Empire Name: The Glacian Empire -- a.k.a. The Great Kingdoms of Draegar (obsolete name)
Capital System/Planet: Dragonstone (city), Draegar Prime (planet), Draegar System
Home Region: Orion Spur
Ruler(s):Emperor Lucius Draegar, The First of His Name
Head of Military:Fleet Admiral Geoff Harsha
Other Key Figures: King Edward Ferro of Pyrax, Queen Leanna Gale of Aero, King Andrei Steele of Mashiro, Grand Duke Karl Draegar, Queen Helen Draegar of Valeria, Prince Andrew Draegar, King Eric Nafunae of Duro, Princess Anna Nefunae, Queen Marin Rai of Stormhold, Prince Giovanni Rai
The Great Kings and Queens King Edward Ferro of Pyrax, Queen Leanna Gale of Aero, King Andrei Steele of Mashiro, Queen Helen Draegar of Valeria, King Eric Nafunae of Duro, Queen Marin Rai of Stormhold
The Imperial Family (all italicized names belong to deceased persons. Listed in genealogical order. Bold is the current ruler.)
Emperor Nobunaga VII -- Former emperor and grandfather of Emperor Lucius, died of old age. Empress Mai Draegar -- died of natural causes; was outlived by Nobunaga. Grand Duke Nikolai Draegar -- Assassinated several years before Emperor Nobunaga's death. Grand Duchess Aria Draegar -- Assassinated along with her husband. Grand Duke Alexander Draegar -- Assassinated along with his parents. Emperor Lucius Draegar -- Alexander's younger brother, and a young man of nearly 23 years; ruling member of the Imperial Family, and Emperor of the Glacians. Grand Duke Karl Draegar -- Lucius's younger brother, an infant of five years; was born shortly before his parents were killed.
Population: 624 Billion
Type of Power Size 8.5 (Prominent Regional Power)
Species Description: The people of the Glacian Empire consist of many species. However, most notable and numerous of these is the dominant race, known widely as the Glacians. These people are very much humanoid, like so many other races of the galaxy are. They tend to be pale-skinned, and exhibit very strong hair and eye color.
Their hair and eyes consist of multiple, layered colors -- much like a gemstone contains its own colors and facets. An extremely large number of colors are out there, so very few Glacians are alike, and almost none have multi-layered white hair, even in old age. The presence of pure white hair is regarded as a very special irregularity among the Glacians, and is commonly associated with a semi-divine being known in popular myth and culture as the Lord of Light, the only recorded manifestation of their religion upon the actual material universe.
Aside from that, Glacians typically have an affinity to see very deeply into whatever color matches their eyes. For example, should a Glacian have pure blue-blue-blue eyes, they would typically see that same color in a spectacular number of ways -- even though a pure color combination is a rare thing indeed, with the exception of the very highest echelons of nobility.
Typically, their skin color, hair color, and eye color come in three layers -- sometimes four in rare cases. Typically, their hair and skin color hold an extremely faint bioluminescence, likely due to the darker world they originally hailed from. Many eons ago, this was supposed to enhance vision in total darkness, but currently only those with pure-colored eyes can naturally see in such conditions... but only in the color their eyes happen to be.
Glacians are actually fairly short for humanoids. Most of the common folk are only 4-6 standard feet in height, and the nobility is about 5-6. However, it is not uncommon to see Glacians taller or shorter than that around.
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History: Glacians have a long and rich history, much of it built by blood.
The old homeworld that the Glacians hail from essentially doesn't exist -- it was destroyed during a full-blown civil war that the Great Kingdoms waged against one another about 1500 years ago. Instead, after the war ended through a series of political maneuvering, coups, various back stabbings, and a few well-placed military strikes, one Great Kingdom rose over the other five: the Great Kingdom of Valeria, led by the ancient but obscure Draegar family.
The new Emperor consolidated his power rapidly, and appointed his cousin as the new King of Valeria. He himself founded a new capital, on a world named after his family -- the first such event to have occurred since the founding of the original Great Kingdoms when the Glacians first plied the stars. Since then, the Emperors ruled out of Draegar for centuries, in spite of many upheavals within the Empire.
Now, the Empire has gone through another upheaval. A series of assassinations and poorly timed deaths has left the Imperial Family barren, with only two surviving members -- one a little child, and one scarcely older than that. The new Emperor is still very young, and many believe he knows nothing of the world outside the vast and opulent palace that he grew up in. In addition, forces work all around to try to manipulate the Emperor... or outright replace him.
Overall, it's a tough world currently for what's left of the Imperial Family, and the Great Houses are eyeing the throne, like vultures do over a dying animal in the desert. The only remaining question is: will the new Emperor prove his worth and strength? His decisions as the new Emperor will either get him into the history books as a superb leader, or leave him in the dust as yet another failure in the pantheon of weak Emperors that the Glacians have had in their early days.
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Type of Government: Imperial Monarchy, backed by a system of various subordinate monarchies and legislatures
Description of Government: (Please be at least a bit detailed on this one. It tells us how you run your country.)
Type of Economy: Capitalist, with government-owned industries adding competition to ensure that corporations within the Empire do not go out of control.
Description of Economy: After many years, the Glacian Empire had obviously reached a zenith in military power. However, war with other nations was slowly becoming an obsolete way of ensuring that new markets were joining the economy constantly. So, the Glacians also adopted a massive colonization and terraforming program, designed to strengthen the Empire within. This has propelled the economy forward, and incidentally has strengthened the military on a defensive level to new heights. While war isn't quite as important as it once was, the Glacians nevertheless pride themselves in their growing military strength, knowing that in order to truly expand, war must eventually be waged with other nations... and this happens somewhat often, as they do have their share of enemies.
Faction Status: (Note any major wars or diplomatic events going on.)
Diplomatic Approach: (Note your nation's general approach toward others -- and better yet, how your faction would have others approach you.)
Aggressiveness: (How often does your nation attack others? How aggressive is it towards the little guys, or even the big ones?)
State of War: (Are you fighting minor wars, major wars, nothing at all? Note whatever you want here.)
Allies: (Doesn't matter how close they are as long as it's official. Run it by GMs first.)
Friends: (Add whoever your nation likes here.)
Apathetic: (Add whoever your nation avoids/doesn't care about at all here.)
Foes: (Add whoever your nation doesn't like here.)
At War: (Doesn't matter the scale of conflict between the two factions. Run conflicts by both the player involved and the GM if the conflict started before IC's events take place.)
Dominant Society: (Give a brief description of your faction's society, or simply fill out the forms below if you're stuck.)
Social Hierarchy: (Who's the top dog and who's at the bottom? Fairly self-explanatory.
Moral Values: (What virtues does your society hold most dear?)
Culture: (Give a brief description of your faction's culture. List anything that lets it stand out.)
Other Notes: (List anything truly unique that doesn't fit with the rest.)
Religion: (What's it called? How did it emerge within your faction? List one form for each major religion practiced within your faction.)
Gods: (if any)
Tenets: (What are the principles taught by your religion?)
Religious Beliefs: (Give any examples that make it stand out from the crowd.)
Other Notes:
Misc. Cultural Traits
Class Distinctions: (What divides the classes and castes in your faction? How do they work? Does your faction have social mobility?)
Politics: (How does it play a role in your society?)
Entertainment: (What do your people talk about or do in their spare time? Do they even have spare time to goof off?)
News & Other Media: (How is your faction informed on current events?)
Language: (How does it work in general? List anything of note here.)
Technological Overview: (Just give some basics on what makes your faction unique, or simply fill out the blanks below. Your ideas give us insight on what you're capable of writing.)
Groundbreaking Technologies: Resurrection Technology (see Biology & Medicine), Warp
Special Military Technologies: (This is what makes your military unique, and likely gives it an edge over other factions. Tread with care, as most of the banned technologies will be directly related to this field.)
(The following are mostly for civilian technologies and are not required. However, they are encouraged.)
Transportation:
Utility:
Power:
Nova cannons have been a crowning achievement in Glacian technology -- and among the most powerful weapons technologies that the Glacians have thus far installed in their larger ships. The main advantage these things have is far superior firepower over the fusion guns that many of their ships (including drones) carry. However, they have only been able to fit these onto their larger ships, due to the size constraints involved in carrying such massive firepower. In addition, the Glacians are only able to fit so many of these onto their ships, as the power constraints between too many of these guns would create a loss of space required to hold them in smaller ships. They pride themselves in the fact that no other factions in the area possess such raw power, in spite of its sheer power requirements.
Nova cannons are in essence high-powered fusion guns, deviating from antiparticle cannons that many of the smaller Glacian ships now favor. Extremely high-powered fusion rounds have become easier to contain, and thus more efficient and more deadly on Glacian capital and sub-capital ships, than antimatter or fusion rounds. The fusion round is compressed almost to the point of becoming its own "singularity" -- an unstable, miniature star -- that deteriorates rapidly upon being fired. The round instantly melts down and explodes upon contact with any large object, or after about an hour of flight.
Aside from their guns, their drones are the pride of the Glacian fleet, and their use is not only widespread in war, but essential to their strategy. Massive numbers of small, inexpensive drones make up the main mass of the first waves of attacks. Against small opponents, this usually works, and is also an effective way of testing out prototypes -- and trashing those that fail the extreme tests of actual combat -- all in one move. Usually, sub-capital carriers pour out massive numbers of such drones as needed onto the battlefield, although large numbers of small, fully automated carriers exist to prevent costly casualties from taking place in the face of fierce and effective resistance.
What follows after the initial zerg rush is a wave of yet another fleet of drones -- this one consisting of more advanced units that have passed previous combat tests. These drones are what have earned the Glacians a reputation of being so deadly with their Imperial Navy,
In terms of armor, a hyperdense, "living" isometal hull is another breakthrough that the Glacians happily employed with this class of ship. It is superior in battle over previous hulls, and it is also far less demanding on maintenance, except in certain situations. It consists of several layers: the inner core, which is composed of an extremely rigid hull -- which also forms the outer hull proper of the ship. The next layer is ablative armor that is always being repaired by swarms of nanomachines, and the outer layer actually is composed of a "skin" consisting of mostly small "scales" that are actually formations used by the nanomachines, to protect themselves from being dispersed too badly when struck by powerful weapons. These rapid self-repairing mechanisms, while incredibly expensive, are incredibly effective in spite, and thus are used anyway, as their very presence in combat is worth every Dragon spent on them.
These designs are found most often on capital ships, as well as sub-capital ships such as battleships, battlestars, and escort carriers for both manned fighters and drones. This provides a distinct advantage in both saved resources and military defenses, for when the main fleet enters the battle after the drone-heavy vanguard has done its share of dirty work.
However, such expensive and sophisticated armor designs aren't found nearly as often on unmanned ships, especially the smaller ones. Instead, they have the more "traditional" dual-layered armor, consisting of a rigid inner hull, and a scaled outer hull that is under constant, automated maintenance. The most notable exception to this fact is the drone carriers, as well as the small unmanned battlestars that carry fewer numbers of drones into battles that do not require the presence of capital (or sub-capital) ships.
Energy shields have long helped provide a screen for energy-based weapons, helping to either disperse or deflect such weapons. However, they tend to be naturally weak against projectile weapons, such as heavy missles -- which the armor helps cover for. In addition, antiparticle weapons, although partly dispersed by the energy shields, remain a problem, as even their highly effective armor can only last so long against concentrated antimatter fire.
Thermal shielding, while somewhat effective, is somewhat helped by both the energy screens (which help dissipate the heat energy) and the armor (which takes it head-on). However, such shielding is being replaced by more efficient energy screens, which are starting to grow more efficient at dissipating and/or deflecting thermal charges thrown their way. Until then, thermal shielding remains sub-par in comparison to the numerous other types of defenses that the Glacians possess, and currently their armor takes the brunt of the hits.
Medicine:
Biology:
Cybertronics: (computer techs, including artificial intelligence.)
Construction:
Battlestar & Star Destroyer
The battlestar is one of the main sub-capital ships that make up the core of the Glacian carrier fleet. Battlestars, and their larger equivalent in the Star Destroyers, fill the role of a standard carrier/supercarrier AND a battleship/dreadnought. While they do not field as many guns as the ship-of-the-line, nor as many fighters as a carrier vessel, they nevertheless have much greater flexibility in their strategy, and are foremost among the other capital (and sub-capital) ships that can wage war without the support of other similar-sized ships.
Battlestars and Star Destroyers have similar weapons, with the only difference being in the choice of primary weapon: the Star Destroyer has nova cannons instead of the traditional fusion gun array that usually have accompanied this class of ship in the last several decades. The other primary difference is the size -- Star Destroyers are considerably larger, and are considered capital ships.
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Carriers & Supercarriers
Carriers (listed in image below) and Supercarriers (listed in the second image), form the backbone of a basic carrier fleet. Drone carriers are almost always configured in a similar way to the regular capital carriers -- their sub-capital variants are also configured in a similar manner. The supercarrier is a different story. Its sheer size allows for it to field a vast array of point defense weapons, but it still needs to rely on fleet support for heavy fire. Carriers are nearly always accompanied by battlestars, battleships, dreadnoughts, or a combination of these massive ships.
Supercarriers sport an additional armament of modest-sized cannons in large numbers, meant for planetary bombardment in conjunction with both its massive complement of fighters, along with its escorting fleet. Usually, these guns have been fusion guns, but the latest Victory-Class Supercarriers have started incorporating smaller-sized nova guns to eliminate stronger targets. These placements are also used with antiship combat, making the Supercarriers formidable foes against fleets that prefer sending smaller ships to face them down, as is the primary tactic of most fleets.
(Drone Carrier/Supercarrier)
(Manned Supercarrier)
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Dreadnought
These are truly the heavy hitters of the Glacian fleet. Many of their larger dreadnoughts are configured much the same as the smaller ones, with the size of their weapons placement normally being in near-perfect proportion, compared to their smaller models.
These ships are typically armed to the teeth with advanced weaponry, and well-defended with shielding. They serve along with Supercarriers as both command vessels and line vessels, and are typically found with either of these other two types of ships, to add versatility to the sheer amount of firepower they bring to the battlefield.
The most notable dreadnought in service is the HES Hammer, which is a Victory-Class super-dreadnought, as well as the Imperial Navy's flagship. In spite of the fact that it has seen only two years in service and no notable engagements, it is already recognized as a symbol of Glacian military power, as well as its economic and political strength.
(Dreadnought)
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Battleship
The battleship is easily the backbone of any major assault fleet. These are known as the largest sub-capital ships out there, as well as the strongest. Their massive armament of point-defense turrets as well as a powerful complement of nova cannons makes them a formidable anti-ship foe indeed. However, they have no fighters of their own, nor the capability of launching anything aside from well-defended escape pods.
Therefore, they are always seen travelling at least with a battlestar, carrier, or both to make up for that lack of defenses. Combined with the firepower and versatility of either of the other two vessels, the battleship is a powerful weapon indeed. They are often found travelling in groups as well, where their combined firepower defends themselves as well as the support ships and carriers with their awesome weapons.
They are always found in precise formations with their own strike groups, to facilitate movement of both the ships and their firepower during battle.
(Battleship Fleet)
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Hyperspace Field Extender Ship (commonly known as a Jumper Ship)
This ship provides much of the backbone of transportation in terms of fully automated vessels, more specifically those that lack an FTL drive of their own. These ships serve one purpose, and one purpose only: to forcibly open a wider "warp gate" for other ships of any kind to pass through... so long as they fit. So far, only small cruisers and smaller ships may feasibly fit into the field without too many issues, and so the field is commonly used for automated destroyer ships and other drone craft. In addition, small carriers meant for precise raids utilize these Jumper Ships, as many now lack a warp drive of their own, having sacrificed it in order to accommodate more drones and self-defense measures.
These ships are still revolutionary, and large ones have yet to be put to the field in order to aid the Glacian capital ships in moving through "hyperspace" faster. Moreover, the larger capital ships use "slipstream drives," which the Jumper Ships do not use in aiding the travel of other vessels. Solutions are currently being sought for the problem.
Currently, Jumper Ships never travel alone. They usually roam with the fleets in packs of five to ten, depending on the size of the force they accompany. Either way it runs, non-FTL ships never travel in smaller fleets, instead travelling with massive forces, to facilitate protection of their transports against enemies.
(Jumper Ship)
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(Fleet of small destroyers)