Khela

Khela (officially the Dominion of Khela) is a powerful nation located in the Paleas region of Florathel, centered on the planet Selaga in the Khae System. It controls the vast majority of the Khae System as well as parts of Lyak and is bordered by the Vanaheimr, the Theocracy of Yaztas, and Marakat.

Area

Khela controls a set of planets within the Lyak System, those being Selaga, Iress and Lias, and their surroundings, although it was once much larger. It is divided into seven territories plus the capital territory on the surface of Selaga. The seven territories are each divided into a series of states. However, some regions, such as the Tareza Autonomous Zone deep within the limit cloud, are not part of any territory and are instead governed separately, usually considerably more autonomously.

The Capital Territory comprises a 470 square kilometer area on the surface of Selaga surrounding the nation's capital. This territory is governed directly by the central government of the Dominion.

Capital

Despite its huge mass of over four terrestrial masses, Selaga was the first remotely inhabitable world sighted by the Hope Fleet after its departure from Aegyn. Many wished to remain on the planet rather than spend centuries flying home, and before they set foot on another planet again their descendants had evolved into a new species.

Today, Selaga has been terraformed from its original desolate state, going from rocky crags where only simple mossy organisms can gain a foothold to a lush, diverse world. Selaga is covered with many large arcologies each designed to support millions of people, giving the planet a population of over one trillion. Most government services are in fact operated from a special base hidden within the crust of the planet’s large moon Kerega, due to the crushing gravity of Selaga itself making it impossible for most species to visit.

Founding Species

Ten thousand years ago, a small number of humans from the First Aeternal Society were permanently cut off from the gene pool of the combined human race, and began interbreeding with each other as they spread across the planet. Later, Zaphenim discovered this population suffering under high gravity and decided to alter their genetic code. That and isolation lead to the current Selagan species.

The Selagans, while retaining the original humanoid form, have several key differences to their parent species. For one, due to the wildly blue-skewed spectrum of Selaga’s parent star, their visible spectrum is shifted towards the ultraviolet, and their eyes are much larger and appear completely black and lacking of irises.

Due to the crushing gravity of Selaga, they have developed incredibly strong muscles, meaning that on lower-gravity planets such as Carlea, they can even fly on simple makeshift wings. Alongside this, due to the relatively small number of people who chose to remain on Selaga, their reproductive systems were genetically modified to bear a larger number of children per pregnancy, and to ensure that successful reproduction is more likely. They can also “pause” a pregnancy until more favorable conditions are met. Also, due to Selaga’s original nutrient-scarce and wildly variable environment, they have gained the capability to eat tough plant matter in a pinch.

Government

The government of the Khela is quite unorthodox. For example, it almost completely lacks a legislative branch. Every five years, the people of Khela elect an individual who takes the title of Lord President to the office of lord president. The Lord President has near-absolute power over legislation and enforcement of those laws, but he has no power to change the constitution of the Dominion or any laws pertaining to voting.

Those laws that the Lord President has no power over are seen to by a council known as the People’s House, which is chosen by lot. Specifically, fifteen people from each of the seven provinces, three from the capital province, and one from each of the two autonomous zones. The People’s House can also pass changes to the constitution, but these must be voted on by the population at large after passage.

History

Prelude

The initial colonization of Selaga took place during the fall of the Providence Union. With many worlds intentionally kept barren to centralize control, the fall of Providence lead to a rush of endeavoring pioneers. The future Selagans, centuries late to the party, eagerly chose this planet both for its crushing gravity and because alternatives were few. Few empires would bother with such a troublesome planet, on the high end for terrestrial worlds to begin with. At the bleeding edge of genetic technology, the Selagans modified themselves to be comfortable in the high gravity.

The First Un'oit Ascension and the rise of the Euphony Civilization began some centuries later. The great dam that was the Providence Union gave way, flooding Florathel with Un'oit hoards. While the Un'oit themselves could not land on Selaga, power-armor-wearing mercenaries, whose suits were designed for boarding ships under high accelerations, could more than handle Selaga.

Selaga was one of the last planets to fall, but with the entire system already under Un'oit control, meaningful resistance proved impossible. Selaga surrendered in 7,533 CE, its small space fleet destroyed and its civilian and commercial vessels commandeered. The Un'oit dominated space, extorting the people stuck on planets to access it. They were not, however, unified in the slightest. The various "warladies," as they were known, constantly fought for territory—Selaga changed hands over a dozen times.

Independence

With the Second Un'oit Ascension focusing Un'oit efforts toward Aylathiya, their mercenaries stopped being paid. Generations passing down the same power armor and civilian high-G support made the mostly Human mercenaries into a noble class of sorts. They hid within their fortresses, only emerging when tribute for the Un'oit was needed, with their own taxes on top of course. Without external pressure, the planet split into dozens of warring factions. With time, the factions would become increasingly Selagan as Humans left in large numbers.

After some time, the situation stabilized and something like peace could be found on Selaga. Plundered and war torn, they had lost the grip on genetics they had in the past. Conquest by the Un'oit generally had that effect on planets.

Civil War

Colonization of Varlac

Secession of the Arnot Republic

War of Saiheran Succession

The Holy Revolution and the War of Revenge

The star system Quanta, long under the control of the Dominion, fell into very hard times. Normally, as had happened before, the homeworld would bail out their colony in exchange for even more concessions. It just so happened that Lord President Elfensjón, running on lowering taxes and focusing on the home system, denied any payouts. This was largely due to the home system's own hard economic times, in particular due to the War of Saiheran Succession raging in the distance. With daily riots occurring on every world around Qunata, a charismatic leader took charge of the system.

High Priest Uigan, then simply Governor Uigan, rallied large amounts of support, in particular from workers whose jobs long vanished. With no work to be done, Uigan created work. Massive monuments to Marwanist deities, in particular those depicting them slaying deities from basically every religion they could think of, sprung up across the system. This incurred massive debts for the system, their main creditor being Khelan banks. Uigan defaulted on the debts and decided to render them void in 9714 CE. That year, he changed his title to High Priest and incorporated the Marwanist Church into the state, now called the Theocracy of Yaztas. The Dominion of Khela attempted a half-hearted invasion of the system, but retreated once they faced Uigan's fanatical forces. Once again the Dominion grew smaller, but without the religious radicals voting in every election, society improved somewhat. Internationally, they lost a great deal of prestige for losing their colony, however. Their banks also needed to be bailed out, creating a great deal of resentment that persists to this day. Khela has no official diplomatic ties with its former colony around Quanta.

Modern Times