Aetheria's Alliance Planets and Species
The AER System
Planet: Erudia
Government: Erudia values logic and science, and believes in overcoming and/or the suppression of strong emotions. Governed by a Senate with an elected Grand Chancellor.
Religion: Erudians are a largely atheistic society. They do believe in meditation rituals used to sharpen or hone the mind.
Achievements: Erudia initiated the creation of The Alliance of the Seven Systems once they achieved FtL travel using reagents of the Source, a Rift Drive, and a Navigator (mage). They began by approaching Souleda, their sister planet within their own system, and slowly expanded to include other systems and planets within the Seven.
People: They possess a human-like appearance and lifespan. Erudians possess skin tones in a variety of shades of brown, with brown, amber, green, or violet eyes and hair in shades of black, midnight blue, dark purple, or brown. They wear their pinky nails long and lacquered in colors and pierced with jewelry that indicate their areas of expertise. Scholarly pursuits are of the most value to society. They are a technologically advanced culture.
Environment: Desert climate with several sprawling biodomes connected across the planet.
Notes: The Alliance Mage Collective is based on Erudia.
Planet: Souleda
Government: The planet of Souleda is run by a Council of the Guild Leaders. Guild Leaders are elected by their Guild and serve a term of ten years, with the option to be re-elected once for another ten years.
Religion: The dominant religion is called The Path of Na'Amah -- a patron goddess whose only instruction is to "Love as thou wilt." This religion gave rise to the acceptance, moreover the socially-elevated admiration, of the Courtesan's Guild, who serve their goddess by providing sexual and/or sensual services for patrons. Na'Amah had a pantheon of disciples who are responsible for paths beyond the Courtesans.
Achievements: Worked with Erudia to develop the most commonly accepted Rift Drive for FtL travel and Rift stability. Both the Alliance Military's central base and The Source University is located on Souleda.
People: They possess a human-like appearance and lifespan. They are as varied in skin tone and features as humans. Guild affiliations are tattooed upon their bodies.
Environment: Temperate, Earth-like.
The AURIEL System
Planet: Sylvanus [[High and Wood Elves]]
Government: Matriarchal Monarchy – High Queen and Her Consorts – government is controlled by the High Sylvans. The Wood Sylvans have a Tribal Leader – The Oracle – but is also heavily Matriarchal.
Religion: The Holy Light SIde of the Source – A philosophy with three main tenets. Dominant religion of the High Sylvans. Balance in the Source – A philosophy that the Source must exist in ultimate balance in order to achieve equilibrium. Dominant religion amongst the Wood Sylvans.
Achievements: First "Otherworld" Star System to join the Erudian-Souledan proposed Alliance.
People:. High Sylvans live on floating islands in the skies above the surface. Wood Sylvans live upon the heavily forested temperate planet's surface. High Sylvans are very pale of skin, hair, and eyes. Wood Sylvans have slightly darker skin, hair, and eyes to match their environment.
Environment: Temperate climate. High Sylvans live on floating islands in the skies above the surface. Wood Sylvans live upon the heavily forested temperate planet's surface.
Planet: Dusken [[Dark Elves]]
Government: Matriarchal Theocracy – controlled by a High Priestess and Her Consorts, first of which is the High General of their military.
Religion: The Dark Side of the Source – A philosophy that brands suffering, chaos, and pain as necessary to survival and success.
Achievements: They used to live underground upon Sylvanus, but many years before migrated to Dusken in order to escape subjugation by the High Sylvans.
People:. Dark of skin, but light of hair and eyes. They live in a rich biome under the surface of the largely-desolate Dusken.
Environment: While Dusken's surface is desolate (not unlike Earth's moon), the underground is a very rich environment.
Notes:
The EMEN System
Planet: Thoriah [[Dwarf-People and Gnome-People]]
Government: Thoriah Underground is ruled by a Council of the Tribal Elders -- Elders from each of the Thoriah Clans rule together. There is a High Chieftain, who serves as Thoriah's Ambassador. Faemen have a Prime Techno-Magus who is elected to the position by a Parliament.
Religion: Thorians worship the ancestral spirits of their ancestors, particularly their warriors. They believe in The Great Halls of the Warriors where Valkyrie go when they die, a sort of "heaven."
Achievements: The Thorians have one of the best navies in the Systems. They have a particularly strong military and a lot of the most revolutionary technology. They are a rival for the Erudians and Souledans in particular, and were adopted into the Alliance following the Auriel System.
People: Thoriah Underground is populated by the Thorians -- a dwarf-like group of people whose culture is based around mining, warring, ship-building, and metal-smithing. Thoriah Prime is the name for the surface, which is populated by vast technology-centric cities of the Faemen -- a gnome-like people whose culture is based on technology, engineering, and science.
Environment: Thoriah Prime has been perfectly terraformed since the emergence of the Faemen from their cousins, the Thorians, and since grown into technologically-advanced cities of automation and steamworks. Thoriah Underground is a vast network of great halls hewn from the stones of the very rocky surface, and from the natural caves that were there eons ago. They have a strong fleet of naval ships.
Notes:
The SHIR'RA System
Planet: Vah Shir'ra [[Feline People]]
Government: Ruled by a "Shah" and his harem "Pride." Patriarchal society, with an emphasis on tenacity, survival skills, and hunting.
Religion: Worship "Ra" -- their Sun -- as their primary deity. ((Egyptian-like religion)).
Achievements: They are well-known merchants and traders.
People: Feline-like with coats in the colors and patterns of the big cats of Earth.
Environment: Their home planet is experiencing an Ice Age. Many Val Shir'ra are now refugees of the Alliance.
Notes:
The ZEVZ'DA System
Planet: Uve'Da
Government: Theocracy -- The Great Prophets -- a council of priests and priestesses who host Da that have lived the longest.
Religion: They believe in the Source -- which they refer to as Essence -- as guiding them as a force of Fate. They use "tarot" (Essence Cards, Essence Deck) to make sense of that journey. They believe in the Collective Experience, and each Uve'Da records his, her, or their journey for posterity in a personal book, which is then added to The Great Accords.
Achievements: Produce a form of haze via the spores of mushrooms. They have a unique crystal-like ship fleet with spore technology. They accept and embrace learning of The Essence (Source).
People: The Da -- a symbiote who can be any gender, or genderless, and the Uve -- a host species. They look somewhat similar to a tiefling from DnD (but their skin can be shades of black, blue, red, or violet), with an arthropod-like being attached to their brainstem and spine (with the segmented, armored tail being visible along the nape of the neck and upper back). They have a BDSM-based socially constructed culture, and their ultimate goal is to seek wisdom through experiences, which are then recorded for posterity in a sacred set of books, which are then passed down through the generations. I call them the "Uve'Da." The Uve is the host; the "Da" is the symbiote. The Uve must first prove him/herself worthy of hosting a Da through a rite of passage in adolescence, wherein they go on a journey with their journeybook, then bring back their experience and the wisdom gained from it to share with their people. They essentially worship the wisdom of their ancestors. Also, during this rite of passage, they decide whether to align themselves as "Dominant," "Submissive," or "Switch," (using 'alien' terminology in lieu of common BDSM terms). They tattoo their entire bodies in a swirl of color depending upon that choice, as part of the ritual, so that it is readily apparent to anyone part of their society. And it is very difficult to change ones alignment (therefore, it is considered acceptable to delay the rite of passage until the subject is fairly certain of their alignment).
Environment: Very blue-appearing swamp-like world covered in giant forests of fungi. Temperate or tropical climate.
Notes:
The THI'ZICC System
Planet: X'Zisk [[Lizard-People]]
Government: The Grand Dragon Master -- A theocratic government with a grand priest leader, chosen by all of the sects (Flights) of the Temple of the Dragon.
Religion: Monastery-like Temple of the Dragon -- they worship The Divine Dragonflights.
Achievements: They have a relationship with a space species known as The Vast Eels. Vast Eels are born in the Thi;Zicc System, and they are living ships.
People: Samarai-like monks that belong to a particular Flight of the Temple of the Dragon. They are lizard-people and come in many varieties and colors.
Environment: Very green, verdant swamp-like environment with tons of swampy riverlands and marshes.
Notes:
The ROK System
Planet: Uruk [[Orc-People and Goblin-People]]
Government: The Uruk are controlled by The Master Hunter. The Goblins are controlled by The Corporate Executive.
Religion: The Goblins are atheistic, but do put heavy emphasis on cleverness in business dealings. The Uruk believe in The Great Hunt -- an endless afterlife of hunting with major figures from their culture.
Achievements: The Uruk have mastered dinosaurs on their planet, and use them as a resource for both the gathering of resources and in trade. They also hunt upon other worlds, and merchandise this, too.
People: Uruk are very orc-like in appearance, with tusks, pointed ears, and faintly green, brown, or red-tinged skin. Goblins are miniature versions of the Uruk, but are technologically advanced.
Environment: Uruk prefer to live in the midst of their jungles, a very volcanic environment rife with danger from indigenous dinosaur-like creatures. Goblins live in cities in the safest areas of the planet, complete with technology and defenses.
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