Vyllurian is an ocean planet orbiting Helyar. Home of the Kya, this planet has a long and difficult history. There are two main forces that shaped Vyllurian's path—the fact that the entirety of its surface is submerged and the fact that it was only the second planet in the system to develop. Today, twenty billion call Vyllurian home, most of which reside on the more shallow polar regions. The equator is desolate by comparison, so far from the sea floor that it is devoid of nutrients. In effect, Vyllurian does have an analog to the oceans found on other planets.

While history began on Vyllurian millennia before contact with outside civilization, contact with the Triumvirate Civilization fundamentally changed the direction it was going in. Vyllurian's sister, Aegyn de facto homeworld of the Humans, consistently received more attention from the international community. For most of history, this left Vyllurian a comparative back-water, but the Sedrua-Triumvirate War was the chance the Kya needed to shine. They devoted their entire industrial capacity to fighting Sedrua and traitorous forces on Aegyn. Vyllurian rode the post war boom toward prominence on the galactic stage.

Vyllurian remained a powerful world even after the collapse of the Triumvirate. As Aegyn waged its wars, Vyllurian peacefully extended its influence. Its population was the highest around Helyar by 8800 after Aegyn was largely abandoned. Eventually, the Kya began leaving the planet in mass numbers, particularly when the cost of a ticket off world was less than the cost of living on Vyllurian. So wealthy was the planet that its rulers, the so-called Nooarchs, bought most of the Helyar and Byutix systems. For centuries, the Vylluri Nooarchy stood against the Dominion of Astraeus, its neighbor on all sides. Fighting and losing the War of the Ancients, Vyllurian's empire briefly became the largest duchy in the newly-created Greater Martial Consilium, only to be carved up by Human generals who argued that Humanity's home system should be ruled by Humans. Today, Vyllurian's population continues to fall. It is the most expensive place to live in Aylathiya.

Physical

Land on Vyllurian disappeared some fifty million years ago, the last small atolls sinking beneath the waves as Vyllurian's ice caps melted for the last time. Much of the more complex life on the sea floor originally evolved on land which took up as much as a third of the planet's surface one billion years ago.

North Pole

The north pole hosts a bulk of the population and was the site of civilization's dawn. In 4000 CE, the first crops, multicellular algae called soargim, fueled Kyan civilization. Its waters hosted a once-diverse ecosystem brimming with plants, corals, and animals. Its thick seaweed forests created Vyllurian's modern atmosphere, half of which being oxygen. Their roots extend deep into the crust, collecting carbon dioxide sourced from volcanic activity.

While there is much less biodiversity in the modern north pole, the government has set aside two thirds of it as a nature preserve. Creating new structures in this region needs the approval of a myriad of environmental committees and boards, leaving most proposed projects undone. The remaining third of the north pole is a dense aquatic metropolis. Many buildings poke out from under the water, including 'Zhara Nooarch, the planet's capitol building. In these areas exposed to air reside the foreign population, mostly Humans and Huefolk who work and reside within them. The north pole hosts a high number of corporate headquarters from across Helyar and nearby Byutix.

South Pole

The south pole is dominated by a single reef, not of coral or any other animal, but of the Kya. Like the vast expanse of vegetation and living rock once covering the south pole, most of what remains is bleached and lifeless. A ring of currents separates the waters of both poles from the rest of planet's waters. In the case of the south pole, it keeps its pollutants from spreading to the rest of Vyllurian. Only half a billion reside in the south pole and, apart from private police and security, there is no governance to speak of.

The highest point on Vyllurian, only ten meters below the waves, is Aratta Reef. Skeletons of factories jut out of the water, once housing processes too sensitive to take place in water, now house invasive species. While a few places have community or gang efforts to stay somewhat maintained, the majority lies undisturbed. Plant life infiltrates every major structure.

Lan Nooarch

Lan Nooarch is a large palace complex located five hundred kilometers south of the north pole. Stretching across seabed just a few hundred meters beneath the surface atop an extinct volcano. This proximity to the surface makes the place just as fertile as the poles and its distance gave it a unique ecosystem. Most of Lan Nooarch lies within a singular structure, Zhara Nooarch. This colossal structure pushed 7th millennium material science to its limit, stretching from the sea floor over 2500 meters into the air. Large circular windows, each nearly 2000 meters across, look out over the sea. They hold back twenty cubic kilometers of water.

Swimming within this water, with its ratio of electrolytes, salts, and plankton is kept to parts per billion precision, are some of the wealthiest individuals in Aylathiya. With wealth accruing for millennia in Florathel's exchange markets, they have silently nudged the course of cosmic politics, profiting when the circumstances favor them and profiting a little less when they don't.

These are the Nooarchs, the rulers of Vyllurian since Kyan civilization began. Everywhere the Kya go, so do their agents. The [[Kyan Commonwealth], representing all Kya in existence, is more a claim of ownership than a government protecting its citizens.

Near to Zhara Nooarch is the prestigious Orbata Institute. For centuries a leading school of thaumic research and application. A private non-military affiliated school, the institute hosts aspiring magi the universe over. The Kya are kept entirely segregated from the student body and even have limited access to the professors. The best of the best are made into agents of the Nooarchs, while one per myriad is inducted into their group.

Abyssal Plane

Stretching from pole to pole is the abyssal plane. Vyllurian is covered with ever-eroding mountain ranges and ever-filling trenches, the remnants from its days as a hotter planet. With its mantle hardening and its tectonic plates fusing together, Vyllurian's seabed has been homogenizing. With an average depth of two kilometers, not a single photon reaches the sea floor. While the poles are bastions of photosynthesis, most of the planet has comparatively little life. The Kya followed submerged mountain ranges to colonize both the north and south poles.

With the advancement of technology, floating platforms could sustain life deep into these otherwise dead areas. At Vyllurian's population maximum of two hundred billions, large numbers of these platforms increased habitat and living space dozens of times over. These platforms need not be on the surface either. Through careful manipulation of their density, they were placed at all heights, even beneath the fertile photic zone, or the zone where light penetrates.

Most of these structures have sunk to the sea floor, now habitats for worms and other squirming things that reside far deeper than the Kya can handle. They have made for great habitats, but not for great living arrangements. Only a few million maintain their platforms, and therefore their food sources. They barter with those living on mountain peaks for nutrients to feed whatever plant or fungus they are growing on the platform.

Astrography

Vyllurian is only 21,000,000 km from Helyar (0.145 AU). The orange dwarf star heats the planet to average temperatures of fifty Celsius. In the past, Vyllurian had two moons, the large moon geologists call Pyerhen and the small one called Killaga. Pyerhen strayed too close to its parent some twenty million years ago. The sea boiled, the crust split, and volcanoes churned. Pyerhen heated its parent as it drew ever closer, eventually straying just close enough to be torn to pieces—Vyllurian's gravity pulled harder on Pyerhen's own surface than the moon did.

As nutrient-rich meteors obliterated the old ecosystems of Vyllurian, the ancestors of the Kya could pop their heads out of the water and see the bright white rings of Vyllurian. Only a small handful of them survived in the south pole region, avoiding the mass extinction through happenstance. This event kick-started a brief era of activity in Vyllurian's mantle, spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Vyllurian's plants, lean from lack of atmospheric carbon, engorged themselves on the molecule. Vyllurian's oxygen levels increased, allowing for big expensive oxygen-devouring brains to evolve. The Kya evolved at a perfect time when the seas had not yet become too deep and the air not yet devoid of carbon.

History

Prehistory

Due to the relative isolation of various Kyan populations and similar pressures to evolve, the common ancestor of all Kya gave rise to a whole family of species. The Captiosid family had three genera—Captiosus, Kyaesquea, and Zeitrella. The Zeitrella went extinct only twenty thousand years ago; likely just as intelligent as the modern Kya but unable to mount a defense against the much numerically superior Kya. The Kyaesquea evolved to replace the filter feeders, opting for increased size rather than intelligence. They resisted Kyan interference long enough to be designated a protected species, mostly by living in waters not fertile enough to sustain the energy-hungry Kyan brain.

The Kya are four species in the genus Captiosus, ten if including the uncommon subspecies who had been largely breed out of any meaningful distinction from the four. The Vokya, Tellurvya, Forgya, and Konsorkya had waged war against one another since their conceptions. The Vokya emerged in the north pole, Konsorkya and Tellurvya the south, and the Forgya roamed the various islands of habitability in between.

There is a certain awkwardness to civilization formed from sister species. With actual inherent difference, the four Kyan species went their separate ways as soon as they had the chance. Better to live separately than to continue waging wars of genocide on one another. They marshalled their troops, armored in the shells of invertebrates and wielding sharpened bones, to keep the four species separate. Very soon after this, however, different ethnicities and tribes broke off to form yet more armies.

Contact

The various Kya are far more similar to one another than they are to other civilizations. Triumvirate scientists were the first to touch down on Vyllurian, curious if its oxygen-bearing atmosphere was a sign of life. Their automated submersibles were quickly apprehended and torn to shreds, only to be refashioned into superb weapons. The first group to get their graspers onto the abandoned landing craft could field whole armies clad in water-resistant metal. The recent invention of magnesium fire, impervious to extinguishing by water, allowed for metal working.

The conflicts grew in scale as certain forces monopolized the sources of metals. The next researchers to land noticed their missing lander. Assuming it had simply sunk, the researchers dispatched their teams as usual. They noted the large creatures seemingly curious about their boats, but could not capture one for study. Unbeknownst to them, just a few hundred meters below their landing site, the largest battle to that point in Vyllurian history was taking place. Every group on the planet wanted the metal from the sky and had troops waiting near the previous landing site to get it.

Radar indicated a large number of moving bodies approaching the boats, but they were already being dragged under. Were it not for a live radio broadcast from the main boat, this group would have disappears into the waves just as the previous one had. The phrase "we are under attack" flew away at the speed of light from Vyllurian.

The next vessel to land was a military craft. Aquatic warfare was hardly even a concept in the Triumvirate, so this was a normal spacecraft that relied on hydro-braking, that is using water for a soft landing. Instead of cheap metal, the craft was made of reinforced alloy much too tough for the Kya force apart with their clubs and chisels.

Seeing the Kya using such weapons, the commander of the lander claimed the Kya as "new denizens of the Vyllurian Province." There was much incentive to do this as each inhabited planet needed a military garrison and to lead a garrison meant great benefits. With approval from the Triune Kernel, construction began on the garrison. Linguists and xenthropologists were the first civilians to settle Vyllurian, interested in deciphering the various Kyan tongues, or in this case, Kyan tymbals.

Growth

With the linguists achieving something previously impossible, communication between the Kyan species, something like cooperation could emerge. The Triumvirate developed dozens of regions, peoples, and worlds previously without formal economies. Complex trade networks exist wherever there are intelligent beings, quid pro quo is a very simple idea. However, a region in which the majority of the population are farmers, most of the rest are soldiers, and who remained were priests made for quite the poor tax base. The Triumvirate posed a tax on Aegyn, "one kilotonne of wheat and 500 kg of precious metal per annum." Aegyn's pitiful economy of farmers could only produce so much, but with the Triumvirate unsure what the Kya could even produce that was edible, they levied a tax of labor.

The Garrison System was the Triumvirate's way to occupy worlds. Each planet had a large military base next to the largest population centers. The Triumvirate dispatched ten thousand troops, mostly Kristals, who would collect taxes. The laws of Vyllurian were entirely up to the Kya, so long as such laws did not hurt productivity. The Kya were impossible to actually compel to labor; they simply swam away the moment they could. Vyllurian could not even feed its garrison, but The Triumvirs refused to abandon the planet. They pushed along its development, importing cheap Human workers who would grow food using modern technology. This food would be the pay for the Kya in the form of tokens.

A small class of Kya emerged whose interests lied exclusively with the Triumvirate. Within a century, several thousand Kya became the first members of the Aquatic Division of the Ministry of War. They joined the military body created explicitly to suppress and make use of the Kya, but anything beat the barbarism of a life of subsistence farming. Kyan civilization emerged around these soldiers, whose ability to secure nutrient-dense food for up to ten dependents gave them immense social status.

A "farming class" emerged afterword, Kyan farmers, mostly retired soldiers, owned large tracts of seabed and ocean surface. They paid the garrison for fertilizer and pesticides with their produce. By 6500 CE, a quarter of the Kya embraced Triumvirate civilization.

Then came phase three, urbanization. The Triumvirate much preferred subjects who lived in cities and earned a wage for their labor. Farmers were much harder to tax and were far less productive on average. The garrison began paying workers to build factories, large empty warehouses on the seabed and floating on the surface. Then came the long process of figuring out what to put in the factories. Something to understand about the Triumvirate economy is that companies were more like fiefs—they fought over contracts with the government like feudal lords fought over land. Tens of thousands of magnates from Aegyn applied, some with an idea what to use Vyllurian's resources for and some who wanted to squat on the rights and use them as a bargaining chip.

The garrison's top officers got the first pick of contracts, floating platforms they wanted to refine oil atop. Crude oil was something Vyllurian had in abundance, exponentially more than its rival worlds elsewhere in the system. Its oil was high quality and easily accessible. During this point of Triumvirate history, everything that needed to move was either big enough to house a nuclear reactor or ran on petroleum. Fusion power would not come for centuries and battery technology, beyond nuclear batteries, stagnated with toxic lead-acid affairs which Ma'eau, one of the Triumvirs, had banned for hurting the microbiome.

Vyllurian gained galactic prominence as a place blessed with "ever-lasting petroleum." The trickle of new labor from the peasantry became a flood as well-paying positions in refineries emerged. As floating factories began producing secondary and tertiary petroleum products, from polymers to missile parts, Vyllurian's garrison built every factory they could. With billions of tonnes of material processed and exported every year, the owners of Vyllurian's contracts grew tremendously wealthy.

Kyan Liberalism

Vyllurian had been beset by company warfare since the discovery of its oil reserves. This was by design, the Triumvirs believed that, as the animals faced natural selection, so should the Triumvirate's leaders. Contract holders did everything they could to invalidate the claims of their competitors, the Kya were little more than pawns without a single one controlling a contract. They were held in cramped cities, particulates choked the water in which they worked, and long hours worked many to the bone. Not only were they denied the very best jobs atop the oil platforms; those positions were held by air-breathing species. Aegyn benefited most from Vyllurian's oil, despite the Human population of Vyllurian being hardly one million compared to the one billion Kya.

The moment the Kya lost site of their former agrarian lifestyles, discontent blossomed. Deep below the reach of dive-suit-clad soldiers, beyond the reach of Triumvirate-loyal Kya, lied the abyssal plane. With food difficult to come by and the pressure making long stays down there impossible, the abyssal plane was a dead zone for the Kya—their equivalent to an ocean on an ocean world. So deep beneath the sea, new radical ideas began spreading.

Under the Triumvirate regime, the four Kyan species were largely separate. Regular propaganda, enforced by artificial "best fit jobs" for the species kept animosity high. This was another Triumvirate strategy employed to great effect across its territory, create tension between peoples, races, classes, whoever have obvious differences. This ideal was based on its evolutionary perspective on economics, allowing the most productive groups to rise up. At that time, none of the Kya had risen up, but not for a lack of trying.

Deep in the abyssal plane, where the only source of food was smuggled from the cities, the species met for the first time in centuries. While some hybridizations proved unviable, their very existence challenged previous ideas of fundamental differences. In the cities, such as Lan Mili, this simple fact, that Kya need not conform to Triumvirate law. To paint a picture of Kyan culture at the time, the Triumvirate was revered with deific status. Its leaders, called The Three or The Triumvirs, were immortals who replaced gods and goddesses wherever their armies conquered; the miracles of space travel and medicine were far more real than the chanting of priests or sacrifices of communities. For such open rebellion to take place and succeed prompted a simple thought—"The Three are not omnipotent."

Across the Triumvirate's dozen-star empire, many have made this observation. The Three were really strong, but they were not gods. Each individual has a free will to obey or defy them. Triumvirate propagandists ran with the idea. The standard ideology echoed in classrooms, state broadcasts, and even sports events was the idea of being "Free to Obey." It was rational to follow The Three and intelligent beings would follow them. It was a good argument, not a single rebellion had ever succeeded up to that point. It seemed the Triumvirate was destined to expand forever.

This idea of rationality went one step further on Vyllurian, the ideas coalescing not into a moral system but into a grand vision for the future. Kyan philosophers from Davait to Aviddine argued about the fundamental nature of what it meant to be Kya. Coupled with the scientific revolution taking place across the Triumvirate, the idea of a single Kyan identity emerged. Before hand, Kya was a catch all term for intelligent swimming things, but during the sixty fifth century, this changed. Whether one was any of the four major species, a hybridization, or a subspecies struggling for recognition, the differences between the Kyan species was far less than previously stated.

So with all Kya capable of reason, what kind of ruler could lead them? What does it mean to be fit to rule? Surely the one who enacts the rational interest of the Kya, the united people of Vyllurian. The one who enforces order, perfecting the Kya from their animal-like natural state to a more perfect "civilized" state. These dangerous ideas were unpopular within the garrison city full of loyalists, but found quiet approval across academia.

The New Economy

Shosturan was the brightest object in the Helyar system, brighter than even Helyar's sister star in the night sky. As though seeking vengeance for this injustice, Byutix released a flare directly toward Helyar. While the small star was normally tempestuous, the timing of this flare had the magnetic stream of particles enter Helyar's magnetosphere and rocket toward its poles. As though Helyar had aurorae, these charged particles hung close to the star.

The planet Shosturan faced the brunt of this energy. The gas planet was very hot, so hot that it could hardly hang onto its atmosphere. The hydrogen, already desperate to fly off into space, took the chance to fly off. The planet bore the brunt of an entire stellar flare over several weeks. Its atmosphere ignited, its moons melted, and the poor souls living around it either suffocated as their air tanks lost power or melted in the intense radiation.

Vyllurian's weak magnetic field could hardly protect its surface from the event. All electronics on the surface melted, the garrison fell into anarchy, and food reserves ran out. This was the chance, a short window in which the Kya could enact their ideals. They had a month before the unshielded spacecraft around Helyar could be replaced.

The Kya only needed a week. Various militias from the deep sea, gangs looking to gain legitimacy, political extremists of all colors, and any other organization began organizing. While there was much infighting, the Kya united behind a handful of leaders— Chiogh, Michase, Paladdine, and dozens more—who had been planning this operation for years. It was either this or slowly plant explosives at the base of platforms, making this sort of revolution ultimately inevitable.

With their electronics safe under the waves, they rolled onto land in their shells, wheeled vehicles modeled after Vylluri invertebrates. The shells could keep Kyan gills moist, ran on petroleum which they had in great supply, and offered protection from small arms fire. Kyan shells went on to be the precursor to modern armored combat vehicles.

Civilian versions of the shells came onto land once it was secured, working around the clock to place barrels of ammonnium nitrate in every major town center. The goal was simple, if the Triumvirate wanted Vyllurian back, they had to negotiate or face years of dwindling oil supplies.

When the Triumvirate returned, their pre-fusion spacecraft taking a month and three days to arrive from the capital, the work was done. Vyllurian had already descended into civil war. Hundreds of signals came from the planet, claiming to be the official rulers of Vyllurian and representatives of liberalismait, freedom for the Kya. After months of negotiating, the Triumvirate recognized fifty Kyan nation-states and had them compete for the right to become one of those fifty. Oil production resumed, a few of the settlements had their fertilizer explode, and Vyllurian was now ruled by the Kya.

After the Glorious Revolution

The fiery rebellion gradually died down, leaving the various Kyan states competing with one another for recognition. After several years, the one hundred twenty three Kyan governments, some of which did not even qualify as states, created a summit. With oil prices far higher after a month without Vylluri oil, the leaders of new Kyan states gained nearly limitless wealth. The Kyan workers, who now had access to far higher wages, could import anything they wished.

With only a quarter of the Kya now living as subsistence farmers, Vyllurian saw wealth previously unimaginable. Producing over half of the Triumvirate's oil came with privileges, but only if The Three felt they were still in charge. Everyone knew what happened to lawyers or endeavoring politicians who tried to manipulate the rules to gain undue influence or power. The rules were just a list of things that The Three wanted everyone to know would mean punishment.

Vyllurian, spearheaded by the wealthy south pole, formed the Board for External Relations. Fighting in any way could weaken their position. It was far too risky to provoke The Three, whose patience with Vyllurian was already stretched thin. A comfortable order emerged, territory was strictly assigned to different groups, and the remaining free waters all became subject to more developed areas. As is often the case when many different governments have the exact same interests, borders grew hazy.

Over the next few centuries, Vyllurian unified into a single government. Now called the Vyllurian Union, the planet became an economic powerhouse. With so much wealth, the government looked beyond its home planet for investment. With the technology behind rapid terraformation far beyond the horizon at the time, there was only so much space to expand. Large numbers of Kya settled everywhere they could find oceans of a reasonable temperature. Something of a market race between Vyllurian and Aegyn emerged. With actual war between the two impossible, they competed economically instead. Vyllurian's sheer wealth gave it a great advantage, but also scared the powers of Aegyn enough to force them to unify. Vyllurian bought up large swathes of Olaris, Aegyn's binary companion habitable by both Humans and Kya.

By 7000 CE, Helyar's two powers, backed by various Human and Kyan colonies throughout the universe, had divided the system down to the square meter. The once free dome-dwelling colonists around Sakurelle and Zepyai faced violent repression in the name of both species. Exriel, the largest planet of Helyar, was home to the Triumvirate garrison for Helyar, Fort Stannus. The garrison, with its monopoly on use of force and tremendous budget, had ownership over all Exriel and even took bites out of Aegyn and Vyllurian. Its officers were the wealthiest people in the system, prompting both players to invest heavily in "private security forces."

The Nooarchy

Ideologies like Kyan Liberalism did not catch on much beyond Vyllurian. With the ever-increasing terror of "foreign interference," many worlds became more united, yes, but our of fear. Aegyn is one such example, united by fear of conquest by their Kyan neighbors, but this was very widespread. With the recent pressure of Triumvirate expansion into Zalanthium, the various worlds, cities, and provinces began more openly waging war on one another.

The opening move was a conflict between two cities on Eos, prompting Aegyn to do the same. They seized Kyan, Garrison, Eossian, and any other foreign assets on Aegyn. Billions ended up drafted and sent out across the Triumvirate to secure "Aegan assets." Vyllurian did much the same, making sure to keep its citizens safe during the conflict. Having long anticipated this, the Vyllurian Union dropped crates full of high-quality weapons onto Aegyn. The goal was spreading some kind of Human liberal revolution—instead radical isolationism became the dominant ideology on Aegyn. The planet's government collapsed, leaving Vyllurian the sole power of Helyar.

Utter victory for the Kya gave them a very large seat at the table. The formation of the Triune Republic was heavily influenced by liberalismait, now more popular as the disaster that was the previous system became apparent. Vyllurian had control over all Helyar save for Aegyn and Olaris, isolated in the State of Aegyn. As part of their victory lap, the Vyllurian Union renamed itself to the Vylluri Nooarchy. Philosophy did not stop with the revolution; the discussion continued on how best to organize society.

The idea of a "People's Three" became popular. Instead of the figureheads being immortal beings of immense thaumic power, nameless leaders would need to fill the role. With the ever-increasing art of Thaumaturgy on Vyllurian, who these "Nooarchs" would be became clear. The Magi would be the new Nooarchs, a vanguard against ideological corruption. Like the Three, their decisions made from on high would be absolute. Anonymous and holding all things in common, the only way a Nooarch could enrich themselves is through enriching the common good, the Commonwealth. That word, that powerful word, would go on to shape history.

The Kya began construction on Lan Nooarch, a colossal cube-like structure stretching high into the atmosphere. Within it, the Nooarchs ruled Vyllurian. One century later, it was complete. Any record of who lives within Lan Nooarch was destroyed. To prevent corruption, the Nooarchs are believed to induce celibacy, render themselves identical to one another, and abolish differences in sex and gender. What exactly takes place within is unknown, how they make decisions is unknown, and its population is unknown.

The Nooarchy released its agenda twice per Vylluri year and still does to this day. True to their promises, the Nooarchs guided Vyllurian through the modern world; their wealth ensures that not a single foreign soldier has touched down on the planet in millennia. Such a successful ideology would surely propagate throughout Cosmoria. Intellectuals and politicians thought so and dozens of Nooarchies formed. By 8800 CE, Vyllurian was by far the strongest planet around Helyar because it essentially owned Helyar.

The Nooarchy Initiative, representing fifteen states, had influence in ten star systems and over a trillion citizens. This international organization was on track to conquer the universe. All would be ruled by Nooarchs; it was the final stage of civilizational evolution, after all. Then, nothing happened. Vyllurian's population began to decline; the wealth of the planet made living there impossible for ordinary Kya. The Nooarchies fell or reformed one after another, a nameless group of leaders was an abstract thing compared to a single figurehead.

The Dominion of Astraeus came to surround the Nooarchy on all sides, constantly chipping away at its influence. Vyllurian tentatively aligned itself with the Concerted Republics of Aylathiya in its cold war with the Dominion. The