Roania
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| Official Languages | English (Galstandard), High Roanian | |||
| Capital | Imperial City (Tarnaqin)) | |||
| Flag | 
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| Head of State | His Divine Illuminated Imperial Majesty Lord-Emperor Cassander Drakharn | |||
| ArchChancellor | Nicholas Darquis | |||
| Leader of His Divine Illuminated Imperial Majesty's Loyal Opposition | Celeste Laurens (Church Democratic Party) | |||
| Area - Land - Water - Empire |
300,800,921 km² 175,596,006 km² 200 lightyears | |||
| Population | 7 Billion + | |||
| Establishment - Unification of Altecrast (earliest nondisputed date in Roanian History) - Colonisation of Rudan Prime - End of Empire of the Twin Lamps - Rudan Prime as independent Republic - Rudanii Empire of Shadow - as Divine Imperium of Roania - Present Day |
CE 1700 CE 1800 CE 1922 CE 1922 CE 2440 IR 1 (CE 3350) IR 2850 (CE 6200) | |||
| Government type | Oligarchy | |||
| Nation type | Aristocracy | |||
| National animal | Roanian Drake | |||
| Currency - Exchange rate |
1 Imperial Mark = US$1.7 | |||
| National Charter of Rights | Charter of the Divine Imperium | |||
| International Abbreviations - government |
DIR DIG | |||
| Internet TLD | .dru | |||
The Divine Imperium of Roania (More properly, the Divine Illuminated Imperium) is an ancient and highly advanced extrasolar empire, home to several races (The Roanians thesmelves being the most prominent). The home system is Rudan, which is a class-M star on the Norma-arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. A moderate empire extends away from Rudan towards the galactic north-west, away from Sol. Much of its early history remains shrouded in mystery to humans, as the Roanians do not believe in speaking of their own past except when it appears relevant to the situation at hand.
What is known is that the Roanians once lived in a Republic, with a President and a single parliamentary body (only three presidents are known to modern Roanian historians, but current discoveries might increase knowledge of the past), until ShadowLord Merrech led a magocratic coup and founding what he called the Empire of Shadow. Eventually Lord-General Joseph Black overthrew the ArchMage and united the Divine Imperium, with his colleague the War-Priest Asriel founding one of the most powerful state religions in the galaxy, the Imperial Church of the Light.
The original Roanian home system was Altecrast, a fact which the Roanians recently established to their own satisfaction (The Shadowlords had a policy of 'cultural renewal', and Alexander I, who resettled Altecrast, wanted to be famous as an explorer, not as someone who used maps that were already there). This Empire of the Twin Lamps is almost completely unknown now, though the Roanians are hunting the wilds of Altecrast for more information. It can only be hoped that some margin of this would be shared with galactic historians in Sol and elsewhere, though the Roanians are an intensely private race, as said.
People of the Divine Imperium
See Article: Roanians See: Roanian Allied Races
The Roanians are now firmly established, despite their best attempts to hide their origin, as an independently evolved species, with roots neither in Humans or elves. The Roanians are, in so far as terran nomenclature can be applied to non-terran lifeforms, tentatively called Lucis Angelus. The Divine Imperium is also home to a number of elves, migrants from Terra or places even stranger, though the Roanians have on occasion treated them with either contempt or extreme violence.
Entertainment
On the whole, Roanians tend to avoid many of the extremes that mark other 'decadent' nations such as Der Angst and Pilon. While somewhat open about sensuality, nevertheless they feel that such matters are a purely private matter and should not be displayed too openly. Instead, Roanians on the whole have more traditional tastes in their public entertainment, such as sports and films. Privately, a Roanian might choose to watch his holovision, read from his library, or listen to music.
When it comes to sports the Roanians have what could be termed unusual tastes, preferring gladiatorial sports to team affairs. Fencing is a popular spectator sport, and it has more in common with the rapier and shortsword duels of the Medieval Dominion than with that generally practiced now.
One of the more disturbing traits of the Roanians is their love of pain. Roanians share a shocking similarity to the 'elves' of old European folklore, the 'faerie' people, in that they hurt and kill for the sake of hurting and killing. Roanians in the past were known to depopulate entire worlds in the name of these savage lusts, though over the past centuries of contact they have slowly reached what might be termed 'the point of tolerance', where they can accept that other sentients do not exist just for their amusement and other sentients can start to accept that the Roanian in the room might not be thinking of a variety of ways to kill them.
Roanians still torture animals for fun, and are perhaps unique in never truly developing a taste for 'pets', though they find it relatively easy to domesticate animals. Needless to say, animal rights activism has never been a force at any level of imperial society, and that's unlikely to change as the more prominent allied races (the Salamandri and Felinoids) are both also fans of the sadistic treatment of lesser creatures.
Names
The top 5 names for Roanian boys born over the past 30 years have been:
- Raphael
- Aeron
- Michael
- Cassander (and derivatives)
- Joseph
The top three names for Roanian girls born over the past 30 years have been:
- Ailis (Blessed of the Light; This vowel sound features in some way in the full name of every Roanian woman: Alysandra, Malissa, Ailisa, Eilasa. It will be either in the first name or, less frequently, in the second)
- Rebecca
- Danae
Allied Races
The Imperium spans 12 systems, and has within its boundaries 5 other intelligent lifeforms. For the most part these are primitives, at black powder level or below, and not considered part of the Imperium excepting that they live on planets the Imperium has claimed. However, for approximately 2000 years the Roanians had been selecting and capturing members of the various races and taking them home to Rudan Prime to work as slaves.
Recently, under Cassander Drakharn, the last remaining slaves (in reality, a minority of all Xenos on the planet) have been emancipated. The second largest racial group in the Imperium became overnight the Salamandros --a race of reptilian sapiens similar to the Sakkrans. Out of a total population of 7 billion, roughly 800 million are 'non-Roanian citizens of the Divine Imperium'. Of that population, nearly 200 million are Salamandri. There are also felinomorphs, silicon lifeforms, and a variety of other unusual creatures.
Native Rudani
Prior to the arrival of the Roanians, the native sentients were an insectoid race known as the ch'ker. Their religion can best be described as a death-cult. It is believed that the majority of the race was wiped out 50 years prior to first contact during an event that subsequent data-records refer to as 'the sacred night'. The remainder was destroyed 100 years after contact during an attempt by the Rudanii to initiate their neighbours into the cult.
Even today in some of the more isolated regions of the planet, pre-colonisation ruins are still visible, and archaeologists continually busy themselves in exploring the ancient past of their home planet. Many of these ruins, however, still have fully active[[1]] security systems which require extreme caution. Rudani technology is constantly studied by Imperial Scientists, though any conclusions they make are normally uncertain, as just because an item can be used in a certain way does not mean that that's what the item originally was for.
Religion and Spirituality
See: Imperial Church of the Light
Roanians are an intensely spiritualistic people in general, though not in the specific. The 'God', for lack of a better term, that they worship appears to be a cold and calculating force that created the universe out of a desire for cosmic order. This religion is focussed in The Imperial Church of the Light, which is one of the most powerful institutions on the planet. The beliefs and the 'purity' of the Roanian race are protected by The Order of the Archangel's Sword (also known as the Imperial Inquisition).
Roanian prayer-services are very ritualistic, borrowing from the traditions of the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The major symbol is the Sun Cross:
Services for the most part are conducted in contemplative silence, with only muffled amens to the words of the Ecclesiarch. The church is a very heirachical organisation, with numerous ranks for Ecclesiarch, from the Patriarch of the Light all the way down to the Parish Priests who make up the bulk of the Church's ranks. Higher-ranking members of the church, above Priest, are expected not to be married.
The Church in its current form was founded after the Dark Years by War-Priest Louis DeRechelieu, whose goal was to inspire devotion to the Light in order to prevent a resurgence by the Darkness of Magic. Religious beliefs have been one of the primary forces in creating the Roanian mindset towards magic, though it must be stressed that at this point the culture is self-perpetuating.
Occasionally another faction will arise. Generally these 'alternatives' are far more fundamentalist and strict than the one they seperated from, and so far all of them have needed to be extirpated (to use the Holy Legion's term). The 'Holy Church of the Sacred Light' was the primary cause of the Second Reaction Against Magic (which grew into the Second Imperial Civil War) when Warlord Despan (an adherent like his master), on Lord-Emperor Damien's orders, ordered the use of experimental weaponry to destroy the elven city of (Old) Alaitoc and then attempted to eliminate the mainstream church as too defensive of magic.
For now, the creation of any new religions in the Divine Imperium is strictly forbidden, and punishable as an act of civil rebellion and the Church of the Light receives a hefty amount from the government every year.
Roanian Economy
The Roanian economy is almost autarkic, with little interest in external trade. The Imperium and its assorted worlds are estimated to have the raw resources to last at least another 5000 years. Assuming its population triples in size over that time. However, occasionally a wealthy Roanian will purchase a 'foreign' good, and the purchase of knowledge is fairly constant.
Recently trade liberalisation policies have commenced, though the Roanians themselves remain intensely suspicious of foreign goods. Many of the drivers of economic change have been noveau rich Salamandri and felinoids.
Imperial Government
Since Joseph the Great's constitution, the Imperial Government has been split between the overweening might of the executive, in the form of His Divine Illuminated Imperial Majesty the Lord-Emperor --an office to which there is as yet no legal binding then the force of constitution and precedent, which are admittedly very strong forces in the minds of even the mightiest Roanian-- and the two legislative assemblies, the Popular House (which forms the elected government) and the High Council, that arcane body that consists of the Great Houses and those Houses Minor welcomed into it.
Popular Council
The Popular Council is the elected body, and it is the house that holds the majority here that goes on to form government. It has 5900 members, and is in session for a third of the year, though tradition dictates that at least 1/3 of all members of the Council must remain in Imperial City, a tradition that stays in force despite the existence and deployment for over 4 millenia of both the Imperial Maglev networks and SuperSonic aircraft.
The Popular Council is not a body designed for revolutionary change. When change comes, the Roanians and most of their allied races prefer for it to be evolutionary, and it is believed that the Popular Council is amongst the least radical of lower houses amongst theoretically democratic states.
Traditionally, the Popular Council initiates legislation, which must then pass onto the High Council for review and eventual submission to the Lord-Emperor. Occasionally the Lord-Emperor himself will introduce legislation into the House of Nobles, but only in that rare event will the process travel the other way.
There are four parties that hold power in the Popular Council, seeming to cycle in and out of government in regular intervals without too much changing. The government of the day is the Union Party (Centrist), while its opponents are Movement for a Democratic Imperium (Very Conservative party), The Light's Democratic Party (Archconservative party), Worker's Party of the Divine Imperium (So conservative it tried to block the enfranchisement of the allied races), and Master Uriel Te'var of Rone on the Great Bridge ("left of center"), an elf who entered the Council as a bit of an experiment forty years ago and who has been consistently supported by the residents of his electorate in Alaitoc ever since, since none of them want the job.
ArchChancellor Nicholi Darquis
A distant cousin of the ArchDuke Simon Darquis of Derricks, Nicholi was Cassander's deputy when Cassander was ArchChancellor. Small, even for a Roanian, he tends to take a very lowkey role in the government, preferring to let his Chancellors get on with the job while he enjoys the perks. Has masterminded many of the Divine Imperium's international actions, including joining the Concordat and the 'triumphant' return to Mars.
Is happily married with four children.
Elections
The Divine Imperium has universal adult sufferage, where an adult is defined as having turned 20. The ArchChancellor must call elections within 4 years of the previous one. Voting is compulsory and failure to vote is punishable by jail-terms. The day an election is called for becomes a public and bank holiday, with schools and government offices closed in either the morning or the afternoon (or the entire day, if they so choose.)
High Council
The High Council of the Greater And Lesser Noble Houses of the Divine Imperium is perhaps the most powerful organisation within the Divine Imperium's boundaries. Capable of striking down the Lord-Emperor, the Popular Council, and the entire constitution should it feel the need, these powers exist only in theory.
In practical terms, majority of the High Council's 500 members are controlled from the eight thrones of the seven members of the Private Council, the Lord-Emperor and the Heads of the Great Houses. These six men (and one woman) control the Imperium right down to the bedrock, and may refuse to allow a vote in the High Council on anything they desire, barring a popular council vote forcing them to allow discussion.
The Lord-Emperor, naturally, is president of this body and the Heads of the Great Houses are automatically members. Other aristocrats are voted in from each province by a body of their peers. The Patriarch of the Light is a member of the Private Council. 10 High Priests and Order Heads are nominated by him for membership as well.
The Private Council in order of Precedence
1. Lord-Emperor of the Divine Imperium (Lord-Emperor Cassander Lucius Drakharn)
2. Patriarch of the Light (Gabriel VII)
3. Head of Great House Darquis (Grand Duke Simon Aelius Darquis IV)
4. Head of Great House Black (Prince D. Churiel "Charleston" Black III)
5. Head of Great House Drakharn (Lord-Emperor Cassander Lucius Drakharn)
6. Head of Great House Darsalin (Duke Nicademus Darsalin XII)
7. Head of Great House Ai (Lady Rebecca Ai)
For more information on these families and the nations they head, see Rudan Prime
The Imperial Family
Lord-Emperor Cassander Drakharn
Lord-Emperor Cassander Lucius Drakharn (More properly: His Most Divine Illuminated Imperial Majesty Lord-Emperor (Elrond) Cassander Lucius Drakharn of the Imperium of Rudan, Keeper of the Twin Lamps, Master of the Salamandri, High Chief of the Maargans, Lord of the Mrer, Most Blessed Servant of the Light, The Supreme Autocrat, the Ultimate Arbiter, the Most Beloved Imperial Captain Commander of the Most Holy Legions, Elf-Friend, et al.) came to power through the assassination of Lord-Emperor Alexander Adolphus Black. Upon Alexander's death, a will was discovered that named Cassander, his ArchChancellor, Lord-Emperor. Despite the prior claim of the Darquis Family (which wasn't pressed owning to Grand Duke Simon's close links with the hated Alexander), the Popular and High councils decided to accept, thereby creating a new dynasty. The Drakharns themselves have long been important members of Imperial Society, and many of the Emperor's cousins and ancestors have risen high.
The Lord-Emperor's Reign has been marked by unprecedented liberalisation, including the emancipation of the slaves (in conjunction with ArchChancellor DArquis), a drastic reduction in the number of accidental deaths in the palace (under Alexander, several hundred palace servants died a year) and a slow reduction in the power of the state to pre-crisis levels. Currently the Lord-Emperor is roughly 200, and the role of rebuilding the nation and establishing his dynasty appears to be wearing him out.
On being Lord-Emperor
"A lot of people still believe that being an (Lord) Emperor is an easy job, where all you do is sit around and amuse yourself all day. I cannot speak for many of my brothers and sisters, but for myself every day is spent working hard for the benefit of my people." ~ On being asked if he considered Emperor to be an 'easy job'.
Keeper of the Twin Lamps
A reference to the old capital world of the Roanian race, hundreds of years before the formation of the Divine Imperium, Altecrast Tertius (Altecrast having two suns).
Half-Elf
Unusually for a Roanian noble, Cassander's father not only had an affair with one of Roania's exceedingly rare pure elves, but also acknowledged the child as his own (with his wife's full knowledge). Details are sketchy, but it is believed that Lady Louisa Drakharn might have been sterile. The Imperial Palace is not forthcoming on the subject.
The Empress
A model for a tourist campaign. A public servant. An Imperial Governor. Treasurer. Her Most Serene Illuminated Majesty Lady-Empress (Lúthien) Alysanndra Aliria Drakharn has been a tireless worker through-out her life, establishing her position in the Divine Imperium after nearly a century of struggle. Her first job after leaving the orphanage was in the Tourism Department, where a wandering Alexander the Dark happened to spot her. Suffering one of his occasional fits of brilliance, he promptly ordered his Tourism Chancellor to use her as a centerpiece for the ad campaign. Then decapitated the man when he deferred. His replacement was more than happy to obey.
The 'Where else but Roania Campaign' was an amazing success, pulling in thousands of marks of tourist revenue from across the eastern sectors of the galaxy, and even from Sol. Alysanndra's intelligence was also marked upon, and after a whirlwind of promotion she was sent to the North-Western province, whose revenues experienced a marked upswing after she took over, as well as a population boost.
Her romance with Cassander was very brief, and their marriage a year after they met was an event a weary capital finally had a chance to smile for. Currently they've been married for 80 years, and palace rumours hold that her support is all that's maintaining the increasingly tired Lord-Emperor.
Affair with Alexander?
It is rumoured that Lady-Empress Alysanndra had an affair with Alexander the Dark, a fact which would go some way to explaining how she progressed so rapidly through the ranks, though her survival is a powerful argument against this rumour.
Prince Imperial Caurentin Aeron Drakharn
A handsome young Roanian, Caurentin is one of the more prominent members of the Imperium's Social Register. It is widely believed that he has attempted to sleep with every woman available to him, and dark rumours hang over his desires in regards to those nature itself has kept from him, though only a brave (or foolish) man would dare to confront Cassander with any of this.
Princess Imperial Aila D Drakharn
Compared to her twin brother, Aila is a very meek and unassuming young woman. Widely considered one of the more desirable women in the Divine Imperium (for reasons more attached to the curves of her body than anything else, unusual for the power-lusting Roanians) Aila is, at least apparently, an elf-dominant half-elf like her mother, and so is lacking in wings.
X Drakharn
News recently reached Sol of the Lady-Empress' recent miscarriage. The unnamed child has been laid to rest in the Drakharn Family's vaults. Lady-Empress Alysanndra has not been seen in public over the past three months, and a palace source says she is 'resting'.
Divine Imperial Justice
Roanian society relies heavily on an organised judicial system. Maintaining the nation's unity is one of the primary priorities of every Roanian government.
Police Forces
There are three tiers of police in the Divine Imperium. Imperial, National/Planetary, and Provincial. These are not neccessarily statements of precedence or priority. Rather, they are complementary. A criminal that escapes from the city police by crossing the county lines will still be arrested, imprisoned, and tried.
This is because all law in the Divine Imperium is Divine Imperial Law. What is law in one province is law in the next, what is law in Roan is law in Agua, and what is law on Altecrast is law on Ailisara. Nation and Planetary Assemblies are essentially little more than glorified local councils, which control public services and make sure electricity and hospitals are working.
Imperial Security Bureau
The Imperial Security Bureau's officers patrol Imperial City, the more distant planets (And Darsalin Base) and provide security for embassies abroad. Their remit extends across the Imperium, though, and it is possible to run into them everywhere. In the event of the loss of a Visitor's Permit Card, it is the ISB office in the province which will be contacted to provide a new one.
ISB Officers wear white uniforms, with rank indicated by golden sigils over the heart. Their typical equipment is:
- RA95 (ISB Variant) Force-Pistol, which has two settings (Shock and Kill)
- Omega Security Division's Pattern 7 Stun Baton
- ISB Personal Armour, which is designed to withstand a shot from a military-grade force-weapon
The ISB armouries also include sonic weaponry, grenades (atomising/flash/explosive) and a number of assault vehicles, aerial and ground.
Divine Directorate for Special Investigation and Enforcement
Apart from the ISB, there is also the Divine Directorate for Special Investigation and Enforcement, colloquially known as the Shadow Angels. These officers can be anywhere at any time, rooting out treason and destroying contraband. They rarely wear their uniforms, instead preferring to act as plainclothes police. The law requires them to show their badge prior to making an arrest.
Shadow Angel uniforms are grey, though owing to the fabrics and chemicals used the grey appears as if viewed through a translucent black cloth. Equipment details are highly classified.
International Obligations
The Divine Imperium is a party to the Concordat's security provisions and follows them to the best of their ability.
The Empire
Rudan
The Rudan System is situated on the norma arm of the galaxy, nearly 40000 lightyears from Terra, and orbits around a yellow sun roughly the size of Sol. There are 4 planets. The Capital World is Rudan Prime.
Other Planets
Rudan Secundus is roughly as far from Rudan as the asteroid field is from Sol. It is considered a nature world, and the only Roanian contact is from orbit. Currently life has reached a stage that could be considered Cambrian and seems unlikely to advance any further.
Rudan Tertiary is a saturn-sized gasplanet. Pinnacle3 (a relic station) is located in orbit, and robotically manned gas-collecting factories are occasionally lowered into the clouds.
Rudan Quanternary is a rocky world, without any atmosphere. Its sole settlement is a system defence post.
The Imperium
The Divine Imperium holds possession of numerous systems, including Rudan Prime and the Imperial Presence in Sol. Some of them are unsettled and uninhabited, simply held for strategic purposes or resources. Others have intelligent native life and are held for resources and to ensure that the natives cannot pose a threat to the Imperium, either independently or through assisting Imperial enemies. A significant number used to be inhabited, but now are not.
In order of population (defined solely as Imperial Citizens), the major communities are:
- The Imperial Star; Rudan (5.05 billion)
- The Twin Lamps of Altecrast (1 billion)
- The Sapphire Star; Ailisara(288 million)
- Crossroad of the Light; Centerpoint (125 million)
- Roanian Sol (105 million)
- The Lizard Star; Rk (100 million)
- The Cat Star; Nmmmr (60 million)
- The Beacon Star; Flinders' World (15 million)
- The Viewpoint Star; Light's End (15 thousand)
- The Ruby Star;Belubog (15 thousand)
Other systems controlled by the Imperium include New Agua, Zorodnos and Whisper, but these worlds have at the moment only just been settled and their colonies are either small agrarian settlements or scientific bases.
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