The Zirul Dominion
The Zirul Dominion is a state with abundant natural resources, run entirely by its military-political complex. Its economy being entirely self-reliant and without the need to conduct extensive trade, the Zirul Dominion is wary of both the other powers on the upper arm of the galaxy, which are seen as a noisy and greedy threat to the Zirul way of life and the welfare of its citizens. The Zirul, in turn, are perceived as snobbish militarists. Some Zirul are known to dismiss the expansion of the nebula as a conspiracy and a hoax.
FACTION HISTORY
The outer sector of the galaxy’s upper arm had been in a constant state of war ever since the space colonization race began there. A number of planetary states emerged – on one hand, rich, mining-oriented states that cared more about protecting their borders, and poorer, less lucky planet-states that were oriented towards raiding their more fortunate neighbours.
Among these warring states, an alliance calling themselves the Zirul distinguished itself in the outer sector by being the most belligerent, ruthless and disciplined. Composed of two species – the Ga’Borgah and the Yunnar, the alliance earned the reputation of fearsome warriors, raiding most of their neighbours for resources and technology blueprints.
For their energy supply, the Zirul relied on Xyaia – a large volcanic moon and home to the Ga’Borgah. Orbiting the Yunnar homeworld planet of Jionae in the Zir system, a rare magma crystal was mined and utilised for weapons manufacturing and energy generation, making Zirul spacecraft unparallelled to any other in this sector of the galaxy. The growing population and military needs of the Zirul meant that soon enough, the alliance needed not just to pillage resources, but also to conquer and colonize foreign planets.
As the magma crystal reserves on Xyaia were being depleted and the Zirul still lacked appropriate technology to develop extraction facilities elsewhere, they began raiding the Vhalraxian sub-sector – known for their mining technology and equipment.
After a few years of attrition warfare did not yield any meaningful results for either side, the Vhalrax of the Zirul offered a truce: They would merge territories and populations with their former enemies, forming a united territory stretching over several dozen star systems. The Zirul could freely mine the crystal wherever it was found, but as a counterpart, they had to accept the representatives of the neighbouring powers into their War Council and ensure the livelihood and rights of all of the citizens of the newly formed power. Without question, the Zirul were also made responsible for the protection of the new state. After that, conquests and incorporation of a resource-rich nations happened one after another and soon enough the Zirul Dominion was formed, emerging as a galactic superpower.
For over two hundred years, the Zirul had been expanding – sometimes peacefully, sometimes less so, ever closer towards the inner star cluster of the galaxy’s upper arm, until they’ve finally they met a power that matched their own. Coveting the technological advancements of the highly developed civilizations in the Sylian sector, the Dominion had requested the surrender of the states that ruled the inner sector, but was subsequently rejected by proud Sylians. Thus began the War of Sylian Resistance, lasting for 26 years, which ended as a draw, but was perceived as a loss for the Dominion, internally. The war stretched the nation’s resources thin and significantly lowered the citizen’s living standards, causing riots to break out across the state. Judging that a violent suppression of opposition would only result in greater level of discontent, the Zirul War Council proposed to peacefully exile those discontent with the regime into the region devastated by the war and grant them self-rule, without the right to ever return to the Dominion. The measure was adopted unanimously by the War Council and the exiled Dominion citizens soon formed the Feriah Union.
The Dominion then closed itself off to most of foreign influence and trade – being entirely self sufficient in resources, it had begun slowly to turn its attention inward, and to distribute the resources among its multi-species citizenry.
However, the cult of the military discipline and glorification in the Dominion has imprinted deeply upon the fabric of society ever since.
FACTION MAJOR SPECIES
All species from the upper arm of the galaxy thrive in the Feriah Union. Gaultherians, Vhalrax and Salix are the most common.
