The Draetor Empire is an ancient faction of scientific and industrially minded-yet paradoxically religious-people whose core society is composed entirely of biologically immortal humanoid aliens with semi-ethereal energy bodies and innate psionic abilities given to them by the Ashtar, a people whom they revere as god's and aspire to be like ever since they saved a remnant of their race from facing total extinction on a slowly dying world. As of this writing, they are currently led by Emperor Ilal Syhar. And while they prefer peaceful scientific, religious, and cultural advancement over senseless bloodshed and wanton destruction, they must still resort to such brutal methods on occasion in order to drain the living of their energy and replenish their own forms. For though though their suits are capable of containing much of their untamed energies, it cannot contain it all, meaning that the Draetor will slowly fade away over time until nothing is left but an empty shell, devoid of life, if they do not feed.


Most of this is pretty optional, but some is fairly important.
Notably this section should include your nation’s interactions/responses/thoughts on the Ashtar and it’s involvement in the Great War.


The Ark of Governance: The seat of power for the Draetor Empire as well as the permanent home of Emperor Ilal and the various minor Ministries that keep the empire running on a daily basis, such as the Ministries of Science and Intelligence for example, this amber and black upsidown triangular beast of a ship is larger than any of the other's by far, easily dwarfing them by several hundred miles. And due to its importance within the empire, the Ark of Governance is also the most well defended out of all the other arks, save for the Ark of Judgement, possessing a rather sizeable flotilla of ships, short range fighters, surface combat vehicle's, troopers, and numerous ground to air/point defenses, all of which are kept on duty round the clock, except for during refueling or routine maintenance periods, to protect the massive craft and those it contains from incoming threats.

The Ark of Destiny: The religious center for the entire empire and the place from which the Minister of Religion Zahl-Khor-or The Prophet as he's also known-tends to his flock. Those aboard the Destiny also hold a five month service honouring the Ashtar for their generous gift every twenty standard galactic years known as the Remembrance. During this time, all military forces stand down from active duty and all feeding is banned, hence why there is a considerable increase of it before the time arrives, as the Draetor flock to this ark in droves for worship, meditation, and, of course, the remembrance of their salvation at the hands of the Ashtar.

Obviously when this time comes the Draetor move all three Arks to the nearest uninhabited star system in order to avoid being attacked or having their security breached by outsiders. And while some of the more vocal members of the Church have made their displeasure with this policy known, as they see skulking off and hiding just to worship as an insult, the vast majority of those within the congregation see this as a wise and logically sound precaution.

During the long periods of time when they are not observing their day of salvation and honoring their gods however, the various members of the Church of Ashtar aboard the craft spend their time practicing new meditation techniques to help keep their energy loss in check or study ancient Ashtaran relics and devices they find scattered around the galaxy or gain from trading with the other races they meet.

The Ark of Judgement: The seat of military power for the Draetor Empire and second most powerful Ark after Governance, the Ark of Judgement serves as the primary base of operations for the Draetors' entire fleet; soldier's, ships, and all. It is from this iron clad fortress of cold metal and rigid order that the Minister of War, Alryah Vashid, commands the empire's forces. A cold and calculating strategist, she has vowed that no foe, be it internal or external, shall harm her people while she still lives.

The Ark of Tranquility: The Tranquility serves as both an embassy for foreign delegations, and as a place of study for galactic politics in general. Being what it is, the Ark of Tranquility is one of the only places in which a strong Draetorin military presence is not felt or even seen, despite the fact that there are still defenses in place should guests come with an intention of bringing harm. It is also one of the most unique of all the Arks ever constructed by the Draetor, as it not only has no real defenses other than the minor one's put into place by the Minister of War at the behest of the Emperor, but also looks nothing like the others, as, rather than following the same angular golden black metallic design format as the other Arks, the Tranquility looks more like a massive flying city that was built by a myriad of races over time rather than a highly imposing death fortress like all the others.

The Tranquility is also unique as it is not only the smallest Ark ever built by the Draetor, but also the first ship they send out when holding talks or negotiations with other factions, as allowing foreigners into the Ark of Governance is seen as too great of a security risk. The Tranquility is overseen by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baheel Nadish. Her word is law for anyone aboard the craft and cannot be overridden by anyone or anything else save for the Emperor himself.




As a nomadic race of biologically immortal energy beings who feed off of other living beings in order to survive, the Draetor do not let other races assimilate into their society, meaning that the entire empire is, in the end, made up of their people and only their people. As for how many Draetor currently live within the empire, the exact number is not known by outsiders, but it is estimated to be somewhere in the millions. A safe bet when taking into account the destruction of their home world and any losses in overall population due to minor conflicts or skirmishes over the years.


Daily life and such. Not the most important section but useful for giving us a sense of how your citizens actually feel about their nation. Can include religion, fashion, etc.


This could go under society if you like. Mostly just make it clear up front if you’re an industrial powerhouse, a nation of refined master artisans, etc. Also things people might want to know for trading purposes.


My favourite part <3. Probably the most important of the demographics sections. Who runs the place, how do they run it. Since you will presumably be RPing people in your government, this is pretty critical.




Mostly interested in military techs, here: FTL, weapons, shields, armor, power, engines, etc. Civilian techs are also here, and sometimes just as important.




Describe general doctrine, history, whatever floats your space boats.


Your space boats. Include pics or don’t, I’m not your supervisor. You’ll probably want to have one or two of most of the classes, but it doesn’t really matter too much. I’m also including some flavour options here that you might want to consider. In short, the history of the galaxy has divied up ship designs into three waves: Great War (ships built before and during the Great War), Detente (ships built during the Detente, some wonky designs in the larger classes due to treaty limitations), and Modern (ships built in the year since the message)

DO NOT put your hyperdread here, it gets its own section.



Battleships: The grand old ladies that did all the fighting of the Great War. The Treaty of Detente imposed limitations on their sizes and destructive potential, so if you want to get intricate there’s 3 waves of battleships: Great War, Detente, and Modern. Great War is self explanatory, old sluggers and antiques. Detente battleships were awkward creations involving all kinds of elaborate ways to get around the Treaty without actually violating it. Lots of glass cannon designs here, or iron fortresses that couldn’t scratch eachother’s paint, or half baked experimental weapon systems, or novel propulsion methods that only work if nobody on board sneezes. Modern battleships are just coming into service, and are quite deadly.

Battlecruisers: The treaty of Detent also limited battlecruisers, in an effort to avoid just slightly reducing the size of ship involved in any potential arms race. Similar design iterations to Battleships; Great War, Detente, and Modern. Detente battlecruisers were often cripplingly overspecialized: dedicated point defence ships, artillery vessels, mass shielding vessels, etc. Battlecruiser designs from the Detente period were often put together as a way to shore up the weaknesses of their contemporaneous Battleship partners.

Cruisers: Nothing special here.

Destroyers: Still nothing special.

Frigates: Nope.

Corvettes: Corvettes can be thought of in several iterations just kidding I don’t care what you do with these things. Unless you try to just upscale what I’m trying to avoid with strike craft.

Strike craft: K I’m actually gonna sort of limit these things, or rather, the things that carry them around. Strike craft have long been an important part of space combat, so most nations have them and defences against them. Historically, they’ve been used as close in support; no one’s yet figured out how to strap useful FTL drives on the things. All this means that long range strikes aren’t practical. What I’m trying to get at is Carrier’s aren’t really a thing, or at least dedicated carriers aren’t. Plenty of room for Battlestar type things (fighty-boats with a solid complement of strike craft), but no dropping off a carrier squadron on one side of the system then expecting your strikecraft to win the fight on the other side.



A notable exception is your Hyperdread. Do whatever you want with your super special awesome boat.



Outline some doctrine, highlight some major units. I’m not great at doing ground forces so not much guidance here.

ANNNDDD


Go frikin nuts. Pics are nice.

Hailing from the tidally-locked twilight world of Vergonheim, the Sovereign Courts is the official term to describe the sprawling feudal domains encompassing the vast expanse of Verghast-controlled space, barely unified under the banner of their homeworld and enforced by the ancient Conclave - the primary governing body of the Sovereign Courts and the home of their esteemed liege, the Blood King. The ruthlessly competitive and relatively grotesque nature of the Verghast people has made the Sovereign Courts a feared and respected military powerhouse in the Galaxy due in part to their contributions during the Great War and their sprawling information network that leaves much of the galaxy unsafe from the fangs of their operatives.






















Life within the Sovereignty is, at least currently, difficult to call ‘universal.’ The Sovereign Courts struggle with an internal culture war between newer generations and older generations over the validity of old traditions, and given the nature of the government, the way of life within the Sovereignty is entirely different depending on where you are born, how rich you are, and who you know.

In general, at least within the average Conclave world, the Sovereignty is an unforgivably hypercompetitive meritocratic society that values hard work, ambition, and ruthlessness, and heavily looks down upon weakness, altruism, and submission to authority. Historical scarcity of resources and wasteful nature of the Verghast species have given rise to a competitive, results-oriented philosophy that underlies all levels of social and political thought within the Sovereign Courts. What some would call ‘selfish’ is what a person in the Sovereignty would call ‘smart’ - it has long been agreed that all life is inherently selfish, and there is no shaming a desire to stand above the rest.

As such, ethics and morality are thin and hard to justify in this nation. Every action and every conflict is a conflict of interests - if someone stole another's house, it is a testament to the latter’s stupidity and the former’s craftiness. If someone is killed for their property, then they weren’t strong enough to have it in the first place.

Of course, there are laws in place, and people aren’t in constant war with each other over resources and power - the Verghast revel in subtlety, after all. The phrase “it isn’t a crime if you don’t get caught” is taken very literally among these people. The laws can be ignored provided you are cunning enough to get away with it. However, going against those in power for the sake of it is a death wish. Those guards aren’t there because of a slip of paper - they, the strong, hold power to enforce their will upon you, the weak. The victors write the laws of society, and the most cunning among the weak will rise to change those laws, only to then to take their place - this cycle of intrigue and death is the backbone of Verghast culture.

Quality of life is mostly dependent on one’s ability to stay in the ‘race,’ so to speak. Any person with common sense is expected to have a weapon on them at all times when outside their home, and an even smarter person is one who can afford some body armor. The poor and homeless are about as respected as Thralls and are often crushed by the masses if it’ll get somebody somewhere. Taking a gun and hunting homeless people in the streets is considered an acceptable past-time.

There are always eyes watching you in a Sovereign settlement. Assume that everyone has an agenda, and everything someone does is an attempt to get ahead. If you choose to live as a pawn, then you’ll get discarded to protect the king. If you wish to live like a king, then you’re going to have to make some plays to get there.


This could go under society if you like. Mostly just make it clear up front if you’re an industrial powerhouse, a nation of refined master artisans, etc. Also things people might want to know for trading purposes.


The Sovereign Courts of Vergonheim is organized in such a manner that resembles old-world feudalism adopted Earth at one point. As ordained in the Bloody Oaths of Sovereignty, the Blood King is the monarch and ‘head of state’ for the Sovereignty, with direct control over a majority of the empire’s combined military forces as well as the majority of it’s controlled space and planets. The Blood King does not directly control the entirety of the empire, however - outside of his owned land, the Four Courts of Vergonheim act as ‘vassals’, being delegated their own space, armies, and freedom to rule their domains as they see fit, with some restrictions and a tax in manpower and currency they must pay to their liege. This allows for the Sovereignty to spread it’s space wide at the cost of the Blood King’s power.

The Conclave of Vergonheim, otherwise known only as ‘The Conclave,’ encompasses the personal royal court of the Blood King, and can be considered the primary ruling body of the Sovereignty - the equivalent of a ‘federal government,’ so to speak. The lords of the vassal courts regularly convene alongside the Blood King to advise him, voice their concerns and demands, and help steer the direction of the Sovereignty. The Conclave functions something like a modern government, having its workers, servants, and other political positions that the Blood King requires to enforce his will.

On top taxing the courts for manpower and money, the Conclave raises the full might of the vassal armies and fleets in the event of total war. The Blood King may make sweeping decrees and laws that affect the entirety of Sovereignty space, as well. The Krones - the Sovereignty’s intelligence organization and the Blood King’s enforcers - are employed by the Conclave to ensure that the Blood King’s demands are enforced among the Court Worlds.

The crown of the Blood King (or Queen, though the Sovereignty has yet to see a female monarch) is hereditary, though who the royal family tends to change given the Verghast cutthroat politics wildly. It is this constant struggle for the crown that keeps energy within the nobility of the Conclave and the court.

There have been long reigns where a member of a court dynasty usurped the Blood King crown, thus making one of the vassal courts the ruling family of the Conclave, but there are ancient countermeasures in place to prevent one of the Four Courts from ever actually overtaking the Conclave. When you become the Blood King, you are demanded to leave behind your past allegiances and focus your power for the future of the entire Sovereignty - otherwise, you will inevitably be killed by someone who intends to do so.

One would imagine that with this government, the Sovereign Courts are always on the brink of eating each other alive. This analysis is exactly correct; it is the duty of the Blood King to earn the respect of his vassals and his people by safeguarding the future of the Verghast race. Fortunately, this results in the government being fast and always active - bureaucracy is settled with words, guns, and knives rather than pens and papers. The speed at which the Sovereignty spread can be owed to a powerful Blood King desperate to keep his vassals appeased.




Mostly interested in military techs, here: FTL, weapons, shields, armor, power, engines, etc. Civilian techs are also here, and sometimes just as important.




Describe general doctrine, history, whatever floats your space boats.


Your space boats. Include pics or don’t, I’m not your supervisor. You’ll probably want to have one or two of most of the classes, but it doesn’t really matter too much. I’m also including some flavour options here that you might want to consider. In short, the history of the galaxy has divied up ship designs into three waves: Great War (ships built before and during the Great War), Detente (ships built during the Detente, some wonky designs in the larger classes due to treaty limitations), and Modern (ships built in the year since the message)

DO NOT put your hyperdread here, it gets its own section.

Dreadnoughts: Only a few were built before the end of the Great War, the destructive potential of these vessels was a major contributor to ending the conflict. Those old ones are pretty obsolete, and any new ones are only just coming into service (mostly in secret) due to the Treaty of Detente banning their construction.

Battleships: The grand old ladies that did all the fighting of the Great War. The Treaty of Detente imposed limitations on their sizes and destructive potential, so if you want to get intricate there’s 3 waves of battleships: Great War, Detente, and Modern. Great War is self explanatory, old sluggers and antiques. Detente battleships were awkward creations involving all kinds of elaborate ways to get around the Treaty without actually violating it. Lots of glass cannon designs here, or iron fortresses that couldn’t scratch eachother’s paint, or half baked experimental weapon systems, or novel propulsion methods that only work if nobody on board sneezes. Modern battleships are just coming into service, and are quite deadly.

Battlecruisers: The treaty of Detent also limited battlecruisers, in an effort to avoid just slightly reducing the size of ship involved in any potential arms race. Similar design iterations to Battleships; Great War, Detente, and Modern. Detente battlecruisers were often cripplingly overspecialized: dedicated point defence ships, artillery vessels, mass shielding vessels, etc. Battlecruiser designs from the Detente period were often put together as a way to shore up the weaknesses of their contemporaneous Battleship partners.

Cruisers: Nothing special here.

Destroyers: Still nothing special.

Frigates: Nope.

Corvettes: Corvettes can be thought of in several iterations just kidding I don’t care what you do with these things. Unless you try to just upscale what I’m trying to avoid with strike craft.

Strike craft: K I’m actually gonna sort of limit these things, or rather, the things that carry them around. Strike craft have long been an important part of space combat, so most nations have them and defences against them. Historically, they’ve been used as close in support; no one’s yet figured out how to strap useful FTL drives on the things. All this means that long range strikes aren’t practical. What I’m trying to get at is Carrier’s aren’t really a thing, or at least dedicated carriers aren’t. Plenty of room for Battlestar type things (fighty-boats with a solid complement of strike craft), but no dropping off a carrier squadron on one side of the system then expecting your strikecraft to win the fight on the other side.

A notable exception is your Hyperdread. Do whatever you want with your super special awesome boat.



Outline some doctrine, highlight some major units. I’m not great at doing ground forces so not much guidance here.

ANNNDDD


Go frikin nuts. Pics are nice.