Lyncisian Empire

(WIP)

"Cursed be the day the Lyncisians left Ralteyo“

-The Exile's Journal, 99.949 CE

The Lyncisian Empire, often shortened to Lyncis, is a state located in central eastern Aylathiya. Coming into existence following the First Eastern War in 99.036, Lyncis is one of the younger states in the region and is widely considered an up-and-coming regional power. With control over roughly 3 billion star systems, the Empire‘s territory is ethnically diverse, with about half of its population not belonging to the Lyncisian species.

Formed out of the various quarreling states of the so-called Lyncisian Sphere, the Empire struggled with creating a united Lyncisian identity for much of its early existence. This now-realized unity was spurred on by various factors, the most notable of which being a series of wars that brought about the state itself, defended it from outsiders and expanded it in territory. In direct inheritance of the militaristic legacies prevalent in the Sphere, Lyncis maintains one of the largest armies in eastern Aylathiya and has recently begun to use it in a series of rapid territorial expansions. As universal conscription is in place, the Empire‘s military possesses an easily replenished manpower pool, and the prospect of citizenship provides an incentive for soldiers to serve long periods.

Culturally, the Empire is dominated by the two great Lyncisian culture groups: the Nubians and the Seyvo. These peoples deeply differ in many cultural aspects, some of the most notable being language and religion. As a very general rule, the Nubians are more culturally conservative and usually follow the more traditional branches of the Migrator Faith, the most widespread religion in the Lyncisian Sphere. In contrast, the Seyvo do not shy away from adopting new cultural or religious practices into their own. More infamously, they are a heavily militaristic people, and serving the state through its army is seen as the duty of everyone living in it.

Lyncis is a hereditary constitutional monarchy. Its monarch, the Lord President (often simply referred to as Emperor by non-Lyncisians), wields vast constitutional powers, but answers to a parliament, the Imperial Senate, whose members are elected directly by the Lyncisian citizens. Citizenship is open to anyone living within the borders of the Empire regardless of ethnicity, gender or other factors, provided they served in the army for a certain amount of time. Importantly, this time is almost twice the mandatory service length, as only veterans are seen as experienced enough to participate in politics.

History

Blood and Iron

For most of its history, the Lyncisian Sphere was deeply divided politically, socially and culturally. It consisted of hundreds of small, bickering states and a number of great powers that fought each other for dominance. What separated the dispersed Lyncisian peoples from one another became increasingly more important than what united them, and the idea of a common Lyncisian identity based on race and a common origin was far from prevalent. As such, whenever an attempt at unifying the Sphere was made, a sense of shared identity was rarely a driving factor. An example of this was the Seyvo Republic, which rose around 5000 years ago and conquered much of the eastern Sphere before falling itself.

All this changed in the middle of the 97th millennium, when a massive cultural shift shook the Sphere. A combination of foreign interventions and rising nationalistic fervor led to the Caitians, a Nubian Lyncisian people whose territory was occupied by non-Lyncisian powers, rose up in revolt. In what is known as the „Little Unification“, they formed a new Caitian Republic which quickly became a great Lyncisian power. Observing these events, the remaining smaller Lyncisian states, in time, started to mirror the Caitians, and a number of cataclysmic events saw the creation of new, powerful states.

While these developments led to the Seyvo peoples in the eastern Sphere revolting against their foreign occupiers, some of the Nubians in the west pursued an agenda of unity. These efforts culminated in the Kingdom of Eddis in 97.960 under the banner of the Vremin family. Over the next centuries, Eddis would try to absorb the remaining Nubian peoples into its kingdom, a task in which they enjoyed great success. The biggest road block came in the form of their rival, the Nubian kingdom of Fersara, who fiercely resisted the Vremin kings. This great rivalry dominated geopolitics in the western Sphere for centuries and formed the bedrock for the rise of the Lyncisian Empire.

Rise: The First Eastern War

By 98.936, tensions between the now-powerful kingdoms of Eddis and Fersara reached a boiling point. Despite their centuries-long rivalry, the two states had avoided direct conflict so far. Instead, they tried undermining each other in proxy wars fought between the smaller states still remaining in the western Sphere. However, these conflicts ultimately only served to raise tensions further, and before long, it became clear that war was inevitable.

As their rivalry continued, a new Lyncisian Sphere was taking shape around them. The unrests left in the wake of the Little Unification started to fizzle out, and in its aftermath a total of nine states had risen to completely control vast swaths of the Sphere. To the east, the Seyvo had driven out their foreign occupiers and consolidated themselves into four republics, who often cooperated with one another against non-Seyvo. To the south, the Caitian Republic was still standing strong and often mediated issues between Eddis and Fersara during their numerous proxy wars. In the central Sphere, a loose confederation centered around the original Lyncisian homeworld of Ralteyo had formed. And finally, to the north, the lands of Ejyptica, inhabited by both Seyvo and Nubians, had been absorbed into the Sarmite Commune, a non-Lyncisian state that was considered one of eastern Aylathiya‘s superpowers at the time.

Despite the still frequent warfare in the Sphere, many minds began to shift in regards as to what the Lyncisians saw themselves. While regional identities outweighed any sense of a shared race and legacy for most of their history, the centuries after the Little Unification saw a rise in Lyncisian nationalism, and in time, the notion that a unified Lyncisian state should exist was widespread. The biggest questions remaining were what this state should look like and how it would come about. Various circumstances and a complex system of alliances saw the Lyncisian Sphere plunge into a large-scale war in 98.949, which would later be known as the First Eastern War.

What started out as a conflict between Eddis and Fersara quickly escalated into a brutal war encompassing the entire Lyncisian Sphere. Various atrocities were committed on both sides throughout the 36-years long initial phase, and in the end, Eddis and its allies stood victorious as the masters of the Sphere. Eddis, under the leadership of its king Rassilon, immediately began preparations to unite the remaining states into a new Lyncisian state, but was met with fierce resistance of its allies, who saw these efforts as a backstab. The allies were at the brink of war at times, but a series of compromises and guarantees of autonomy eventually saw the Lyncisian states agreeing to political unity. Before this could be achieved, however, the war escalated in scale once again with the intervention of the Sarmite Commune.

Suppressing the rising nationalism in the majority-Lyncisian region of Ejyptica with increasing brutality, the Commune saw the efforts of Eddis as an existential threat for several reasons. In addition to the Lyncisians residing within the Commune, Sarmite leadership thought that a united Lyncis was an economic and military jeopardy to its very existence , and as such invaded the war-torn Sphere in 98.989. Sarmite forces quickly overwhelmed the exhausted Lyncisian troops and came in range of the Lyncisian homeworld Ralteyo before their advance was stopped during the Battle of Ceopya. What followed was the Hell March, a 10-year period of reconquest of the Lyncisian core around Ralteyo during which the allied troops fought desperately for any territorial gain.

The Hell March saw Lyncisian troops of all nations fight alongside each other, which fostered a shared identity and facilitated the Eddisian efforts to unite the Sphere. After the Lyncisian victories at the battles of Ilyeno and Melasant, which saw the Sarmite forces repelled from the Core for good, the newly declared Lyncisian Empire launched a successful offensive into Ejyptica that saw much of the region conquered swiftly. The Ejyptican Lyncisians aided the Imperial troops with guerilla attacks on Sarmite infrastructure and supply lines, and the militant religious Order of the Black Sun in particular rose to prominence during this. Receiving lots of material aid by the Empire, the Black Sun declared a holy war to expel the Sarmite from Ejyptica, and the Ejypticans joined the order and its branch of the Migrator Faith en masse.

The decisive Battle of Suliya effectively ended Sarmite resistance and the war in favor of the Lyncisians. Fought in orbit around the important world of Corinna, the victory cemented the emerging Lyncisian identity and forced the Sarmite to sue for peace. After lengthy negotiations, the Sarmite agreed recognize the new Empire and ceded the entirety of Ejyptica to the Lyncisians. In return, the Empire would pay a large sum of money to the Commune. In 99.050, the warring parties ratified the treaty and the Lyncisian Empire emerged from First Eastern War as an internationally recognized state. (WIP)

Ideology and Government

Lyncis is a constitutional monarchy whose ideology is based in the principles of market economy subjected to limited government regulation, equal political rights and democracy while also maintaining a strong sense of tradition and nationalist pride. It is a common belief that Lyncis deserves to be where they are right now, as they have come up with the most stable system of running a state the region has seen since the times of the ancient empires, and they defend that position vehemently.

Daily political matters are run by a parliament, the Lyncisian High Council, which is headed by the Lord Chancellor. Every 10 years, Empire-wide elections are called in which all Lyncisian citizens over the legal age of 90 are allowed to vote for one of the numerous political parties as well as their preferred candidate for chancellorship. The party and the candidate with the most votes win the elections and form the new government. In addition, the 10.000 sectors that make up the Empire each send a senator to the Imperial Senate to represent their interests. Its attempted composition along the ethnic lines of the Empire aims to give as many species as possible a say in political matters.

The Lord President, while constitutionally holding a lot of political power, rarely interferes with day-to-day politics. All Lord Presidents up to this point saw themselves as the highest representatives of the Lyncisian state and all its people and looked to present themselves that way. Instances in which the Lord President interfered with politics mostly occurred in war times, with only two of such instances taking place during peacetime.

Society

Lyncisian society is, compared to other states of similar size, militaristic in nature. Conscription has been in place since the Empire’s foundation, with every citizen above the legal age of their respective species being required to serve for at least 20 years. Voluntary service that exceeds these 20 years is common and a prerequisite for Lyncisian citizenship. Defending their Empire and their state is a top priority for the majority of the Lyncisian population and that nationalistic fervor is widespread among all species living within the Empire.  

Its two prominent culture groups are the Nubian Lyncisians and the Seyvo Lyncisians. While ethnically part of one great collective, the cultures are vastly different in their makeup. Apart from language and religous practices, the most notable difference is their views on cybernetics and certain other technologies. Cybernetic body modifications are considered by many, in particular the Nubian Lyncisians, to be an affront to their religion, and while not forbidden in any shape or form, Lyncisians with cybernetics are often ogled with thinly veiled disgust. This has reduced a great deal since the unification due to Seyvo Lyncisian influences, where cybernetic modifications are common and accepted, but these views are still widespread among the traditionally more conservative Nubians.

While divided on the matter of cybernetics, both cultures are united in a strict rejection of any AI development. Due to experiments with AI in the past gone wrong, the Lyncisians have a deep sense of distrust toward any AI development and consider nations that invest a great deal of resources and effort into that development as threats. Subsequently, the Lyncisians enjoy hostile relations with many of their neighbors, who consider AI to be integral to their societies and states.

Military

The Lyncisian military, officially called the Imperial Armed Forces, or IAF, is one of the largest standing armies in eastern Aylathiya. Despite its large size, however, the Empire refrained from using it to drive an expansionist policy for most of its history. On the contrary, its large army mostly filled the role of a deterrent to keep other nations from attacking Imperial territory. In the few instances that the IAF have been deployed in an external conflict prior to 613 AU, they gained the reputation of an effective but ruthless army. Reports of war crimes and rough occupations particularly in the incorporated territories have caused both internal and external controversy.

The army’s role changed drastically after 613. Kicking off what the Lyncisians refer to as the Southern Wars, the Imperial troops were employed to rapidly expand the Empire in a series of wars, where they cemented their reputation as a ruthlessly efficient fighting force. Making great use of new technological innovations and their large, replenishable numbers, the Lyncisians steamrolled through enemy territories and subjugated entire states quickly.