Xanthal

The nation formerly known as Xanthal was essentially a communist haven throughout its existence, founded on the newly-unified continent of Zithal in the early twentieth century by a human, Zeke Zabertini. Until the late twenty-first century the nation was based on Earth, but later expanded to and recentered on the Aellis system, twenty light-years away. Marked by a notoriously powerful and seemingly uncorruptable central government for almost its entire history, political instability was a near-constant problem. Though democratic election of leaders was a usual affair, until its fall in 2970 Xanthal's executive decision-making body changed on an unbelievably frequent basis (on average every 120 years) to consist of as few as one and as many as 3,296 people. Despite the constant central growth and shrinkage it was famous for, only two minor revolutions occured in its one thousand-year history. Both occured in the twenty-fifth century, marking the beginning and end of the short-lived Xanthalian imperial age. At its height, the Xanthalian state included seven solar systems watched over by an armada of 700 military warships. Often taking a neutral or mediatory position in interstellar conflicts, the majority of Xanthal's aggressive intervention occured during the imperial age. However, they also participated in the first Demon War and almost all the battles involving New Xanthal, which was founded independently by Xanthalian citizens who wanted to live in a more capitalistic system. Xanthalian culture was fairly constant over the thousand-year period of national independence in a surprisingly conservative state. Xanthalian mainstream archetecture was marked by practical, geometric buildings with minimal exterior design flairs. Typical Xanthalian conduct was similar, reflecting the Xanthalian autoritarian value system. Xanthal's "golden age" from 2610 to 2742 was the exception to this rule, during which time culture flourished in the creation of two small cities constructed completely with aesthetics in mind. One, located on Aellis VI, was a picturesquely-modeled canal city modeled and named after the fictional town of Mac Anu. The other made use of more modern archetecture. Named Romerra and built on the capital planet Aellis V, it was significantly larger and made use of tall, twisting skyscrapers. Xanthal was inextricably linked with the nation of Than from almost the moment they made the shift to a space-borne society. Colapsing under totalitarian rule, the Thanic government and people appealed to Xanthal for help. Xanthalian reform was so successful that it led to Than's people actually electing to become a Xanthalian territory in the first general election. From that point forward, though they remained seperate in name, Than was Xanthal. A revolution changed this situation on one of the two Thanic planets for a brief period, but after the death of their new "prince" the Than once again returned to Xanthalian control. Perhaps it was destined that Xanthal fell when it did. By the beginning of the thirtieth century corruption was finally beginning to creep into the traditionally pure government and economic slowdown was coupled with new reforms pushing the state into a more and more conservative position. When the socialist Humankind Empire Abh offered an equal alliance to the Triumvirate of the then-Socialist Republic of Xanthal, the opportunity was siezed as a chance at salvaging the nation's rapidly failing political structure. The Abh predictably betrayed their Xanthalian allies though, and absorbed Xanthal as an Abh territory. Immediately following the coup, international forces concerned that this would become a trend in their region with the intergalactic empire began to plan a preemptive strike. Unprepared for a battle on this newly-aquired front, the Abh took drastic measures and utilized the Xanthalians' greatest creation, the Infinity Gateway, to physically move the Aellis system and everyone in it into the heart of established Abh territory. Since that time, almost no news has reached the home galaxy regarding the fate of the Xanthalian people. All that is known for sure is that they are still alive and well under Abh rule, well into a new age under the domination of the Abh Emperor.