The Stargraviate of Tianshi is a city-state located in the frozen outer reaches of Eos. The city has numerous vassals and colonies located throughout and orbiting Eos. Tianshi lies in the center of the [[Zhiteng] region and has 912 Billion inhabitants.

Most of its population lives in rural areas as they had for the past millennium, and they are not the only ones who seem stuck in the past. Despite all the trappings of a modern state, the rulers of Tianshi are the same aristocrats whose ancestors once claimed a dozen stars. While styling themselves as part of a "one party state," authority is heavily concentrated in the traditional Inner Pavilion. This institution, headed by the Archon, replaced the historically decentralized by compressing its rulers into a single city, Deungnamu.

Tianshi retains a great deal of international influence, a legacy of its once great empire. Its elites have retained access to caches of wealth older than any modern state. With it, they field an advanced military with which they extort tribute from the cities closest to Deungnamu and even other worlds. The state has holdings as far as the Helyar and Byutix systems. Tianshi remains a powerful force that, despite far less territory than its predecessor, has amassed wealth and power previously unimaginable.

History

Foundation

The area that would become Tianshi, then called Kanadett, was mostly populated by Greyfolk and Kristals. The collapse of the Triune Republic ushered in an era of stagnation the galaxy over, although the inhabitants of Tianshi only noticed the collapse as the decline in quality of incoming trade goods. H. Aimer Corporation, an organization much more like a hereditary monarchy than a modern company, lost its lucrative position as an arms monopoly for the Triune government. Without the Republic to defend its holdings, its leaders were quickly losing their position. Rather than face abject destitution, they chose to put their arms to use. They settled a barren corner of Eos far too cold to sustain life. Fission bombs were repurposed to fission reactors, and the permafrost melted for the first time.

The mostly Human elites of H. Aimer Corporation wasted no time to begin infighting. They huddled around their scattered fission reactors, the only things keeping the crops growing, their eyes useful in the dark, and the their blood from freezing. A number of elite families emerged around the reactors, seed kernels of the future great cities of the region. The Hao family, whose exploits were lost to time, were said to have been the first to unite the settlements under the Hakkin Emperor.

Unification did not put an end to infighting; indeed the bloodshed only increased with the number of civil wars. In 8200, the Court Catastrophe saw a temporary dissolution of the state into dozens of warring factions once more. Over a century of conflict kept the nation unnoticed by the wider galactic community.

The Empire of Tenshi

After the last rebelling settlements were put down, the Heavenly Empire emerged in 8407 CE. It arrived just in time for the deadly Great Empyreal Crusade to wipe out large swathes of Eos. Tenshi, suddenly one of the most populous nations there, had millions of settlers take land for themselves. Tenshi carefully rotated governors throughout its new holdings, intent on stopping any aspiring rebels in the hinterlands of Eos. High speed rail connected Eos and allowed for the quick movement of troops and goods throughout the world, now synonymous with Tenshi.

A number of powerful cities came to challenge Deungnamu during this era. Glitsiniya and Thyullib in particular. Whereas in the past this would have caused a great deal of infighting, each city had representation in the Inner Pavilion. The various consorts of the emperor had powerful positions in the government. By offering a daughter, or perhaps a son as social norms changed, to the emperor, groups across Eos could secure their seat at the table. This encouraged rail lines and, later, space infrastructure to extend throughout the empire.

Ascension

The War of the Fallen Angel was an international struggle against Kalliolel, an intensely magically powerful being taking control of Uspayador on Eos. While immensely costly to fight, the conflict paved the way for the ascension of Tenshi to galactic power. Zhiteng underwent rapid industrialization to fuel the war effort, an existential crisis against Kalliolel's armies. Since the factories remained useful after the war, they continued outproducing Tenshi's neighbors and brought great wealth to the region.

Gran Rubedo had grown in strength as not just a nation, but as an international religious order. As much a church as it was a kingdom, Gran Rubedo wielded tremendous influence throughout Aylathiya, including Tenshi. It viciously put down rebellions, but the emperor saw a chance to rebel, but it needed full cooperation from the city of Err. A peculiar institution from across the core in Florathel, marriage, came to Tenshi in 8999 CE. By legally binding Nicodemus IV and Tange Meiko, First Lord Officer of Err and Empress of Tenshi respectively, they could form a coalition broad enough to defeat Gran Rubedo.

Nine cities from across Eos agreed to wage war against Gran Rubedo, all of which jumping on the chance to trade a repressive government for one in which they could at least have some modicum of representation.