Guanyu
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| Flag of Guanyu | |
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| Maps | |
| Region | Lazarus |
|---|---|
| Capital | Guanyu Ceta |
| Official Language(s) | Guanyan |
| Leader | Emperor Abron nul Karhoff |
| Population | 4.5 Billion |
| Currency | criik |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Guanyans
Guanyans are a humanoid race, but possess several characteristics that make them distinct from humans. Most notably, Guanyans have a greatly extended lifespan compared to humans, averaging between 2 and 3 thousand years. Guanyans also do not show age in the way humans do, and, barring illness, will remain strong and retain their full mental faculties until the day they die. In respect to appearance, Guanyans are much taller than humans, averaging about 2.15 meters (7 feet) in height for both genders. Their skin is tinged greenish-blue, and their eyes glow with a soft green luminescence. Their ears come to a point at the top. All Guanyans have either brown or black hair, brown being more common.
Less obvious are the differences of culture and personality. The genetic and cultural reasons for these traits have become so intertwined that it is no longer possible to separate nature from nurture. Regardless of where these traits stem from, they manifest as an extremely strong sense of what most other races would call loyalty and honor. A Guanyan’s word, once given, is almost never broken.
While Guanyans are normally a peaceful people, they are trained from an early age in martial arts and the use of both melee weapons and firearms. The actual purpose of this is not for war, but rather for exercise and improving coordination, as well as practicing for participation in combat competitions, which are a favorite form of entertainment in the Empire.
Guanyu’s History
The Founding
Just under thirty thousand years ago, the Guanyan people attained the capability to travel beyond their own star system. Within the next twenty years, they explored the five nearest systems and found them uninhabited. This was surprising, considering four of them contained at least one habitable planet. Many Guanyans believed this was a sign that Jilam, the Guanyan god, had meant for the Guanyan people to spread to these systems. Over the course of the next few decades, colonies in these systems grew into major centers of Guanyan civilization. Each inhabited planet had its own independent government. Though these governments cooperated on major issues, there was no central control uniting them. Over the years, the Guanyans continued to spread to nearby systems.
The Alfrek Incident
About twenty-three hundred years ago, Guanyan space vessels first sought to explore the space far beyond their borders. The Navy soon discovered that there were three major powers in close proximity to the Guanyan nation, or relatively close, given the vastness of space. These were Klonor, Sol, and Alfheim. The Klonori and Solians were deemed best avoided, as Guanyans had never encountered humans before and saw them as a rash and impatient race, opportunistic, greedy, and wasteful. The Guanyan people did not yet know that their lifespans differed from those of Guanyans.
The Alfrek, as they called themselves, were a different matter. They were more akin to Guanyans, being possessed of the patience of the longer-lived races. They even had some physical similarities to Guanyans. When the Guanyan nation attempted to contact them, however, they did not get at all what they expected.
Four ships were sent to make contact. Each had a crew of seven hundred. They were also carrying many diplomats. Not one ship survived.
That was not the worst of it. The ships were destroyed so quickly they could not even send a warning back to their people. Four more ships were sent to discover what had happened. These were large, better armed and armored. Each had a crew of eleven hundred. They too were summarily destroyed, but this time one survived long enough to send word home. Outrage and consternation rippled through the government. They foolishly decided to chastise these murdering outsiders. The next fleet was the single largest expedition in Guanyan history. Nearly four hundred thousand Guanyans left home to wreak vengenance, many grieved by the loss of comrades or family who had died in the first two attempts to make contact.
The battle over Alfheim Prime lasted for twelve days. At the end of it, two ships limped home to tell of the disaster. Two, out of a fleet of nearly fifty. Fearing retaliation, the government ordered that the borders be sealed. No further contact was to be made with any outsiders.
The Hand of God
Approximately twenty-seven thousand years after the Founding, a religious leader on Guanyu Ceta 3, the planet Guanyans originated on, began to attract notice throughout the various Guanyan systems. He was a brilliant speaker who believed that it was Jilam's will that the various Guanyan settlements be united as one nation. All across the sector, support began springing up for what became known as the "Guanyan Unification Movement."
As his movement gained power, the leader, who called himself Ralak Jilam'uen, or "The Hand of God," began to gain power as well. Slowly but steadily he began to ingratiate himself with the various planetary governments. When the time finally came that public opinion turned in the direction of unification, the decision was almost unquestioned: Ralak Jilam'uen would be the leader of a unified Guanyan nation.
The Hand spent the first five years of his reign consolidating his power, placing trusted followers in positions of military, political, and religious power. As his power became more firm, the style of his rule began to change. Anyone who questioned his rule or his policies was immediately and forcefully silenced. Guanyans lived in constant fear that at any moment their door might be blown in by his secret police. The only man more feared than the Hand himself was his most trusted lieutenant, the commander of the secret police. His name was Abron nul Karhoff.
The Betrayal and the War of Liberation
The Hand's brutal dictatorship continued for twelve hundred years. Several resistance movements sprang up during his reign, but most were swiftly and brutally crushed, and those that remained could not challenge the vast military might the Hand commanded. In the Guanyan Year 27,830 PO (Post Origin), the Hand's secret police captured Domin Yabrant, the leader of one of the more elusive resistances and one of the greatest tactical minds in Guanyan history. Yabrant was brought before the Hand and his Chief of Secret Police to be executed. The execution was interrupted, however, by a rescue attempt staged by Yabrant's resistance fighters. Though the rescuers had no chance to overpower the Hand's guards, they did present an unforeseen opportunity to Karhoff, the Chief of Secret Police.
Unbeknownst to any within the Guanyan nation, Karhoff had long struggled with himself over the acts he had committed in the name of the Hand. In recent years, he had come to the conclusion that he could no longer sit by and watch the Guanyan people suffer. In the confusion of the rescue attempt, Karhoff saw his chance. Drawing his pistol, he expressionlessly placed his pistol against the Hand's right temple and pulled the trigger, literally blowing his head from his shoulders. This severely demoralized the guards, and with Karhoff's help the resistance was able to take the palace. Using his inside knowledge of the Hand's government, Karhoff helped Yabrant and his followers to remove any traces of the Hand's influence in the planetary governments. This crusade was not easy, and took the better part of a decade.
The Beginnings of an Empire
[Section under construction]
The Tau Ceti Incident
[Section under construction]
First Contact and the Opening
[Section under construction]
The Great Betrayal
[Section under construction]
The Celestial Empire of Guanyu
Government
The Celestial Seat and the Emperor
The Celestial Seat refers to three separate things: The position of Emperor, the capital planet of the Empire, and the physical seat (most cultures would call it a throne, but this is technically incorrect) on which the Emperor sits when he is holding council with his advisors or with his citizens. From this point on all mentions of the Celestial Seat will be referring to the position of the Emperor.
Emperor Karhoff himself holds tremendous power. Within the Empire, his rule is absolute and his word is law. Despite this, he allows the Empire’s citizens to live their lives almost completely untouched by government interference. Still haunted by his actions under the reign of Guanyu’s previous ruler, he seeks to make it up to the people and governs with their best interests at heart. In return, he is almost universally loved within the Empire and the people are unfailingly loyal to him.
The Cabinet
The Emperor’s Cabinet is made up of the Ministers of the various ministries within the Guanyan government. There are too many Ministers to name them all, but the most important are as follows:
Domin Yabrant – Minister of Foreign Intelligence. Yabrant is Emperor Karhoff’s spymaster and his closest friend. It is often said in the Empire that if Minister Yabrant doesn’t know about something, then it hasn’t happened. Yabrant is also a Hostmaster in the Guanyan Aerospace Navy.
Boris Yeltsin – Minister of Defense. Devious and extremely capable, Yeltsin is Karhoff’s primary advisor on all military matters, though he hold no official military rank.
Renik Vash – Minister of Finance. Brilliant and absolutely trustworthy, Vash advises the Emperor on any and all matters relating to the economy.
Riishi Sul – Minister of Technology. Sul is the Head Engineer for Guanyu Aerospace Technologies, which is responsible for almost all of the major technological advancements in the empire.
Nok Kirun – Minister of Religion. Kirun is the High Priest of the Guanyan Church, and serves as the Church’s primary contact with the Celestial Seat.
The Guanyan Church
The Guanyan Church is central to the life of every citizen of the Empire. Operating hand-in-hand with the government, the Church has a great deal of power in the Empire.
Beliefs
The Guanyan religion is based around a Guanyan holy book called the Book of Jilam, which chronicles the creation of the universe.
The Beginning as described by the High Priest of the Guanyan Church:
“Before Time itself there were two brothers who lived in the darkness called Lam, the Void. One of these brothers was our god, Jilam, Lord of the Void, and the other was Ji’ren, Lord of the Eternal Flame. When Ji’ren began creating things to fill the Void, Jilam experimented with this idea by creating the first Guanyan. This angered Ji’ren and they parted ways. This was just under thirty thousand years ago.”
"After a time, Jilam left us for reasons that were unknown to His followers. He left us a gift, however. In the Jilam'su'gak, the House of the Lord of the Void, there is a room that is bathed in starlight, though it is closed to the sky. Even during the day the Light of Jilam shines there. When one meditates in the Jilam’su’gak, one can hear the Voice of Jilam. In this way He guides us still."
This is, of course, an extreme simplification of the work.
Other than the Creation, the actual tenets of the Guanyan faith are few. Jilam's only commandment to his followers is that they do no harm to each other and that they do what they know to be right. Beyond that, individual beliefs and practices vary greatly.
Special Orders of the Church
The Deliquati act as the Church’s private army, which operates within the various branches of the Guanyan military. It is commanded by the six High Augurs of the Faith and thirty lesser Augurs.
The Ren’Liao, or “Warriors of God” are the elite Warrior-Priests of the Guanyan Church, and with the exception of the Elic’Jum’toh are the finest soldiers, assassins, and bodyguards in the whole of the Empire.
Military
The primary arm of the Guanyan military, the GAN is composed of the Empire’s eleven massive space fleets. It is the duty of the GAN to defend the Empire from invasion or any other foreign threat. The various ranks within the GAN are:
Hostmaster (Admiral) – Commands one of the GAN’s eleven space fleets. Host-Colonel (Vice-Admiral) – Commands a segment of a fleet. Swordmaster (Commander) – Commands a Task Force Shipmaster (Captain) – Commands a ship. Kasig (Lieutenant)
The First File
The First File are the personal bodyguards of the Emperor. They are the most loyal soldiers in the Empire, trained specifically to protect the Emperor, and it is their credo that every one of them will fall before a single drop of the his blood is shed.
The Elic’Jum’toh
The Elic’Jum’toh, or “Society of the Dragon,” is a secret order composed of the most deadly warriors in all of the Empire. They answer directly to the Celestial Seat, and are used only for the most delicate of operations. The location of their Academy, which serves as a training ground for initiates, is a secret known only to the Emperor and the members themselves. Elic’Jum’Toh are trained to be able to complete any mission they may be called upon to perform, whether it be infiltration, assassination, bodyguard duty, surveillance, hostage rescue operations, a diplomatic mission, or anything else. Their existance is common knowledge within the Empire, but only the Masters of the Society know the identities of all the members, and anyone in the Empire could potentially be one. It is speculated in some circles that the Emperor's personal bodyguard, Nuham Relkin, may be one of the Elic'Jum'toh, and perhaps even one of the Masters.
Controlled Systems
Guanyu Ceta – Capital. The Guanyu Ceta system contains the world Guanyans originally evolved on, and is the Economic, Religious, and Political center of the Empire.
Guanyu Beta – Military system. Guanyu Beta contains the base of operations, training grounds, refitting docks, spaceyards, and home port for the entire Guanyan Aerospace Navy. It also contains colonies on the third and fourth planets.
Tau Ceti – Colony System. Technically in Klonor space, the Tau Ceti colony is of no military, economic, or political importance and consists merely of a few cities full of Guanyan citizens.
Guanyu Sigma - Military System. Guanyu Sigma contains the base of operations, training grounds, refitting docks, spaceyards, and home port for the Deliquati.
Guanyu Epsilon - Colony System. The second planet is inhabited by Guanyans.
Guanyu Phi - Guanyu Phi contains no habitable planets. It does, however, contain the Guanyu-Medical Research Station. The GMRS conducts medical and biotechnological research. The station orbits the fourth planet.
Guanyu Alpha - Colony System. The second and fourth planets are inhabited by Guanyans.
Repta Draconis - The Guanyan Archives contain little information about this system, other than that it is to be considered extremely dangerous and avoided at all costs.
Maps
Internal Map
International Map
