Denarian Continuum
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Summary
The Denarian Continuum is a nation spanning 26 developed systems in the centre of the Celeritas Asterism, a long stretch of quark stars that lies like a wall in the galactic east. The Continuum is the most wealthy among the Celeritian nations. Due to its large exports of higgs-figron fuels, the Continuum has amassed an enormous sovereign wealth fund. Its investments keep the Continuum’s economy constantly growing with wealth coming in from the rest of the galaxy. The Continuum uses its wealth to attract and support massive and advanced industrial corporations. Apart from higgs-figrons, they also export high-grade electronics, security systems, weaponry and propulsion systems. Another source of their profit is the Hermedian gate, the namesake for the galactic standard name of the Hermedian species. The Hermedian Gate is the largest and safest way to pass perpendicularly through the Asterism to the other side and the Continuum collects customs for all who pass. The Contiunuum’s valuable assets are heavily protected by the Denarian Self-Defense forces. Despite this, the Continuum is passive and diplomatic since their economic prosperity presupposes good relations with other nations. The Continuum does employ a degree of favouritism in its taxation in exchange for defence guarantees or trade deals.
The most powerful corporations of Asterism are the higgs-figron specialized corporations. The most notable are the Hermes Consortium and Tachal & Co, two rival companies that try to destabilize each other in order to gain an oligopoly with their allies. Another notable company is Luheysia Financial Group which owns a number of advanced electronics and ship part manufacturers. Each of the megacorporations have private militaries to protect their assets from illegal activity in the Asterism.
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Government and ideology
Government structure
Continuum is a deteriorating representative democracy with an authoritarian executive branch and head of state. The first chamber is known as the Legislature. This is where the corporate upper class is represented. The Legislature’s members are appointed by the Chief Magistrate. Usually company representatives ‘bid’ to get into the Legislature. The other chamber is the House of Denaria which represents the people. Individual members of the House of Denaria are elected based on area, each member representing a planetary zone. The Head of State is called the Chief Magistrate. The current Chief Magistrate, Achal Kuhen, has been in the position for multiple decades and is infamous for sabotaging the opposition. The House of Denaria usually demands that the Chief Magistrate be removed and re-elected under the supervision of the House. However, the Chief Magistrate claims that his election results are genuine.
Internal conflict
All public opposition to Achal Kuhen is beaten down brutally by the State Guard which he controls. Achal’s power lies entirely in that the Legislature and the church support him. The House of Denaria controls the military command structure and employs commanders based on loyalty to them instead of competence in fear of a coup from the executive branch. The corporations of the Continuum suffer from political instability. Through the Legislature, the corporations make sure the fragile power balance between the Chief Magistrate and the House of Denaria is upheld. The official state church supports the Chief Magistrate and is weaved heavily into the pro-Kuhen propaganda. However, the church has its own ambitions and wants to move away from the pacifistic nature of the Continuum’s foreign relations strategy.
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People and culture
Appearance
The Celeritas Asterism is mostly inhabited by the species known as Hermedians. Hermedians are a relatively short humanoid species. Hermedians have an elongated skulls making their head taller and longer. One of the defining features of their species are the ornate horns that extend from their skull slightly further up from their pointy ears. The horns are naturally curved back, however in Denarian society, it is commonplace to modify or decorate their horns. Hermedians skin tone and hair colour can vary depending on ethnicity or environment. Most Hermedians are a tone of grey with varying amounts of blue pigments. Some Hermedians have more yellow or green skin tones. Hermedians do naturally grow hair on their heads and faces. It is however custom to keep terminal hair short.
Properties
The Hermedian species is known for its extreme reflexes and its adaptability for cyberware. The Hermedians muscles are built for explosive and quick reactions and the natural nervous system is extremely efficient with training. Hermedians often replace body parts with cybernetics to better be adapted to the space environment that drives their economy. Hermedians are however highly individualistic and self-centred. Due to this Hermedians are disloyal and unruly. It is one of the suspected reasons for the abundance of smugglers and underground corporate activity. Another notable feature of the Hermedian biology is their high resistance to tachyonic or radiation poisoning making them ideal for delving into the denser parts of the Asterism.
Space culture
For the Hermedians, space life is everything. Asterism-runners and higgs-figron extraction missions drive the economy and are a massive part of Denarian culture, depicted favourably in media and fiction. Many lower-class Denarian workers dream of buying their own ship and going on dangerous trips through the galaxy. However, being a spaceman in the Asterism requires special skills and biological conditions. The species and equipment are heavily adapted to survive and thrive in Asterism.
Religion
The Hermedian main religion is known as ‘Eleysianism’, a monotheistic religion which centres around the prophet Ajedach who would interpret and understand messages from God who’s referred to as Hidajad Akabal, ‘the One God’. His true name ‘Jabat’ is not allowed to be uttered by non-practisers of Eleysianism and can only be said on holy occasions by people of certain positions according to Eleysianistic law. While it is culturally unaccepted, it is not illegal to say the name unless it is considered a provocation. Eleysianism teaches a message of individualism but also that of empathy. Ajedach goes against the majority and their beliefs in multiple points in the Holy Script and is eventually murdered for it. The religion believes that once one accepts the One God, he will bring fortune and happiness to the person. It also teaches to accept other people and to care for them. However, in some parts of the holy script there are prompts to jihadism.
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Military
The military of the Continuum is distinct in their reliability on tachyon and solar sails. Since the fleet is one for self-defence, the Continuum navy specialize in operations within the Celeritas Asterism, where the abundance of Higgs-figrons in space cause sails to have increased efficiency. As such their ships are easily recognizable with large extendable sails for propulsion. The military-industry is however in poor shape due to lack of funding. The people and by extension the parliament do not feel threatened with their foreign defence guarantees. Despite this, a lot of the Hermedian forces use ornaments and impressive displays of decorations and power. The parliament believes that the most effective method to stop attackers would be to appear powerful instead of actually being so. The Continuum often has public displays of military power.
While significantly weaker than the state forces, the megacorporations of the Denarian Continuum also possess their own space forces. Unlike the state forces, the corporate forces do not rely on sailing ships. Corporation forces focus on being able to operate far outside the Asterism to protect their foreign assets. For instance the corporations often need to export higgs-figrons to high demand areas on the Sun Singed Trade Route which requires high military presence.
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Locations and Planets
The Hermedian Gate and Gateway:
The largest and safest route through the Asterism if one wants to avoid natural interdiction fields, gravity anomalies, and tachyon and radiation bombardment. The Hermedian Gate is a massive area that runs through the Asterism perpendicularly with several thousand ships passing through at any given moment, each one forced to pay the Continuum’s customs. Blockade runners are commonplace though. Being a Hermedian Gate blockade runner is both lucrative and dangerous. The Gateway system is where most state military ships are stationed in the Continuum. The main interdiction tollgates lie there. There are no habitable planets at Gateway. Instead the system has an impressive array of space stations and infrastructure for trading ships and travellers.
Tertraj:
Tertraj, which translates into ‘birthplace’ is the most developed planet of the continuum and is heavily privatized and industrialized. Most of the planet is owned by the Luheysia Financial Group. The east however is controlled by another company; the Hermes Consortium. The world has a thick atmosphere heavy with noble gases and carbon dioxide. The living standards are subpar with a huge amount of the population being industrial workers. Apart from the huge industrial sectors, the planet is relatively green and rich with oceans and bodies of water. Corporate and state sectors lie in enclosed cities with their own purified atmosphere far away from the sight of the sprawling industrial complexes.
Peerala:
Peerala, translating into literally ‘heart’ or ‘engine’ is the administrative capital of the Continuum. It is the most popular tourist location. The Peeralan cities are a statement of wealth and power and are designed to combine the natural elements of the planet with the cities’ architecture, featuring vast greenery and watercourses in the cities’ clean streets. The buildings are tall and feature elements from historical Denarian architecture. The vehicles are expensive, the hotels are luxurious and the restaurants are highly rated. Peerala is considered the luxury planet of the Asterism and was only possible due to the Continuum’s immense wealth and the wishes of the Chief Magistrate. While this part of the planet are available to higher-class citizens or foreign visitors, Peerala has an enormous labouring class that live in low-cost housing or poorly constructed living spaces outside the cities or beneath the streets in underground complexes.
