The Kalimshari Empire
The Kalimshari Empire was a major intersellar power, which at its greatest extent occupied or extended across an entire quadrant of the Galaxy. Populated primarily by elves, the Empire was known for being a religious order as well as a galactic state, and for its immensely long lifespan - over 1500 years. While in reality deeply secular, church and state were intertwined in times of crisis. The Empire had some of the highest standards of living and a friendly face to most alien species, underscored by deep-seated nationalism and undone by the will of the Unbidden Scourge.
The Kalimshari homeworld, as well as many core worlds, are now lost in time.
The Kalimshari homeworld, as well as many core worlds, are now lost in time.
The remnants of the KIC Thor Daran, one of the mightiest ships in the Kalimshari fleet, in a decaying orbit around the hell world Bytha-I.
Kallimshari Government
The ruling body of the Empire was the Senate, an organization headed by the Empress or Emperor, following a cliens system, The Senate, headed by the Empress or later on Emperor, was made up of locally elected representative from mostly independent Imperial provinces, the Imperial Helbau. The Senate is headed by the Chancellor and Senators, who sit alongside popular representatives (the clients) and minor house reprensetatives (patrons). Many patrons, and by proxy minor houses, support their Great House senators by voting - but Great Houses can also lose their support quickly and many a Great House have lost their Imperial Charter to their Helgau because of repeated votes of no confidence by both their Patrons and their Clients. Likewise, several Great Houses were initially military units or corporations that managed to win over a specific Helgau's patrons.
Historically, the Great Palace was the seat of the Kalimshari government. Symbolically, in times of exaltation, they would move to the Grand Shrine. However, most often Senators, Clients and Patrons would "sit" virtually by remote projection.
Senators served for life or unless deposed by their Great House or a vote of no confidence revoked their seat and/or charter. Laws were introduced through petitions.
While all of the most valuable worlds (the non-terraformed and more ancient planets) were true Imperial core worlds, many other planets were more distant from the Empire. They ranged from Imperial outposts to systems balancing Imperial alliegance with their own culture, state identity and core values, to worlds that only nominally belonged to the Empire but were for all intents and purposes independent. Each system had a large level of autonomy and at the system level. The Empire was ultimately a chaotic mosaic of thousands of factions and star systems, more or less rallied under its banner, yet brought to a strict hierarchical order by the Great Houses and their lesser houses.
At its height, there was 18 Helbau (Neutral Zone holdings are not included). They comprised 52 non-terraformed habitable worlds, 223 terraformed worlds (124 of them in the last century), 32'254 systems with some Imperial presence and over 300'000 star systems overall.
The ruling body of the Empire was the Senate, an organization headed by the Empress or Emperor, following a cliens system, The Senate, headed by the Empress or later on Emperor, was made up of locally elected representative from mostly independent Imperial provinces, the Imperial Helbau. The Senate is headed by the Chancellor and Senators, who sit alongside popular representatives (the clients) and minor house reprensetatives (patrons). Many patrons, and by proxy minor houses, support their Great House senators by voting - but Great Houses can also lose their support quickly and many a Great House have lost their Imperial Charter to their Helgau because of repeated votes of no confidence by both their Patrons and their Clients. Likewise, several Great Houses were initially military units or corporations that managed to win over a specific Helgau's patrons.
Historically, the Great Palace was the seat of the Kalimshari government. Symbolically, in times of exaltation, they would move to the Grand Shrine. However, most often Senators, Clients and Patrons would "sit" virtually by remote projection.
Senators served for life or unless deposed by their Great House or a vote of no confidence revoked their seat and/or charter. Laws were introduced through petitions.
While all of the most valuable worlds (the non-terraformed and more ancient planets) were true Imperial core worlds, many other planets were more distant from the Empire. They ranged from Imperial outposts to systems balancing Imperial alliegance with their own culture, state identity and core values, to worlds that only nominally belonged to the Empire but were for all intents and purposes independent. Each system had a large level of autonomy and at the system level. The Empire was ultimately a chaotic mosaic of thousands of factions and star systems, more or less rallied under its banner, yet brought to a strict hierarchical order by the Great Houses and their lesser houses.
At its height, there was 18 Helbau (Neutral Zone holdings are not included). They comprised 52 non-terraformed habitable worlds, 223 terraformed worlds (124 of them in the last century), 32'254 systems with some Imperial presence and over 300'000 star systems overall.
Imperial Provinces
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Ruling Great House (1200)
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Notes
Traditionallist Bastion.
The Empire's Seat .. .. Gerrymandered to include many minor races. . . .. Border Reach Border Reach Border Reach - Neutral Zone . . . . . . . . . |
The line of succession is pretty clear and in most Houses, as well as the Imperial House, tends to favour the eldest-born daughter. However, in cases of Ages of Exaltation the Empress or Emperor must abdicate at the end and dedicate themselves to religious duties, leaving someone else on the line of succession to take the throne.
The Empire is remembered for its enduring infrastructure - as many mysteries to a galaxy that fast forgot many of the finer Imperial crafts.
Imperial Society
The Imperial society was extremely stratified, though free market did allow for some degree of movement. Class determined a lot; nobility was split in Great Houses and Minor Houses, with the chantry holding a separate role; the middle and lower classes were less stratified, though social conventions still exerted considerable pressure.
Imperial society was largely based on a concept of honour (bashuk) that can still be seen in the myriad of post-Scourge splinter states. Honour was a moral issue : sincerity, trust and loyalty (khaless) were highly prized (in a very strange twist to pre-FTL eras of backstabbing and constant warfare), but so was the accumulation of clout, wealth and influence., an idea that endured into the post-Scream era.
Combined with religious virtues of ritual purification, this led to a society that was highly industrious, often to a fault. Frugality or charity were not seen as necessary for honour, however; indeed, Imperials loved to flaunt their wealth and project open power, and many architectural styles over the eras reflected this need for belaern.
Family values were very open; though slavery had long been abolished, it was common for many families, including lower class ones, to have servants, who attend the children. Family units consisted of two, and more rarely three or four people - though in reality each Great House had its own standards for what constituted a proper family unit.
Law in the Empire
Law was seen and enforced very differently across Imperial space. Senators were above the law, but for the most part the Empire rested on its nominally impartial court system. Generally speaking, fairly little was illegal - with bans on certain religious cults such as the Old Ways of Lolth, as well as most AI research, standing out as worthy of a little used death penalty. Prisons were the standard method of punishment, but so was hard labour (or soft, depending on the prisoner's status and wealth).
Inquisitors and the famed Templar order of the D'aron served as investigators for each Great House, which had its own D'aron order. They would seek out criminals, sometimes going above the law to do so; however they were different from the military force of the Empire, or from the police forces that often were restricted to single systems or subsectors. The Empire itself had the Imperial Secret Service which would look for foreign intelligence, as well as the Diplomatic Corps, which also had special powers. Enforcement, however, varied from system to system, sector to sector, and Helgau to Helgau.
The Imperial society was extremely stratified, though free market did allow for some degree of movement. Class determined a lot; nobility was split in Great Houses and Minor Houses, with the chantry holding a separate role; the middle and lower classes were less stratified, though social conventions still exerted considerable pressure.
Imperial society was largely based on a concept of honour (bashuk) that can still be seen in the myriad of post-Scourge splinter states. Honour was a moral issue : sincerity, trust and loyalty (khaless) were highly prized (in a very strange twist to pre-FTL eras of backstabbing and constant warfare), but so was the accumulation of clout, wealth and influence., an idea that endured into the post-Scream era.
Combined with religious virtues of ritual purification, this led to a society that was highly industrious, often to a fault. Frugality or charity were not seen as necessary for honour, however; indeed, Imperials loved to flaunt their wealth and project open power, and many architectural styles over the eras reflected this need for belaern.
Family values were very open; though slavery had long been abolished, it was common for many families, including lower class ones, to have servants, who attend the children. Family units consisted of two, and more rarely three or four people - though in reality each Great House had its own standards for what constituted a proper family unit.
Law in the Empire
Law was seen and enforced very differently across Imperial space. Senators were above the law, but for the most part the Empire rested on its nominally impartial court system. Generally speaking, fairly little was illegal - with bans on certain religious cults such as the Old Ways of Lolth, as well as most AI research, standing out as worthy of a little used death penalty. Prisons were the standard method of punishment, but so was hard labour (or soft, depending on the prisoner's status and wealth).
Inquisitors and the famed Templar order of the D'aron served as investigators for each Great House, which had its own D'aron order. They would seek out criminals, sometimes going above the law to do so; however they were different from the military force of the Empire, or from the police forces that often were restricted to single systems or subsectors. The Empire itself had the Imperial Secret Service which would look for foreign intelligence, as well as the Diplomatic Corps, which also had special powers. Enforcement, however, varied from system to system, sector to sector, and Helgau to Helgau.
Imperial Military
The Kalimshari military was the strongest in the galaxy to date. The very early Kalimshari Space Agency managed to hold dominion over the rest of their pre-FTL world with as little as six heavily armoured frigates enforcing their monopoly on space exploration.
Little is known of the pretech details, however each Sector had at least one Core Navy, and many had several. This amounted to hundreds if not thousands of ships maintaining peace and order. Great Houses also earned the right to their own, private Imperial ships, and the Imperial House had its own order, known as Section 47.
In 954, the Exploration Edict separated exploring from military duties, and Exploration Fleets were sent across the galaxy, lightly armed and serving as both scouts and scientific survey ships.
Many of these ships were known for their variety of weapons, though they were in fact not the strongest nor the fastest (at least until the advent of FTL drives). Each Sector chose its own armament for its Navies, but the general consensus was energy weapons based. Fleet strategy involved baiting enemy fleets against capital ships, cruisers with swarms of frigates providing support; these swarms were also sent from fortress star systems into enemy territory to disrupt infrastructure.
As most of these ships operated on psionic FTL jump drives prior to the Scream, many of them were destroyed and their secrets were lost along with the Empire itself.
The Kalimshari military was the strongest in the galaxy to date. The very early Kalimshari Space Agency managed to hold dominion over the rest of their pre-FTL world with as little as six heavily armoured frigates enforcing their monopoly on space exploration.
Little is known of the pretech details, however each Sector had at least one Core Navy, and many had several. This amounted to hundreds if not thousands of ships maintaining peace and order. Great Houses also earned the right to their own, private Imperial ships, and the Imperial House had its own order, known as Section 47.
In 954, the Exploration Edict separated exploring from military duties, and Exploration Fleets were sent across the galaxy, lightly armed and serving as both scouts and scientific survey ships.
Many of these ships were known for their variety of weapons, though they were in fact not the strongest nor the fastest (at least until the advent of FTL drives). Each Sector chose its own armament for its Navies, but the general consensus was energy weapons based. Fleet strategy involved baiting enemy fleets against capital ships, cruisers with swarms of frigates providing support; these swarms were also sent from fortress star systems into enemy territory to disrupt infrastructure.
As most of these ships operated on psionic FTL jump drives prior to the Scream, many of them were destroyed and their secrets were lost along with the Empire itself.
There be dragons at the rim of every system...
The Last Empress : Elysael IV
Elysael IV is the Empire's known last empress, and to many survivors of the Scream and their descendants, perhaps the only figure they know. In reality very few is known about her until she triggered the Eighth Age of Exhaltation following extradimentional Warp Demons and their crusade against the galaxy.
Elysael IV is the Empire's known last empress, and to many survivors of the Scream and their descendants, perhaps the only figure they know. In reality very few is known about her until she triggered the Eighth Age of Exhaltation following extradimentional Warp Demons and their crusade against the galaxy.