“placeholder”
- - placeholder
The Zalax Forebearers, known in their contemporary times as the High Kingdom of Mal-Zalax, and in their waning millenia as the Mal-Zalax Ascendency, were a race of highly affluent humanoids that held a dominion throughout the Eupherion Galaxy approximately 100,000 years in the past. Emerging from the planet of Mal-Zalax, originally a tropical world before its gradual conversion into a planet-city, the telepathic, intelligence, and Essence-gifted Zalax rose to become the unlikely hyperpower of the Eupherion Galaxy, gaining the knowledge and the technology of the Cahrinvaeri that came before their time and forging an empire that would usher in a forced but welcomed, peace throughout Eupherion and its satellite galaxies, with the notable exception of Kazathir for hundreds of thousands of years. The Zalax began their gradual fall about 109,000 years ago, their culture beginning to fracture as their empire slowly crumbled away to stagnancy. The Zalax would eventually be finished off by the demonic hordes of the extradimensional Ozax beings, of who they called the Nemesis and gave the name “Ozax”, an antithesis to the term Zalax. Even today, hundreds of thousands of years later, the Zalax had left their mark throughout the galaxy and beyond - the Zalax had travelled to and had territory in the Milky Way and Mirus galaxies at the height of their power, and it was during the destruction of the Zalax that marked Eupherion’s total withdrawal and isolation from the wider First Gigaquadrant, the final time any native empire of Eupherion would ever interact with the wider Gigaquadrant.
Even today, the legacy of the Zalax remains the most influential force in Eupherion, and has even influenced civilizations abroad in other galaxies. The Zalax have left behind a variety of ruined yet functioning megastructures across Eupherion, Mirus, and the Milky Way as testaments to their power - they have left behind dyson spheres, nicoll-dyson beams, matrioshka brains, ring worlds, shield worlds, and countless other constructions that bear their name. Zalax constructions are highly valued today, and are so advanced that even the most intricate and advanced examples of technology from the oldest powers cannot compare with the Zalax’s refined technology. In their years as the galactic ascendancy and the hyperpower of Eupherion, the Zalax were ruled by an oligarchic council of elders who supplanted the traditional kings and queens of the Zalax society prior to their ascendancy, and this council was known as the Infinite Winds - and this title was legend among the Zalax society, where even some individuals have taken up the leader title of “Infinite” for themselves. The Zalax were a notoriously warlike civilization, though held a sense of honor and integrity that permeated their culture, and were powerful enough to ruthlessly tame a chaotic and divided Eupherion under legions of their military. One of the largest powers in Eupheric history, the Zalax held extreme power and influence in Eupherion and its satellite galaxies in a union that was held together through a combination of power and an ideal image of a united, Eupheric society, with their strength and honor pulling together hundreds of thousands of species together in a form of harmony under their banner that hasn't been seen since their fall.
History[]
Early History (200,000 BC -140,000 BC)[]
The first modern species that could have been considered Zalax originated on the jungle world of Mal-Zalax 600,000 years ago, and were unique among their planetary life for their lack of mouths and their method of nutrient absorption through their skin. Zalax in their modern form emerged approximately 300,000 years ago, spreading throughout the planet through ice bridges and mass migration, and after several thousand years the entire planet belonged to the Zalax. The Zalax developed into a variety of fragmented nationstates across the planet, and over time, these nation states would steadily absorb each other until the largest nationstates - all absolute monarchies - finally absolved to join each other and unite the planet, creating the first incarnation of the High Kingdom of Mal-Zalax, where what was believed to be a heavenly god-king ruled the Zalax species. The High Kingdom would eventually spread throughout the solar system of Mal-Zalax, creating mining stations throughout the gas giants of the system and placing down colonies on barren worlds that were deprived of oxygen, steadily terraforming them. At this time, there was tension between the High Kingdom and many of its citizens and military who desired a more democratic way of government, and eventually these citizens would seize much of Mal-Zalax’s territory and a variety of gas giant mining stations and colonies throughout the system.
Naturally, the High Kingdom of Mal-Zalax didn’t recognize the new state and did everything in its power to subject the democracy to their rule, and restore the High Kingdom. This had resulted in a calamitous civil war that shook the High Kingdom to its core, leaving several million dead and costing several trillions in the damage that resulted to mining/research outposts, colonies, and ships that wouldn’t be repaired for decades later. When the dust settled, the High Kingdom was the one left standing, using the civil war to proclaim their superiority to the rest of the Zalax race exactly who was in charge. The High Kingdom would bankroll an extrasolar exploration mission to an anomaly that was discovered in deep space, of which jump-started the High Kingdom’s FTL drive research and gave them access to the Ethereal Grid, an extradimensional “net” of ordered pathways within the Dreamweave that connected between various solar systems. With their access to the Ethereal Grid, the High Kingdom spread quickly throughout their area of the galaxy, and were viewed as a pest by other contemporary spacefaring empires at the time. The High Kingdom would eventually, through one of their many expeditions, come across the Caretakers and the megaconstruct that they were guarding - an ancient ruined Matrioshka Brain built by the Cahrinvaeri Builders, surrounded by destroyed rubble and ancient orbital elysium habitats.
The Zalax would take a keen interest in the Cahrinvaeri precursors, and spent much of their time studying and divining the secrets of the Cahrinvaeri. At this point it became increasingly clear that the intelligence and crafty Zalax would eventually claim the mantle left behind by the Cahrinvaeri before them, and the Tyahrano and Eraki before them. As the millenia passed among the High Kingdom, it was in 170,000 BC that the High Kingdom would steadily begin to shift towards an imperialistic view of the galaxy. At this time, the High Kingdom was an elder power of the Eupherion Galaxy, several tens of thousands of years old and having the power and technological strength to show for their advanced age. The High Kingdom at this point was stagnant and slowly dying, though as the imperialist and patriotic fervor gripped the nation it quickly re-emerged back onto the galactic stage with the shockingly swift conquer and annexing the contemporary power known as the Jakik League into the High Kingdom, where it formed the first “eastern” province of the High Kingdom. Though the League was rendered defunct, its government dissolved, and its culture preserved, the galaxy was quickly shocked at the idea of a potentially hostile High Kingdom emerging onto the galactic stage. Several old and young powers all militarized their economy while mobilizing and placing funding into their militaries in an alarm that was known as “Zalax fever” throughout the galaxy, taking no chances with the sheer threat that the High Kingdom presented if it suddenly began its expansion more.
As the galaxy prepared for a permanent mobilization to defend against any potential High Kingdom threat, the Zalax mobilized once more. The nearby Union of Darkaetian Warbands was a militarized power and was relatively young on the galactic stage, but was formidably fortified against the High Kingdom and believed in their power to hold the High Kingdom back. Nevertheless the High Kingdom conquered and invaded the Union in a space of mere months, the Union being vastly outmatched in technology, manpower, sophistication, and sheer strength - hardly able to stand a chance against the far superior High Kingdom. As the Union was dissolved and the nomadic Darkaetians forced into settling and adopting the Zalax way of life, the wider galactic community chose to stand against the Zalax and eventually fortified their borders and attempted to freeze the Zalax trade routes and communications, in the hopes of starving the High Kingdom into submission as they could not afford to fight the High Kingdom head on. The High Kingdom, while not particular affected, got the message and would stand down for few thousand years until a rather hawkish High Queen who’s name is lost to history rose up and claimed the throne. In circa 169,800 BC, the High Kingdom began to aggressively expand, provoking attacks from various nations and forcing the High Kingdom to attack said nations in kind. Eventually a terrorist attack funded by the loosely-allied galactic band of nations occurred in Mal-Zalax, a bomb bringing down a mass of infrastructure, enticing the High Kingdom to mobilize and invade the galaxy en masse in a way similar to the Great Stihn Empire would in the far future.
For several thousand years, the Zalax and the galaxy remained in a stalemate and both were exhausted of war, with little gains on each side as the participating powers, despite being united, were still only able to simply tie the Zalax in power. The Zalax would eventually manage to crack the secrets of Cahrinvaeri technology and architecture, and during a brief armistice while the forces gathered their strength once more (which has happened many times before, on a regular basis) the Zalax had pooled their remaining resources, with the assistance of the Xeraxirah Caretakers that had inhabited the gigastructure, into the repair of the Matrioshka brain that the Zalax had stumbled upon many years earlier into a functional state. Despite only functioning at minimum capacity the Matrioshka brain proved to be far more powerful than anything else the Zalax had, and using the brain to simulate their opponents, prematurely attacked the galaxy once more and won crushing victories over and over, the brain predicting their enemy’s every single move. From 170,000 to 160,000, the High Kingdom’s territory over quadrupled it's size as the Zalax proclaimed victory and became the sole galactic hyperpower. With Eupherion in its grasp, the High Kingdom turned to the wormholes of Eupherion and eventually began to settle in regions of Andromeda, Milky Way, Mirus, and Selten, entering the Galactic Era of its history as its influence began to spread throughout the entire First Gigaquadrant.
Galactic Era (140,000 BC - 120,000 BC)[]
As the Zalax settled in the various galaxies and created their intergalactic empire, the Zalax began to pool their efforts into the development of their civilization in Eupherion. It was the prioritization of the Eupherion province of their empire that allowed for the Zalax to dominate the Eupherion Galaxy and control more than 75% of the galaxy towards the end of the Zalax civilization. The Zalax quickly began to establish relations with the various other local, advanced powers of the Mirus, Andromeda, Milky Way, and Selten galaxies - the Zalax and the Adresaas were known to have had chilly relations during the Zalax’s colonization of the Selten galaxy. The Zalax had begun to crack the security code of the Cahrinvaeri megastructures and technology that kept said technologies locked away from the widespread usage of any other civilization than the Cahrinvaeri themselves, and with the assistance of the gradually repaired and restored matrioshka brain, fully cracked open the codes of the Cahrinvaeri and learned the locations of Cahrinvaeri technology caches throughout the galaxy and beyond. As the Zalax expanded throughout the First Gigaquadrant they began to bring examples od Cahrinvaeri technology and High Kingdom culture with them, of which became so ingrained in their territories that remnants of their culture continue to influence certain civilizations in the modern day.
In the Mirus galaxy, Zalax expansion grew quickly as the Zalax manipulated and intimidated native civilizations to join into its empire. The Zalax were concentrated and controlled much of the Dimstar Outbacks and the Himmel Nebula areas, and expanded rapidly as the Zalax made their presence known. The Zalax were known to have had overall negative interactions with the Multus Esse, of who vehemently opposed the Zalax treatment of native civilizations and had threatened and pressured the Zalax into ceasing the manipulation of other powers. Despite the overall negative relations the Zalax and Multus Esse had, the Multus Esse possess the most complete archival records of the Zalax and the most knowledge on them outside of Eupherion. The Zalax were otherwise quiet in the galaxy, keeping to their borders and focusing on the internal development of their territories in the galaxy. It was the result of this that led to the increased amount of Zalax megastructures and ruins in their area of Mirus compared to other galaxies, and civilizations such as the Vogrik Directorate, Typhon Conglomerate, and the Lsjanpodos Union Republic have all derived some amount or another of technology from abandoned Zalax ruins. The Zalax occupation in Mirus had also seen the Zalax encounter with the Persacron, of who had inspired the Zalax to create the metaphysical Psia guardians of the Krynthong, who vaguely resemble Persacron in structure.
Ascendancy Era (120,000 BC - 105,000 BC)[]
Extinction Era (105,000 BC - 100,000 BC)[]
The stagnancy of the Ascendancy Era eventually ended with the gradual, yet sudden, resurgence of Ozax activity throughout various random points in the galaxy. While existence of Chaos was widely recognized by the Zalax, of who worshipped the Xhodocto in their officially recognized state religions, appearance of the Zalax alarmed the highest echelons of Zalax government who were unsettled by the appearance of Chaos monsters in Eupherion. The reason for the sudden appearance of Ozax remains unknown, though the gradual resurgence of Chaos cults that was left in the wake of a stagnant Ascendancy is generally regarded as a contributor - it's likely some of these cults were tied to Marrow and worshipped the Ozax, and in their worship, inadvertently began summoning handfuls of Ozax to the galaxy. These were isolated incidents; easily contained, and would-be uproar at the appearance of such beings were quickly silenced to avoid unnecessary drama that would've occurred from knowledge of the existence of Chaos monsters capable of existing in Axiom. The appearance of the first few Ozax is generally regarded as the beginning of the Extinction Era; while the first few appearances were easily managed, these would eventually prove to not be single isolated incidents, but the forefront of an oncoming wave that would wash over an entire galaxy.
The Ascendancy's highest echelons of government, having all been attuned Essence masters in their own right, fully understood what threat the Ozax could be if allowed to manifest. As such, the Ascendancy began to form inquisitions to forcefully annihilate whatever Chaos cults were forming in a particularly violent period of religious suppression in a state that had mandated worship of the Xhodocto. On a more military arm, the Ascendancy began to assign long-term projects towards the suppression and eventual engagement of potentially larger Ozax breaches, assigning various Lord-Fleetmasters throughout the millennia to the watch and guard against the Ozax threat. Eventually, two Zalax fleet commanders named Zaxhiroshan Xasholshi and Xuzahraz Xassix, would be assigned to this duty as Lord-Fleetmaser. While publically their duty was simple patrolling and pacification of outer and unconquered spaces, their mission in actuality revolved around the subjugation of potential Ozax breach points to allow for Zalax inquisitor groups to move in and secure the local areas to suppress potential Ozax cults that would form and attempt to call forth Ozax denizens. In the effort, Zaxhiroshan became known as a cultural hero to the Zalax; always staying behind to rebuild the worlds he conquered, suppressing threats to the Ascendancy quickly, efficiently, and brutally, and becoming a champion of Zalax rule - a concept that Zaxhiroshan adopted wholeheartedly.
In the effort, stagnancy of the Ascendancy was briefly reduced in scope - sudden additions to territory meant that there was a need for fresh activity and patriotism to take place. As worlds formerly unexplored were further conquered and added to the growing influence of Zalax space, this also meant discoveries on the galactic frontier that were never known earlier. On the outermost reaches of the Ohvalik Sector, Cahrinvaeri constructs were further discovered and catalogued, though uniquely these constructs were ruined and had no Xeraxirah on the constructs to take care of it. The Infinite Council of the Ascendancy would personally task Xuzahraz with the investigation of the constructs alongside with a personal detachment of researchers to handle the research themselves. As more and more data regarding the existence of the constructs became uncovered, it became more and more apparent that the extent of damage inflicted on these Cahrinvaeri structures were inflicted by Cahrinvaeri weapons, which were capable of enough destruction to heavily damage the otherwise nearly indestructible structures. Eventually, the data recovered would uncover the existence of a Cahrinvaeri Mind-Star, the true "body" of a Cahrinvaeri consisting of a star-sized brain utilizing a star as fuel for computing power. Mind-Stars were known to exist, but the outer Ohvalik Mind-Star was the first to be discovered, which itself was heavily damaged yet still functional.
Xuzahraz, personally landing forces into the interior of the Mind-Star, would be among the first Zalax to have come into contact with a Cahrinvaeri. This Cahrinvaeri, unfortunately, was Vector Mentality; a maddened Cahrinvaeri deeply corrupted by a heavy presence of Aberric Energy that had turned the once-great synthetic deity into a damaged shell of it's former self, serving the Ozax. All it took for the Extinction Era to properly begin was the efforts of Vector Mentality's words and Aberric aura, which saw the quick corruption of Xuzahraz and his entire fleet, putting Xuzahraz on the path to become Kharaahk.
Extinction of the Zalax[]
Not long after, Xuzahraz and his fleets secretly joined the cults they were tasked to destroy; and through the resources of an entire Zalax battlefleet, a ritual was concocted in the bowels of the city-world of Anulaantha that would establish contact between the deity Khivarinskain, the Concierge of Divination, and the Concierge of Sanguination; an Essential and his two extremely powerful demonic attendants, who acted as a ruling caste of Marrow. The events of this contact caused a connection between Chaos and Axiom, the sheer power of which sent extremely violent ripples throughout the Dreamweave that disrupted daily life throughout the galaxy. The Infinite Council would send Zaxhiroshan to investigate the cause of the disturbance, who would bring along his own battlefleet to the location, though wouldn't fully understand exactly what was happening. Zaxhiroshan, arriving merely hours later, would interrupt the ritual and demand the ceasation of said ritual, hoping to retrieve Xuzahraz and bring him before the Infinite Council as the death of a Lord-Fleetmaser would require significant justification. This contact was all it took for Xuzahraz to fully give himself over to the Ozax; in return for the sacrifice of Eupherion, Khivarinskain would elevate Xuzahraz to true demonhood and become a High Denizen underneath the Concierges, and the harvested souls of Eupherion would be forcefully corrupted into Ozax and serve as his own kingdom in Marrow. Fully understanding the existence of the Ozax, nature of Essence, and gaining a wider grasp on the concepts of Chaos, the Xhodocto, and the various other Chaos monsters, Xuzahraz allowed himself to become fully corrupted and accepted the sacrifice of Eupherion as his price.
This event would cause such a rupture in the fabrics of reality, that Anulaantha itself would be briefly transported into Marrow as Khivarinskain and the Concierges manifested to turn Xuzahraz into a demon. Disconnected from the Weave that powered their technology and their abilities, Zaxhiroshan and his battlefleet could only watch as Xuzahraz was swallowed by the surface of Marrow and the Zalax soldiers he was assigned were warped and twisted into demonic Thralls, which far outperformed their contemporaries. Warships that Zaxhiroshan brought were forcefully brought to the ground; Dreamweave no longer available to support their thruster technology, and the alien laws of physics that Marrow forced upon the starships annihilating their capability to thrust. Xuzahraz would be reborn as Kharaahk, and would forcefully expulse the planet from Marrow - it's inhabitants forcefully corrupted by Marrow into Ozax themselves, and Zaxhiroshan would only barely escape with only a handful of his original contingent - the extreme anger he felt towards Kharaahk and the anguish at losing a planet to the Ozax would begin Zaxhiroshan's path to becoming a Darkweave Avatar, and the corruption of Anulaantha would begin the Ozax Crisis that would annihilate the Zalax over a course of decades.
Waves and waves of billions of Ozax demons of all orders would rise from Anulaantha, which became a bridge between the realities of Axiom and Marrow, and corrupted the surrounding regions with its presence. Waves of Aberric Energy would emerge from Anulaantha, which would wash over the galaxy and disrupt the Dreamweave; galactic travel became more and more unreliable with every passing year, incidents of Dreaming Space and Twisting Space would become more and more common and every incident more intense, and Weave Entities became more volatile and lost their sapience, with only the most powerful retaining their sapience. Just as much damage was done by the effects of Aberric Energy as the Ozax themselves; technology began to malfunction and crash, as it depended on a stable Dreamweave to operate; starships would cease working even in the middle of space, causing an untold amount of deaths as life support depending on Dreamweave physics failed; megastructures lost function, with the most notable case being Dyson Spheres - entire sectors of space would lose power, with some losing power permanently, causing extreme social upheaval, panic, and becoming nearly defenseless against encroaching demonic hordes. As the scale of deaths exponentially raised over the decades, the Lightweave weakened and the Darkweave grew stronger; Lightweavers found their abilities and senses dulled, and some Lightweavers lost connection to the Lightweave entirely. This was especially bad for the Zalax, who were intrinsically connected to the Lightweave; with such a connection disrupted, their bodies naturally attached to the Darkweave instead, causing extreme biology and behavioral changes that could be seen from an individual all the way to a social scale.
As armies of Zalax lost their ability to fight effectively, they were subjugated to being either torn apart by Ozax, or turned into Ozax by legions of higher Ozax orders, the Ascendancy quickly began to fold in on itself. Soon, an offensive strategy turned to defensive, until levels of Aberric Energy were present enough to disrupt communications, and shatter the Ascendancy into pieces - afterwards, with no way to fight effectively and with no consistent technology, a defensive fight became a fight for survival. As the decades piled on and the casualties grew higher, it became more and more clear that there was no way for a victory to be possible, with communication impossible and the Dreamweave as disturbed as it was. Survival became focused on evacuation; technologies were traded with the neighboring galaxies of Mirus and Milky Way, for ships that could function without the Dreamweave. These starships were utilized to evacuate billions to varying neighboring galaxies and satellites. Zaxhiroshan was one of the many who chose to leave his battlefleets in the care of others, and assist in the evacuation effort. Eventually, news came through that Mal-Zalax was attacked and scourged entirely of life - communication difficulties meant that help aside from the Ascendant Guard was never able to come assist, and the Guard ultimately failed in their defense of Mal-Zalax. The loss of Mal-Zalax was considered the end of the Ascendancy, with the Infinitr Council and much of the central government destroyed, the Ascendancy split between the regional governors of sectors who handled the defenses of their own space, though the vast majority of these areas fell as well. To avoid the scourge from reaching other galaxies and to keep the evacuated citizens safe, the remaining Lord-Fleetmasters, including Zaxhiroshan, chose to focus their fire on the various wormhole stabilizers that led outside of the galaxy and destroy them - sealing Eupherion off from the First Gigaquadrant and entrapping the Ozax in the galaxy.
After Eupherion was sealed off, the Ozax continued to rampage violently throughout Eupherion, with most technology being unusable due to the effects of the Aberric Energy permeating the galaxy. As a hopeless situation became more hopeless, a handful of Zalax who had the resources capable of doing so chose to go into cryogenic exile to outwait the Ozax and reawaken in the future era; these included Zaxhiroshan and Xaraanxhir, the former of whom would reawaken a few thousand years before the modern day. Eventually, the Ozax had retreated back to Anulaantha - the reason for why they had not chosen to stay and fully extinguish the galaxy is unknown, with theories ranging from destablization from being away from Marrow for too long, to direct intervention by powerful Weave entities to keep Eupherion safe. Regardless, once the last Ozax had vanished from Anulaantha, the death count was extreme. Over 98% of all spacefaring life was annihilated, and over 99% of all Zalax were killed or corrupted into demons; leaving only a few million left out of a population that numbered in the trillions.
Post-Extinction[]
Government[]
During the days of the High Kingdom, the Zalax were ruled by a single divinely recognized High King or Queen, who held the absolute authority over the High Kingdom and was hailed as a walking god-monarch, a living incarnation of their one god’s presence and command, and as such followed their command zealously and without question. The High Kingdom was divided in a feudal manner of various kingdoms ruled by “upper monarchs” who answered to the High Monarch, and these kingdoms were divided further into a variety of “provinces” ruled by “provincial monarchs” which were further divided “duchies” that held various star systems and sectors of space, ruled by a Duke or a Duchess. The Duchies were fit to be governed how the local ruler saw fit, and some had localized democracies and republics, or otherwise had voting systems to influence the duchy. Upper Monarchs ruled the various galactic territories of the High Kingdom, and there was a single Upper Monarch per galaxy - at the fall of the High King, there were 5 recorded Upper Monarchs. Upper Monarchs acted as the advisors and the hands of the High King, as well as the vessels through which the High King’s command was delivered and enforced. Provincial Monarchs were in turn commanded by the Upper Monarchs, and there was a far greater number of Provincial Monarchs then Upper Monarchs - usually numbering at an average of 20 per galaxy, and their number depended on the size of the territories that the Zalax controlled in each galaxy. Provincial Monarchs commanded the Dukes and Duchesses, of who were the local rulers of certain sectors of space that were given to them by the Provincial Monarch. All of the Monarchs were, as labeled by their titles, had successors through their eldest child - but if the child or ruler was unfit, the High King could decide by vote or simply through their absolute power to have the family or ruler removed from power and a new family or the heir instated as the ruler.
This method of government proved unpopular with the people for a time, and was riddled with problems. Many spots in the government were hereditary and did not provide positions for those that were not born within the nobility, leaving the vast, vast majority of the Zalax deprived of the power over their own lives. The government of the High Kingdom was obscenely slow and inefficient, especially as the conquests of the High Kingdom grew further and faster, and drew in more and more people. Though territories conquered by the Zalax were established as duchies, they sometimes had a Zalax rule over the conquered peoples rather than one of their own race. Not only was this despised, but the enforcement of feudalism caused far more negative changes than positive, especially on peoples where the entire concept was alien to them, and thus couldn't easily fit within the High Kingdom's society. The conversion of the High Kingdom into the Ascendancy blew away most of these problems, along with permanently ending the feudalism of the High Kingdom, the caste system (de jure) and beginning a new age of the Zalax civilization.
The Ascendancy was a somewhat democratic government with proper representation of the populace. In practice, however, it was also a powerful oligarchy with various branches; a legislative, a judicial, and an executive branch that each balanced each other out. The Ascendancy was divided into various Colonial Empires, which was, in turn, divided into provinces. Each province held a massive extent of space and was divided into sectors, which were further divided into district. There were around 20 provinces total at the height of the Ascendancy, with hundreds of sectors, and thousands of districts. Each province exercised varying degrees of independence, with equally varying degrees of authority over it's own subdivisions, though there were checks and balances in place to prevent any province or sector from exercising any more authority than they were allowed to. Each district composed a varying number of systems, anywhere from 10 systems with the largest being composed of 50; though changes in population could warrant the creation of new sectors in order not to offset the democratic process of the Ascendancy. Each district elected their own local leaders, and had their own varying methods of government, though were subject to the laws of the sector. Sectors were composed of varying amounts of districts as well, and were constantly changing territory to ensure that no one sector could obtain power over the others in their province and achieve a disproportionate power in the government. The next level, the provinces, were the largest divisions of their Colonial Empire.
The executive leaders of the Ascendancy were the Council of Infinite Winds, the highest echelon of the government's executive branch. The Council consisted of the Infinite Winds, who were each the leaders of Zalax territories in each galaxy. The leader of the Council was the Infinite Wind of Eupherion who was considered, in a sense, the highest leader of the Ascendancy and all other Infinite Winds were expected to pay the proper respect to the Infinite Wind of Eupherion. The Council held supreme authority over the military and religion of the Zalax, though by law, were incapable of exercising power over the legislative and judicial branches of the government. The Infinite Winds were each elected by the provincial leaders in a periodic and historic simultaneous 100-year vote, who were each known as Cycles. The Councils were each known by their cycle; the Infinite Winds of the 1st, 3rd, 60th, and 200th Cycles were just some of the many examples. These extraordinarily long times were chosen due to the long lifespan of the Zalax and the difficulty in frequent Infinite Wind votes. Every Infinite Wind was a former sector or provincial governor that ran for the office. The leaders of each subdivision of the Ascendancy varied. Provincial leaders were known as the Captain-Governors, the sector leaders known as Governors, and the district leaders known as Provosts. Provosts elected Governors, and Governors elected Captain-Governors. There were little restrictions on who could run for office in the Ascendancy, though limits on age and criminal records were in place to keep potentially unfit leaders from running.
Each Sector had it's own specific legislative and judicial bodies, that each varied highly in their function. The universal legislative and judicial bodies were known as the Infinite Senate and the Arbitration, respectively. The Senate was made of representatives from each sector, who would convene on a regular basis to review, create, and enact laws on a Province-wide scale. The Arbitration was the branch that utilized these laws to impose limits on the executive and judicial branches of the Ascendancy's government.
Culture[]
“Our war-spirit is golden, our battles glorious, and our life-towers are perfect. We are the pristine, the sublime, the end-result of cultural majesty.”
- - Unknown late-Ascendancy nobility
Domestic Life[]
Unlike their various successor states, the Zalax were unique in their relative lack of any speciesism within their civilization. The term Zalax referred to two specific concepts in the Zalax culture - the species Zalax, known as the Zalax-flesh, and the citizens of the Ascendancy, known as the Zalax-soul. The difference between Zalax-flesh and Zalax-soul was considered minimal at most; to the Zalax, any species that composed the Zalax's population, took up arms to defend the Ascendancy, and immersed themselves in the Zalax's culture were themselves Zalax in soul. As such, there were no such thing as second-class citizens in the Ascendancy; all species were considered to be Zalax, and even moreso the ones that took up arms for the Zalax's enormous Auxiliary legions or the warrior-clans of the Zalax, which themselves usually took in Zalax-souls in addition to Zalax-flesh. All of the Zalax's conquered territories that were assimilated into the Ascendancy were given full rights to vote and participate in Zalax government, and the populace were given citizenship for the wider Ascendancy. This often placated potential uprisings and insurrections, as the benefit of Zalax protection, technology, and full participation in the Zalax government was often enough to stop any attempt at a revolt.
The Zalax, more than likely as a byproduct of their militaristic lifestyle, had free healthcare throughout their entire civilization. The health industry of the Zalax was well-developed with vast factories across the civilization churning out a myriad of highly advanced medicines and supplies for hospitals. The largest were known as hospital-complexes, which were each capable of holding hundreds of thousands of patients each and mass-producing their own supplies, but were mainly focused on the Zalax's larger worlds that required the presence of such massive buildings. Zalax, as a result of this, tended to have wings of their homes dedicated to the stockpiling of powerful and advanced medications that kept the Zalax surprisingly disease-free and capable of treating all manner of illnesses; Zalax medicine was powerful and widespread enough that the lifespan of the Zalax could reach hundreds of years, with the oldest reaching their thousands before their bodies failed to respond to Zalax medicine. Other elements of the Zalax domestic life included the usage of pets; Zalax families were fond of companion animals, and the most valued of these companions tended to be small, avian-like creatures or carnivorous predators. The appeal of the former bird-like examples is attributed to the ease of caring and training such animals; Mal-Zalax's native bird species were capable of being domesticated, and there were thousands of recorded breeds of some animals. Warriors often took the latter, however - the appeal of domesticating predators was latent in the danger of such an action, though warriors tended to take extra care in choosing what animals to raise and domesticate.
Militarism[]
The Zalax were, throughout their history, an extremely imperialistic power who's culture revolved around hedonism, extreme militarism, spirituality, and worship of the arts. The Zalax were among the most militaristic and violent races in Eupherion in their time; they practiced constant warfare, whether it be in Eupherion or beyond, and they were always seeking to add new vessels into their ever-expanding empire. Despite their massive and burning militaristic culture, the Zalax were by no means mindlessly brutal like the Khargaelic Hordes are - the Zalax firmly believed that battle without honor, integrity, and beauty was meaningless violence that should never be practiced, and the Zalax outright refused to commit atrocities against their enemies, with officers and soldiers that did commit such atrocities being punished through a variety of means. Through this unique view on warfare, the Zalax's war machine was a combination of extreme power, extreme industry, and extreme elegance; Zalax warrior-artisans were highly valued for their experience in creation and warfare, and their creations were of such opulence that Zalax creations continue to be considered the most beautiful and elegant creations in Eupherion today - even the Cahrinvaeri had put more emphasis on utility over architecture, and their creations are considered inferior to the Zalax in aesthetic sense. Zalax architecture was created with specific and extremely resilient materials that resembled milk-white, grey, or black porcelain-like materials that resisted atomic decay, leaving Zalax ruins remarkably stable for their age. The accents that Zalax artisans would adorn their architecture with (being spacecraft, housing, or mundane items) was a metallic bronze or gold made from unknown Weave-sensitive metals. Zalax marked the line between civilian and military architecture using color palettes in architecture; civilian-related creations would be white, grey, and accented with gold and have blue lighting, whereas Zalax creations of a more military nature were grey, black, accented with bronze metallic detailing, and have orange or red lighting.
Shades of the Zalax militarism that could be seen in the civilian world of Zalax were present in the Zalax enjoyment of bloodsports, with the most notable being gladiatorial combat fought with comparatively primitive weapons. Whereas gladiatorial combat that exists in the modern day tends to be by the poor and destitute, or the criminally charged, Zalax gladiatorial events were fought by anyone that wished to partake; and unusually, many of these events were required to leave all warriors alive, as Zalax believed that wasted life in the arena was wasted potential. The individuals that were exempt from this rule were the criminally charged who's sentences were severe enough to warrant lifetime in the arena, who would often be set up against impossible odds in order to warrant their death. Other examples of miltarism that existed in Zalax society was the blurred line between military and civilian authority; military officers would often have some form of civilian authority, and vice versa - many governors of Zalax systems were either former military, current military, or had say in the military by virtue of being a governor themselves, and every governor had access to their own personal military for their own usage granted by the Zalax central government themselves. Another includes the unusual view of weaponry by the Zalax; Zalax considered their weapons sacred, and every Zalax household was expected to keep some manner of weapon in their home. Zalax weave-priests were known to have considerably armories in their status as warrior-priests, and Zalax youth were known to show off their family's arms through various means.
Music and Ceremonies[]
Music, in the Zalax's culture, was varied. Most music resembled the music of the modern day Gigaquadrant; with such a wide variety of races and cultures mixed within the Ascendancy, there was no unifying style of music, and near-every genre of music of the time was wildly popular throughout varying demographics of the Ascendancy. The one style of music that could be considered Zalax was known as Lifebeat, which was a genre of music that wasn't played so much to be enjoyed, but rather, in a spiritual and cultural manner. The Zalax revered what they called the "heartbeat" of the universe, and in the gospel music of the Zalax's vast polytheistic church, they represented this heartbeat through the copious usage of drums punctuated by woodwind instruments. Official Zalax ceremonies used considerable amounts of Lifebeat; marriages, religious congregrations, and even duels and bloodsports, had some manner of the Lifebeat tunes playing in some way. The most notable players of Lifebeats were Zalax church-poets who were generally expected to distribute their work to religious and military organizations for work. Trials of combat and duels were characterized by using Lifebeat that was more focused on the drums to represent the "heartbeat of war", while more passive events focused on the usage of woodwind instruments, which were representative of the "heartbeat of life". The two Zalax instruments that were most popular in playing these tunes were the Khzarazhi Pipe and the Zharim String. The former was a woodwind instrument capable of imitating both acoustic and electric sounds through the proper application of Weave (or for non-Weavers, the instrument utilized electrical systems that made it clunkier but still usable) power and controlled, disciplined breath. Proper usage of the Khzarazhi pipe took considerable practice to exercise the discipline needed to control one's breath enough to get the tunes to play right, and Zalax master warriors were expected to understand how to play the Khzarazhi pipe as a method of meditation and a physical/auditory demonstration of their control over their bodies. The other, the Zharim string, was a guitar-like instrument that was designed to be played in the crouching position. Playing the Zharim string was a physically painful thing to do for beginners due to the unique crouching pose required of humanoids to play it, and was designed to augment the sounds of the Khzarazhi pipe.
Along with an appreciation for music, especially Lifebeat music, the Zalax also had a notable fondness for formal ceremonies and various separate traditions in their culture. In the grand scheme of Zalax religion, ceremonies had different attributions to different deities; though of their deities, they attributed the most ceremonies to Angazhar and Draguros. Zalax had multiple elaborate traditions for various events; everything from marriages to funerals, to celebrations to religion to sports. One of the most common ceremonies of the Zalax was the Wezhazhat, otherwise sometimes known as the Sacred Duel. The Wezhazhat was a ceremony devoted to Angazhar, the Zalax war god, though was unique in that it was not typically a duel to the death. The Wezhazhat was to be invoked as a measure of strength between two combatants in a formal duel; in official Wezhazhat locations that held such duels, the livery of Lifebeat would be played in the background to help supplement the religious undertones of such an event. Wezhazhat would end until one of the duelists were unable to fight further or submitted, and as such, did not typically utilize lethal weaponry. Wezhazhat had no rewards for the winner nor punishments for the loser; it was, in essence, a violent prayer to Angazhar. The more violent instances of Wezhazhat were often invoked by bitter rivals, who would be equipped with lethal weapons - often those belonging to their respective families - and would not end until one of the rivals submitted, was killed, or was sufficiently maimed to the point of being unable to further partake in the duel. Wezhazhat was held as sacred, unusually so; while not common, certain nations won the Zalax's mercy through tactical planning of Wezhazhat; by challenging a top Zalax commander to such a ritual, they were usually expected to participate, or else risk offending their own soldiery. Should said Zalax be killed in the ritual, which was rare, as the Ascendancy far outperformed all others in technology and martial might, a new commander would be instilled who would be tasked to negotiate better deals for the winner in return for their surrender.
Zalax marriage ceremonies were somewhat more complex. The Zalax species themselves were monogamous and mated for life, therefore, marriage was usually seen as monogamous though the rare exception existed. Zalax hyper-militarism meant that they held their family's armories to be sacred, and this played a role in a Zalax marriage ceremony. In a proposal, the Zalax who wished to propose to their partner would need to contract a warrior-artisan to craft an ornate and beautiful (though often unusable) blade to present to their lover. The first step towards marriage was accepting the blade, showing the bond between the pair; the Zalax who was proposed to would, in turn, commission the creation of another blade and gift that blade to their lover. The next step was sending these blades to their respective families; should each family keep it, and add it to their respective armories, the marriage ceremony would commence and both families would merge with the couple. If one family returned the blade (usually out of disapproval of one of the lovers, or of the other's family), but the other kept it, the couple would merge with the family that kept the blade. Should both families return the blades, then the couple were expected to form an entirely new family, separate from their former families. Though connections were usually maintained, the prospect of forming a new family was often extremely imposing, and thus marriages that led with both blades being returned by the family often didn't go through. In the event that a new family is formed, these blades would form the first arms of the family's unique sacred armory.
Appearance and Clothing[]
An example of Ara-zhaax on a Zalax - a combination of aesthetic implants and darkened, scar-like tissue that alters one's appearance
The Zalax placed high value on personal grooming and cleanliness; you were expected to look presentable at all times, and warriors would have to keep their appearance as clean as possible at all times. The Zalax, as such, had a particular tradition regarding personal appearance - the tradition of Ara-zhaax, which was a regimen that saw one's own body as the ultimate canvas of artistic expression when it came to personal appearance. The Ara-zhaax ritual was seen as something to further cement yourself with your caste, family, and clans; utilizing a combination of skin-altering treatments and cybernetics, one could turn their body into a canvas that expressed story and heritage. Ara-zhaax was most popular amongst the warrior castes of the Zalax, who were fond of altering their body on a regular basis to reflect their clans and experience on the battlefield. In terms of appearance, the Zalax prized beauty - as a result, many individuals were somewhat androgynous in their appearance. Surgeries and corrective gene-therapy existed to maximize the beauty of an individual, and individuals who had their allegiance belong to the Zalax had a tendency to be considered particularly attractive by the usual standards of their species.
Language[]
The Zalax, in terms of language, used a "universal" language that was developed shortly before the Zalax first achieved spaceflight. This language was known as the Universal Speak and it was used as a method of communication between species and colonies; regions of Zalax space, despite being connected through the Zalax equivalent of the internet (known as the Dreamlane), were separate from each other for tens of thousands of years. Each region developed it's own unique culture and customs, but because of the influence of the Dreamlane, these regions did not diverge far from the original Zalax culture. One of many effects this had was also ending with the evolution of new languages that served as a sociocultural barrier between Zalax provinces, and to protect the Zalax language from fracturing too far, the Universal Speak was enshrined in law and made a standard language. All Zalax were required to know the Universal Speak with full fluency, and all Zalax translators for aliens that could not physically speak Zalax languages were adjusted to translate to Universal Speak.
The naming convention of the Zalax was rather unique. In their language, the Zalax made frequent usage of nouns and adjectives when describing and naming objects, and they did not have a tendency to create new words. Jobs often combined nouns together for their names; for example, warrior-artisans were the highly celebrated artisan weaponsmiths of the Zalax warrior clans and were analogous to blacksmiths. Others included church-poets, war-architects, and knowledge-seekers. Other words that followed this convention included war-skins, life-towers, and religious concepts such as war-spirit and infinity-time. Certain castes of Zalax, especially those brought up in warrior-clans and the warrior caste as a whole, tended to write in various forms of poetry and had a tendency to speak in overly-descriptive prose. While these individuals were often encouraged to write in such a manner to display their aptitude for the more "refined" points of cultural knowledge and respect for their heritage, they were by no means required to - though excessive usage of "vulgar" speaking patterns tended to be seen as uncouth and in some cases, even rude. The Zalax that were most prone to these mannerisms were individuals who were brought up in nobility and warrior castes; Zalax that were not part of these castes lacked these mannerisms, and spoke and wrote in a more "normal" sense that was shorter and more to the point.
When it came to naming others, Zalax languages differed in tradition. Certain languages of Zalax provinces would name their offspring after concepts or events. These would often have a personal significance to either the parent, or the offspring. These names, when translated into Universal Speak, varied in length - translations could be as short as Red Wind, others could include a phrase or even a full sentence instead. Other provinces would name their children as variations of famous individuals, locations, or words from the Zalax's religion and local holy texts. The influence of aliens in the Zalax community also influenced the names of Zalax, as these non-Zalax species would typically combine their native naming conventions with that of the Zalax and introduce entirely new naming concepts. The fall of the Zalax, both Zalax-flesh and Zalax-soul, and the subsequent destruction of the Dreamlane meant that the Universal Speak was now subject to change and evolution. It was only recently that the Universal Speak eventually evolved into what is now known as Eupheric Basic, which is descended from Zalax language and remains as the lingua franca of Eupherion as a whole.
Castes[]
The Zalax developed a large and complex caste system that was enshrined in law until the end of the High Kingdom. How this caste system developed originally is unknown, but it's believed to be the product of religious influence - the way the Zalax worshipped meant that certain individuals had more power based on their heritage and identity, and over time, this may have developed into the foundations of a caste system. Regardless of it's origins, the Zalax caste system was a solid and sacred organization of the Zalax society. An individual's importance in their society was based on their caste, and for the most part, one's status could not be changed. An individual was born into their caste and were not usually expected to move outside of it, though under certain and specific circumstances, this could be changed - a menial laborer could be "promoted" in Zalax society to that of a warrior if the laborer somehow demonstrated repeated, consistent dedication to Zalax martial culture and proved themselves.
Chart of Zalax castes
The Zalax castes were divided into 4 "societies". In order of highest importance to the least, these were the First, Second, Third, and Fourth societies, known as the Rhaxar, Xahran, Xurgis, and Zhrak. Each of these societies had their own hierarchies regarding their castes. The first society, the Rhaxar, were also known as the Highest, and the Rhaxar composed of the highest and most important individuals in the Zalax society. The first of the Rhaxar were the Royalty which were known as the Rhaxar'zal, the direct relatives of the High King who could trace their family line directly to that of the High King themselves. The Royalty was worshipped as living demigods and bearers of the divine right to rule, and were usually expected to be warriors to support their claim. The second of the Rhaxar were the Nobility, also known as the Rhaxar'xahn, the rulers of the various duchies and kingdoms of the Zalax civilization who had their own wealth and exercised political power over their people. The third of the Rhaxar were the Priesthood, also known as the Rhaxar'olix, which composed the religious leaders of the Zalax. Many priests were not part of the Rhaxar'olix, however, but rather the members of lesser societies and were religious leaders on their own local communities. The Rhaxar'olix caste instead included monastics and the priests of the Zalax church who worked alongside the Nobility and held power over the Zalax church. In Zalax iconography, gold was often used to represent the Rhaxar.
The second society, the Xahran, were composed of the individuals deemed more crucial to the functioning of the Zalax's society. The first caste of the Xahran were the Warriors, also known as the Xahran'zal, who composed the military of the Zalax, and the warrior-artisans who crafted Zalax masterwork weapons. Though other castes, especially the fourth society, were enlisted in the military, the Xahran'zal primarily included the members of the Zalax warrior clans of the Kindreds, and the families who's heritage was ingrained in military service. As the Zalax were a hypermilitaristic culture with considerable emphasis on the importance of warfare, the Xahran'xal were considered to be the highest non-noble caste within Zalax society. The second were the Intellectuals, and were known as the Xahran'xahn, who comprised the scientists, philosophers, healthworkers, and merchants of Zalax society. Any manner of science, from the many branches of sociology, to physics, to Dreamweave study, were considered viable for the Xahran'xahn so long as it was the pursuit of knowledge. Merchants were considered to be Xahran'xahn, because they pursued what the Zalax named the rich-science, which essentially meant the sciences of business and economics, and kept the Zalax economy afloat. The third, the Architects, were the Xahran'olix, which composed of the architects, the engineers, mechanics, and the roboticists. The Xahran'olix were seen as the individuals who built Zalax civilization behind the Xahran'zal, and were held in high regard compared to the Xurgis for their importance in maintaining Zalax expansion and making use of the materials provided by the Xurgis'zal. In Zalax iconography, blue was often used to represent the Xahran.
The third society were the Xurgis, who were the "lower class" of Zalax society. While not outright disparaged, the castes of the Xurgis were often given less respect than the higher two societies. The first of the Xurgis were the Harvesters, or the Xurgis'zal, which were comprised of the miners and metallurgists of the Zalax. Those who were seen as providing the Zalax civilization with it's "lifeblood" of raw materials that kept the Zalax from overutilizing their resources. The second of the Xurgis were the Farmworkers, or the Xurgis'xahn, who composed the many, many Zalax workers that provided the Zalax civilization with enough food to upkeep the hundreds of trillions of Zalax during the time of the High Kingdom. The third of the Xurgis were the Menials, known as the Xurgis'olix, who were composed of all the others of Zalax society. Those that did the least desirable of jobs and occupied the most common blue-collar work were placed as the Xurgis'olix, the bottom of the Zalax caste system. In Zalax iconography, red was often used to represent the Xurgis.
The fourth society were the Zhrak, who composed all of the "undesirables" of Zalax society. The term Zhrak was usually used as a scathing remark to insult those who were deemed as useless, untrainable, or generally worthless. Criminals and the unemployed made up the Zhrak, though those who were unable to work from birth because of defects that were uncorrectable were often placed in their parent's castes and given small pensions to stay afloat. Recently conquered peoples under the High Kingdom were placed as members of the Zhrak until the career paths of the conquered would put them under a new caste, though with the Ascendancy, this practice has mainly died out. The Zhrak were typically not represented in Zalax iconography, though when they were, the color green was primarily used - an indirect insult born from old Zalax artists, as green was the color of bile.
The castes of the Zalax were usually given increased political power the more important they were deemed, with the highest power going to the Rhaxar who composed the highest echelons of the Zalax government. The rise of the Ascendancy more or less stopped this practice, though it also officially dismantled the caste system as well - castes were unable to be abolished, but they were now able to be freely traversed, whereas it was an inherited and near-permanent label from birth. Under the Ascendancy, no single caste were to hold power over another, though the Warriors/Xahran'xal still retained considerable power in society and government due to the hypermilitarism of the Zalax regardless of the law.
Religion[]
The Zalax subscribed to a pantheon revolving around various Chaos deities; in a time where the majority of worship revolved around powerful Dreamweave entities, it's generally unknown how the Zalax religion developed so drastically different from other Eupheric powers. Despite this, the Zalax still worshipped some Weave entities, though they were seen more as powerful spirits than the true deities of Chaos that they worshipped. The Zalax were devoutly polytheistic, with a pantheon consisting of various "levels" of lesser gods, greater gods, and a supreme deity. In the Zalax religion, the Essential Gods were all considered lesser deities in charge of their own domains, with those that comprised this lesser pantheon including archaic identities of Volzara, Vi'naherza, and Kkia'Sihm, although other Essentials such as Khi'voranix and the various deities of the Iluvii were never included in the Zalax pantheon. The Zalax all worshipped these deities on a local level; they were never honored universally, and worship of each of the "lesser gods" were all confined to disparate realms and worlds that believed in their divinity. This is not to say that they were ever rejected; they were wholly acknowledged throughout the Zalax pantheon, though worlds would often dispute the extent of their divinity between each other.
Of the "greater gods" of the Zalax religion, these included the identities of three of the Xhodocto - being Angazhar, Krathazhrukhal, and Santorakh. These three deities were far more widely acknowledged than the lesser gods; the greater gods saw universal worship throughout the Ascendancy, though had more positive attributions to their existence than what is commonly attributed in the modern day. Whereas modern-day worship of Angazhar has led to various brutal and arguably evil civilizations throughout the universe, the Zalax had never subscribed to an agenda of aimless, brutal subjugation. Rather, to the Zalax, Angazhar was a patron of war, honor, and victory, and saw the most devout worship in the enormous Zalax warrior caste and clans that made up the military. The artisan-smiths of the Zalax who crafted the weapons of the Zalax military had done regular, ritualistic blessings for Angazhar when finishing each of their works. Angazhar was considered the patron deity of all warrior clans, and while they each had their own local beliefs (usually in either powerful Weave entities or Chaos monsters), Angazhar was considered above all of them. His endless wrath and fury was considered to be divine to the Zalax, and it was in his name that they unleashed the vast crusades over the galaxy to conquer further and further swathes of space for the Ascendancy.
Of the greater gods, it was Angazhar that was worshipped the most - every Lord-Fleetmaster of the Zalax military was considered a divine champion of Angazhar, and every Lord-Fleetmaster was a dedicated student of war and apostle of Angazhar, dedicated to spreading his word with their conquests. Zaxhiroshan, one of the last Lord-Fleetmasters, was also such a devout being; with daily prayers and rituals, as well as continuous crusades in Angazhar's name. This worship of Angazhar left the Zalax particularly vulnerable to internal schisms due to the Ozax Crisis; the revelation of the true nature of Angazhar's connection to the Ozax upon Xuzahraz's summoning of the Two Concierges of Khivarinkthaurix led to enormous cascades in Zalax society. Many warrior clans either deserted the Zalax for the Ozax, believing that they were true scions of Angazhar; deserted the Zalax's war entirely, refusing to fight what they believed to be the "children-spawn of Angazhar"; or outright renounced their beliefs in Angazhar, which caused social upheaval of it's own within the warrior clans that had their warriors renounce their beliefs in this manner. The revelations of Angazhar's wider nature left such brutal cascades of social divide that left the Zalax permanently crippled in their ability to fight, making the end of the Zalax approach far quicker.
The second most worshipped of the greater gods would be Krathazhrukhal; who was worshipped as a deity of truth, bureaucracy, order, and leadership. Krathazhrukhal's name was invoked by the various hundreds upon hundreds of governors of Zalax space, and he was the subject of worship by the various aristocratic nobles that made up the nobility of the Zalax Ascendancy. Krathazhrukhal was worshipped as a benign entity; the patron deity of the government. And of the three greater gods, the least widely worshipped was Santorakh; the patron deity of the Ascendancy's lower classes, a deity of health, revelry, and happiness. Santorakh wasn't invoked often, rather being acknowledged more of a presence than the other deities of the pantheon, but he was worshipped for what the Zalax considered to be his positive aspects as a deity.
The supreme deity of the Zalax pantheon, that was considered to be above all others, was Draguros - the patron deity of the Ascendancy, and the most widely worshipped deity of the pantheon. Draguros was considered a true, omnipotent god; worshipped throughout the Ascendancy in all churches, of all planets, of all sectors, of all provinces. Draguros was considered the deity of everything, and even in the height of the Ozax Crisis where Zalax society was crumbling and the religion of the Zalax was undergoing brutal schisms, faith in Draguros had never once waivered. Draguros was the personification of the terms "Infinite" and "Eternal", both terms that were considered highly reverential by the Zalax, and it was in his name that the Infinite Council was named Infinite.
Demographics[]
The Zalax, though consisting of the largest portion of the population at 22% of the total populace, were only a minority within their own nation. The Zalax made little distinction between themselves and others, and thus, no particular emphasis was placed on having a purely Zalax populace, or retaining the majority. Their belief in Zalax-flesh and Zalax-soul meant that for legal purposes, all species enjoyed the same rights as the Zalax. That being said, the Zalax population was extremely diverse, with species of all walks of life coming to join the Zalax society. Most notably, however, was the Zalax penchant for uplifting species - though this process would never actually uplift an entire species, the Zalax would still uplift notable portions of populations to join them in the stars. This means that the Zalax population contained ancient ancestors of modern day species, with the most populous being the ancestors Norharans, Karkyx, Xrykorians, and the Khavrol. Even today, much of the Zalax continue to influence modern populations through symbolism and religion, though all modern day species all descend from the unlucky few that the Zalax chose not to uplift in the first place.
By the end of the Zalax Ascendancy, the total number of species that had risen to join the Zalax numbered around 1,200, with the uplifting of many more - including what would become the Stihn - be incomplete. Though the post-Extinction Era kingdoms would attempt to uplift further species into their own societies, the technology to do so was lost, and the best results were simply imperfect and cruel, leaving mental and physical handicaps in their place. Many of the ancient species that exist today have been unable to be identified by modern science, with horrible deformities inflicted by Ozax dimensional warping leaving the remains of ancient Xrykorians entirely unrecognizable by modern day Xrykorians. As such, the ancient legacy of species in the ancient past have long since been lost, with only vague clues as to where the true heritage of modern Eupheric cultures came from.
Technology[]
At their height, the Zalax were one of the most advanced civilizations in existence. Their relatively rapid technology development can be attributed to their own precursors, the Cahrinvaeri Builders, of whom they studied extensively and learned esoteric concepts that they were capable of applying to their own technology. The Zalax were undisputed masters of the manipulation of Essence, and more specifically, they were capable of extreme manipulation of the Dreamweave to the point they regularly were capable of changing local physics to suit their needs. However, much like the Great Stihn Empire of the far future, they suffered from much of the same drawbacks. Their technology development far outpaced the development of their culture, and although having the ability to change and create at their leisure, they were prone to destruction and their militaristic culture practically necessitated the need to conquer and dominate others. Zalax architecture was particularly notable in their application of technology; the Zalax were capable of generating negative mass fields and reversing gravity, utilizing small-scale gravitational waves to be able to levitate massive structures with ease and creating architecture that should not be physically possible.
The height of Zalax military technology is generally said to be exemplified in the existence of the battlemasters and the proselytes, and both were walking testaments to Zalax ingenuity in their own ways. Battlemasters were Zalax supersoldiers designed in response to the sudden hordes of inflicted, maddened mutants let loose upon the galaxy by the arrival of the Ozax, and every single battlemaster was made with meticulous care. The selection process for battlemasters were generally reliant on a few things; they were male so as to ensure maximum compatibility with enhancements, they were homosexual so as to ensure the maximum strength of a bond, and they were at their maximum possible weave potential, enabling a mental "feedback loop" to be established between battlemaster pairs to drastically increase power. Battlemasters were unable to turn the tide against the Ozax, but they were well and truly likable to mass produced demigods. Proselytes were "prototype" battlemasters, utilized with experimental AIs crafted from the bodies of willing individuals, but were incapable of being produced fast enough to be a viable option for Zalax specialists.
The Zalax were pioneers of weave-based FTL travel and had constructed many of the stabilized weavelanes that remain in usage today. They were among the first to master the usage of the Cahrinvaeri Relays, and utilized them in their expansion across the galaxy. Their hyperspace technology was just as advanced, and it's believed that Zalax were among the many who had learned how to wage hyperspatial warfare, though their methods were relatively clumsy, and have fallen long since short of modern-day standards with the Hyperspatial Revolution. The Zalax's FTL travel through the weave, however, was far more efficient than anything they managed to utilize with hyperspace. The modern day weavejump technologies were developed from Zalax designs and schematics recovered by pre-interstellar civilizations, with the Zalax having invented the methods of utilizing kyunstrine to "hijack" the weave and travel along certain routes.
Zalax were notably good in programming artificial intelligences. Zalax considered intelligences grounded in realspace as "primitive", lacking true free will and amounting to little more as useful tools, regardless of their actual intelligence. Rather, the Zalax developed artificial intelligences by taking advantage of the weave's sensitivity to neural impulses; instead of developing AIs that were copies of their brains, the Zalax developed Ais that were copies of their minds, using their thoughts to warp weave energy into patterns resembling nervous systems, and then using these "blank" synapses as beds for programming, and then binding these intelligences onto physical drives. These intelligences were extremely powerful, though the extent of their free will varies; some were free and enjoyed the same rights as citizens, others were simply slaves happily bound to certain tasks. All Zalax warships utilized AIs such as these to some extent, though the power of these AIs varied. On the other end of the spectrum, though highly advanced, the biotechnology of the Zalax was rather lacking. Though capable of creating life, the Zalax found that properly shaping life into biotechnological inventions was exceedingly difficult, and had made very little significant efforts in pioneering viable methods to sculpt with biotechnology. One of the last known significant efforts that the Zalax had made in attempting to create biotechnology ended with the unwitting creation of the Thrycite Entity; which was a success in that the Entity was capable of creating extremely advanced biotechnology quickly, though resulted in the creation of a highly aggressive hive mind. The only other forays the Zalax made into biotechnology was the pioneering of medicines, and the creation of bioweapons; it's believed that Zalax bioweapons were horrifically lethal, and by their nature were extremely contagious, hardy, and capable of eventually crossing over all known species barriers. Though no known Zalax bioweapons have been found, it's known that the Zalax had hidden them away to prevent their usage outside of emergency circumstances.
The biotechnology that the Zalax had created that was successful, was astoundingly successful. The most notable example of Zalax biotechnology is the Warrior-Skin, which was a relatively late creation by the time of the Extinction Area, and was only issued to certain legion-clans by the end of the Ascendancy. Warrior-Skins were custom-grown unintelligent "skin bodies" of latent modified cells and organs that were capable of latching onto and merging to their hosts like a "second skin", capable of producing and injecting chemicals into the body that could heighten reflexes, numb pain, and increase strength, while also constantly producing a healing chemical in the blood of the Warrior Skin that would immediately begin rapid cell regeneration of damaged regions that would come into contact with the Warrior Skin. Warrior Skins had gradually begun to replace standard skinsuits by the end of the Ascendancy, though they had not been able to change the course of the Zalax's final extinction. Other notable biotechnology of the Zalax involved utilizing precise natural processes to be able to change genomes in birth, with the Zalax having mostly eliminated all naturally occurring genetic diseases, though certain cases could slip through. Notably, the Zalax had discovered how to alter one's weave potential artificially, whereas in the modern day, weave potential remains a highly obscure subject despite the research behind it. It was known that having one's weave potential permanently removed was a horrific punishment often pursued on criminals who occupied an area between an execution and life in confinement.
The Zalax's rough analog to the Internet was the Lattice, an extremely complex network of datastreams set in stabilized wormholes that were formed in realspace before being transported into the Weave. The Lattice allowed for communication across each of the Zalax's many, many worlds, and served as a repository of information and social gatherings for many. The vast majority of Zalax knowledge was not written down, but rather, it was stored in the Lattice - its nature as a weave structure that was extremely delicate to outside changes means that once the Ozax began their first appearances, the Lattice experienced a massive, cascading crash that ultimately caused over 99% of accumulated Zalax knowledge to be lost to history. Zalax examples of microtechnology, such as technology existing within and below the nano- range, is few and far between. Little evidence has been recovered of the workings of Zalax nanotechnology, but its believed that every citizen had some manner of nanotechnology within their bodies. Such nanomachines were mostly capable of medical usage, but it's believed that every citizen shared a connection to the Lattice through the nanomachines within their body, though how they "connected" remains unknown. The Zalax were known users of picotechnology; to be specific, the Zalax created various picomachinery capable of blocking and storing various forms of energy, Essence energy included, to be used elsewhere. Many picomachines were utilized in an anti-Essence purpose for this.
Batteries of the Zalax consisted of crystalline formations of purified tanthsirite purged of Weave energy. These were known as "energy crystals" and were utilized on various scales to power certain equipment. As these energy crystals were purged of weave energy, they were capable of rapidly adhering to any other form of power given to it, and spontaneously generating more power from whatever it was charged with. They were mass produced on enormous scales and were reliable energy sources, capable of powering devices for centuries before they ran out of power. Smaller energy crystals were utilized as catalysts for weave technology, empowering weavetech further upon its usage by a weaver, and these were often utilized in weaveblades or weave-powered guns for additional lethality. Energy crystals produced in the last few thousand years of Zalax rule have been demonstrated as capable to change and interface with modern technology, providing these are put into contact with a compatible "port", showing that the Zalax were capable of adapting to foreign technology fairly easily. It's known that their nature as originating from the Weave allows them to lend their power to essence-sensitive individuals, so-long as such an energy crystal is charged with a compatible Essence. Many weavers in the Zalax era were given weave-charged energy crystals for temporary boosts of weave power in an emergency situation.
The Zalax were also notable builders of megastructures, moreso than modern civilization, but not nearly as prevalent as the Cahrinvaeri. The Zalax were the constructors of the Cosmostations, structures which utilized similar principles that the Cahrinvaeri Relay network used, to connect their colonies in outside galaxies to Eupherion and vice-versa. They were capable of "rerouting" galactic wormholes to the Cosmostations, though this could only work one way; the Zalax attempted to learn how to reroute Cosmostations to any wormholes in any galaxy, but consistently failed in their attempts. Other megastructures the Zalax created were the dyson swarms, worlds built on the surfaces of stars, thaumaturgic hypersiphons, which siphoned Weave energy to manipulate weave weather across the galaxy, and solar core forges, which used the gravity that stars applied on their cores to forge specific materials that could not be acquired in other ways.
Dyson Swarms[]
Cosmostation Grid[]
Thaumaturgic Hypersiphons[]
Ringworlds[]
Solar Core Forges[]
Military[]
A Zalax legion-warrior circa 108,000 BCE, in the standard dogma armor color scheme
The Zalax did not field militaries in the traditional method. Underneath the Martial Code of Ascendancy Combat, which was the supreme code by which all Zalax military adhered to, the Zalax military was to be divided between two large branches, themselves divided into naval and terrestrial branches. The first branch of the Zalax military was the Auxiliary, which composed 99% of all Ascendancy military forces and numbered in the hundreds of trillions by the time the Zalax were destroyed in the final struggle. The Auxiliary functioned closely to how modern militaries functioned; a divide between officers and enlisted, a closely followed chain of command, and was divided between ground forces and space forces between the Auxiliary Army and the Auxiliary Navy. The vast majority of Auxiliary forces were common individuals who were either conscripted into the military or joined up by their own free will, Auxiliary forces were predominantly non-Zalax-flesh, who comprised approximately 85% of all Auxiliary forces, and every Auxiliary unit was organized into species-specific units whenever possible so as to maximize effective usage of a species' natural talents. The Auxiliary served as the Zalax's answer to typical warfare, with the army being comprised of infantry and armored columns, and the Auxiliary's navy retaining ownership over 95% of all Zalax naval assets. Though not terribly well-equipped or trained in general for certain specialist operations, the Auxiliary was said to have been one of the most formidable known militaries in the time of the Zalax.
The second branch was the Legion, which consisted of far fewer personnel than the Auxiliary, but had access to far better technology and training. The Legion was comprised entirely of the legion-clans of the Zalax, and thus, was made entirely of the Xahran'zal caste of Zalax society. Whereas the Auxiliary contained mass-produced equipment to satisfy their needs, the Legion's equipment were entirely comprised of custom-made artisan crafts that were of a far better quality and power compared to the Auxiliary, and were commissioned by a legion-clan's warrior-artisans. In comparison to Auxiliaries, the Zalax legion-warriors were of a far higher cut than the typical soldiery - they lived and breathed warfare, consistently training and deploying on a daily basis from childhood to retirement, and the technology they utilized were typically the most cutting edge developments available; it's said that a single legion-warrior was worth hundreds of Auxiliaries, though with the trade-off that legion-warriors were not particularly good infantry due to their specializing training. Instead, the legion-warriors fulfilled all special operations roles, with each legion-clan often specializing in one or few special tactics that others usually could not fulfill. Officers of legion-clans were given permission to call upon and command assets from the Auxiliary as well.
Legion-clans were each thousands, if not tens of thousands, of members strong, and legion-clans were typically organized into legion-chapters. Legion-chapters each called singular sectors home, while each legion-clan typically recruited from systems belonging to them. While many legion-clans could claim a single system as their own territory, some claimed multiple. Every legion-chapter that shared a province together were organized into a Kindred, which as mentioned, all laid claim over an individual province. As dictated by the Martial Code, the Kindreds were bound by certain rules and regulations, but were left to their own devices for the most part, with the Zalax government typically calling upon Kindreds for major operations or certain emergencies. Because the Legion had utilized technology that was more advanced and a higher quality than the Auxiliary, and was comprised of a caste that was higher on the ladder of Zalax society, there was often tension between the Legion and the Auxiliary that was fueled by rivalry over each other's specialties. The Legion could not take or hold territory like the Auxiliary could, but the Auxiliary was not nearly as effective in special operations and tactics like the Legion, and each branch would jeer each other for their shortcomings. Despite this, both branches were capable of functioning together, and the highest military officers of the Zalax military held command over both branches. Lord-Fleetmasters and Lord-Marshals were both given command over naval and terrestrial assets of both the Legion and the Auxiliary regardless of origin.
The Auxiliary, and eventually the Legion, each operated "dogmas" within each unit that were specialized for certain operations. These dogmas were generally given different color designations to indicate exactly what their corps specialized in;
Dogmas[]
| Standard | |||
| Example Image | Description | ||
|
Soldiers with no specialty training in a dogma, or on no actual assignment that requires knowledge in a dogma, were clad in the "standard" livery of Zalax soldiers. They were primarily black in color with occasional grey detailing, while the power lines of their armor had a golden sheen. These most often comprised basic infantry and drones, and were equipped with relatively standard lethal weaponry.
| ||
| Security | |||
| Armor Pattern | Description | ||
|
Soldiers trained in security and law were clad in a primarily blue armor color, with red power lines and jet black metal accessories. Soldiers trained in this dogma were utilized as police and protection detail for certain officials. They were often deployed after a world was conquered to enforce law and maintain order, and their primary weapons were stasis field generators capable of stopping targets in their track without killing them, but they utilized lethals as well.
| ||
| Weaver | |||
| Armor Pattern | Description | ||
|
Soldiers with particularly good weave potential, either natural or artificially, were typically selected to learn from the weaver dogma. These soldiers were glad in deep purple-tinted armor, and specialized in weaver- and anti-weaver operations. Their minds were often hardened against the mind-numbing, complex anomalies they faced on a regular basis, and carried powerful weavetech weapons. Many Battlemaster candidates were originally students of the weaver dogma.
| ||
| Undaunted | |||
| Armor Pattern | Description | ||
|
Eupherion generally has planets with greater extremes than that of other galaxies. Soldiers trained in the undaunted dogma are specialized in operations in the most extreme of environments, with extremely durable and advanced gear built to aid movement and durability against the worst that could be thrown against them. These soldiers were clad in dark-colored armor with fiery red metallic tones.
| ||
| Astral Vigil | |||
| Armor Pattern | Description | ||
|
Extravehicular activity operations and general space-focused combat and other such operations fall under the Astral Vigil dogma, who were generally regarded as some of the best space troopers around during their time. Soldiers trained in the Astral Vigil were identified by their bright, white armor color and their gleaming gold armor trim.
| ||
| Daywatch | |||
| Armor Pattern | Description | ||
|
The most elite of all dogmas, soldiers trained in Daywatch were specialized in the protection of high value individuals and individuals related to them. Beset on all sides by what they viewed as potential targets, the Zalax took extra care in the defense of their HVIs, and created the Daywatch to be able to protect them whenever possible. Daywatch soldiers were identifiable by their gleaming gold armor and trim.
| ||
Quotes[]
“The Zalax - so ancient that only scattered knowledge remains. What we have managed to piece together has often been contradictory: was their biotechnology efficeient or was it not? Did they worship the demonic or did they not? Whatever brought them down was evidently not content to turn bodies into ashes and buildings into rubble - no, the destruction of the Zalax seems to have been so total those of today can scarcely imagine it.”
- - Unknown archivist, Waptoria Alliance of Species
“Zalax, when I hear the name there's something deep inside me that says, "destroy this, destroy this thing before it ruins you all." I shudder to think what memory of the Persacron could be so deeply encoded in our DNA to demand the destruction of a dead thing.”
- - Sirkar
“As is the fate of the Essence wielders of old. I've studied the downfall of many ancient civilizations, and yet the fall of the Zalax is probably the most cataclysmic I've seen. Like the Nyarqaeshian Grand Dominion that rose and fell before them, they meddled with something they didn't fully understand and allowed it to corrupt their most influential and most powerful individuals. These so-called gods that these once powerful nations worshiped cared not for the extinction of an entire people. Even In this new era, wI see the pattern repeating itself. We need to break this cycle...otherwise there will be a historian looking at us in light one day.”
Trivia[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
