Empyrium

Empyrium
Governmental Information
Common Name	Empyrium
Official Name	The Empyrium
Organization Type	Hybrid confederacy under an authoritarian oligarchy
Head of State	Emperor of the Empyrium
Legislature	None (de jure) Imperial Conference (de facto)
Societal Information
Capital World	Main Capitals San (de facto) Alkid (de jure) Regional Capitals Tsadenia Zandar Sentor Yoph Fiyakyi
Capital City	Solanta
Official Language	Empyrian
Demographics
Demonym	Empyrean
Population	At least 3.5 trillion
Dominant Species	Empyrians
Other Species	Humans (Eosians) Empyreans (Invirians)
Astrography
Rim	Outer Rim Center Rim Mid Rim Inner Rim
Quadrant	Gamma Quadrant Delta Quadrant
Grid Coordinate	H6-L10
Galaxy	Milky Way
Historical Information
Date Founded	919 BCE
Preceded By	Tsadenian Union Primio Western Reaches
Other
Created by	Peter
Controlled by	Peter

The Empyrium is a collective of star systems located northwest of the galactic centre, extending over portions of the Mid Rim and Center Rim. Empyrium is formed by 5 units - North, West, South and East Empyrium, as well as Sanian Space. It borders the Galactic Federation, the Kintu Empire, the Nebularian Ascendancy, and the Varinn Confederacy. There are a total of 63 integrated systems, and the capital is San.

Functionally, the Empyrium is an authoritarian empire dominated by the Imperial Authority, but whose actual power varies from system to system and from world to world. There are five symbolic regions - the formerly separatist Western Reaches now holding the purpose-built, symbolic capital city of the empire on San. The Emperor still resides on the planet Alkid, legally the true capital, in the Empyrium system. Politically authoritarian in nature, the Empyrium can (and does) exercise absolute power over some of its worlds. However in practice, it is a hybrid confederacy - the actual degree of freedom varies from world to world, with San and most other capital worlds having an incredible degree of personal freedom and autonomy from the despots, whereas resourcefully important planets and new colony worlds see the most subjugation.

The Empyrium contains some of the biggest and most luminous stars in the galaxy, for example Iota Ophiuchi and Eta Occidens, so named due to their visibility in constellations from Yata. The Earendel system contains one of the most luminous stars known, calculated to be at least 1 million times more luminous than Sol. The Empyrium contains tens of thousands of systems, of which hundreds are known to be inhabited. However, only 63 systems are integrated member states that have joined the Empyrium.

The Empyrium was the first civilisation in the Milky Way to venture beyond the galactic halo, having travelled across the universe to the Corundum Galaxy.

History

The Empyrium emerged nearly 9,000 years after the Empyreans began their colonial project. Originally from the planet Sceraxa, the first colony worlds were Primio and Eisan. Eventually, colonists expanded so far that they forgot about each other, however Tsadenian colonists on Pertel discovered void energy, a substance that allowed them to harness faster-than-light technology. The Tsadenian Union became the first Empyrean hegemony, and quickly grew in size, reaching the planet Arbaea. The colonial class of the collective was dissatisfied with void energy rationing (as it was then a finite resource) and seceded as the Colonial Collective, which discovered even more planets, as far as Mansio and Melchizedek. Meanwhile, Primio (which had been isolated for millennia) had discovered void energy on its own through synthesis, allowing their own exploration.

As the Empyrean states kept exploring, Primio discovered the secret of the Alkidian Superanomaly - that it was a memoria bubble. They began covert research of this, and feared that the colonists who entered it long ago may have been empowered by the memoria, and may try to leave it again. By 1200 BCE, essentially all that constitutes Lesser+Greater Empyrium and the Western Reaches was discovered and colonial efforts began to dwindle.

In 932 CE, Primio annexed Alkid without warning, shocking the Tsadenian Union into preparing for war. Furthermore, they also sanctioned an uprising on Iophiuchi. The Tsadenian Union believed the best way to deal with the Primian threat was to act now, and invaded their territory. However, this was all part of the latter's plan to draw out the dangers lurking from the Alkidian Superanomaly, which Primio correctly predicted would try to emerge if given the impetus to do so. However, their plan faltered when the invasion from the Superanomaly far surpassed their expectations, quickly overwhelming the Primian fleet and forcing them to capitulate. They then turned on the Tsadenian Union, who proposed a ceasefire on the conditions that they respect the territorial integrity of the Expansion Region (now known as Greater Empyrium.) They claimed that failure to do so would lead them to interfere with the memoria, based on instructions left behind by Primian scientists.

The invaders, who called themselves "Invirian", agreed to these terms, however Tsadenia manipulated the memoria anyway, wiping the memories of the invaders and erasing any knowledge about Invirian Space, their homeworld, and how to return home. Believing them to be weakened as a result, the Tsadenian Union invaded Invirian-occupied territory, only to be met with such ferocity that they were then retreating once more. Eventually, they were so overwhelmed that they capitulated to the invaders, and the Western Reaches soon fell after. Thus, the invaders had achieved their goal of uniting the Empyrean race, however with their memories wiped and the memoria sealed, they could not return to Invirian Space. Seeing as they knew somehow that they lost their sense of identity, in 919 BCE they reorganised the state into the Empyrium, based off of the Empyrean word for "speakers of the mother tongue." This marked the start of the Imperial Calendar, and the hegemony of the Lesser Empyrium, which was formerly the core worlds of the Tsadenian Union.

Until a few centuries ago, the Empyrium was a confederation of its regions rather than its systems, that ultimately answered to the Lesser Empyrium hegemony based on Alkid. As more and more worlds grew prosperous, culminating in the discovery of the type W star San in the Western Reaches (which led to the establishment of a flourishing colony world, enriched by abundant heavy metals in the system), the Western Reaches to try to split from the collective. The collective soon became embroiled in anti-Imperial conflict, however this was soon eased when the Emperor introduced the Imperial System, restricting the Imperial Authority to less rich worlds. This began the divide between the so-called "free worlds" and the "system worlds" still under the Imperial Authority. The former regions therefore became symbolic in nature, but still retain major importance in the border control system.

The most recent star system to join the Empyrium was Earendel - a population III star with zero major natural satellites. A small colonial outpost was established in its orbit to stage expeditions to the Outer Rim, but these never occurred thanks to Earendel unexpectedly undergoing a Supernova, destroying all settlements in its orbit.

In the year 474 CE, a secessionist crisis emerged when Laconia became the first planet to leave the Empyrium.

Astrography

There are thousands of known systems within the Empyrium contained within 39 sectors, of which 63 are member systems. The most populous system is the San system, containing 32 planets and over a trillion people. The least populous systems are Earendel (with only a transient scientific population studying the nebula) and Estoxxhe, whose space station houses around 200,000 inhabitants. Primio is the least populous star system, with only 32 million inhabitants. For the most part, Empyrium systems are either in the Mid Rim or Center Rim, however there are a few notable exceptions: Alkid and Primio are within the Inner Rim, whereas the systems north of Earendel are in the Outer Rim.

The Empyrium straddles the Delta and Gamma quadrants of the Milky Way Galaxy. Its territories occupy 16 of its grid quadrants (of which 11 contain member systems.) It is 17,600 light years at its widest, and 12,570 light years on its perpendicular axis. It bulges roughly 950 light years either way of the galactic plane, i.e the galaxy's zero point for "height" that forms the galactic disc. At its closest point, it is 16,200 light years from the Galactic Center. Viewed from the Alpha Sol system, the Empyrium is 42,900 light years away and subtends 20 degrees of arc (which, in traditional astrography, covers a right ascension of 5°-25°), which is roughly twenty-times the angular diameter of Luna when viewed from Yata. It is situated between the (Inchyrosian) constellations of Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, and Scutum.

The Empyrium is largely connected by a faster-than-light travel network that it is reliant upon due to the presence of hundreds, if not thousands, of spacetime anomalies. These anomalies largely hinder FTL travel for a variety of reasons. Some estimate that up to 9% of the Empyrium is covered by said anomalies - the largest of which, the aptly-named Alkidian Superanomaly, covers roughly 3.8% of the entire empire's territory. The three other "major" anomalies are the Lyrisian Anomaly, the Grotto of Ilus and the Earendel Dark Nebula. Their origins are still a mystery, spare for those who know that the Earendel Dark Nebula was indirectly created by the Flavros Project.

Governance and politics

The Empyrium is headed by a group of anonymous individuals (whose numbers are truly unknown) in the line of succession to the Emperor, who is also anonymous. Governance is conducted through the Imperial System, in which impoverished and undergoverned planets and systems fall under the direct suzerainty of the Emperor, whereas the more prosperous worlds see higher degrees of autonomy. Planets such as San and Beta Venera II enjoy almost unchecked freedom, whereas colony worlds such as Laconia do not have freedom of the press. From the Imperial standpoint, this is a necessary measure to help the worlds "who cannot help themselves" or, in other words, the worlds under their control need it lest they be led astray and fall into a worser state. Free worlds, although not governed, do enjoy the protection of the Empyrium, and membership within it brings connections to the wider space.

Information control of Imperial System worlds is so strict that rich planets are unaware of what "atrocities" occur - if there are any at all. Thus, there is a degree of skepticism amidst their acceptance of the System, seeing it as benevolent dictatorship to nurture new worlds to future prosperity. Imperial System worlds thus do not show much animosity towards their controllers, but to the richer free worlds often in charge of sector-to-sector governance. One exception is Eos, whom many of the Imperial System worlds admire as a model "free world" given their willingness to give charity, which the Imperial System does permit. Some have argued that the System indeed serves to protect worlds under its suzerainty from the power and influence of the free worlds until they themselves prosper.

The Empyrium uses two major calendars: the Imperial calendar (zero date = 919 BCE) and the Eosian calendar (zero date = 462 CE).

Imperial Conference

The Empyrium has no binding legislature. Instead, all systems voluntarily (and almost always) attend the Imperial Conference on Representatives, an eight-day long meeting of system delegates to discuss trade, diplomacy, and the wider outlook of the Collective. The Imperial Authority attends but does not oversee these conferences. Traditionally, conferences were held on Primio, however the planet's distance from the rest of the Collective meant that border worlds often missed the opportunity to attend. From 434 CE, a bidding system opened, mutually agreed on conference participants, on who would win the right to host the Imperial Conference. It traditionally opens with a social gathering and banquet before week-long negotiations begin.

Initially, some staunch traditionalist free worlds such as Beta Venera II did not attend the conferences withholding the sector from representation (in stark contrast to the wishes of System planets within the Beta Venera sector). However, since 474 CE / 14 AA, all integrated systems of the Empyrium are in regular attendance. Because of the Imperial System, the Imperial Conference unofficially acts as a confederate legislature for only the free worlds.

Attitude towards non-member systems

Only 63 star systems within the Empyrium are integrated member states. Intelligent, sometimes humanoid life is known to exist on non-member star systems within the borders of the Empyrium, but both the Imperial Authority and the majority of the Imperial Conference adopt a strict hands-off approach to worlds unless they are known to be space-faring. Non-member systems that achieve this are elevated to candidacy status pending a transitional period into Empyrean integratio. This can take decades though, as the appearance of a new member system within a sector demands investigation into the managing of resources within it, as well as holistically across borders. The last time (other than Eos) when a planet within the Empyrean borders joined the Empyrium was when Earendel was admitted. Eos was an outlying case, whose candidacy was fast-tracked when Wisteria vouched for their integration.

Beyond its borders and unclaimed space, the Empyrium holds an isolationist policy due in part to its self-sufficiency, but also to its unwillingness to participate in galactic conflict. As a result. the Empyrium has no standing army outside of the Imperial Authority's enforcement operatives and the border control. Entry into the collective is strictly controlled through four entry points known as "vectors." One is located due east of Sadiym, one west of Centuria, and one south of Althani. Each vector allows transit through specific regions - for example, the vector at Sadiym allows transit only through North, East and South Empyrium. This means that ships that do not wish to make the arduous journey around the Empyrium's borders to access a region on the opposite side often enter at the closest side then arrive at special trading ports that transit foreign goods across regions.

When the transport of people is involved, special permits must be applied for to transit across regions. Altogether, this system functions to keep external security as tight as possible, while also allowing for the easier tracing of people and cargo. The Empyrium employs extensive border control that tracks unlaid (but potential) light lanes away from the vectors that aim to stop illegal crossings. The border policy can therefore be summarised as:

• Vector A - North Empyrium, South Empyrium and East Empyrium
• Vector B - West Empyrium
• Vector C - Sanian Space

Holistic management of resources

Non-member systems that lie outside the Empyrean borders receive the same rights as those within, meaning colony worlds can be established on uninhabited planets. However, colonies are again universally disallowed within Empyrium borders, due to fears that a cluster of burgeoning planets could upset the balance of power and resources in the Collective, which has already been divided into sectors to allocate resources to systems or groups of systems. With regards to resource harvesting both within, outside and in colony areas of the Empyrium, a hands-off approach is taken for all planets deemed suitable for intelligent life, even those that do not possess intelligent life to begin with. This is due to a widely held philosophy of the "nurture principle" - that life should be allowed to develop at any stage, including before abiogenesis.

Member systems

Systems within the Empyrium (de jure)

Planet	Surface	Name of system	Grid coordinates	System type	Planet HQ	Other worlds	Representatives
		San	I9	Free system	San II	Eos San III Zenya Fikiya	Wisteria (high representative) Guinevere (deputy representative) Carbonado Isla Amesidian Black Opal
		Eia Nida	I9	Free system	Sarihun
		Earendel Dark Nebula	J7	Free system	No planets / Earendel Outpost		Earendel (high representative) Minerva (deputy representative) Clotho
		Yoph	J8	Free system	Yoph Fiyakyi
		Dimogos	I8	Imperial system with three free worlds	Sanasiu	Suwnata
		Sacarpe	H9	Free system	Sacarpe-3
		Praxida	H9	Imperial System	Aureola
		Jovis	H9	Imperial system	Jovis
		Eta Occidens	I9	Imperial system	Eta Occidens
		Beta Venera	I9	Imperial system with two free worlds	Beta Venera II		Varak (high representative) Ayam Kamari (deputy representative) 3 unknown non-lead representatives
		Vithifida	I9	Imperial system	Mansio
		Aquadist	I9	Free system	Sentor
		Corvid	I9	Free system	Corvid
		Occludis Minor	I9	Free system	Althani
		Thamania	I9	Imperial system
		Polakia	I9	Imperial system	Alqadim
		Methuselah	J9	Imperial system
		Arbaea	J9	Free system
		Inde	J9	Free system	Rysolith
		Kappa Cassiopeiae	J9	Free system	Kariyan
		Alsadu	J9	Imperial system
		Pertel	J9	Free system	Pertel 4
		Alwarada	J9	Free system	Alwarada / Ruu Tokai	Radan
		Elkhalod	J9	Imperial system
		Lithid	J9	Free system
		Almas	J9	Imperial system	Almas 7
		Aiaoka	K9	Free system	Samak
		Tsadenia	K9	Free system	Tsadenia
		Primio	K9	Free system	Primio
		Alovand	K9	Imperial system	Alsujin
		Velian	K9	Imperial system
		Empyrium	K10	Free system except for Alkid	Alkid	Olonya Lusarial
		Elavda	K10	Imperial system	Eisan
		Astathea	I8	Imperial system	Centuria / Rcerax Cmanis	Rcerax
		Nemelia	I8	Imperial system
		Elsekelan	I8	Imperial system
File:Hemelia.png		Hemelia	I8	Unknown
		Shafra	I8	Imperial system
		Ferusia	I8	Imperial system	Deira
		Elsidiya	I8	Free system
		Inotara	I8	Free system	Chi Ignota
		Omicron Aquilae	J8	Free system	Aclede
		Qophia	J8	Free system
		I-8	J8	Imperial system	Ei Station
		Uryte	J8	Imperial system	Lazuryi
		Melchizedek	J8	Imperial system
		Yonasan	J8	Free system
		Demmell	J8	Imperial system	Yazharim
		Alkeban	J8	Free system	Alkeban
		Estoxxhe	J8	Free sector	Estoxxhe Station
		Veriyan	J7	Imperial system
		Corvid Omega	J7	Imperial system	Corvidium
		Mukhatara	K8	Imperial system
		Eleazar	K8	Imperial system
		Sadiym	K8	Imperial system	Sadiym
		Liresente	K8	Imperial system
		Ix	K8	Imperial system
		Iamat	K7	Imperial system
		Opkoth	L8	Imperial system	Orkus
		Hycenon	G19	Imperial system	Hycenon
		Lexidium	J6	Non-integrated system
		Enhakam	J6	Non-integrated system
		Diakanme	I7	Non-integrated system
		Qonoa	J7	Non-integrated system
		Worya	J7	Non-integrated system
		Nahanna	J7	Non-integrated system
		Pannden	J7	Non-integrated system
		Elesia		Non-integrated system
		New Kariyan		Non-integrated system
		Acu		Non-integrated system
		Ephenon		Non-integrated system

Systems under de facto Empyrium control

Planet	Surface	Name of system	Grid coordinates
		Ankhes	O12
		Logos Minor	R13
		Alkemiya	U16
		Remuria	U20
		Kecyon	T24
		Ikh Ilimm	Q26
		Mero	Off-grid (N27)
		Annadonia	K26
		Yushax	H16

Regions

The Empyrium is divided into five symbolic regions, of which all but one used to have an administrative function before the introduction of the Imperial System.

West Empyrium

West Empyrium forms the bulk of what was once known as the Western Reaches. Its capital is Sentor in the Aquadist system.

South Empyrium

South Empyrium is the old heartland of the Empyrean species, and home to the de jure Imperial capital of Alkid, which is also the joint-capital of this region along with Tsadenia.

North Empyrium

North Empyrium is formed of what was once known as the Outer Rim Colonies and the eastern segment of the New Colonies. Its capital is Yoph Fiyakyi.

East Empyrium

East Empyrium forms the central bulk of the collective. Its capital is Zandar in the Eleazar system.

Sanian Space

Sanian Space is the smallest, second most populous, and most densely populated region. It contains the San system which itself holds roughly a third of the Empyrium's entire population. Within it is the planet San II, the capital of this region and the de facto capital of the Empyrium.

Scattered Systems

An unofficial region comprising the planets over which the Empyrium has de facto control (see table above). They are largely unpopulated except for researchers, and for all intensive purposes are managed from Eos.