Aidusian Empire
| Aidusian Empire | |
|---|---|
|
Aidusan Empair Impèr Aydóne Imperiya Aedskiya | |
 Standard of the Aidusian Empire | |
 Devachita of the Aidusian Empire | |
 A locator map of the Aidusian Empire: the line of control is marked with a dashed line at roughly 2.64 OO | |
| Demographics (est. IV.12000) | |
| Population | 604,440,000 |
| Official languages | Volsh, Langin, Podchin |
| Ethnic groups |
50.7% Volsic 32.4% Langic 16.9% Podchinic |
| Religion |
36.4% Estrelism 30.3% Septoilanism 21.9% Irreligion 11.2% Starveryanism 0.2% Quelquism |
| Demonym | Aidusian |
| Exology | |
| Controlled radius from Aidus | 2.64 OO |
| Controlled volume | 6.29 sextillion km3 |
| Stars | 1: Aidus |
| Planets *: Inhabited | 7: Svarus, Achlisa, Pechlus*, Orbalia*, Velesa*, Chaius*, Mora* |
| Major stations | 2: Imperiya, Vikkar |
| Total planetary area All planets | 3.555 billion km2 |
| Total planetary area Inhabited only | 2.300 billion km2 |
| Total planetary area Surface-habitable | 195.917 million km2 |
| Population density Surface-habitable area | 3.085 people/km2 |
| Politics | |
| Government | Federal semi-constitutional empire |
| Emperor | Gavriel |
| High Councilor | Ifona Gusef (M) |
| Legislature | Imperial Council |
| Formation |
III.10517 (as the Transvelesan) III.28023 (as the Aidusian) |
| Economics (est. IV.12000) | |
| Currency | Aidusian desa (d) |
| GDP | d16.8586 billion |
| GDP per capita | d27.8914 |
| Gini | 29.8 (low) |
The Aidusian Empire (Volsh: Aidusan Empair; Langin: Impèr Aydóne; Podchin: Imperiya Aedskiya) is the sole-recognized sovereign political entity of the Aidus system. By its own claims, the Aidusian Empire de jure rules over all space lying inside of the Aidopause, the point at which the solar wind of the star Aidus transitions into the ambient interstellar medium of the Local Bubble. De facto, the Aidusian Empire only effectively controls space up to approximately 0.5 Orbalian Orbits past its outermost member planet, Mora, with the dense planetesimal field of the Circumtorus making further deep space navigation unfeasible on a large scale. In all, the total effective volume of territory controlled by the Aidusian Empire is roughly 6.29 sextillion cubic kilometers, the largest of any single sovereignty in history. Combining its seven planets and numerous space stations, the Aidusian Empire has a total estimated population of 604.44 million as of the 13th millennium of the Fourth Age.
The Aidusian Empire is the largest single political entity in the Aidus system, both historically and presently, demographically and territorially. The Empire does not recognize the existence of any other sovereign polity, nor do any other such polities claim to exist within the whole system. It is a federal semi-constitutional empire, with the head of state and head of government being the Emperor, currently, Gavriel. The Imperial Council is an unempowered legislative body composed of the Dominars of the individual Dominions of the Empire; these Dominions typically encompass entire planets and are the highest level of administrative division and possess significant internal powers. The Imperial Council legally serves as the pleasure of the Emperor and can be dismissed at will; however, the strict system of precedence set by the first Pan-Aidusian monarch, Emperor Aleksandrina I & II, makes the dismissal of the Council a de facto non-starter for any ruling monarch. The Imperial Councils members, the Dominars, provide advice and recommendations to the monarch on all matters of state; in times of regency, the Imperial Council is given more concrete legislative powers and operates via consensus. Dominars are selected within each Dominion by processes unique to the political structures of those entities; the only exception lies in the Velesan Confederacy, which is considered the personal demesne of the Emperor by right of lineage to the Popof Hegemony and thus is represented on the Imperial Council by the senior-most ranking adult in the line to the Imperial Throne, typically the heir apparent.
The Aidusian Empire is descended from the Transvelesan Empire of early-middle Third Age, established after the rise of Emperor Lutmila I during the Iyusi Crisis. Unlike previous Velesan-originative attempts at systemwide conquest, such as the Velesan Yedinstate of the Second Age, the Lutmilan Protocol oriented the new Empire towards the model of the semi-legendary Drevnian Empire, which was believed to have balanced a strong state apparatus with a conciliatory approach towards rulership of subjects. Hence, the Transvelesan Conquest was a largely bloodless assumption of control over the former Velesan colonies of Chaius and Mora, resulting in their accession into the Empire under equal terms as that of the individual units of the core Velesan Confederacy. The Popovian Peace that followed the creation of the Empire was an unprecedented era of cooperation between Velesa, Chaius, and Mora, which had otherwise experienced about 40,000 uecs of strained multilateral relations.
Following the Estrelic Inquisition in the Orbalian nation-state of Benia, a Pan-Aidusian coup d'état saw the overthrow of its theocratic government and sought integration into the Transvelesan Empire. The subsequent establishment of the Orbalian Dominion left the vast aristocratic confederation of Dammeringia and a handful of smaller state as the only other sovereign entities in the Aidus system. As Pan-Aidusian tendencies began to swell among Dammeringia's own Estrelic population and even within its ruling class, the Landsmeet of Dammeringia voted to seek favorable accession into the Orbalian Dominion, so that the same fate of the Benian theocrats would not befall its own oligarchs. Emperor Aleksandrina II recognized this as the moment forecasted by her ancestor Lutmila the Great, and hence, in III.28187, Dammeringia was subsumed under her reign, resulting in the unification of the modern Aidusian Empire with the Edict of Havra. With that, Aleksandrina I & II declared the end of the Third Age and the beginning of the Fourth Age.
The Aleksandrine Peace that followed was an era of cooperation, development, and peace unseen since the mythic Forgotten Age. Many of the modern institutions of the Empire are descended from the early days of this peace, including the seminal Imperial Charter of Rights, the Imperial Council, and the Imperial Constabulary. The massive Imperiya Station, having been initiated under Lutmila the Great and completed only in III.24891, was moved from Velesan orbit to Orbalian orbit as a symbol of peace and unity among those planets' peoples. The Circumtorus, formerly considered the Empire's next great frontier, largely fell to the status of backwater, in favor of prospective colonization of the steam world Pechlus. In the present period, the Aleksandrine Peace continues under the reign of the young Emperor Gavriel, who succeeded to the Cosmic Throne in IV.12146, the youngest ruling monarch since Aleksandrina I & II.
Economically, the Aidusian Empire encompasses the entirety of modern human civilization; the Empire covers the entire breadth of economic activity within the inner Aidus system and otherwise exerts a considerable amount of influence on the disparate, isolated colonies of the Circumtorus. Agriculture, mining, refining, manufacturing, services, and other fields are all important aspects of the economy as a whole. While most economic activity occurs within the scope of the planets themselves, what interplanetary commercial activity that does exist is often facilitated through orbital stations, the largest two being the Imperial capital, Imperiya Station, and the economic hub, Vikkar Station, both presently in orbit of or orbital resonance with Orbalia, the middle-most planet. Other major orbital economic centers are also located in orbit of the system's star, Aidus, and the planets Pechlus and Mora. Compared to all preceding civilizations, the Aidusian Empire is highly advanced in terms of human and scientific development, although the scope of its political freedoms are not quite as extensive as in some historical nation-states. Universal healthcare and universal education are provided across the Empire, alongside other extensive social security measures. While no other sovereign polities exist within the Aidus system, the Empire still maintains armed forces in the form of the Imperial Exonavy and the Imperial Iyusi, for protection from any potential external or internal threats, such as piracy or rebellion respectively. Law and justice is mostly administered by the individual Dominions of the Empire, with the Imperial Constabulary covering only the areas outside of any Dominion's specific jurisdiction unless under special circumstances.
Etymology[edit | edit source]
The official name of the entity referred to as the Aidusian Empire is actually the Empire of All Aidusians, as referenced in the foundational treaty of the sovereignty, the Edict of Novel-Vespèr. The Edict, issued by Emperor Aleksandrina I & II, formally decrees the creation of a new political entity as distinct from its predecessor, the Transvelesan Empire founded by Emperor Lutmila the Great. The name of the new Empire is referenced in Section I of the Edict:
| “ | By the Divine Light of the Seven Overlings and the Divine Hands of the Seven Underlings, the peoples of the Seven Worlds commit themselves to a perpetual unity, acceding to the rule of the Bozestfena Naznachena, Aleksandrina the Second, Emperor of the Transvelesan Realm, Sovereign of Velesa, Atmirala of the Popovian Domains, and Governor-Ordained of the Cult of Sem, her heirs, and the heirs of all heirs hereafter, now and forever. By Divine Light and Divine Hands, Aleksandrina, her heirs, and the heirs of all heirs hereafter shall rule an Empire of All Aidusians, recognized in their legitimacy by the signatories of this Edict... | ” |
| — §I.2 Edict of Novel-Vespèr, III.28023 | ||
The usage of the term Empire of All Aidusians is typically only found in official documents relating to the Imperial Government, and Aidusian Empire is widely used in almost every other context. The component words of the term have very different originative lineages. Empire was the official terminology used during the accession of Lutmila the Great during the founding of Transvelesa; the word Empire in the various languages of the system had only ever been used before for the ancient Drevnian Empire, which Lutmila saw as a source of mythic inspiration. In an effort to signify the same level of legendary grandiosity, it was formally adopted by the Edict of Nizana Trenshaya, the same document which declared Hegemon Lutmila an Emperor in her own right. Aidusian as an adjective had been in long use throughout the languages of the system to refer to anything characteristically originating from, or relating to, the system generally (compare with Aidusal, which is used to refer to something relating more specifically to the system's star). Referring to the whole of the system's human population as Aidusian, however, was a much more recent practice derived from the rise of Estrelism and its advocacy for Pan-Aidusianism, which posited that all humans in the system were historically bound together as one people and, by prophecy, would more come together as one in the future. The usage of Aidusian in the sense of a singular Aidusian people was adopted by Aleksandrina I & II in the Pan-Aidusian sense, as an effort to both shore up support from the Estrelics of Orbalia and also signify the emergence of a systemwide, unitary sovereignty.
Exology[edit | edit source]
The Aidusian Empire officially claims to rule the entirety of the Aidosphere, the stellar-wind bubble that encompasses the whole of the Aidus system. This would represent a volume of approximately 4.378 septillion cubic kilometers. However, as much of this volume is made up of the Circumtorus, a dense field of ice-rock planetesimals surrounding the planetary system, in effect, the actual space controlled by the Empire terminates at a radial distance of 2.64 OO from the star Aidus, on the inner edge of the Circumtoroidal region known as the Resonant Circumtorus. Thus, a volume of only 6.29 sextillion cubic kilometers is actually effectively administered by the Aidusian Empire. Within this controlled space, there is one star, seven planets, two major space stations, and numerous minor space stations and planetesimals.
Asterology[edit | edit source]
The singular star within the Empire is Aidus, the namesake of the entire system and its most important source of energy, gravity, and overall existence. Aidus is an ultra-cool red dwarf star of the spectral class M. Aidus is not a variable star, and it has no solar cycle. It has an absolute magnitude of 18.1, an effective temperature of 2566 Kelvin, and a mass approximately 35,300 times that of Orbalia. Aidus is composed of approximately 78.5% hydrogen and 17.3% helium, with a metallicity of 4.2%. Because of its low temperature and high metallicity, clouds of condensate metal dust form in its outer atmosphere, giving it a non-spherical appearance when viewed with a luminosity-dampening aid. Like all stars, however, it is a near perfect ball of plasma, notable for being even more evenly sphere-shaped than most other stars in the stellar neighborhood, with a low oblateness of 9 millionths.
Like many ultra-cool M-class dwarfs, Aidus has a very low rate of hydrogen-to-helium nuclear fusion in its core. It has been fusing for approximately 551.606 billion uecs, and will continue to do so, possibly, for trillions of uecs to come. Additionally, Aidus has a particularly strong magnetosphere, measured at roughly 600 Gauss. The magnetosphere of Aidus is so powerful that it is capable of trapping coronal mass ejections, this being a key factor in the continued existence of all of its planets' atmospheres despite their relative proximity to the star. It is believed that the star's strong magnetosphere would protect anything within the Aidosphere from potentially devastating extrasolar cosmic rays, like those emitted by supernovae.
Planetology[edit | edit source]
There are seven planets located within the administered territory of the Empire; in order from closest to Aidus to furthest, they are Svarus, Achlisa, Pechlus, Orbalia, Velesa, Chaius, and Mora. Achlisa has the highest mass in the system, at 1.365 Om (Orbalian masses), while Chaius has the largest radius at 1.225 Or (Orbalian radii). Pechlus has both the lowest mass and radius of any planet in the system, at 0.351 Om and 0.837 Or respectively. Collectively, all of these planets have a combined surface area of 3.555 billion square kilometers. However, only five of the seven have human populations living on their planets' surfaces, those inhabited being all but the innermost two planets in the system. Of this group of inhabited planets, there is a total surface area of 2.3 billion square kilometers. Furthermore, due to all of the planets being tidally locked to their parent star, only three of the planets have areas of their surface where it is possible for human beings to be outdoors for any period of time, these planets being Orbalia, Velesa, and Chaius. In total, the combined habitable area of these planets is only 195.917 million square kilometers, roughly 5.51% of the total planetary area of the system.
Climactically, the seven planets are often divided into four groups: two hothouse worlds, one steam world, three eyeball worlds, and one snowball world.
The innermost two planets, Svarus and Achlisa, which possess no human inhabitants, are known as the hothouse worlds; these worlds' atmospheres are extremely hot and highly pressurized, making them highly unsuitable for human colonization. The average equilibrium temperatures for the hothouse worlds are 307.3 K and 339.5 K, while their average surface temperatures range between 750 K on the nightside to 1,500 K on the dayside, meaning that atmosphere at surface level exists as supercritical fluid.
Pechlus, the third planet from the star Aidus, is the single steam world of the planetary system; its low gravity, its distance from its star, and its high relatively high composition of water has resulted in a planet which exists in a constant flux of evaporation and condensation. On the planet's dayside, temperatures average well over 400K, while on its nightside, convection allows for the average temperature to rest between roughly 300-350 K, meaning that water on its dayside is entirely gaseous, whereas water on its nightside is hot but fluid. While, much like Orbalia, its dayside consists of landmass and its nightside of a hemispheric ocean, the dense cloud coverage over the entire planet obscures the eyeball effect of its geography, meaning that it is not a "true" eyeball world like the next three planets.
Orbalia, Velesa, and Chaius are known as the eyeball worlds of the Aidus system; their relatively temperate equilibrium temperatures means that matter phase variations between the dayside and nightside of the planets produces the appearance of a human eye when viewed from a distance. As they remain tidally locked to their parent star, for both Orbalia and Velesa, surface habitation is only comfortable on narrow meridional strips running along the planets' terminator lines. For Chaius, which orbits further than the two other eyeball worlds and with a lower equilibrium temperature, surface dwelling is only possible on the temperate, ice-free "pupil" of the dayside: the only area receiving enough solar energy to keep temperatures above freezing. Because of its large proportion of ice coverage in comparison with the other two, Chaius is sometimes considered a near-snowball world.
The one true snowball world of the Aidus system is Mora; its distance from Aidus and its consequently low equilibrium temperature result in the entire surface of the planet being covered by a thick layer of ice. With average surface temperatures around 100 K, it is by far the coldest of the seven planets, and it is wholly unsuitable for non-environmentally-conditioned human surface habitation. However, Mora, like the eyeball worlds, possess a vast subglacial ocean kept above freezing temperatures through tidal heating; this ocean is where permanent human habitation occurs. As a result of its exterior ice and interior ocean, Mora, like Chaius, experiences cryovolcanism, in which massive ice-geysers occasionally spew fluid from its subsurface ocean.
Planetesimals and stations[edit | edit source]
Numerous smaller planetesimals orbit within the administered radius of the Aidusian Empire; all of these are current or former components of the Resonant Circumtorus. The Resonant Circumtorus is the part of the Circumtorus located in-line with or near the orbit of Mora, the outermost planet of the Empire. These objects are called Resonant because most of them are locked into a 2:3 orbital resonance with Mora; these resonant planetesimals are known as the Fesnoids and have long been of economic importance for their highly-developed asteroid mining operations. Those objects which are not locked into resonance with Mora are known as the Tzimoids; these planetesimals are responsible for the vast majority of impact events to have occurred in the geological history of the system's planets, though most often when their course is altered by tidal forces they are thrown into the further region of the Circumtorus known as the Scattered Circumtorus. The largest of the Fesnoids, Suthrland, is home to the largest asteroid mining processing center and asteroid habitat controlled by the Empire.
There are several artificial space stations controlled by the Aidusian Empire; in order from largest to smallest, the five most significant are Imperiya, Vikkar, Pyatno, Morotz, and Buyé. Imperiya Station is the capital of the Aidusian Empire and home to a population of 11 million people; it is shaped as a large ring and generates implant-assisted pseudogravity through its rotation, allowing for comfortable long-term habitation. Similarly, Vikkar, Pyatno, Morotz, and Buyé all also generate such pseudogravity, although only Pyatno and Buyé share Imperiya's ring-shaped superstructure. Vikkar and Morotz were built out of asteroids towed into stable orbits around Orbalia and Chaius respectively; while their habitats are also structured in the shape of a ring, this is not visible from a distance due to the superstructures coverage by protoplanetary rock. Imperiya Station orbits Orbalia in an indirect 2:3 resonance, allowing for varied ease of access between all of the Empire's planets. All other stations orbit planetary bodies, with the exception of Pyatno and other stellar condensate mining stations, which orbit the star Aidus closer than its nearest planet Svarus.
Scale diagram[edit | edit source]
History[edit | edit source]
Rise of the Popovian dynasty[edit | edit source]
At the beginning of the 10th millennium of the Third Age, roughly 30,000 uecs before the present, the planet of Velesa was divided among the Atmiralties of the Solnuch Confederacy. This political system had persisted stably since the beginning of the Third Age, and it was defined by its centralization of political power on the planet between the eight ruling Atmirals and Atmiralas of various dynastic families. Unbeknownst to the rulers of the planet at the time, the Old Iyusi played a major background role in the proactive elimination of any potential threats to the Velesan political order, under orders from the Combine Council of the Aidus Combine.
In III.9089, Atmiral Yutzuf III Ikorofik died childless, the first time this had happened in the history of the Confederacy, leaving the Ikorofik Atmiralty without path forward for succession. Despite his many attempts at parentage throughout his life and a wide array of complicated medical procedures, none of his children were able to live past their early childhood, the suspected cause of most of their afflictions being complications due to inbreeding. While no patrilineal family ties existed for the Ikorofik dynasty, Atmiral Yutzuf III was related to three sisters of the Popof family through a female second cousin. Under normal circumstances, the oldest of the three would inherit the title of Atmirala; however, the various warlords of the Confederacy each had their own personal preferences and plans for marriage between the sisters. When the Council of Solnuch met to confirm the inheritance of the Atmiralty, no consensus was met between the seven members, resulting in the outbreak of the Three Sisters War, the first war on Velesa in almost 8,000 uecs.
The Combine Council voted to remain neutral in the internal affairs of Velesa after the outbreak of the war, fearing that any direct intervention would only see the rise of xenophobic sentiment among the Velesan populace, which remained highly loyal to its respective rulers throughout the conflict. Unlike in earlier Velesan conflicts, there were no bioweapons in use by any of the belligerent parties, and most fighting was limited to near-conventional warfare between their fleets of submarines, squadrons of divers, and even some scramjets. The pace of the conflict was slow; when one faction would make any territorial gains, typically it would be at an expense of their own. This cycle would continue for almost 650 uecs, before one of the three major factions was decisively defeated in the Battle of Chernyotmeli. Upon the elimination of one of the contending factions, the war began to advance at a much faster pace than before. In III.9761, the supporters of Lutmila Popof won a resounding victory with the capture of Lutmila's older sister, Alyena, after a total of 672 uecs of conflict. With her two competitors' factions eliminated, Lutmila was crowned Atmirala of the newfound Popof Atmiralty.
In III.9803, Atmirala Lutmila's husband, Atmiral Demeto Tzukof of the Tzukof Atmiralty, vanished, never to be found or seen again. Upon declaration of his death, he and Lutmila's oldest son, Falentin, became the regent of the Tzukof Atmiralty, under close supervision from his mother. As the influence of Atmirala Lutmila grew, likewise did her court, as important advisors in diplomatic, economic, and military affairs became preeminent in the successful management of her growing realm. Little known to anyone beside the Atmirala herself and Velesan Planetary Iyusi Master Kaetina Maurapos, the death of her husband and her subsequent geopolitical good fortune were entirely engineered by her and her close contact with the Planetary Master. Unconfirmed rumors suggest that Lutmila's relationship with Maurapos was romantic in nature; the two supposedly met as young adults in the court of Yutzuf III, with Lutmila eventually going on to become Atmirala and Maurapos rising through the ranks of the Iyusi on Velesa. Their partnership would not only influence the outcome of political history on Velesa, but the entire system in due time.
In III.10021, after a crisis engineered by the Iyusi caused one then-independent Atmiral to seek protection under the unprecedented strength of the Popovian sphere. Thus, the first vassalage of the Popof Hegemony was created, a crucial step on the path to the later unification of the entire planet under Lutmila's reign. A coalition of Atmirals stridently opposed to the rise of the Popof Hegemony launched an all-out assault on Lutmila's domain in III.10069, a conflict which is today known as the Atmirals' War. With the assistance of the Iyusi and domination by conventional military means, one by one, the belligerent Atmiralties were vassalized into the Hegemony. By III.10500, some uecs after the end of the Atmirals' War, only one Velesan atmiralty remained independent of the Hegemony.
Transvelesan Empire[edit | edit source]
The rise of the predecessor state to the modern Aidusian Empire, the Transvelesan Empire, was precipitated by the Iyusi Crisis. In III.10508, Kaetina Maurapos defected from the service of the Old Iyusi to that of Lutmila; the Iysuar who followed her defect would serve as the foundation for the Imperial Iyusi of the contemporary Empire. The defection caused chaos throughout the larger, Combine-loyal Iysui of the system, triggering a series of back room political upheavals that resulted in the wider knowledge of the organization by III.10515. The revelation of the Iyusi to the wider public of the Aidus system would have repercussions on the politics of every planet; for the first time in an Age, Chaius and Mora both faced planet-wide popular uprisings. Orbalia was particularly hit hard, with its largest nation-states fragmenting and an 8,000-uec long period of general turmoil. The Aidus Combine collapsed completely, and many of its former leaders were either killed, arrested, or fled into exile in the Circumtorus. Additionally, the various branches of the Iyusi faced much the same fate of fragmentation, infighting, and exile. These rifts resulted in the coalescence of some of the most significant mancial organizations of the modern period, namely the Caduceium, the Amisi Amortisi, and the Shernykluv.
On Velesa, political bonds between the Atmrialties were improved significantly by Lutmila's actions. In III.10517, riding on an unprecedented wave of joint aristocratic-popular support, Lutmila was crowned Emperor of Transvelesa, the name signaling a renewed desire for the expansion of Velesa's power back onto the systemwide stage. Unlike previous Velesan superpowers, however, Lutmila issued her famous Protocol shortly after her enthronement, in which she declared, under guarantee from the Imperial Iyusi, that any monarch who attempted to subjugate any of the system's sovereignties by overwhelming, destructive military force ought be deposed from the position as unfit to rule; that the use of such force represented a threat to the continuation of the Empire, as the peoples subjugated would likely never harbor a political willingness to remain a subject state under Imperial rule.
The most significant implication of the Protocol was the limitation of the use of military forces by any inheriting monarch in the future. Should a monarch attempt to use the military in a wantonly destructive or malicious way, for the purpose of subjugation by rule of terror, then that monarch was to be "eliminated" by the Imperial Iyusi. This Protocol is enshrined in the precedential constitutional system of the Empire to this day; as legally, the modern Aidusian Empire is not considered a distinct entity from the Transvelesan. While the Protocol gave the existence of the Transvelesan Empire a distinctly diplomatic-orientation in comparison to previous instances of Velesan planetary governments, it was not intended to prevent the creation of the system's then-most-powerful military in history. The Imperial Exonavy was founded soon after the Empire's foundation, with Lutmila overseeing the construction of a fleet rivalling even the Velesan Yedinstate's own in size and capability. Combined with the tactical units of the Imperial Iyusi, the Transvelesan Empire would come to possess history's most powerful military force to date.
During these early uecs, the Transvelesan Empire was the only government wielding effective control over its entire planet. The planetary governments of Chaius and Mora which dated to the Hysterium of the late Second Age had been significantly weakened by the Iyusi Crisis. Unrest was rife across the cities of their subsurface oceans, and Mora even faced several minor armed rebellions against the perceived opacity of the true nature of its planetary government's inner workings. The planetside chaos allowed ample opportunity for new Imperial enterprises to extend asteroid mining operations into the Resonant Circumtorus, which would otherwise be under the exclusive right of Moran enterprises. The government of Mora, however, was in no position to enforce its agency, however, both due to a complete lack of exonaval forces of its own and its tumultuous political situation.
Transvelesan Conquest[edit | edit source]
In III.10767, a deal between the Empire and Mora was made; in exchange for Imperial protection of the standing political order on the planet, the Imperial Iyusi would assist in the pacification of the insurrection. The next uec, the Imperial Iyusi began operations on Mora, infiltrating the rebel movements and often usurping their leadership with more moderate, reformist members. This operation would mark the beginning of the Transvelesan Conquest. In addition to the deployment of Imperial Iyusi on the planet itself, the Imperial Exonavy took control of stations in Mora orbit, often only briefly, in order to assert the laws of the government of Mora. The planet was integrated into the Transvelesan Empire as the Moran Dominion, with Emperor Lutmila only taking on a non-interventionist head of state position in the political structure of the planet. While at first there was popular resistance to the new arrangement, Velesan aid poured into cities hard hit by the unrest, and generally, within the next two hundred uecs, the overall political situation became much more amenable.
While Chaius never faced the same level of political crisis as its sister planet Mora, its leaders entered into negotiations with the Empire after seeing the benefits it had brought to the existing government of Mora. Thus, in III.10912, the Chaian Dominion was integrated into the Transvelesan Empire under similar terms to that of Mora. With both of these planets' accession into the Transvelesan Empire, only Orbalia remained as the sole inhabited non-Imperial planet in the Aidus system. The Imperial Exonaval assessment of the security situation on Orbalia was one of caution to the Emperor, however, as attempts to assert any political influence were believed to likely be met with hostilities from its inhabitants due to the extreme damage Velesa had caused during the Caligum period. While the Emperor had ambitions stretching across the system, she recognized that unfavorable acquisitive circumstances for the Empire could be exceptionally devastating in its early existence. Consequently, the Empire would not expand over Orbalia during her lifetime.
While her dreams of systemwide expansion were invariably dashed, Emperor Lutmila still had great optimism in the future prosperity of her new, limited realm. In III.11109, she presided over the inauguration of the worksite of what would become Imperiya Station, the future capital ring-world of the Empire. Imperiya would be the first such station in the Aidus system to be constructed since the Orbital University of the Drevnian period, with the Emperor's hope being that it would become a symbol of a renewed human golden age for the entirety of the system. The asteroid-mining infrastructure which existed in the period before the station's construction was sparse, having never recovered from the destructive consolidation campaigns wreaked by the Yedinstate during the Caligum. To support Imperiya's monumental needs for materials, as well as to foster the existence of a wholly space-born, and thus non-planetary, economy, the Moran Imperial Industrial Complex was founded in Mora orbit, for ease of access to asteroids from the Circumtorus.
Throughout the end of her reign, Emperor Lutmila presided over an era of high economic growth and revitalization. Peace between the Velesan Atmiralties allowed for the flourishing of cultural, economic, and scientific activity on the core planet of the Empire, which in turn translated to enhanced benefits for the autonomously governed planets of Chaius and Mora. Commerce between the planets of the Empire was nothing compared to the economic benefits of trade with then-independent Orbalia. The sale of Transvelesan weaponry and technology added comfortable margins to the Imperial treasury, which in turn was able to allocate more resources towards its Dominions, the expansion of the orbital works around Mora, and ultimately to the construction of Imperiya Station.
Popovian Peace[edit | edit source]
Beginning with the accession of Chaius in III.10912, the Popovian Peace was a prolonged era of peaceful development and growth within the Transvelesan Empire. From the aforementioned date until her death III.12889, Emperor Lutmila reigned over an increasingly loyal populace and ever the more interconnected planets. While Transvelesa prospered, the Orbalian Readjustment consumed that planet in a generations-long series of conflicts and crisis between small nation-states unmatched since the days of the Gildaist revolutions of the early Second Age. This lack of political stability only benefitted the economic powerhouse that was Transvelesa in this period; it served not only as a major arms supplier to these smaller states, but in that capacity, acted as kingmaker. Emperor Lutmila and her grandson and heir Demeto I would exert significant influence in this role, selectively supplying those states that most resembled the political structure of Transvelesa in an effort to define the resultant victors of the conflicts.
As chaos consumed Orbalia, many of its people also began to emigrate out of the planet, seeking the peace and security afforded by a life in the Empire. Chaius became the most popular choice for immigrants, due to its similar gravitational conditions to their planet of birth. Many also took up offers from the Imperial government to work in the asteroid mining and space construction areas, which became vital instruments in the construction of the gargantuan Imperiya Station. So great was the economic prerequisites of the station that the Empire lacked much of the infrastructure needed to facilitate its timely construction. Devoting much of its financial resources to development projects on Chaius and Mora, space-based economic sectors would be incorporated and expanded under the Imperial Industrial Concern, in which the administration of the Moran Imperial Industrial Complex was expanded into a state-owned enterprise of all mining, mineral refinement, and construction in Transvelesan territory.
The Imperial Industrial Concern quickly expanded the mining operations of the Empire; asteroid-mining grew to a historic scope, and more experimental methods of mining and refinement were also implemented, namely, mineral condensate capture and refinement around the system's star. Small space stations were constructed in the Circumtorus and the heart of the system, directly under the control of the Transvelesan Empire. While nominally its borders were formally stated as all beyond the orbit of Velesa, in effect, there was no political apparatus which served to dispute its expansion into the core of the system. Hence, over time, the environs of Aidus too became recognized as Transvelesan territory. This wave of large-scale economic and population growth slowed somewhat around III.18000, as the Orbalian Readjustment reached its conclusion and cohesive, stable nation-states had asserted themselves firmly across the planet.
Aleksandrina I, who had succeeded her father in III.17009, mad a conceited effort to strengthen the political and economic bonds between Transvelesa and the myriad Orbalian nations, in hopes that they could slowly be integrated into the Empire under terms they would see as favorable to their own existence. While certain arrangements designed to foster cooperation between the peoples of Orbalia and Transvelesa may have been meted out, the political leaders of the planet were only cordial at most towards the Emperor and very much resisted efforts to become too entangled in the Empire's political and economic grasp. Additionally, these nation-states, unlike Chaius and Mora, had largely retained their respective circles of the Old Iuysi, morphing them into Iyusi organizations specific to each government. The prevalence of the Dammeringian Iyusi and the Havran Iyusi in those respective countries made it unfeasible for Imperial Iyusi infiltration, leaving Transvelesa with little choice but to accept the reluctance of the Orbalian leaders and simply wait for the "golden opportunity" prophesized by the Imperial matriarch Lutmila.
Accession of Orbalia[edit | edit source]
In the 26th millennium of the Third Age, considered the later part of the Popovian Peace, the Iyusi Wars broke out between Dammeringia and the Havran League on Orbalia, two of the largest nation-states at the time. At the same time, the neighbouring Benian Divinity was experienced a two-pronged societal upheaval with the spread of political Neogildaism and religious Estrelism among its peasant classes. The two belief systems often went hand in hand, and both contained a universalist approach to human existence that saw their natural spread across national boundaries. While Dammeringia was military successful against the Havran League, it found great difficulty in its attempts to rule the restless, educated civilian populations which it had inherited from the latter, this unrest only compounded by the spread of Neogildaism and Estrelism among its homeland population. Estrelism in particular caught the attention of the Imperial administration, due to the predication of that belief system on the necessary unification of humanity under a single human order.
In III.27201, the Estrelic Inquisition was launched by Septoilan theocrats that ruled over Benia, with the aim to remove Estrelics from positions of power and the reduction of the spread of what it considered to be a "heretical movement." Unlike previous inquisitions on Orbalia, the Estrelic Inquisition was not particularly violent, but it did see a radical shift in public support for the government. Backed by Imperial and Dammeringian support, the Estrelics became increasingly popular within Benia, with much of the military and security apparatus of the country coming to find sympathy in the movement. In III.27961, as the capital Novel-Vespèr became overrun with civilian demonstrators, the High Synod of the Benian College of Petrars ordered the military to restore order to the city, instructed to use force if necessary. The military leadership ignored this order, and instead, launched a coup d'état which successfully overthrew the nation's Septoilan leaders. After a series of meetings were mediated by the Imperial Iyusi between the military and Estrelic leaders, it was agreed that Benia would be absorbed into the Transvelesan Empire, an outcome with a large amount of public support given the precepts of the Estrelic religion.
Transvelesan forces peacefully landed at strategic points across Benia in III.28022, and by the next uec, the Orbalian Dominion was formally declared by a ceremony involving the Imperial and Divinity governments. In the Edict of Novel-Vespèr, the transformation of Transvelesa into the Aidusian Empire was codified, along with the terms of Benia's accession into the Empire under the Dominion. The move was highly popular with the Estrelic population of Benia, which at the time represented a slim majority of persons in the nation-state. Although some within Benia resented the loss of their country's political independence and feared the return of the Velesans, there was no armed or even organized resistance affected by these persons. The declaration of the Dominion deeply shocked the ruling elite of neighbouring Dammeringia, which itself was facing an upsurge of Estrelism within its population and feared that the move would only further galvanize and radicalize the already restless populace.
In III.28187, the Landsmeet of Dammeringia was informed by the Dammeringian Iyusi that a major popular uprising similar to that experienced in Benia was imminent. Fearing that such a rebellion could result in a radical realignment of the political class, the legislative body voted to voluntarily submit itself to negotiations with the Orbalian Dominion and the Empire for accession into those entities. The Imperial authorities were highly supportive of such a move, and progress on the Dammeringian proposal moved swiftly. Emperor Aleksandrina I & II personally involved herself in meetings with the Dammeringian administration at Havra, where she distinguished herself as a leader devoted to compromise and diplomatic endeavors. That same uec, the terms of the Dammeringian accession were finalized through the Edict of Havra, which formally decreed the unification of Dammeringia with the Orbalian Dominion.
Under the terms of the Edict, the political sphere of Dammeringia would be largely preserved in its geographic orientation and local structure. The individual aristocratic Landshers and Landsehrins of the realm were maintained in their totality, with their domains being given equal status to the Prefectures of Benia within the Dominion. Additionally, a new political organ would be created, the Weldsmeet of Orbalia, which would serve as the legislative body of the entire Dominion. The Prefects and Landshers would serve in an equal capacity within the Weldsmeet, and the Dominar, the head of the whole Dominion, would be elected from within its ranks in a similar manner to the Landsher-Elect of the dissolved Dammeringian Landsmeet. The Edict was largely accepted by the populace of Dammeringia, relieving a great deal of political pressure that had been mounting from its Estrelic and localist factions.
Aleksandrine Peace[edit | edit source]
With the addition of Dammeringia into the Aidusian Empire, Emperor Aleksandrina I & II declared the beginning of the Fourth Age, the first time that a secular leader had done such and the move been accepted by the wider population of the system. Over the first few hundred uecs of the Fourth Age, the small city-states of the Subglacial Ocean of Orbalia would follow suit, with the final one agreeing to enter the Dominion by IV.337. Upon this date, the Aidus system was fully politically unified under the Aidusian Empire, fulfilling the dream that had guided the monarchs of the Popof dynasty since the days of its establishment. This date also marks the inauguration of the Aleksandrine Peace, the historiographical period which continues into contemporary times. The Aleksandrine Peace, like the Popovian Peace which preceded it, saw an unprecedented level of cultural, economic, political, and social interconnectivity and development between the worlds of the system.
During the early days of her reign as Emperor of All Aidusians, Aleksandrina I & II introduced a series of comprehensive political reforms which continue to define the basic foundation of Imperial governance. The Imperial Council was established as an advisory body of the leaders of each Dominion and equally-weighted administrative division of the Empire; at the time of its foundation, it would include five members, aside from the Emperor herself, from among which the position of High Councilor would be filled on a rotational basis as the procedural chief of the Council. Additionally, once every 100 uecs, the leaders of all the subdivisions of the Dominions would be invited to sit at a special session of the High Council, known as the Sotyseans, in which the monarch of the Empire gives a speech announcing the direction of polity. The Emperor set the precedent that all members of the sitting being afforded free comment and question on the prerogatives of the monarch, resulting in the Sotyseans becoming a crucial feature of the Empire's political unity.
The second reform introduced by the Emperor was the Imperial Charter of Rights, the first such document of its kind in the Empire, which defined a series of basic freedoms and responsibilities of its subjects. The Charter became the fourth document of Imperial law defined as "constitutive," in that its scope is considered foundational to the authority of the monarch and thus is applicable to all Dominions, regardless of the privileges that would otherwise be afforded to those entities. Alongside the Charter came the creation of the Imperial Constabulary, which received an expansive official jurisdictional allotment of the Empire in its entirety, an unprecedented move on the part of the Imperial administration, in which before the enforcement of laws was left wholly to the Dominions and other equal-level local governmental bodies. The primary agency of the Imperial Constabulary came in the equal application of the Charter to all Imperial subjects across any world or region, so that no Dominion government would be allowed the infringement of their rights. Additionally, the Constabulary was charged with the enforcement of Imperial law in all those jurisdictions not already covered by law enforcement agencies, hence, the whole of interplanetary and non-stationary space.
Imperiya Station was moved from Velesa orbit to resonant orbit with Orbalia not long after that planet's admission, to foster a sense of proximity to the whole of the Imperial domain that the middlemost-planet's position afforded. In the early uecs of the Aleksandrine Peace, the population of Imperiya rapidly increased, as the Imperial government offered incentives to subjects from all worlds to move to the capital permanently. Imperiya's importance to the system's economy also grew with this move, as it's rapid population growth entailed the increased flow of commercial goods between the planets and the station. The rapid population of Imperiya and the shift of Imperial administration inwards had the related effect of a transition in the status of the Circumtorus within the Empire. While it was still considered the Imperial frontier, its development slowed rapidly as it became more appealing through amenity and incentive to move to the capital station.
Contemporary history[edit | edit source]
Emperor Yekatrina inherited the throne in IV.8625 upon the death of her father Ifan II. Much like her predecessors, Yekatrina represented a general continuation of the Aleksandrine Peace and the systemwide growth and prosperity associated with it. The longest living monarch of any to date, Yekatrina died in IV.12146 at 7255 uecs in age. As her firstborn son had died before her, her grandson Gavriel became the youngest reigning Emperor since Aleksandrina I & II at only 1668 uecs. The reign of Gavriel has so far been considered a continuation of the Peace introduced by his fourth-degree-great-grandmother, with a wide range of socioeconomic groups and regions enjoying record levels of development. However, some within the inner circles of the Imperial administration have been very vocal about their perception of excesses indulged in by the Emperor, and though he is well protected by the Imperial Iyusi, there are a number of detractors who are believed to be working to replace him with someone they see as more suitable for the role.
While these political questions linger, as of the present 25th millennium of the Fourth Age, the populations of each planet inhabited throughout the system's history have all reached record levels. Imperiya Station too continues to see sustained population growth, at a vector which is believed to place it above the populations of Chaius and Mora within the next 1,000 to 2,000 uecs. Pechlus, the third planet from the star Aidus, has for the first time in history hosted a prolonged colonization effort, with approximately 20,000 people living on the planet's surface in contemporary times.
Politics[edit | edit source]
The Aidusian Empire is a federal semi-constitutional empire; primary political power is vested in the Monarchy, who rules the whole sovereignty as Emperor. In the Aidusian federal system, the direct role of the Monarch differs between the various governments unified under Imperial rule. On Velesa and the capital station Imperiya, which have distinct nomenclatures between them, the Monarchy plays a central role in the rulings of the local governments, whereas the Monarchy's role is much less involved in the governance of the Dominions of Pechlus, Orbalia, Chaius, Mora, and the Circumtorus. As a semi-constitutional monarchy, there are no codified limits relating specifically to the power of the Monarch. Instead, the Monarch is bound by constitutive law and precedent. Constitutive law refers collectively to four distinct documents classified formally as Edicts and Charters (the two terms are used almost interchangeably), each of which deals with matters considered fundamental to the political structure of the whole Empire. Precedent is used in cases where there is no codified law to guide action by the Monarch or the Imperial government. The term Empire is used to describe the whole of the sovereignty because of its scope and historical significance; the sovereignty covers the entirety of Human-inhabited space, the Aidus system, and harkens back to the last time that that space was unified under the Drevnian Empire.
Government[edit | edit source]
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| Gavriel Emperor since IV.12146 |
The Imperial Government of the Empire refers to the specific organs of administration which apply wholly across the sovereignty's territory. Despite the vastness of such a charge, the Imperial Government itself is quite limited in form. As a federation, much of the Empire's direct administrative capacity rests within its political divisions, those being the Velesan Confederacy, the Imperiyan Metropole, and the five Dominions. Beyond the specific jurisdiction of these units is the realm in which the Imperial Government serves as the principle authority. While Imperial law is still applicable within and prior to these divisions, especially so the Empire's constitutive law, they are largely allowed to exhibit a high degree of autonomy and self management under the Empire's federal framework. Hence, the Imperial Government and its head, the Monarch, do not actually exert a significant amount of direct power relative to the population of the Empire.
Organizationally, the Imperial Government is centered around the Monarch, the reigning Emperor of All Aidusians, who inherits the role through absolute primogeniture. The Edict of Nizana Trenshaya, the Edict of Novel-Vespèr, the Edict of Havra, and the Imperial Charter of Rights are the four documents of constitutive law which define the role of the Monarch in their capacity as head of state and head of the Imperial Government. In areas of administration not covered by constitutive law, the actions of the Monarch are highly influenced by and traditionally bound to precedent. The Monarch governs in a direct capacity over the Popof Atmiralty of Velesa and as head of the Imperiyan Metropole; in all other divisions, governmental powers are left to the autonomous administrations of those respective territories. While the Monarch wields theoretical priority over all of the Empire's domain, actual intervention in the politics of any autonomous division beyond the application of constitutive law has almost never occurred in the Empire's history; many believe that in such a case, there would be deep, potentially fractious, repercussions for the whole sovereignty.
The Dominions make up the majority of the Empire's inhabited domains; as of the 13th millennium of the Fourth Age, there are five extant Dominions: Pechlus, Orbalia, Chaius, Mora, and the Circumtorus. All Dominions are headed by a Dominar; the precise nature by which these Dominars come to power within the Dominions is an entirely endogenous process and can vary significantly between them. Although Dominions are de jure subject to the primacy of Imperial law, the only such legislation that presently binds Dominions' powers are the four articles of constitutive law which affect the whole of the Empire in relation to the power of the Monarch. In all spheres not touched upon by constitutive law, Dominions are free to autonomously govern themselves. This system of liberal home rule is characterized by a diversity of political frameworks between the Dominions; where Orbalia's political system is typified by strong aristocratic and theocratic influences, the situations in Chaius and Mora are comparatively democratic and egalitarian. Pechlus and the Cirumtorus are both more colonial Dominions in relation to the recency of their habitation, but both differ highly in their levels of political centralization.
Law and justice[edit | edit source]
Imperial law refers broadly to the legal system of the whole Empire, which can best be described as a patchwork. In all areas beyond those affected by constitutive law, jurisprudence is left to the individual Dominions and the other home rule governments which make up the Empire. In most of these administrative divisions, the legal process begins at local or municipal levels, with these local courts being headed by an individual magistrate or judge. In every case, the magistrate or judge is appointed by the subdivision's government. The application of law to individuals within the Empire is typically divided between the spheres of civil law and criminal law. Civil law includes the legal creation of family units through marriage or business units through incorporation, whereas criminal law pertains to the prosecution of defendants by the state in matters of illegal activity. While precedent plays an important role in the legal framework of some jurisdictions, most opt for the use of a civil code which prescribes the protocol by which civil and criminal proceedings occur.
Law enforcement in the Aidusian Empire likewise varies in the same manner as Imperial law according to the jurisdiction in which criminal offenses were committed. Throughout most of the subdivisions of the Empire, it is common for the second-level divisions like regions or provinces to mandate law enforcement to large agencies with jurisdiction over those whole areas. These regional or provincial agencies are often paired with primary-level division-wide agencies whose jurisdiction allows for the prosecution of matters extending beyond the regional limits of those second-level agencies. The aforementioned framework does not apply to the law enforcement circumstances of Imperiya Station, the Circumtorus, and interplanetary space; all of these primary-level divisions control territories which are otherwise inconducive to the method applied on their planetary counterparts. Both Imperiya Station and the Circumtorus have entirely localized police agencies which rely upon the Imperial Constabulary to assist in matters extending beyond their own jurisdiction. As the Imperial Constabulary is responsible for the enforcement of law across the whole Empire, it is likewise permitted to assist in the application of the laws of the divisions which thereby compose the Empire. The Constabulary itself consists of various departments which relate to the specific needs of the agency as a whole, in order to deal with activities ranging from smuggling to constitutive rights infringement.
Administrative divisions[edit | edit source]
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Military[edit | edit source]
The Aidusian Empire maintains a non-unified armed forces composed of the Imperial Exonavy and the Imperial Iyusi. The Imperial Exonavy has defensive jurisdiction throughout Imperial-space, whether claimed or controlled. The Imperial Iyusi maintains presences on all major inhabited objects of the Empire, including all of its inhabited planets and most of its large space stations; the jurisdiction of the Iyusi essentially maps to the whole of the Empire's territories. As of the 13th millennium of the Fourth Age, there is a total of 4.45 million active-duty personnel serving in the Exonavy and the Iyusi. Most of these service members serve with the Imperial Exonavy, which has a present total of 38 carriers, 342 cruisers, 3,708 frigates, and 33,372 corvettes in operation. Operationally, these ships are organized into four Fleets: the Inner Fleet, the Outer Fleet, the Sovereign Fleet, and the Toroidal Fleet. The first two aforementioned fleets serve in largely stationary roles patrolling the orbits of the Empire's planets, while the Sovereign and Toroidal Fleet patrol major interplanetary routes and near-Circumtoroidal space respectively. While there are no other recognized sovereign entities in the Aidus system, the Imperial Exonavy maintains a strong presence throughout the system in order to secure the Empire from potential domestic and external threats should they ever arise.
The Imperial Exonavy is supplied in its entirety by the Imperial Industrial Concern, which is a state-run monopoly producing all weapons, protective gears, projectiles, missiles, ammunitions, and warships utilized in the Empire. Headquartered on Imperiya Station, the IIC manages the Moran Imperial Industrial Complex (simply referred to as Moran Imperial), the single-largest manufacturing center in the Aidus system and the backbone of Imperial space constructive efforts. The Harmonized Imperial Refinement System is also managed by the IIC, supplying Moran Imperial with all of its refined resource inputs from basic hydrogen to complex elements such as uranium and rhodium. This state-operated military-industrial complex grew substantially during the Transvelesan and Imperiya Station-construction periods of Imperial history, and it has in recent years seen some gradual reduction in scope due to underutilization.
Economics[edit | edit source]
| Economic indicators | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nominal GDP | d16.8586 billion (IV.15000) | |
| Real GDP growth | 2.3% (IV.12500) | |
| CPI inflation | 1.25% (IV.12500) | |
| Employment-to-population ratio | 62% (IV.12500) | |
| Unemployment | 6.4% (IV.12500) | |
| Labor force participation rate | 66.4% (IV.125000) | |
| Total public debt | d1.1969 billion (7.1% of GDP) (IV.12500) | |
| Household net worth | 683% (IV.12500) | |
The economy of the Aidusian Empire encompasses the near-entirety of human civilization's economic activity. As a whole, the Imperial economy consists of the production, consumption, and management of the labor which involves the trade of goods and services. Although the Imperial economy can be measured as a singular whole, it is inseparable from the material circumstances of the exological distribution of resources, capital, and population; the level of economic activity that occurs on an Empire-wide scale exists as if in another realm from the economic activity of many of the Empire's constituent parts.
One commonality of all parts of the Imperial economy is its currency, the Aidusian desa (represented as d). The desa itself is a mere subunit of the larger system of units of account, which is entirely pegged to the noble, platinum group metal rhodium. The value of each unit of the currency is tied to the physical measurement of the weight of metal contained by the coinage or bullion itslef; i.e., a desa (meaning ten in Podchin) is equivalent to the value of ten grams of 99.99% pure rhodium. The use of this system was introduced during the early Second Age, when interplanetary trade first began to flourish under the obmenist Velesan Council; it has undergone some modifications since then, especially with regards to the overall value of the currency's units. The odina and desa, equivalent to one and ten grams of rhodium each, are the most common units used in the economic comparison of individuals and organizations, due to the relative prevalence of low place-value whole numbers in such comparisons.
While trade between planets involves the Imperial, rhodium-standard currency, planetside economies typically use fiat currencies, which allow for greater local efficiency of financial exchange. Often these fiat currencies are themselves tied to the value of the Imperial desa, though on Orbalia and Velesa, this is not the case; they are managed respectively by the Dominion Bank of Orbalia and the Bank of Velesa, which likewise mint the Orbalian denar and Velesan rubal. The tight controls on space industry mean that the value of the rhodium-backed currency is essentially controlled in its near entirety by regulatory measures of the Imperial Bank. In order to maintain economic stability, a small amount of rhodium currency is added to the economy centennially, creating inflation and allowing for economic growth.
Cumulatively, the economy of the Empire had a gross domestic product of d16.8586 billion as of IV.12000, figuring to a GDP per capita of d27.8914 for the 604.4 million inhabitants of the Empire. Overall economic growth in the past few millennia has been comparatively sluggish to previous periods of Aidusian history. Economic inequality in the whole of the Empire is low, measured at a Gini coefficient of 29.8 as of IV.12000. Economic inequality has slowly been increasing over the course of the Fourth Age, up from a Gini coefficient of 29.5 at the beginning of the 12th millennium.
Sectors[edit | edit source]
Primary[edit | edit source]
The primary sector of the Imperial economy involves the production and extraction of raw materials such as food and minerals. On an Empire-wide level, the largest aspect of the primary sector is the exploration and extraction of mineral resources from sources like the star Aidus and planetesimals. Asteroid exploration and harvesting takes place primarily in the Resonant Circumtorus, within the Line of Control at the edge of Imperially-administered space. Once a dangerous field, industrial-scale asteroid mining in the Fourth Age has become dominated by an oligopoly of firms specializing in the activity. The asteroid mining industry is a critical material input for space manufacturing, which has numerous efficiency advantages over planet-side manufacturing due to the unique conditions of the outer space environment. The government-monopolized Imperial Industrial Concern's Harmonized Imperial Refinement System keeps prices of minerals artificially stable and has seen a prolonged stagnation in asteroid mining's growth. While asteroid mining serves as the primary input for space manufacturing, there is a limited amount of planet-side mining which occurs in the Empire as well, which is the primary resource input for goods manufactured planet-side.
Agriculture takes place on a more localized scale, with each planet typically serving itself for the supply of food. As a result of the broad diversity of conditions inhabited by residents of those planets, there is a wide degree of variance in the form of agriculture across the empire. On the largely non-surface habitable planets of Pechlus, Chaius, and Mora, agriculture is entirely hydroponic and reliant on electrically-generated sources of light for photosynthesis. On Velesa, which has no landmasses, aquaculture is its primary source of food, supplemented by hydroponically grown crops. All four of the aforementioned planets enjoy a diverse range of vegetarian food sources with smaller supplements of meat-based foodstuffs depending on the ecological condition of their waters. Velesa is the Empire's largest producer of fish and other seafood items. Orbalia uniquely enjoys land-based open-air habitability, making it the most agriculturally productive planet and a major planetary exporter of foodstuffs. The various space stations of the Empire, ranging from the massive Imperiya Station to the smaller asteroid bases of the Circumtorus, rely on imports from Orbalia for any foods beyond the bare necessities produced hydroponically.
Secondary[edit | edit source]
The secondary sector of the economy involves the processing of raw materials into usable resources along with the further final production of industrial and consumer goods. The Imperial economy is entirely industrialized, with heavy and light industry organized in the manner of mass production. Industrial facilities are located on every planet and most major space stations, in sizes which vary according typically to the input need of their location or the export-based utilization of those facilities. Every planet of the Empire maintains its own industrial supply chain, mapping with its mineral extraction industry to form fully vertically-integrated economic systems on those planets. Both industrial and consumer goods are often produced in this localized capacity, at least on a planetary basis. Beyond the planets, there is a degree of industrial production present in the space stations of the Empire. The Harmonized Imperial Refinement System processes all raw mineral inputs in Imperial space; non-state-operated industrial-scale extra-planetary refineries have been outlawed for most of the Fourth Age to prevent over-production of refined materials and the over-utilization of Resonant Circumtorus resources.
Tight regulations on space-based secondary economic activity have long served as a principle component of Imperial economic policy, even since the days of the Transvelesan Empire. While there existed little wholly-space-based industry at the beginning of the Empire, the growth of Imperiya Station and the ease of out-competing planet-based industrial operations has long raised concerns of central economic domination by space-based industries more easily controllable by Imperial authorities. In order to build trust with the earliest Dominionized planets of Chaius and Mora, the policy of the Transvelesan Empire was to place heavy controls on space-based industry, so that the Dominion's economy would never become entirely reliant on space-based importation and thus give away a significant portion of their economic sovereignty to the Empire. Additionally, these controls have suited a more careful utilization of Resonant Circumtorus resources, allowing for the meticulous treatment of space-borne particulates and the prevention of piracy more severely impacting the economic health of the Imperial planets.
Tertiary[edit | edit source]
The tertiary sector of the Imperial economy involves the provision of services directly to consumers in industries such as banking, education, transportation, entertainment, and media. Much like the primary and secondary sectors of the economy, the tertiary sector is largely organized on a planet-by-planet basis, although the tertiary sector is perhaps the most in exception to this rule due to its nature. Mass media and entertainment may be localized to a planet, but Imperial communications infrastructure allows for the dissemination of these services on an Empire-wide level. Banking, financial services, and transportation often involve the transfer of wealth across planetary scopes, and thus, necessitate a more Empire-wide level of economic acitivity. Imperiya Station hosts a large collection of major concerns in the tertiary sector, serving as a key economic link between the planets of the Empire in this capacity in addition to its political position. Education and non-electronic arts are necessarily more localized than the aforementioned tertiary activities, although their utilization can sometimes involve the prior utilization of Empire-wide services.
The division of the Empire with the highest level of employment in the tertiary sector is the Imperiya Metropole, in which between 70-80% of the labor force employed in the sector. The division with the lowest level of tertiary sector employment is the Circumtoroidal Dominion, at around 25% of the labor force. The individual planets of the Dominion vary quite significantly in their tertiary sector between these highs and lows; Chaius, Mora, and Pechlus are on the lower end, while Orbalia and Velesa are on the higher end. Often, the employment segment of the tertiary sector is reflective of the overall economic level of development and population centralization of the planet in question. Whereas Orbalia and Velesa have high levels of economic development and population centralization, the opposite is mostly true for Chaius, Mora, and Pechlus.
Energy[edit | edit source]
Energy production in the Aidusian Empire can be analyzed on three levels at which it is fundamental: ship, installation, and planetary grid. Space ships in the Aidusian Empire generate electrical power through small-scale nuclear fission reactors and propulsion through solar wind sails. Smaller ships sometimes utilize Linear-magnetic drive systems or older directional nuclear pulse propulsion when solar wind conditions are suboptimal or more finely controlled maneuvers are necessary due to environmental cirumstances. Medium-sized and large ships tend to utilize maser-wave generators fed from their nuclear fission power plants to provide extra propulsive force; the use of linear-magnetic or nuclear pulse in larger vessels is often not feasible due to the size of pulse necessary to achieve significant speeds. Installation energy production refers to localized systems: space stations, asteroid platforms, and isolated planetary bases are all grouped together in such a category. Installation energy production can be more circumstantial; space stations can often generate a supplemental amount of power through solar cells and deep-sea planetary bases can sometimes tap into geothermal energy. Universally, though, installations use small-to-medium sized stationary nuclear fission reactors to generate the majority of their energy needs.
On the level of planetary grids, which encompasses the majority of energy-use in the Empire, large and super-scale nuclear fission reactors are used in tandem with localized power production supplements. Across the surface-habitable terminator line twilight zones on Orbalia and Velesa, wind power is commonly used in a supplemental capacity. The day-side desert of Orbalia is host to the largest concentration of solar power plants in the Empire. Massive geothermal energy stations are common across the subglacial oceans of Chaius and Mora. Pechlus, the youngest colonized planet of the Empire, relies principally on nuclear fission power, though efforts are underway to potentially utilize the natural water vapor prevalent across its day-side for power-generation purposes. Overall, nuclear fission power generation accounts for between three to four fifths of the average planetary grid make-up, with the rest of the grid's energy generation being provided by the more contextual sources listed above.
Transportation[edit | edit source]
As with many other features of the Imperial economy, transportation is highly variant and contextual. Transportation methods include motor vehicles, rail vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, and spacecraft. Motor and rail vehicles are often used in localized and regional capacities on terrestrial Orbalia and some of the largest space stations. On the water worlds of Pechlus, Velesa, Chaius, and Mora, as well as the Subglacial Ocean of Orbalia, watercraft are the most commonly utilized method for localized, regional, and continental travel, typically in the form of submersibles. Aircraft are utilized primarily on Orbalia for moderate to long distance travel needs, and amphibious aircraft are somewhat common on Velesa for recreational and logistics purposes. Spacecraft are the primary means of interplanetary and interstation travel, serving as the backbone of transportation on an Empire-wide level.
Motor vehicle availibility is high on Orbalia, the only planet where the medium is commonly utilized for local and regional transportation. Motor vehicle ownership rates stand at around two-fifths on the planet; the ratio of ownership is much higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Land-based motor vehicles are uncommon beyond Orbalia. The planet has a high degree of rail accessibility: around four-fifths of the planet's population have convenient access to local rail networks, which typically link those individuals to further regional rail networks. Air transportation is common on Orbalia, primarily used for intra-planet logistics and travel, connecting individuals and goods to cities further afield at faster speeds than is possible by rail transportation. Orbalia utilizes submersibles and surface watercraft for transportation in the Subglacial Ocean and Juxtiglacial Sea respectively, although this method is much less utilized relative to the water worlds of the Empire due to the comparatively smaller population of its water-bound and underwater settlements.
Imperiya Station and larger space stations like Vikkar and Pyatno have well developed rail networks providing coverage throughout the whole of those stations. Imperiya is unique in its transportation methods due to its superstructure: the size of the station and the open-planed nature of its wards allow for the use of pseudo-aircraft known as magnimo to travel in a manner similar to motor vehicles in Orbalian cities. Magnimo use magnetic tracks to bind them to "roadways"; their altitude relative to the tracks can be adjusted through the strengthening and weakening of their magnetic connection. The vehicles are capable of self-propulsion to a limited extent beyond the tracks, but such propulsion is highly regulated and disallowed in non-emergency circumstances. Considered as a whole, availability to rail networks on the Empire's space stations hovers around one hundred percent. On Imperiya Station, personal magnimo ownership rates stand at around three tenths, similar to rates in Orbalian urban areas.
Watercraft are commonly employed on the water worlds of Pechlus, Velesa, Chaius, and Mora as the primary means of local, regional, and interegional transportation. Velesa, Chaius, and Mora have primarily underwater settlements, making the use of submersibles a necessity on those planets. Rates of personal watercraft utilization are high there: an estimated three to four fifths of the population of those planets have reliable access to personal submersibles. Surface water craft are more common on Velesa than the rest of these water worlds, as it possesses a large, surface-habitable region along its terminator line. Surface water craft are also used on Pechlus and Chaius, although to a lesser extent due to less favorable surface conditions.
Spacecraft utilization is a necessity for interplanetary and other deep space logistics and travel needs in the Empire. The primary method of spacecraft propulsion generation in the Empire is the usage of solar sails. Often, the natural solar winds of Aidus are supplemented with directed-energy maser arrays, both on-board and off-board the space craft in question. Most spacecraft have the capacity to generate a limited degree of propulsion through on-board maser arrays, insuring that they have a low-energy-requirement means of propelling themselves through space. Smaller spacecraft are often fitted with Linear-magnetic drive systems, which have a high energy requirement but are otherwise capable of sending the vessels at speeds comparable to the most favorable solar wind conditions. The linear-magnetic drive replaced the older nuclear pulse propulsion methods of the First and early Second Ages, due to its improvements on energy efficiency and electromagnetic stealth. As it is always easier to move away from the star Aidus, planets have maser array platforms located at their Lagrange points and at antiorbital locations to supply vessels across controlled Imperial space with reliable star-wards propulsion. Solar, maser, nuclear pulse, and linear-magnetic propulsion methods are exclusively utilized in deep space; for inter-orbital transportation (from space to planet-side), much less powerful ion and chemical propellents are utilized in tandem with natural gravitational forces. Space ships commonly have landing craft attached to their superstructure, though there are some without such capabilities; for this reason, every inhabited planet in the Empire is host to a number of space stations to serve as intermediaries for deep space and inter-orbital transportation.
Science and technology[edit | edit source]
The planets of the Empire have long differed in their scientific prowess and economic specialization. Measures of scientific advancement are best done in comparison between the planets and their historical standings. In the First and Second Ages, Velesa had long been the leading planet in the Aidus system for scientific research and technological development. Following the Coalition War and the First Velesan Civil War, this status was greatly diminished; despite a brief resurgence under the Velesan Yedinstate, the Caligum induced conditions on Orbalia which saw it pioneer a wide variety of technologies now fundamental to the technology of the modern Empire. As a result of this back and forth relationship, modern Orbalia and Velesa are roughly on par with one another in their scientific impact factor, whereas the centralization of Imperial governmental resources in Imperiya Station has allowed the Empire's capital to become the leading center of scientific advancement in the contemporary period. The vast majority of Empire-wide funding for new research and development comes from the Imperial government, followed by a near tie between the Dominion governments of Orbalia and Velesa respectively.
Many sophisticated technologies have extensive usage in the contemporary Empire. Nuclear fission power is ubiquitous with human settlement, utilized as the power supply units for small submersibles to entire planetary grids. Electromagnetic field manipulation is applied throughout the Empire in numerous ways, from the individual-use level of Mancia, to the space ship accelerating Linear-magnetic drive, and even to the full shielding of the Empire's largest space stations. Computers and electronics are commonplace throughout the Empire, with such devices found in the homes, workplaces, and public areas of all of its cities and settlements. Robotics are prevalent throughout the Empire, but there are extreme regulations on the development and use of advanced artificial intelligence. Spaceflight is commonplace throughout the Empire, being a key component in the formation and maintenance of the whole polity. Megascale engineering is a cutting edge area of engineering and technological advancement, with the crowning achievement of the Empire being its capital station, Imperiya. Genetic engineering has given the Empire a stable supply of food across its varied and hostile environments. Gene editing also allows for the treatment of many medical conditions in utero, though use of the technology is highly overseen and subjected to some of the tightest controls of any field in Imperial science. Biotics involves a crossing between the fields of electrical engineering and medicine, with implants being used to provide enhanced movement abilities and allow the functioning of Pseudogravity.
Major academic research institutions in the Empire include the Imperial Academy of Sciences, the University of Trenshaya, and the Unified Orbalian Institutes of Science. Many research programs benefitting the whole Empire are maintained through these institutions, such as the Transmoran Deep Field Array and the Advanced Astrophysics and Exological Studies program. Although the Orbital University is technically positioned within Imperial controlled space, it is not affiliated with the Empire, and as such, remains a distinct institution from the Imperial academic community. The Orbital University has sometimes raised the ire of Imperial politicians for poaching the top minds of Imperial engineering, science, and research, although the believed supremacy of the Orbital University in areas of technological development have long dissuaded any attempt by the Empire of imposing control over the institution.
Demographics[edit | edit source]
A census has been taken across the whole of the Empire at the start of every millennium since the beginning of the Fourth Age. At the beginning of the 13th millennium, there was a recorded population of 604.44 million individuals in the Empire. 82.33% of this population resides on Orbalia, a total of 498 million people. The next most populous planet is Velesa, with 69.5 million people, followed by Mora with 13.5 million, Chaius with 12.4 million, and finally Pechlus with around 20,000 people. The vast majority of space-dwelling citizens of the Empire live on Imperiya Station, which has a resident population of 11 million people. Around 45,000 people live on space stations other than Imperiya, a little under half of these individuals live in orbit of the star Aidus, while roughly a third live in orbit of Orbalia on Vikkar Station.
Since the formation of the Aidusian Empire, growth rates have stabilized across many of the Empire's planets. During the Two Uec War of the middle Second Age and the events that preceded it, many planets across the Aidus system suffered from extreme population devastation. Recovery during the Third Age was slow but progressive; today, growth rates only many planets have either exceeded historical records or near their historic highs. This phenomenon is especially present on Orbalia, which has experienced a renaissance of demographic growth during the Fourth Age due to generally improving standards of living and economic distribution. Whereas once a significant portion of Orbalia's population fed into the growth of Chaius and Mora through immigration, this flow has largely been redirected towards Imperiya Station, which has pseudogravitational conditions suitable to Orbalians as well as Imperial government incentives for migration. A smaller portion of the population of Velesa migrates to Imperiya in comparison to Orbalia, and very little migration from Chaius and Mora to the station occurs.
The Empire is home to three ethnolinguistic groups: the Langic and Volsic originating from Orbalia and the Podchinic originally of Velesa. The Volsic are the largest, making up 50.7% of the Empire's total population. The Langic and Podchinic make up 32.4% and 16.9% respectively. While the Podchinic are the smallest of the groups, their impact on the economic and political culture of the Empire is by far the most pronounced of the three.
Language[edit | edit source]
The official languages of the Empire are Volsh, Langin, and Podchin. Alongside the standardized forms of these languages, there are a number of dialects, primarily so among the Volsh speakers of Orbalia and the speakers of all languages on the planets Chaius and Mora. A little over half of the Empire's population are native speakers of Volsh or its dialects. A little under a third are native speakers of Langin. The remainder, around 17%, are native speakers of Podchin.
The three major languages of the Empire have all had distinct periods of dominance in interplanetary commerce and culture. During the early First Age, Langin was the predominant language spoken among officials and servicemembers of the Drevnian Divinity. For much of the later First Age and for much of the Second Age, the Velesan Council's and, later Velesan Yedinstate's, dominance of space commerce, settlement, and travel saw the prevailing of the Podchin language. Throughout the period of the Aidus Combine during the Third Age, Volsh became the major interplanetary protocol language. Since the collapse of the Combine and the rise of the Transvelesan Empire, Podchin has regained ground as a major contemporary protocol language. In the contemporary period, Volsh and Podchin remain predominant as the Empire's two major lingua francas.
As of the 13th millennium of the Fourth Age, roughly half of the Empire's population claims to be fluently bilingual, while just over ten percent claim to be fluently trilingual. With these two statuses combined, over two thirds of the Empire's population claims to be able to speak at least one language in addition to their native tongue. The most common bilingual status by far comes in the pairing of Volsh with Podchin, followed somewhat distantly by Langin with Podchin. A much smaller proportion of the population claims bilingual fluency in Volsh with Langin. Trilingual status is most often achieved by native speakers of Langin, whose language remains the least utilized in interplanetary communications protocols. The highest concentration of trilingual and bilingual status individuals is on Imperiya Station, in which a near totality of the station's population is of at least bilingual status.
In addition to the living official languages of the Empire, many academics have a working knowledge of the Anglatin language. Anglatin has no native speakers, as it is primarily a written language taught at advanced levels of academia. Most speakers of the Anglatin language are not actually residents of Imperial territory but the Orbital University, which de facto maintains non-subject status within Imperial controlled space. Anglatin is often learned by Imperial citizens who seek admittance into the Orbital University. Among specialized schools, it is sometimes offered as a language course in addition to the state-mandated official languages. Anglatin is believed to be a very ancient language with deep ties to all three official languages.
Religion[edit | edit source]
The freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Imperial Charter of Rights. Citizens of the Empire are free to openly practice any religion they so please, typically under the expectation that the religious organization they are a part of its operating in good faith. Dominions and equal-level administrative divisions are free to engage in the practice of adopting state religions, so long as the implementation of such does not infringe on the rights of citizens living within that division. On Orbalia there are administrative divisions of the Dominion which have adopted state religion, largely across a broad swath of Langia, and the Velesan Confederacy as a whole has a state religion.
The largest religion practiced in the Empire is Estrelicism, which constitutes 36.4% of the total population. The second largest is Septoilanism, presently composing 30.3% of the overall population. Both Estrelicism and Septoilanism are branches of the Paixist-Drevianic family of religions, which have been practiced primarily on Orbalia for most of the system's recorded history. Together, the Drevianic religions constitute a near-preicse two thirds of the overall religious makeup of the Empire. Behind the Drevianic religions, irreligion represents 21.9% of the Empire's population. Irreligion is especially prevalent on Chaius and Mora, the latter of which has historically even had adversarial policies towards the practice of religion. Starveryanism is the state religion of the Velesan Confederacy and the religion practiced by all reigning Monarchs of the Empire since Lutmila the Great, making up a present tally of 11.2% of the total population. Starveryanism is common on Velesa and among Velesans living on Imperiya Station, with small populations on Chaius and Mora. Quelquism is a relatively young pseudo-religious identity which is prevalent especially among the Circumtorus, with a growing presence on Imperiya Station.
Historically, the planets of Orbalia and Velesa have had high participation rates in religion. In the middle of the Second Age, the rise of Gildaism and Prochnism corresponded with a general decline of membership in religious congregations, from 90% of the total human population to only 40% by the beginning of the Caligum. Since, then, however, religious participation rates have rebounded, especially so on Orbalia during the Hysterium. Since the beginning of the Transvelesan Empire, religious participation has oscillated between growth and decline, this trend being especially variant among the individual religions of the Empire. Estrelicism and quequism have seen the largest growth since the beginning of the Empire, while Septoilanism has generally been declining. Starveryanism has remained mostly stable, declining at a glacial pace. Rates of irreligion have only marginally increased since the beginning of the Fourth Age. At present, roughly 55% of individuals claim to be actively practicing their religion, with about 25% claiming religious preference but little to no active practice.
Largest settlements[edit | edit source]
| Rank | Name | 1st-level division | 2nd-level division | Metro population est. IV.12000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhoden | Orbalian Dominion | Gras Land | 29,980,000 |
| 2 | Anderfelt | Orbalian Dominion | Suebensh Land | 21,720,000 |
| 3 | Anseln | Orbalian Dominion | Bunt Land | 14,740,000 |
| 4 | Imperiya Station | Imperiya Metropole | Space station | 11,500,000 |
| 5 | Novel-Vespèr | Orbalian Dominion | Aetarluine Prefecture | 11,010,000 |
| 6 | Havra | Orbalian Dominion | Fricoteline Prefecture | 10,250,000 |
| 7 | Loien | Orbalian Dominion | Nedren Land | 9,890,000 |
| 8 | Nizana Trenshaya | Velesan Confederacy | Popovian Atmiralty | 9,450,000 |
| 9 | Neberlin | Orbalian Dominion | Trots Land | 9,220,000 |
| 10 | Frehberg | Orbalian Dominion | Gras Land | 9,180,000 |
Welfare[edit | edit source]
Compared to the historical record, the Aidusian Empire has the highest standard of living of any human sovereignty to date. While the Imperial government is not directly responsible for the provision of many services to its citizens, the whole of the Empire is still considered a welfare state due to the stringent requirements by the Imperial government of its constituent Dominions in this regard. According to the Imperial Charter of Rights, the political divisions of the Empire hold a duty of care towards their citizens. The result of this is a comprehensive social welfare system which includes universal education and universal healthcare for all citizens. In addition to these basic provisions, many Dominions have benefit payments for the unemployed, disabled, retired, and child-rearing.
The modern Imperial welfare state has its roots in the gildaist and trade union movements of the Second Age. Orbalia and Mora had become strongholds of the movement, while non-gildaist polities and planets aimed to curb or outright suppress the movement, through the accommodation of its policies and the forced disintegration of its institutions. During the Velesan Yedinstate period, gildaism was suppressed to near-extinction in any organized capacity. During the Third Age, the renaissance of gildaism came through the emergence of neogildaist movements across the system. Due to the more fractious political context of the early-to-mid Third Age, there were no formal attempts at its suppression, and hence the movement spread much more fervently and rapidly than its ideological predecessor. The universalist approach of the neogildaist aligned many of its advocates with the emergence of Pan-Aidusianism, which flourished especially after the rise of the Transvelesan Empire in the middle Third Age. As the Transvelesan Empire was politically predicated on cooperation and synthesis with extant political systems, neogildaism flourished under Transvelesan rule, becoming especially prominent on Mora and Velesa, and leading to the widespread support for welfare systems at the crucial early stage of the Empire. Since then, these systems have mostly been expanded and streamlined to offer efficient and extensive support for the quality of life of Imperial citizens.
Education[edit | edit source]
Education in the Empire is administered by the Dominions and equal-level divisions. By the Imperial Charter of Rights, these divisions are obliged to provide, comprehensive, free, and equal-access educational opportunities to all citizens. Educational attainment levels in the Empire are grouped according to level; there are three: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary and secondary education are typically formatted by the divisions of the Empire in structures which align with their own secondary level administrative division; i.e., primary and secondary schools are organized according to their constituent municipalities, although funding universally comes from the Dominion or equivalent level government. Primary and secondary education are compulsory throughout the Empire.
Tertiary education is provided by more specialized institutions, ranging from locally-administered community colleges to interplanetary-student-bodied universities. Tertiary education is the only level that is not compulsory under law, and yet it still has high levels of achievement across all Imperial subdivisions. Overall, as of IV.12000, 64% of adults in the Empire possess tertiary-level certifications or diplomas. Like primary and secondary education, tertiary education is provided without cost; funding for tertiary educational institutions comes from both the Imperial government and Dominion governments in many cases. Tertiary education is more granularly divided than primary and secondary level education: there are undergraduate, postgraduate, and vocational forms which result in different certificatory outcomes for students.
In addition to the standard three levels of education, all Dominions and equal-level divisions provide cost-free preschool for child-rearing individuals. Preschools in the Empire are varied in their applications and forms, but most are free-form, allowing preschoolers to act according to their own interests with little-to-no formal educational structure. The free-form method of education has shown empirical success in improving later educational outcomes for children who participated in such programs, while at the same time allowing child-rearing individuals to more freely participate in the workforce. As of IV.12000, it was found that 78% of eligible-age children were enrolled in preschools across the Empire.
Health[edit | edit source]
Healthcare in the Empire is mandated for universal provision to all persons. Dominions and equal-level divisions of the Empire are charged with the administration of their own healthcare systems. While the overall result sees variance in the exact organization of health care systems, access to healthcare remains high throughout the Empire. On almost all planets, healthcare systems are financially supported by the planetary government, while the administration of individual institutions is provided for on a regional basis. On Pechlus, Imperiya, and throughout the Circumtoroidal Dominion, healthcare networks are directly administered by the central governments. Persons requiring healthcare are legally required to be treated as needed regardless of their residential status in their present jurisdiction, while non-resident persons of a jurisdiction where they have been treated immediately are often transferred to their home jurisdiction unless they have exceptional medical needs surpassing the capabilities of their home jurisdiction.
The general level of human health throughout the Empire is high compared to historical record. The average life expectancy of an Imperial citizen is 5633.9 uecs (5514.0 uecs for males and 5753.7 uecs for females). This figure has been trending slightly positively for millennia, as advancements in medical sciences are compounded with improving access to healthcare services and treatments. Many genetic disorders are treatable through in utero gene therapy, a highly regulated practice legally mandated to be used solely for the treatment of health maladies. Infant morality is extremely low, at 1.7 deaths for 10,000 live births.
The leading causes of death in the Empire are cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and complications from obesity. Roughly 34% of the adult Imperial population is obese, and the phenomenon is a leading health risk in the contemporary period. Homicide and suicide rates are low in comparison to historical records, while overdose deaths have increased somewhat. Self-reported rates of excessive alcohol and drug usage have risen substantially in the Fourth Age. Rising alcohol and drug usage rates have not correlated directly with a substantial rise in overall death rates, but the overall health impact has been varied across the constituencies of the Empire, with the regions of Mora, the Circumtorus, and Imperiya principally leading the increases in substance abuse. Rates of death from accidents are generally low, a feat often attributed to high safety standards throughout the Empire.
Labor[edit | edit source]
The right to self-organization of labor is guaranteed by extension of the right to association in the Imperial Charter of Rights. The long history of trade unions in the system as a whole is reflected both legally and organizationally; labor rights are strong throughout the Empire and membership in trade unions and guilds stands at about 91% of the workforce. Unlike other cultural, demographic, and economic statistics in the Empire, trade union membership varies relatively little between planets: rates of workforce union membership on every planet stands above 90%. The Imperial Federation of Labor-Congress of Aidusian Guilds is the largest federation of trade unions and guilds in the contemporary Empire, with a total membership surpassing 200 million as of IV.12000.
Labor union history begins in the early Second Age. The ideology of Gildaism emerged on Mora, then a colony of Velesa; it quickly spread to the colony of Chaius and Velesa itself. Despite initial setbacks in the movement, Gildaism spread across these worlds with fervor, eventually even seeing the Moran colonial government overthrown in the Moran Revolution of the 15th millennium. By the middle of the Age, Gildaism had spread to the Orbalian workforce, first through those working primarily in outer space in instances such as the Union of Interstellar Mineworkers and Engineers, then later politically on the surface of the planet as with the Graslaender Gildaist Party. Gildaism was brutally suppressed on Velesa for much of the mid-late Second Age during the Caligum. The system's domination by the prochnist Velesan Yedinstate took a severe toll on trade unionism and gildaism, as by the beginning of the Third Age, all labor organizations were either exterminated or wholly underground. Neogildaism during the Third Age spread alongside the general economy rebound of the system; the movement had become prominent once more by the time of the establishment of the Transvelesan Empire in the later part of the Age. Incorporation of neogildaist goals and ideas into the Imperial Charter of Rights in the early Fourth Age solidified the strength of labor rights organizations across the system. In the contemporary period, organized labor is at a record level of influence and membership.
Recreation[edit | edit source]
Access to adequate recreation is enshrined as a part of the Imperial Charter of Rights. Across the Empire, all persons are legally entitled to be provided with at least three sextants of rest per every two uecs. The exact requirement of rest per uec varies per planet; the requirement is strongest on Mora, where residents are required to receive two days of rest for every uec that they are employed within that same uec. Legally mandated recreation for individuals can be voluntarily renounced, but across many of the Empire's divisions, this cannot be done contractually. Across many areas of employment, the repose of a uec (its first and last days) are given as the standard days of recreation for individuals. The repose is not legally required to be the sextants provided to individuals for their mandated recreation, and the particular sextants provided are often reflective of the peak times of operation for the respective fields of employment.
The Imperial mandate of recreation was formulated in reaction to the rise of neogildaist sentiments during the late Third and early Fourth Ages. The mandate is one of many examples of the Imperial government seeking to alleviate potential areas of dispute by dissident groups through the identification of areas which motivate such dissidence. Recreation uptake is high across the Empire, and it is generally believed to assist with occupational stress and the consequences that can stem from such a condition. Throughout the Fourth Age, rates of occupational burnout across the Empire have been found to generally trend negatively; while this feat cannot be wholly attributed to the right to recreation, it is generally believed to have played some role in the trend.
There are many forms of leisure which are found throughout the Empire. Entertainment can be generally provided to individuals by any manner of other means; people can take passive roles such as being the audience in theatre or active roles as is the case in games. Sport is enjoyed by both viewers and participants in amateur and profession settings; among the most popular sports in the Empire are football, hockey, jetlance, and exoracing. Parks are found across many different settings; urban green space is common across many Orbalian cities while greenhouses designed to resemble such green spaces can be found throughout many of the non-surface settlements of Velesa, Chaius, Mora, and even space stations. Tourism is a means of recreation typically involving travel and lodging in environments of any sort not familiar to the persons undertaking the experience; tourism can happen across a number of spheres, be it within a region or transiting from one planet to another.
Culture[edit | edit source]
The culture of the whole Empire is influenced by its constituent cultural groups. There are three such groups: the Volsic and Langic originating on Orbalia and the Podchinic originating on Velesa. All of these cultures are descended from the common Drevnian culture of the Forgotten Age, which existed more cohesively approximately 120 thousand uecs before the present. The present cultures of the Empire have always existed in a state of interaction with one another; the tendency to influenced each other has been limited solely by linguistic barriers. As a result, the modern Imperial culture is often described as a "patchwork": the Empire's cultural make-up is composed of its distinct parts which both compliment and constrast with one another.
In recent times, especially since the beginning of the Fourth Age, there has been an emergent identity of a unified Imperial cultural found primarily on its off-world holdings. In particular, the influx of persons from all across the Empire to Imperiya Station has led to the development of a unique social environment on the platform, resembling somewhat the immigrant cultures of Chaius and Mora in the early stages of the Second Age. While some scholars of antrhopology have described the apparent Imperial culture as a mere phenomenon of multilateral cultural diffusion between the constituent cultural groups, others have noted more specifically the adoption of a cross-cultural identity as telling of the likely birth of a new cultural group altogether. The prevalent emergence of the Imperiyan dialect of the Volsh language, its impact on trans-cultural diffusion of ideas between the peoples present on the station, as well as the spreading of uniquely Orbalian ideas to Velesan-heritage individuals on the station and vice versa, have been the largest sources of evidence for the supposed emergence of the "Imperial cultural identity."
While the presence of an Imperial culture is still a matter of debate, the individual presence of the constituent cultures of the Empire on their home planets, as well as the presence of mixed cultures on the less anciently settled planets, is considered a given. The Volsic and Langic groups of Orbalia are noted for their characteristics stemming from their environmental circumstances. The Volsic became defined in the First Age through their relationship with the Langic; where the Volsic are descended from many of the rural residents of the earlier Drevnian Divinity, the Langic are descended from its urban and semi-urban craftspeople and educated elite. The Podchinic culture is believed to have diverged more concretely from the earlier Drevnian culture during the Forgotten Age and likely sometime during the later part of this period; the Podchinic settlement of Velesa is believed to have been a reaction to the domination of Orbalia by the highly spiritual and stratified Langic culture. Since the emergence of this individual cultures, their mixing with one another has been limited foremost by their linguistic barriers and secondly by their political arrangements. After the fall of the Drevnian Divinity at the end of the First Age, the Podchinic culture became unrestricted to Velesa, while at the same time the Volsic and Langic cultures of Orbalia became untethered from their original relationship to one another. During the first part of the Second Age, immigration to Chaius and Mora saw the first emergence of true cultural mixing locations between the constituent cultures since the collapse of the Drevnian Empire. In the modern Aidusian Empire, the conditions of cultural interaction are believed to once more resemble the environment of the Drevnian Empire; fascinations and ideas are able to travel between the constituent cultures and are limited solely by linguistic differences.
Literary and visual arts[edit | edit source]
Literature in the Empire is a broad category, spanning across millennia of authors and literary movements. Among the most preeminent of literary movements in the Transvelesan period are the composers of epic poetry that adorned the court of Lutmila the Great. Tymo, considered one of the most significant figures of epic poetry during the reign of Lutmila the Great, served in her court for most of their life. Despite their influence, Tymo never actually wrote any of their work; instead, the Korpus Tymo was a varying and imminently amendable body of poetry that the poet had memorized and drew from to tell long, entertaining tales to the court. Often, other poets would then visit the court of Lutmila the Great to learn stories from the Korpus, either writing it down for preservation or expanding on characters that Tymo had introduced. Often, the themes and subjects of the Korpus drew on the oral tradition that defines Starveryanism, the state religion of the Velesan Confederacy and the personal religion of every Aidusian monarch. Contemporary Podchin literature draws greatly upon the precedents set by the Korpus Tymo, with every reigning monarch since having employed a court poet in the manner of Lutmila the Great. Presently, the court poet of Emperor Gavriel is Olifa Pafelofa. Along with the Podchinic court poetry of the Aidusian monarchs, there exists a strong culture of fiction and poetry native to the Volsh and Langic peoples of Orbalia considered to be of a long tradition of literary arts on that planet. Tatana Rhos, Alexan Foray, and Billan Grens are some of the most notable contemporary authors of Orbalian literature.
In terms of visual arts, there are a number of modes of expression which are commonly found across all the planets and peoples of the Empire. These include, but are not limited to, painting, sculpting, drawing, and architecture. Numerous artistic movements have existed over the course of Imperial history, many of which interact with one another and exist between more than one medium. Contemporary visual design in the Aidusian Empire has largely coalesced between three prominent movements: Florescism, Svetism, and Neokuglism. Florescism exists across almost every medium of the visual arts; it is defined by its maximizing approach to the idea of beauty and by a general tendency to fill as much of the medium space as possible with "flourishes," so long as such additions only have a positive effect on the work overall. Florescism has a tradition rooted across the visual arts traditions of both Orbalian-native cultures, and it has seen increased uptake on Imperiya Station, where the physical limitations on space have led many to fill as much space as possible with beautiful things. Svetism has some presence in the fields of drawing, but it is more well known for its influence in sculpture and architecture. Stemming primarily from the artistic traditions of Velesa, Chaius, and Mora, svetism primarily uses sources of light as its driving feature; svetism's approach to maximizing aesthetic value through light is due to the inherently dark environments of the subglacial, planetary oceans of the planets the movement developed on. Svetism has hence become popular among space stations as well, which often have their window-space minimized for efficiency and as such typically lack natural sources of light. Neokuglism is largely found on Orbalia and is the oldest of the three major contemporary artistic movements; its popularity in recent years has waned in favor of the other two, although some neokuglist artists remain active. Neokuglism is directly related to a revival of interest in Kuglism; sphere-based aesthetics that were popular especially during the First Age due to their replicability.
Performance arts[edit | edit source]
Performance arts have a long history across the core planets of the Empire. On Orbalia, live drama performances often take the form of plays or operas, whereas on Velesa, live drama performances are most typically ballets. These forms of dramatic performance art have spread across the system from their respective planets; in the contemporary period, amphitheatres are found in most Orbalian settlements, with auditoriums filling the same role in settlements which cannot house open-air performances. Major dramaticists in the contemporary Empire include literary authors such as Tatana Rhos, but playwrights in their own right as well, inclduing Edela Harber and Jorje Sandusca. Operas and ballets are often written by composers instead of literary figures, with one of the most notable of such figures in the contemporary period being Pydor Aleksof Artistic movements of dramatic performances are often highly interconnected with both literary and musical movements; all three are often complimentary of one another as products of particular aesthetic movements.
Music is another field of performance arts which has a history spanning from long before the existence of the Empire. Whereas dramatic performances can be facilitated through actors and dialogue alone, music necessitates the involvement of an instrument, even if that instrument is as simple as the voice of a singer. Throughout the history of music, there has been a much larger amount of innovation in terms of musical creation methods compared to artistic equivalents of drama and literature. Bosca music has long characterized a collectively backdrop of Orbalian musical tradition stemming from the use of wooden instruments; this form of music is believed to be one of the most ancient, with such instruments having been used in periods as early to human history as the Forgotten Age. Sinteta music collectively describes music generated from electronic instruments; while both bosca and sinteta have a long history, the former is thought to have preceded the latter merely because of the non-electric nature of its media. Both bosca and sinteta continue to be the defining areas of Aidusian music in the contemporary period, with numerous sub-genres and artists exisiting both inside and between these broader aesthetic musical spaces.
Throughout much of the Empire, performances are often viewed remotely through the use of electronic media. Communications satellites are common across Imperial controlled space, transmitting broadcasts of performances and other sources of entertainment not only interregionally on planets but across interplanetary space as well. Teleholography is one of the most popular methods of live visual media viewing throughout much of the Empire; dramatic and musical performances can be performed remotely and enjoyed in a near-in-person fashion across vast distances. Holographic recordings can also be viewed for much the same effect. In smaller locations, such as within one's own home or aboard star ships, screens are often used to relay such entertainment. The Aidolink, developed in the early Second Age, has long been used as a primary digital platform for the connection of electronic media to one another; through the Aidolink, users can access both recordings and live performances in visual or audio recording formats. Aside from its use for the enjoyment of performance arts, the Aidolink can also access a variety of other forms of information for personal provision.
Dress and fashion[edit | edit source]
The dress of the individual peoples of the Empire is often contextual to their environments, physical and social. Generally, these forms of dress vary based on the type of planet or station that an individual inhabits. On Orbalia, with its temperate open-air surface meridional band and extremes towards its day and night sides, dress is often determined in the sense of the physical environment based on the sextent of a uec, as temporally this has a high degree of influence on the local climate experienced by an individual. In warm sextents, it is common for people to wear shorter leg-coverings, short-sleeved shirts, and headpieces which block excessive sunlight. In colder sextents, people wear longer pants, longer-sleeved shirts, and one of a variety of outer-layer garments for additional insulation. As Orbalia has an abundance of agricultural production, natural fibres and animal wools are the most component component materials of clothing there. One notable garment typically made of wool on Orbalia is the Chamant, a poncho-like garment traditionally threaded woven with flax and wool. Dress on Velesa differs quite substantially from that on Orbalia due to the lack of surface terrain; Velesan dress changes less depending on the sextent and moreso depending on the environmental circumstances. Velesan clothes are more often made out of synthetic fibres; this is much the same with many planets outside of Orbalia and on space stations as well. Typical dress across all such locations can be quite significantly different depending on the physical environment; on Velesa, for example, if one has a need to go outside into the waters of the world ocean, then typically they would wear a wetsuit over their undergarments. On all planets and settled places of the Empire, there are social occassions where one would be expected to dress in one's nicest clothing as a sign of respect: such events include but are not limited to weddings, funerals, and other celebrations.
Fashion in the Empire largely varies from planet to planet and is often heavily influenced by prevailing aesthetic movements. Bright or otherwise vibrant colors are often paired with larger swaths of darker ones in order to make these colors stand out; a brightly colored shirt might be accompanied by a pair of pants in a more subdued tone. Choices of color can vary between planets in terms of sensibility, as well; on Velesa, for example, due to the lack of natural light in many deep sea colonies, people in urban areas tend to wear brighter colors overall and wearing such colors is considered a sign of wealth. In more recent millennia, textiles with reflective properties and accompanying, contrasting patterns have become very popular. Typically, the reflective color tends to be a shade resembling a natural metal, such as gold, silver, or rhodium, in order to pair such a garment with accessories made of such metals. Metal-material accessories such as jewelry and body piercings are also extremely popular throughout the Empire; often, bearing such accessories is a sign of wealth and prosperity, indicative of the status of individuals with regards to their net social standing. Fashion trends, like many purely aesthetic movements, tend to be influential across the whole of the Empire as opposed to merely linguistically-delineated planetary groups. Major fashion houses on Imperiya Station such as Hersi and Vashna are leading institutions of both haute couture and ready-to-wear fashions.
Cuisine[edit | edit source]
The cuisine of the Empire is diverse and typically reflects the environmental circumstances of its constituent societies within their broader cultural groups. Orbalia, long the most agriculturally fruitful of the Imperial planets, has an exceptionally varied cuisine that is perhaps the most typifing of this environmental influence. Broadly, Orbalian cuisine can be divided between the Volsic and Langic cultural groups. Volsic cuisine has long had a focus on meat seasoned with herb and spice, typically accompanied by wheat and rye derived products or potatos. Smoked meat and sausage are some of the most famous delicacies of Volsic cuisine, and to this day, represent some of the most single-substance diversity of preparation within that cuisine. Common animals raised for their meat include cows and pigs, in addition to of chicken and lamb. Commonly used herbs and spices in Volsic cuisine include black pepper, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Honey is a valuable product of beekeeping whose use in Volsic cuisine is widely sought after; sugar beets often substitute for sweetness when honey is unavailable. Vegetables included in Volsic cuisine include turnips, radishes, carrots, celery, onions, and beets in addition to potatos, the single-largest consumed plant substance in the average Volsic diet. Beer is the mostly widely consumed alcohol in all Volsic regions; it is typically made from barley or wheat and hops and comes in many varities.
Langic cuisine is notable for its wheat-based pasta, its delicately herbed sauces, their dairy products, and its general perception as highly sophisticated. As the Langic culture developed on Orbalia, it shared many of the same agricultural products of the Volsic tradition, although with some significant difference in their utilization. Milk and cream play a major role in Langic cuisine, serving as the base for both sauces and a major ingredient, butter. The application of several key ingredients with each another produces what are known as the mother sauces; Olandas is made through the delicate introduction of egg to melted butter, Bejámas is based on the thickening of flour and butter white roux with milk, Brúnas is based on stock thickened with browned roux, Tomátas is based primarily on the natural reduction of tomato, and Velúnas on the introduction of white roux to a clear stock. Later additions to these mother sauces of herbs, cheese, or other products can result in their transformation into distinctly named products. Cheese is a major good produced in many Langic regions; its appellation is regulated under Orbalian law, such that specifically named cheeses can only originate from specific regions of the planet and be produced under specific methods. In addition to utilizing many of the same meats, herbs, spices, and vegetables as Volsic cuisine, Langic cuisine utilizes veal, tarragon, white pepper, savory, marjoram, oregano, lavendar, tomato, eggplant, peas, and peppers. Wine is the most widely consumed alcohol in Langic cuisine, and much like cheese, its appellation is regulated under Orbalian law; wine is made from fermented grapes, whose cultivar and production method results in a varity of kinds.
Podchinic cuisine is one of the most environmentally affected vareities of Imperial cuisine as a whole due to the unique circumstances under which it developed. It is perhaps most typified by its higher reliance upon aquaculture and hydroponics than its Orbalian cousins; as a result, the basic ingredients utilized in Podchinic cuisine are somewhat more limited. Podchinic cuisine is most notable for its focus on the control of salinity, different types of salts are introduced through different sources at different stages of preparation for varying effects on the end product. Sea salt is typically held as distinct from rock salt; the application and granularity of the two define a major part of the preparation of Podchinic cuisine. Major vegetables grown hydroponically in Podchinic cuisine include rice (the cuisine's most important grain), onions, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, berries, and lettuce. The raising of fish in specialized apparatuses allows for the extraction of manure and its use in the nutrient enrichment of hydroponically grown foods. Notable varities of raised fish include salmon, tuna, cod, pollock, and haddock. A major delicacy of Podchinic cuisine is caviar, which is extracted from specially raised, typically uneaten sturgeon. Alongside fish, Podchinic cuisine utilizes crustaceans like crabs and lobsters. Seaweed is another speciality of Podchinic cuisine and is often utilized as a component in the production of specialized foods or simply eaten raw. The mostly widely cosumed alcohol in Podchinic cuisine is rice wine.
Sport[edit | edit source]
Sports played by individuals in the Empire are contextual; they can be broadly divided based on being played on a planet or in outer space. The most popular sports played on planetary bodies include football and hockey. Football is the most popular sport on Orbalia, while hockey is the most popular sport on Velesa, Chaius, and Mora. Jetlance is a popular sport played in zero-gravity, enclosed environments, while exoracing is a popular sport played in unenclosed outer space. An estimated 40% of the population watches live sports, either remotely or in-person, at least once a uec. Exact viewership rates vary somewhat across localities, but generally are within a standard deviation of the aforementioned value.
Football as played across the Aidus system is played with a sphere ball between two teams of 11 players. The game is plated on a rectangular field called a football pitch, which has a goal at each end. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball across the goal line, usually within a timeframe of one and a half hours. Football can be found on most planets, though it enjoys overwhelming popularity on Orbalia, where roughly 11.43 million people play the game weekly, either in amateur or professional settings. The Orbalian Football Federation is the largest body of professional football organizations on that planet, its regional associations divided into the respective leagues that serve as the basis for the majority of regular season viewership.
Hockey is a contact sport played on ice skates on an ice skating rink, where two teams of six skaters use ice hockey sticks to control, advance, and shoot a closed rubber disc called a puck into the other team's goal. The team that scores the most goals within the hour of regular play time is the winner of the game. Hockey is played on Orbalia, but it is most popular on Velesa, Chaius, and Mora, whose natural climate and undersea settlements are well suited to the easy creation of ice rinks. Hockey has a player base of around half a million persons in amateur of professional settings; despite being much less accessible to the average person due to the requirements of equipment and play area, its youth leagues, amateur adult leagues, and professional leagues are still major spectator draws. The Transvelesan Interplanetary Hockey Federation is the largest organization of leagues of the sport, with both planetary leagues and interplanetary playoff competitions.
Jetlance is a semi-contact sport played in the weightless conditions of space stations; in jetlance, two teams of seven use jetsuits to propel themselves in a spherical, enclosed arena, which has stationary goals at opposing ends of the sphere. A small ball known as a globo must be passed between players and ultimately thrown into an opposing team's goal to score points; like many sports in the Empire, the team with the most points at the end of an hour wins the game. Typically, arenas have various foam obstaces called asteroids, which can be strategically maneuvered by players to aid their team and hinder the other. Players are not allowed to pass the ball while boosting their jets, nor can they directly hit other players; players can boost asteroids to disrupt other players, but boosting an asteroid into a goal is considered a foul. Jetlance is the most popular sport on Imperiya Station and across many larger space stations of the Empire. The Imperial Jetlance Association is the sole organizer of professional and amateur jetlance leagues across the Empire, managing the highly spectated Imperiya League.
Exoracing is a motorsport played in the vacuum of open space. The sport can take a number of different specific forms; its most popular format is known as gravity racing, in which competitors use the natural gravitational pull of planets as the primary means of propulsion. Exoracers compete in specially designed and modified spacecraft which can vary in means of primary self-propulsion; solsail racing utilizes solsails while mag racing utilizes Linear-magnetic drives. Exoracing can take place across single-circuit long distances or multi-circuit short distances; i.e., long distance exoracing is typically interplanetary, whereas short distance exoracing can either lap around a single planet, object, or multitude of objects. Exoracing has a high barrier to entry for any of its many varities, due to the high cost of the racing vehicles and their maintenance. It is extremely popular as a spectator sport, however, drawing millions of spectators cyclically. Professional exoracing is organized by the Imperial Federation of Exoracing Associations, which is the sole legally-licensed authority for the sport. Unlicensed amateur exoracing is a crime due to the dangerous nature of unprofessional conduct, and amateur leagues mostly exist at the rim of Imperial controlled space throughout the Resonant Circumtorus.
Festivals[edit | edit source]
Festivals in the Empire are largely inherited from its constituent cultures. Each planet typically has its own set of festivals, paired with both religious observances and Imperially-designated festivals. From a legal perspective, there are three primary forms of festival in the whole of the Empire: statutory festivals, public festivals, and public observances. Statutory festivals vary specifically by subdivision, but in every jurisdiction, both public and private institutions are mandated to offer a paid sextent off for their employees; typically, the first or last sextent of a semain in the uec is chosen depending on the festival. Each dominion and equal-level administrative division designates their own statutory festivals, but there are some which are commonly observed throughout the Empire, such as the Emperor's Centennial and Centennalia. Public festivals are those celebrated by the public but in which no institution is mandated to provide paid time off; these include most religious festivals like Sepenaitmas on Orbalia and special secular festivals varying across the planets like Refolusiafek on Mora. Public observances are uecs which have been designated by the Imperial or Dominion governments has sextents or uecs dedicated to the memory or recognition of specific causes, events, or persons, but which are neither "celebrated" by the public nor mandated time off for employees.
| Type | Name | Basis (Notes) |
Frequency | Next observance (from IV.12500) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory festivals | Centennalia | Secular (Orbalian calendar) |
Every 100 uecs (i.e., uec modulo 100 = 0) | IV.12600 |
| Emperor's Centennial | Secular (Emperor's birth date) |
Every 100 uecs from the birth of the Emperor | IV.12578 | |
| Imperalia | Secular (Empire's founding date) |
Every 100 uecs from the foundation of the Transvelesan Empire (Since the beginning of the Fourth Age, it has been the 30th uec of every century) |
IV.12530 | |
| Public observance | Lutmilania | Secular (death of Lutmila the Great) |
Every 100 uecs from the death of Lutmila the Great (Since the beginning of the Fourth Age, it has been the 2nd uec of every century) |
IV.12502 |
| Predoklamishiya | Religious (Starveryanism) |
Every 21.168 uecs (Every 14 orbits of Velesa around Aidus; rounded as 21 uecs until the 6th instance, when it is rounded up to 22 uecs once) |
IV.12512 |
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