The Holy Thral’Koh Empire (NPC FACTION)
“Sacrifica Facimus Non Ambitiosa.”
Systems
The HTKE controls twenty systems in total, however, they only have 8 inhabitable systems, with the other 12 being gained through military conquest and extermination of the past inhabitants.
Biology
The species of the HTKE are known as T’kesians, which are tall, lanky, almost ghoulish in appearance, though they possess much physical strength. Their skin is extremely pale and hangs loosely from their bones as their faces are bony and skeletal.
History
To understand the history of the HTKE, one must understand their creation myth, as their entire existence is based around this myth and their God. This God, who is commonly believed to have been an extremely powerful entity, came to the original homeworld of the HTKE, Lhakesti. On this homeworld, the “God” was a benevolent creature, performing near-miracles to the T’lesians. But, there were some amongst them who did not accept for what they saw a fantasy, a myth, a delusion brought on by the suffering prior to the “God’s” entrance to the world. And so, these non-believers began to cause much mayhem and suffering to the world, purely out of a non-belief. Of course, those who were loyal to the God protected it, defeating the non-believers. These defenders of the faith were then granted magical powers, as a reward for siding with the God. Following this war, however, the entity died, leaving these followers unsure of the path to righteousness. As such, they then fell into the vices of materialistic life, slowly perverting the religion into a shell of what it once was. A holy number was decreed to be twelve, and as such, there are twelve Bishops who now rule. To cleanse the world of non-believers, it was determined that only those who have magical powers upon birth were blessed, and all who do not are murdered.
Of course, this is all mythologized to your average civilian, who knows not of the truth and knows merely of the sin of the current world masquerading as “righteousness.”
Politics
The government of the HTKE operates as an oligarchical theocracy, with all major decisions made by the twelve bishops. These bishops then appoint other high-ranking members of society to lord over the lower classes like a king ruling over his serfs. These Bishops, diluted and driven to madness, answer only to their God, which is a bastardized perversion of the original entity. As such, the ethical code of the HTKE is destroyed, replaced only with “If God says it must be done, it shall be done.” Upon a Bishop’s death, the remaining alive Bishops convene and select another from the upper classes to replace their deceased comrade.
Economy
Private industries are seen as a plague on the righteous will of the HTKE, and as such all corporations, if such a concept even exists, are operated by the Bishops and their appointed lackeys. There is no such thing as “labor laws” within the HTKE. You work the allotted time from beginning to end, with no pay, as your God has commanded you to do. Payment is divided out through rationing of essentials. The higher your social standing, the better and more plentiful rations you receive.
Society
One must understand that the HTKE is not a society of free movement. You are born within your social standing, and you will die in that same social standing. None of these classes are aware of the other’s existence, as knowledge of such could lead to a clouding of one’s righteousness in the face of the Lord or could spark an uprising of the masses against the system. Self-inflicted terrorist attacks are common to keep the lower class in line through fear, and along with the horrid rations and living conditions, it’s a miracle anyone who is lower-class survives. The sole exception to this is the uppermost class of the Bishopry, who are aware of the other three classes and their living conditions. Commanded by their God that this is the way things are meant to be, nothing ever improves for the lowermost members of society. Indoctrination of all stripes is absolutely essential for keeping the people in line, as well.
Industry & Technology
The HTKE falters in its industrial force as much of its technology is extremely hard to expand into other fields, being primarily based on the magic which was granted to them by the entity. They are slow to produce, manufacture, and refine technology, as much development is stifled by the Bishopry feeling content in their “righteous technological superiority.” The most common form of magic used in the manufacturing field is the “soul generators.” By taking the energy which is imbued into any and all magical individuals upon their birth and using them essentially as living batteries via their murder are harvesting of their magical energy. This process produces much energy, though it is not completely superior to Fusion power plants, requiring a massive number of magical individuals to power it. As such, complexes upon many “dead” planets produce magical people and keep them in factory-farm conditions until they are shipped off to inevitably be killed. A lot of the HTKE’s weaponry makes use of this process as well, with similar drawbacks, though the destructive capability of these weapons is not to be underestimated.
Military
Army
With a mix of powerful magic users used as artillery, motorized vehicles powered by the souls of other magic users, and mass amounts of infantry armed with small firearms which draw on the power from the user’s own soul to fire and the HTKE’s ground forces are established. The infantry are given small capsules within their mouths which, if bitten down on, ignite the user into a detonation.
Navy (Space)
The ships of the HTKE are expensive, poorly armored, and difficult to manufacture, but the offensive firepower is staggering, with smaller cannons which can concentrate the power of a person’s soul into a projectile to launch at an opponent ship. At the current instant, there are only 500 ships.
“Nisi Mors Exspectat Immunda.”
Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17l2LZs9aSoEKWlUcunN04fgL1_iGQk_aUANA-AV4iug/edit