species. Perhaps some of us thought this was true, though our fears subsided when we thought of the Persan. Beneath those calm, understanding eyes lay the all-consuming fire that had driven the Dominatus, and in their hands lay the capacity to visit unfathomable agony and terror upon those they judged worthy of their interest. But they had civilized such urges, binding this unfettered, destructive chaos into restorative order. This was not the order of megalomaniac hegemony, but of shepherding, nurturing, and growing - seeking to cooperate with the rest of the Gigaquadrant to advance all life itself to enlightenment. However, it is an unwise species that confuses this kindness for weakness, for as much as they deny it, the Persan merely seek an excuse to shed the veil of civility and order to make their opponents wish for a fate as sweet as death.”
- - Unknown
The United Persan Descendants is one of the major powers of the Mirus Galaxy and one of the founding states of the Federation of Free States. Primary composed of Persactyrn races the UPD likes to style itself as the successors to the Persacron Star Dragons and the inheritors of their legacy. However, that legacy is one marred by tragedy, leaving the Persan cursed by a malignant and supernatural affliction that forces them to isolate themselves from others. Manifesting as persistent fertility problems and an urge to suplant other sapient races the Persan must infect other races with a virus in order to reproduce and continue their bloodline. The Persan are far from content with this fate and try to limit the harm they do while searching for a cure, driven by the trauma born of generations of suffering. Their unwavering dedication to this goal has made them paranoid but also deeply egalitarian as they know that only by relying on one another can they overcome their curse and emerge from the shadows.
The Persan are masters of armored combat and latent psychokinetic powers possessed by most Persan can provide a unique advantage in combat ounce awakened. However, the nature of their curse leads to a deep seated sense of paranoia and nihilism that can make firging and maintaining alliances difficult.
History[]
The First Ones[]
The origins of the UPD are inherently connected to the death of the Persacron Star Dragons. The physical manifestation of transtemporal essentials of chromatic energy in realspace. When the Alpha Grox rebelled against the Multus Esse the Alpha Grox discovered that by sacrificing hundreds of planetary biospheres they could create mechanical monsters which were equal in power to the Persacron and would grow more powerful as they killed and fed upon more Persacron. The Persacron facing, extinction in this iteration of their form, chose to take measures to ensure that life like them would emerge again one day. The Persacron would each individually travel to a different world and sacrifice themselves, dying and dissolving, their bodies breaking apart to become many draconic races scattered throughout Mirus called the Persactyrn. On one of these worlds a Persactyrn races known only as the First Wyverns would achieve space travel and set out to unite all the Persactyrn races as one once again.
Not long into their colonization of the galaxy the First Wyverns noticed that another race had achieved FTL travel and was looking to fill the power gap left behind by the Multus Esse. Named the Lordwrights the First Wyverns attempted peaceful communication at first but found something in the Lordwrights that disturbed them so greatly that the First Wyverns severed all contact and began to prepare to eradicate the Lordwrights. The two fought in a brutal war until the Lordwrights won and drove the First Wyverns from Mirus. With their victory secure the Lordwrights would go about uplifting many species to act as their vassals. These vassal races would worship the Lordwrights as gods who ruled over their planet's from afar in their great arkships. During this time many of the ancient Persactyrn races were first discovered living primitive lives on the planets they had been seeded upon. Noticing these creatures long lives and immense power the Vassal races began to hunt the Persactyrn down and slay them looking to drink the Persactyrn's blood to gain their long lives. Eventually an entire cult sprung up around the consumption of Persactyrn blood as a form of life extension.
Overtime the drinking of the Persactyrn blood would expose many of the Vassal Races the dracophage virus, which while it did little to them, would transform their children into draconic mutants, hybrids of the Persactyrn and Vassal Races. These mutant children would be born those as twisted and feral monsters fueled by dark instincts born from the suffering of the slain Persactyrn to slaughter their parents and all around them. Seeing this an abomination the Lordwrights hunted down these mutant children looking to exterminate them. Unfortunately for them the mutants merely scattered in response spreading all across the Empire. To make matters even worse the mutants were able to infect other's with the virus causing them to birth even more mutants. Eventually the number of mutant births began to far exceed that of non-mutants to the point that both the original Persactyrn Races and the Vasssal Races were completely supplanted by their hybrid, mutant offshoots. Putting the final nail in the coffin of the Lordwright's empire was the return of the First Wyverns who took advantage of the chaos to reclaim their territory and slaughter the Lordwrights to the last.
The Origin Empire[]
With the Lordwrights and their vassal races gone the First Wyverns began to rebuild their old empire, reclaiming their old territories and incorporating the mutant races into their empire. The First Wyverns considered these mutants to be their kin and Persactyrn as any race spawned directly from the Persacron. The First wyverns would stabilize the mutants genetics and remove their rampant deformities creating the modern Persan races who would be give names by the First Wyverns of the Vanara, the Vulkai, the Aranth, the Trahoxi, and the Vaelnire.
The Persan of this era were notably different from their current forms. For one they were in general far more draconic and for two they all had scales made of precious gemstones. They also wielded latent elemental power over radiation which the First Wyverns helped them nurture and understand. However, the elements wielded by the Persan were inherently destructive in nature with no ability to create or preserve. As generations passed the origin Empire became steadily more dogmatic and the First Wyverns began to fear the power of their subjects. Eventually the Last Origin Emperor Gildersil would place a seal upon the Persan locking away their elemental powers, with the only way to regain them being to contract with a Stitch. This also had the consequence of striping the Persan of their gemstone-like scales, as well as the more horrific side effect of inflicting the Persan with a terrible curse which plagued the Persan with three afflictions: a terrible thirst for blood, a monstrous and sadistic rage that could be unleashed by intense trauma and stress, and rendered seventy five percent of all Persan sterile, only able to reproduce through infecting others with the dracophage virus. Persan who gave into those urges would become blood hungry monsters stalking their fellow being to feed on them. Those who stayed in this state for too long would horrifically mutate into feral, animalistic abominations.
The issues of the Persan's new thirst for blood and murderous rage Gildersil and his court solved by forcing the Persan into living lives of aestheticism and abstinence, forcing them to suppress their new found blood lust. While this worked, it required constant supervision by the First Wyverns to prevent any slip ups and to execute those who proved too weak to resist. The issue of the Persan's new fertility issues were solved either through mass cloning or the creation of the new Prepatent system. The Prepatents were the former vassal races of the Lordwrights who had survived the mutant plague. When the Origin Empire had first formed it had largely left the remain vassal races alone, merely electing to confine what remained of each vassal race to their race's homeworld. With the curse know upon the Persan the Origin Empire began to actively enslave the former vassal races and use them as a cross between breeding stock and sapient cattle. Enslaving the former vassal races as Prepatents and forcing a portion of their population to be infected by the dracophage virus causing the prepatent's children to be born as Persan mutants. These mutant children would then be taken by the Origin Empire to be raised as Persan servants.
The Persan as a whole were actually deeply dissatisfied with these systems feeling the role of monsters forced upon them by their masters and dissent began to spread among their ranks. This would be the start of the Origin Empire's downfall.
Several other events would contribute to the Origin Empire's fall. The first of these happened as the Origin Empire continued to expand and it began to come into contact with other empires, most notably the empire of the Kulaung. Relationships between the Origin Empire and the Kulaung got off to a rocky start with the Kulaung conquering a species of Persactyrn known as the Largotz Draks. Many of the Origin Empire considered another Persactyrn race being under the rulership of anyone other then the Origin Empire heresy and a crusade was declared against the Kulaing, plunging the west of Mirus into several decades of war. Ultimately neither side got much of any where with the Origin Empire unable to break Kulaung defenses and the Kulaung unable to nullify the Origin Empire's mobility. This resulted in a constant state of endemic conflict which the First Wyverns which would lead to the further dissent spreading as many Persan began to wonder as to the true strength of their masters.
The final straw would come when the Origin Empire was invaded by a parasitic fungal race known as the Scelus who came from parts unknown and began ravaging the Origin Empire, assimilating entire species and devouring whole planets for resources. Still locked in struggle with the Kulaung the First Wyverns allowed the Scelus to consume the homeworlds of the Persan in-order to buy time to redirect forces from the Kulaung front to defend the First Wyverns own homeworld. Having had enough both the Persan and the prepatent races would revolt and flee, with the Persan heading south and the prepatents heading east. What happened to both the Scelus and the Frist Wyverns is unknown but it is assumed that both annihilated one another.
Settling on several planets in the south the Persan would be left without Prepatents or ways to managed their curse. Thus they elected to go into hibernation, leaving five AIs to try and find a solution the problem. Telling the AIs to awake them when the time was right.
Enslavement By the Dominatus[]
Unfortunately for the Vanara sleeping in stasis they would be be unearth and relieved of their sleep by the rapidly expanding Drakodominatus. Intrigued by the strange technology found in the ruins the Vanara had been been preserved in the Drakodominatus enslaved the Vanara to study and reverse engineer the advanced technology found there. Of special interest to the Drakodominatus was the Vanara's neural sync technology which would be adapted and modified to create the servitors the Dominatus would become so infamous for, as well as Vanara technomancy pathing the way for the Tyranny's own occult studies. The Vanara for their part were treated with horrific brutality forced to research new tech for Drakodominatus under the threat of their friends and family being murdered if they failed to produce results. Some Drakodominatus even developed a taste for Vanara flesh and began to farm them as food.
[rebellion to be rewritten]
Pre-Enlightenment Collaborative[]
Struki after leading her people in a successful rebellion against the Drakodominatus fled to the west of Mirus. Hoping to find what was left of her people, if anything, in the west and reunite them back into a new nation. What she found disappointed her horribly for Vash'nira society since the fall of the Origin Empire had dissolved into a state of near lawlessness with most Vash'nira falling under the control of various criminal and pirate families who had existed in a state of near constant civil war with one another, often to the point of ignoring foreign powers beginning to encroach upon the anarchic Vash'nira territory hoping to civilize it.
Taking almost immediate action Struki began to cut a swath of blood conquest through Vash'nira territory, uniting the feuding clans and families through force. Those clans who submitted to her willingly would be kept in-tact while those who resisted would be destroyed, their clan's component families broken up and reforged into a new clan or absorbed by another, more loyal clan. Struki also began to uplift the common people by forming and empowering various guilds so they could muscle their way into power alongside the clans. Backing her attempt at unification Struki used a quasi-religious message of reminding all Vash'nira of their shared origins and history and established a fundamental law that would become the core of Persan society going forward "No killing or exploitation of your own and prepatents".
Age of Enlightenment[]
While Struki had the raw resources and manpower needed to begin reclaiming their old territories she was still lacking one critical component, territory and permanent foothold from which to expand. The Vanara had evolved on naturally radiotrophic worlds which were depressingly lacking ever since the Scelus had brutally ravaged them all. With no other option the Vanara began to seek out uninhabited worlds and nuke them to create a radioactive environment able to sustain Vanara life. Unfortunately many of these worlds turned out to be preserve worlds under the control of the Waptoria Alliance of Species who were deeply angered that another race had begun nuking their preserve worlds and destroying the local biosphere. Despite this the Waptoria attempted peaceful communication at first but Darkling agents sabotaged these attempts leading to the Waptoria attacking the Vanara in an attempt to drive them out of Waptoria space. The result was a brutal retaliation by the Vanara who refused to lose a potential new home and began to actively push into Waptoria looking to break this potential threat so it could never threaten them again.
The Waptoria proved impressively resilient and better fighters then the Vanara had initially anticipated. However, an assault by the Imperium of War into Waptoria territory forced the WAoS to stretch their resources across two fronts meaning they couldn't bring their full might to bare. Not helping matters was that the Vanara were simply on average better warriors and far more ruthless then the Waptoria were willing to be. Luckily for the Waptoria the Grand Republic of Tyris Major attack the Imperium of War taking some of the pressure off the Waptoria. This did not stop but it did stall the Vanara invasion.
Meanwhile Struki who had been studying Waptoria culture from the worlds the Vanara had captured became suspicious. The sudden attack by the Waoptoria against the Vanara seemed counter to their usually peaceful and diplomatic nature. Further interrogations and inquires revealed that several attempts to communicate had been made by the Waptoria which the Vanara had never received. Probing further Struki discovered that several false flag operations had been made by a unknown power to deceive the Waptoria into thinking the Vanara had been raiding Waptoria worlds to abduct Waptoria Bio-Wards to use as slaves. Meeting with Waptoria representatives Struki called a temporary cease fire in order to jointly investigate the origin of these saboteurs. Eventually the two powers managed to uncover the base of a Darkling cult dedicated to Torakix responsible for the sabotage which both the Vanara and Waptoria raided and destroyed. With a new understanding reached the Vanara agreed to help the Waptoria fight back their now mutual enemies. Thus the vanara launched an attack into the flak of the Imperium of War's front against the Waptoria, severing the IoW's supply lines and allowing the Waptoria to fully push out the Imperium's invading fleet. After the "Enlightenment War" as it become called was over the Waptoria agreed to vouch for the vanara becoming founding members of Mirus' first galactic goverment, the Enlightenment Collaborative, in exchange for the vanara letting the Waptoria study their radiotrophic biology.
What Struki told none of her new allies, however, was that she had found a series of paintings in the cult's lair that were in fact portals to a planet isolated in time and space, a planet with enough background radiation to be a home for the Vanara. Naming this new painted planet Malkuth Struki decided that this would be the Vanara's new, secrete homeworld, something not even their allies in the Enlightenment Collaborative would be allowed to be aware off.
Age of Covenant[]
After the genocide of the Dominatus the Persan developed a growing cynicism towards the international community at large. While they looked upon their allies in the UAE favorably, everyone else they regarded with inherent mistrust and distaste. In the Persan's eyes by committing to the genocide the Dominatus the wider international community had only proven the Dominatus correct and played into their hands. When the Xonexi Schism erupted the Persan merely took this as further evidence to reinforce this belief and were for the most part content to watch and wait for the greater powers of the universe eat one another alive in time. However, contact from the New Cyrannian Republic offering the UPD and other Mirusian allies a chance to join the newly form Mou'Cyran Accords and hopefully maintain neutrality in the conflict lightened this cynicism to a degree.
While the Mou'Cyran Accords may have soften the Persan regard for Cyrannus the Scramble for Mirus only hardened it towards all of Xonexi. When Zarbania came fourth offering an alliance to rebel the Xonexi Persa was reluctant, they knew the Xonexi had both industry and technology that the Mirusian powers had no way to truly match. However, Persa elected to throw its lot in with the Sovereign Mirusian Coalition after the genocide unleashed by the Eldarisians. After the defeat of the Mirusian coalition at the hands of the French and Eldarisian the Persan prepared for the worst, readying themselves to put whatever military resources they had left into a final resistance against the Xonexi while evacuating as many civilians to the remote and unknown corners of the galaxy to start again. Much to their surprise France instead offered the Mirusians to join the Xonexi in a galactic government to govern Mirus. While shocked this did little to curb Persa's cynicism who believed that no relationship born of defeat could ever be equitable for the defeated, and that France's own interests were just too different from Mirusian ones for this ever to be a Mirusisn lead project regardless of what the French claimed.
There was also a general undercurrent of fear over weather or not the Xonexi would tolerant the Persan if the nature of the Persan's cursed instincts and need to infect others to survive was discovered. While many were on the fence about the French almost every Persan agreed that the Eldarisian would not and seek the UPD's destruction all the more zealously if the truth ever got out. This inevitably led to Persa taking a cold regard to the Covenant despite their membership and inevitably throwing their lot in with the Mirusian Triumvirate.
The early years of Persa's participation in the Covenant were especially fraught, from the get go it seemed that the Persan and Xonexi representatives could agree on nothing and with the Covenant operating vis consensus Persa could effectively deadlock or force undesirable compromises by merely digging their heals in and refusing to cooperate. The first signs of the problems that would soon define the early Covenant era was when the Covenant attempted to outline a rules of war, Persa categorically refused with Ipsissimus Struki bluntly stating "war is cruelty and barbarism of the highest order, and the crueler and more barbaric it is the quicker it will be over. To attempt to refine and soften it is a fool's errand and will only make war more desirable in the future. By giving war rules we will turn it into a game for the powerful and not the industrialized savagery that it is."
Persa also refused to agree disarmament after the war against the Imperium of War was over but merely continued with a program of industrialization and military growth. When asked to explain themselves the Persa stated that equitable peace could not exist while the Xonexi held a decided military advantage over the Mirusians and only if the Mirusians could stand against the Xonexi on an equal military footing could peace truly be ensured over war. It was becoming clear that while the Persan may have agreed with the Covenant's goals, their concept of how to achieve those goals differed greatly.
Further difficulty came when the Franc was adopted as the universal currency by the Covenant of Mirus. The Persan for the longest time had never had an intrinsic need for currency and had largely operated via a moneyless economy. Unwilling to allow the Xonexi what the Persan saw as undue influence the Magus Council locked Xonexi traders and businesses out of the UPD's civilian economy, if Xonexi business interests wanted to deal with the Persan they would do it solely through and with the Persan government. Still the Persan would find a use for the Franc, selling the glut of precious and rare metals the Persan had in their territory and stockpiling Francs for their own use when dealing with other nations.
Over the next few years the Persan would only become more and more withdrawn into themselves and ever more doggedly stubborn in ensuring that the Covenant would remain largely ineffective, grinding it gears then ever getting anything done. A secrete memo from the Waptoria to the Persan and Mendel only caused Persa to begin cutting off its ties to the Waptoria as well with Struki openly dismissing Waptoria leadership as overly optimistic and naïve. When a human whistleblower revealed that French and Eldarisian textbooks had been downplaying or denying the accomplishments of the Enlightenment Collaborative causing the Waptoria to step down from their leadership position in the Covenant. To the Persan this was only further proof that their cynicism toward the Covenant had been justified and only increased their isolationist sentiments. When the Mirusian Theocratic Congregation was appointed to Covenant leadership this did little to assuage the Persan's cynicism though they were satisfied that a Xonexi power hadn't been appointed to leadership.
As the era of the Covenant of Mirus' dominance wore on Persa began to receive a number of reports that sent them into crisis mode. The Persan's vast and deep reserve of connections in the lawless underworlds and frontiers of Mirus began to report a surge in activity by various Scelus cults and the formation of new power to the north calling itself the Grigorian Empire which used notably Scelusian religious imagery resulted in a surge of military expansion and activity from the Persan. This only served to increase tensions between Mirusians and the Xonexi especially when the Persan began to call for the Grigorian Empire to be declared a rouge state. The Xonexi brushed this aside as usual Persan paranoia with Eldarisians openly mocking the Persan. Even the Persan's Mirusian allies, shocked at the Persan's willingness to denounce another state over what they perceived as a minor religious difference, swept the matter under the rug. Even worse the Grigorian Empire began diplomatic liaisons with the Xonexi, seeking membership and representation in the Covenant. This caused the Persan to only further withdraw into themselves and become even less cooperative then they had been before.
This would be the state of affairs until the Persan's underworld connections brought in news that a Scelus cult had infiltrated French Memento. Realizing they had a chance to prove their concerns valid the Persan began to plan. Calling upon their underworld and outlaw connections the Persan secretly formed a massive force of spacers, pirates, outlaws, and various illicit PMCs from all across the galaxy which the Persan indirectly direct to attack the main French Mirusian colonies. While no match for the French in any military capacity this massive barbarian horde was so chaotic and utterly disorganized that it actually managed to frustrate, confuse, and tarpit the French forces who had always operated under the assumption that any larger scale conflicts would be against a professional and organized peer military. Seizing on the time bought for them the Persan struck and invaded Memento forcing the French forces guarding the territory to surrender through sheer display of force with no lives lost. The Persan then commenced a purged the Scelus cult that had infiltrated Memento.
Meanwhile the poorly disciplined criminal horde the Persan had secretly assembled began to fall apart the French forces adapted and the barbarians moral began to fail. Having completed their purge the Persan forces pulled out of Memento before Struki called a meeting of the Covenant's leadership. Striding in Struki executed the Grigorian ambassador to the Covenant causing a worm-like parasite to burst from the the ambassador's spine which went after the Zarbanian leadership whose guards promptly killed the monstrosity. She then presented evidence of Memento's infestation and demanded that the Persan be subject to no reparations for their actions in exchange for further information the Persan had gathered about Scelus activities. This was agreed to in-part because no direct evidence linking the Persan to the barbarian horde that had attacked French Mirus could be found (though everyone was fairly certain the Persan were behind it) and because the Persa data reveled that Scelus cult and parasite infiltration of Mirusian and Xonexi Mirus colonies was, though not extensive, greater then ever though and enough to raise concern.
The end result of this all was a number of purges of the Scelus cults all throughout Mirus and a combination of what would become known as the Scelus incident and the Gorge Crisis in Quatrants cause France to increase in military funding and expenditures. The Persan meanwhile were satisfied that they had shattered the myth of French invulnerability and became more proactive in the Covenant, this would have mixed blessings for the Xonexi.
Second Great Cyrannus War[]
Age of Federation[]
A significant turning point for the Persan would come thanks to contact with a member of the League of Patrons called the Horror. A remote colony of Persan known as Lycan had dedicated their souls to the Horror in hopes of being freed from their curse. While the Horror did have the power to take away the Lycanian's ability to sin it did not have the power to remove the curse which was tied to forces of a power far beyond it. The end result was that the Lycanians still felt the urge to kill and infect none Persan lifeforms they were unable to act on these urges at all. However, because these urges could not be channel or aimed into something more constructive, just permanently repressed by an outside force, which caused the power of the curse to build within the Lycanians until they began to twist and mutate into feral beasts who lived for nothing but to kill and feed. But because the Horror still held power over their souls these beasts were unable to destroy anything and so just wandered screaming in ever increasing mental anguish.
When the Persan government found out a naval group was sent over to put the Lycanians out of their misery. After this event the UPD banned any contracts or dedication to the Patron's, as well as worship of the League of Patrons outright. Stating that the Patrons had proven themselves beyond doubt to be deities capable of causing great harm to the Persan people. This was meant with little resistance as the Patrons had never been popular deities in the UPD, especially with the UPD's old enemy Marius Yecron having been elevated to the status of Patron. This further led to a major push from the Persan populace for the government to be more proactive in protecting persan interests and less isolationist overall.
The UPD would get its first chance after getting passed a message by Waptoria intelligence that they may have found evidence of a past dracophage outbreak in the Katar Sector. Scrolling through old archival records the Persan found that yes indeed there had been. After the fall of the Multus Esse, one of their observers had gone rogue and sampled the dracophage virus out of curiosity. Fearing retribution from the Origin Empire, it had fled to Katar's Watcha subsector and uplifted a species known as the Xavindri to guard it against any retaliation. This never came as the Origin Empire succumbed to the Scelus and the observer itself faded into legend over time. Before the colonization efforts could begin though the Scelus had invaded and the Origin empire had collapsed. Questioning the Waptoria further the Persan discovered to their horror that the Xavindri had, fearing Dominatus encroachment, began their own reign of terror. They had formed the New Corporate Krickan Union to work the other sapient life of Watcha to death and use the extracted wealth to resist the Tyranny. It never came to pass as the rest of Katar pushed out the Tyranny first before systematically demolishing the NCKU. The Waptoria further stated that the observer had punished the Xavindri by unleashing the dracophage virus upon them and reduced them to hiding out on their homesystem Risvari. Worried that there could be an unaccounted for curse-bearing race out there and knowing that the Hegemony had settled in Watcha, the Persan became concerned that there could be a repeat of the Horror incident and asked the Waptoria to help them establish colonies in Katar.
Things nearly turned violent as the species the NCKU attempted to exterminate had long since escaped to other states in Katar and were still baying for Xavindri blood. Matters turned from bad to worse as the Purity arrived, seeking to save the Xavindri from both themselves and the observer. In the end it the Persan managed to take in the Risvari system while the observer returned to the Multus Esse. The Purity meanwhile took in those former NKCU thrall species which hadn't escaped Watcha, depriving the Xavindri of immediate Prepatents, and made their retreat. With things settled the Persan began fortifying their borders, for the Hegemony was now right next to them, and it became likely that any future Hegemony-Persan conflict would start in Katar.
The Far Distant Future[]
In the far distant future after many periods of time yet to be determined and many conflicts of a nature yet to be decided the Persan had evolved considerably into forms more close to their progenitors the Persacron then what they began as. Having overcome their curse, solving their fertility issues and counteracting the murderous instincts that eat at their minds and sanity, the Persan had no more need to hold control over their Prepatents or any need for territory at all. Heeding the wisdom that the only constant is change and that all things fade in time the Persan chose to leave their old holdings behind and venture out into the realms of the Min Laniakea to explore that which had been hidden from their sight and beyond their reach until now. Thus the Persan left their old territorial holdings to their Prepatents allowing them to decided their own fate free from Persan influence.
This is all yet to be written though...
Society[]
Structure[]
The Persan concept of government is interesting because the very concept of government in and of itself does not come naturally to them. All Persan are equal regardless of the circumstances of their birth, social standing, wealth, or intellect. Indeed this is reinforced thanks to a form of eusociality that emerges from the fact that most Persan are born infertile. Referred to as Sarkani these Persan can only reproduce by infecting other races with a virus that cause any children they produce to born as Persan. Only around a quarter of the Persan population can reproduce and are referred to as Arkthali. Because the Sarkani tend to gravitate toward the authority of the Arkthali, one tends to find more Arkthali in positions of power. And because the birth of an Sarkani or Arkthali is entirely random and cannot be engineered, power among the Persan does not naturally concentrate itself along bloodlines or inherited wealth or prestige, and remains dispersed. However, because there simply are not enough Arkthali to go around the Persan had to come up with more advanced form of representative governance.
Ultimately what the Persan created was a form federal republic composed of various different semi-autonomous states referred to as Enclaves that each controls a swath of UPD territory with regions of uninhabited space acting as a boarder between the territory of an Enclave and their neighbors. Enclaves are compsed of a number of Persan colonies that originate from the same Worldship and are granted a level of self-rule and sovereignty with a representative parliamentary body acting as the supreme federal authority. Each Enclave is led by two leaders, a Magister who manages the internal matters of the Enclave and the Magus who manages the Enclaves external matters and represents their constellation in parliament. The Ipsissimus is the elected leader of the whole UPD and first among equals in parliament. Parliament's powers are limited as it has no say over the internal operations of the Enclaves (except in times of crisis) and is restricted to managing the UPD's federal and international issues and institutions. The persan parliament is itself broken up into three houses: the Junior Magus House which acts as a legislative body, the Senior Magus House which acts a judicial body, and the Supreme Magus House which acts as a direct advisory body to the Ipsissimus.
Because of the reproductive issues experienced by the Persan they must employ many client states called Prepatents, non-spacefaring colonies of baseline humans scattered about Persan space, who trade regular tithes of sperm and egg cells. In exchange for these tithes the Prepatents gain protection, access to interstellar markets, and advanced tech that they might not obtain otherwise obtain in a galaxy dominated by larger powers.
Culture[]
The Persan are in many ways defined by a sense of generational trauma. Their birth was an inherently violent one with the Persan being born from the blood of their slain gods and precursors the Persacron Star Dragons. This inheritance is a fundamental part of how the Persan define what it is to be Persan. This shared heritage is what binds them together and all almost universally acknowledge the debt they owe to the Persacron whose sacrifice gave the Persan life. To speak disrespect of the Persacron is an almost unforgivable slight in the Persan's eyes, even among the atheistic members of the UPD, and can soil relationships irrevocably. Sadly the Persan's bloody genesis seems to have been a portent of a grim fate to follow them. Indeed the Persan have faced subjugation and extinct time and time again leaving them hardened, suspicious, and paranoid to outside influences. They have resolved to never be enslaved or driven to near extinction again and thus tend toward extreme reactions when something threatens their established place in the galaxy. Every threat is seen as potentially existential which the persan will fight tooth and nail against. Conversely having been shown so little kindness through their existence have render the Persan staunch and unwavering allies to those who have helped them rather then harm them in the past.
Even worse the Persan are cursed with a seemingly instinctual drive to slaughter and infected all other lifeforms in order to establish themselves as the dominant lifeforms in the universe. This desire must be bled off and in the past the Persan would engage in bloody raids, hunting other sapient beings for sport (though only hunting those that could fight back) in order to bleed off their murderous impulses. now a days the Persan use non-sentient simulations to bleed off their impulses. Beyond this the Persan have learned that devoting themselves to mastering a certain discipline such as an art or science, focusing their destructive urges into overcoming their own limitations, breaking down what holds them back. Because of this focus and need the Persan have accomplished a lot in only a short time, progressing in leaps and bounds in the fields of art, science, and industry. Not all Persan are able to follow this path though and many are known to take to being bounty hunter, privateers, and general mercenaries to bleed off their instincts through bloodshed. To avoid too many of their people going down this path the Persan have great personal and political freedoms, as allowing their people to live, identify, and speak how they wish provides a release from the lives of strict discipline they must live otherwise.
Due to the ravages they have faced the Persan are reluctant to centralize too much or to maintain a static position for too long. Thus the Persan focus most of their authority upon massive capitalships the size of small moons known as world ships which can support a population equivalent to a city-world aboard. Alongside their population centers worldships also support military fortresses, massive industrial centers, religious and political centers, wormhole gates, agricultural centers, and entire ecosystems. Where exactly these worldships are located at any one point in time is a closely guarded secret. Not all persan live on worldships of-course. Many dwell upon planets of varying degrees of development or choose to wander the vacuum of space in their own nomad fleets. All of these own fealty though to the worldship from which they originate. While only a select few Persan choose to become warriors and join the ranks of the Persan military all Persan are trained to fight and will come to their worldship's, fleet's, or home planet's defense if it is ever invaded.
Religion[]
Religious freedom is a fundamental right for all in the United Persan Descendants and there is no state religion. That being said religion and spirituality play a major role in the lives of many Persan even if they are not particularly religious themselves. Religion is not a centralized affair in the UPD and local shrines and resident priesthoods are about the closest one gets to any centralized religious authority. Indeed religious life in Persa is treated mainly as personal matter. Rather then seeking consensus debate is a major part of Persan religious life and it is expected that priests and shamans make use of reasoned argument when preaching then reliance upon miracles and other supernatural events. Most Persan tend to seek a philosophy they devout their lives to called an Aspirat. While not specifically religious in nature most shamans, priests, and their shrines are devoted to a specific Aspirat and usually act as a form of loose leadership for any who follow the same Aspirat in the general area.
The most common form of religious belief in Persa is Drakenism which worships the Persacron Star Dragons as the Persan's gods and progenitors. It is believed that the Persacron sacrificed their own lifeblood to create the Persan and thus blood sacrifice is often an important part of Persan religious ceremonies. This usually takes the form of ritual blood letting and animal sacrifices but in the past the Persan would sacrifice prisoners of war and criminals, while this practice has largely died off in modern day every so often it is not unusual for war criminals to find a priests sacrificial dagger at their throat. Beyond the worship of their gods the Persan practice polydoxy which in the past was a belief that all things in nature have their spirits. Drakenists believe very firmly in the immortality of the soul and do not see death as an ending but more akin to change of state or a move to another land. The dead are believed to watch over their descendants from the afterlife and act as a go between the descendants and the spirits and gods the Persan worship. This has led to ancestor worship being another major factor in Persan beliefs. When a Persan dies their body is usually placed in an urn and berried under a stone obelisk on the homeplanet of whatever race they belonged to. It is believed that in death a Persan's soul travels on to live in the lost biosphere of their homeworld which still exists in the spirit world.
Beyond Drakenism other religions from other Federation of Free States members are commonly found both in Persa and syncretized with native belief systems. Persa religious doctrine states that honoring and respecting all allied pantheons is deeply important to maintain good relationships with the divine. Worship of Darklings, the Void, Chaos Cults, and decorped MetaBeings like the Scelus are all outlawed.
Technology[]
The Persan are at something of a disadvantage when it comes to technological development, in many ways their society still resembles a preindustrial civilization and much of what they do have was either inherited either from the what the Persacron and Multus Esse left behind, or what they could steal from the Drakodominatus and the latter Dominatus. Unfortunately much of the technology they had inherited required infrastructure that simply was inaccessible to the Persan, or drew from some inherent power that the Persan lack. In many ways being a modern, industrialized civilization does not come naturally to the Persan. Luckily the Persan have proven to be nothing if not resilient, resourceful, and adaptable, paired with rank pragmatism and ruthless cunning they Persan have proven very adapt at scavenging, stealing, and trading for what they need and repurposing what tech they acquire for their own purposes, often improving upon the base design.
One area in which the Persan have frequently been able to improve upon whatever tech they acquire is in the area of miniaturization. The Persan are masters of nano-scale engineering and are frequently able to create small more energy efficient versions of whatever technology they have scavenged. Notable examples being their miniaturization of Tyranny technology which allowed them to arm smaller, faster, more resources efficient vessels with Tyranny based weapons allowing Persan ships to punch well above their weight. In more recent examples the Persan managed to shrink down Xonexi Angelfire to be compatible with pre-existing launch systems allowing the Persan to adapt to hyperspacal warfare without overhauling their navy.
[Gravitronics and Essence Tech]
Economy[]
Persa operates a mixed economy that combines elements of various economic systems, with all basic and essential utilities being provided by the state and all luxuries being the domain of private production (it should be noted that all private property is technically collectively owned by one group or another, the term private is used due to lack of a better word). Dominant Persan economic philosophy tends towards the belief that the means of production should be widely owned rather then concentrated and that the government's primary role is to prevent this concentration of the means of production competition and antitrust laws, as well as ensuring the fair and equal treatment of the worker. To this end Persan economic ideology tends to favor cooperatives, mutual organizations, and democratization of the workplace. Wages are virtually unheard of in Persan as instead of being paid a wage employs are paid a share of the total profit in any enterprise or business venture they are part of. Some may get a extra share or portion of as compensation for having extra responsibilities or injury. Exactly how much of a share each worker gets is decided democratically among them and sealed in a blood oath contract.
Persan industry is something again of its own unique beast thanks to the develop molecular fabricators, along with its own heavy amounts of automation. Molecular fabricators effectively allow for single individuals or a single small group to create large numbers of high-quality goods so long as they have the resources and blueprints for it. Certain highly complex things such as ships and vehicles cannot be created via molecular fabricators and require automated assembly lines to produce, however, their individual components can be. To this end, Persan industry is largely built on large cooperatives between multiple different craftsmen and cottage industries cooperating with automated mining operations, cargo hauler crews, and automated factories to mass produce large numbers of various products.
Most of the UPD's industry is focused in the massive forge sectors of their worldships which are constantly fed resources gathered by their colonies and nomad fleets to turn into goods. Mass use of automation is present throughout Persan space with AI and robots performing many tasks with strong organic oversight, while actual citizens tend to be highly educated or highly skilled, working alongside various robotic and automated systems in their daily life. Most of the time organic citizens live in space while massive numbers of robots will be sent down to the planet below to ferry resource up to be processed by the citizenry above. These robots are not sapient and really only good at a set task, known for being pretty stupid in regards to everything outside said task.
Enclaves[]
Core Enclaves[]
Tohu sits at the center of the UPD's Western Mirusian territories and is, on paper, the UPD's capital sector. The truth is that Tohu is a massive false flag operation used to obfuscate the true location and nature of the Persan capital and homeworld. Lying at the center of the Tohu sector is a massive, megastructure which covers the whole of an entire planet and is constantly generates both the thermal radiation and radio chatter that one would expect to come from the capital world of a major galactic power. However, said homeworld is nothing more then a massive automated decoy inhabitant by no one. Despite being mainly a ruse Mendacius is still very important to the Persan as a lot of communications and transport are rerouted through Tohu which contains a fair amount of the support infrastructure necessary. This also servers to further the ruse, cloaking the core lie of the Tohu sector in at least a few truth.
Sefirot is the true and hidden capital sector of the United Persan Descendants. As a sector it is entirely composed of one system containing the Persan homeworld of Malkuth and the whole of the Sefirot system. Sefirot is largely kept hidden thanks to the fact that it does not exist in real space but rather exists inside an pocket dimension contained inside a series of mysterious paintings found throughout Persan space. While the true nature of the Persan homeworld is generally well known among the populace of Persa and other Mirusian natives extragalactics tend to be more ignorant of its true nature either not knowing or knowing but not believing it to be true, especially when the Tohu sector is sitting in plain sight. The Sefirot sectors colors are white and purple.
Behemoth is the western sector of the UPD's Mirusian territories and is the homesector of the Vanara. Named after its capital the Worldship Behemoth, the sector is ranked at around the second most developed sector as Behemoth is heavily industrialized and is a major center of production of various material goods. While most material goods are produced in Behemoth few are actually sold there with most being shipped out to the northern sector of Goliath to be traded and sold. Behemoth receives a lot of food from the agricultural centers of the eastern sector of Ziz and much of its technological resources having been developed in the southern sector of Leviathan. Behemoth's colors are white and red.
Leviathan is the eastern sector of the UPD's mirusian territories and the home territory of the Trahoxi. Named after the Worldship Leviathan it is generally considered one of the most pleasant sectors to visit due to having the most habitable planets in all of Persan space. Due to Persan preferences these planets are largely uninhabited and largely left as untouched nature preserves were radiotrophic lifeforms can be studied. Leviathan is a major center of trade and tourism with large numbers of goods, services, and people constantly moving in a out of the sector. Leviathan's colors are white and green.
Goliath is the southern sector of the Persan's mirusian holdings named after the Worldship Goliath and the home sector of the Vulkai. By far one of the least developed off all the four main sector it is mostly devoted to agricultural production and that vast majority of food is produced in Goliath. Due to the Vulkai's rather militant culture Goliath also holds some of the largest military deployments in all of Persa and is known for having abnormally strict laws and centralized authority when compared to the rest of Persa which be rather anarchic at times. Goliaths colors are white and blue.
Ziz is the northern sector of Persa's mirusian holdings and is the home territory of the Aranth. Named after the Worldship Ziz it is by far the most developed sector and posses an incredibly high level of automation even for a heavily automated nation like the UPD. A center of sciences and education most of Persa's various technological advancements were developed in Ziz. Leviathan also has the most universities and collages in all of Persan space and some of the most prestigious universities in all of Mirus. Due to the sensitive nature of a lot of the technological developments going on in Ziz the sector has an unusually high military presence for security purposes. Ziz's colors are white and black.
Shamir is a new sector compsed of the former Drakodominatus Tyranny territories which the Persan managed to hold after the wars of the Mirusian Coalition, named after the Worldship Shamir it is the home sector of the Verasien who were gifted the sector and the worldship it was named after as reparations by the Persan for the genocide perpetuated against them by the Origin empire. As a former Drakodominatus Tyranny sector it is largely barren with just about the sole thing of value being one of the five Black Hole Foundries in Dominatus Mirus. The megastructure is one of the very few things capable of assembling Supercarriers and Juggernauts in one piece, using gravitational redirectors to funnel a truly obscene amount of cosmic materials into the automated forges above. Shamir's colors are blue and gold.
Extragalactic Enclaves[]
The Chalkydri sector is named after worldship Chalkydri and encompasses the totality of the Persan's Cyrannus territories. Established not long after the Persan joined the Mou'Cyran Accords Chslkydri was the Persan's first extragalactic territory and is by far the most developed and populous of the UPD's extragalactic sectors. The Persan of the Chalkydri Enclave are far more open to foreigners and diplomatic then many other enclaves are thanks to living alongside the New Cyrannian Republic and other allies. During the Second Great Cyrannus War Chalkydri as sector fell to the Galactic Empire of Cyrannus but the enclave managed to flee aboard their worldship which became a major base for Mirusian resistance against the Empire.
The Tannin Sector is the Persan's extragalactic territories in Katar and one of the few Persan sectors with no worldship to its name. This is because the Persan do not trust the sector's main inhabitants the Xavindri with something as powerful as a worldship. Indeed while most Persan sectors are bastions of personal freedom the Tannin sector is no such case as the Persan feel the Xavindri have a long way to go in learning the sense of discipline that the Persan use to keep their instincts from rampaging. It also one of the most fortified of all Persan sectors thanks to the Persan sharing Katar with hated rivals such as the Purity and the Hegemony. Indeed the whole sector is fortified by a massive wall of hyperspacial artillery batteries meant to ensure that any assault on Tannin can only result in pyrrhic victory.
Demographics[]
Species[]
Military[]
Readiness[]
total mobilization time: 1 year |
total mobilization time: 6 months |
total mobilization time: 3 months |
total mobilization time: 1 month |
total mobilization time: 2 weeks |
total mobilization time: MOBILIZED |
Foreign Relations[]
The Persan have always been a secretive people, preferring to keep to themselves and remain hidden. After suffering through so great oppression and near extinction the Persan have come to value their freedom and survival over most anything else. This has lead not only to a great number of personal and political freedoms for the Persan but also strong isolationist policies and a distrust of the outside world. However, this all began to change when the Xonexi powers invaded Mirus and forced the Mirusians into peace. Realizing that staying mostly hidden was no longer an option the Persan have kicked into high gear the process of industrial, economic, and technological development, believing that only by possessing a credible potential military threat to the Xonexi can they truly preserver their freedom. The Persan have also thrown themselves whole heartedly into alliance such as Federation of Free States, recognizing the need for allies to protect themselves.
To those that know them the Persan are grim but loyal allies who seem to only fight fiercer the more the enemy to tries to break them. To those who are their foes the Persan are ruthless opponents whose savagery is barely restrained by their pragmatism. Though not lacking in honor or any understanding of rules of engagement the Persan are willing to go to extremes that most other rational actors would balk at, ready to ensure that any victory an opponent gains will be costly.
Allies[]
- Federation of Free States - "For a Mirus and Tyris Major free and self determined."
- Full Members
- Waptoria Alliance of Species - "Our oldest allies, hopefully time can repair our wounded relations"
- Mendel Pact - "Brothers of the sword who have stood by us through thick and thin."
- Empire of Zarbania - "A former enemy now a close ally."
- Multus Esse - "The allies of our precursors are our's as well."
- United Knights Alliance - "Sword brothers from Tyris, they could learn the value of democracy though."
- Grand Republic of Tyris Major - "Finally some Tyrusians that understand the value of democracy!"
- Mirusian Theocratic Congregation - "An ally who understands the value of belief in a society."
- Consulate of Praxis - "The sins of the father our not your's to bare."
- Confederacy of Cordac - "The past is valuable, but you would rather trap yourselves in it then learn from it.
- Observer Status
- Algolurn Popular Republic - "Canister born."
- Khanornusi - "Glad they're on our side."
- Associate States
- Troodontid Empire - "People are not tools!"
- Full Members
- Covenant of Mirus - "You will always be invaders."
- French Empire - "'Fight your own battles next time."
- Eldarisian Empire - "Not worth our fear, not worth our hatred. Worth only our pity."
Trading[]
Neutral[]
Hostile[]
- Democratic Federation of Catharas - "You base your opinions on false dichotomies that prevent you from making true progress."
At War[]
Quotes[]
- Add your own!
“Sadistic, paranoid scum! I'll do to you what I did to the Dragowar, and what I should've done to the Mardor! You just wait - you cannot evade the Hegemony's might forever. And then the galaxy will sleep a little tighter when you monsters are gone.”
- - Vassilus Orkan of the Hegemony of Exterioris
Trivia[]
In Universe[]
Out of Universe[]
- Musical Themes
- Main Theme - The Fallen Empire
- Battle Theme -
- After Their Defeat in GXS - Ten Thousand Years
- Main Theme - The Fallen Empire
- The art on the UPD page was created by several artists.
- Special thanks to Parazrael for art of flags and maps.
- The Persan are inspired by the Craftworld Eldar from Warhammer 40k, the Vasari from Sins of a Solar Empire, several civilizations from Galactic Civilizations (the Torians, Iconians, and Drath), the Aun from Lancer, and the historical Old Prussians and Dacians.
- The Persan naming convention is based off the Occult, Alchemy, and Kabbalah.