Scion Imperium
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"The Imperium and the Scion Defense force, Holding our world together."
"The revolt is gaining ground sir, permission deploy more troops?"
"Permission granted, Be sure to not damage infrastructure, or production centers, and terminate all the rebels."
"Civilians sir?"
"Expendable, and possible insurgents themselves."
-Dialogue between a general and his subordinate before the first enacting of an Omega Ten clearing of a revolt.
The Scion Imperium, home of the Desert Elves and in general a land of baking sun and hard living to most, with scattered farms near what water there is and a heavy military presence all around, the world is held with absolute authority by the Imperator or Imperatrix, Ruling from the capital city of Lathwin, with the Scion Defense Force as there right hand, and an unknown organization as there left, ensuring that the planet and its colonies are not influenced by outside forces, or torn apart by internal ones. The current biosphere of the homeworld is descended from Golden Empire animals and colonists, Though they consider themselves fully independent of them due to being more of a lost colony.
The Imperium currently has about twelve worlds, and thirty ships to defend them, with a majority of the fleet being corvettes, the rest being three cruisers and seven frigates. Space doctrine when it comes to combat though, relies heavily on the cruisers, using their guns to pound the enemy in a manner similar to how dreadnoughts were used in Earth's first world war, with the corvettes acting as a screen or torpedo boats, depending on individual loadout, and the frigates add their guns to the barrage of the cruisers.
The eleven colonies have a good bit of variation, with the five oldest being highly similar to Scion in terms of population, though theirs continues to grow to the abundance of natural resources without doing large scale ecological damage, with the remaining six have a population ranging from two billion on the oldest, to five hundred thousand on the youngest.
The five youngest are, for the most part, unexplored, having only one or two major cities and being mostly wilderness, with the idea of leasing out exploration rights to TSCs or individuals, so long as the mapped resources go primarily to them. Exploitation of some deposits by TSCs would be allowed though, so long as they adhered to strict enviromental laws and worker treatment laws, and allow the Scion Defense Force to oversee their operations.
Scion B0L
Planet and system
First off is how the planets are designated after there name, to say what category they fall under. The system of Planet designations that are given by the Imperium, being for atmospheres, NA, DA, and B, No Atmosphere, Deadly atmosphere, and Breathable. The number given next is which in those categories it was discovered, 0 for first, and so on. L, UL, and C, stand for Lived on, Unlivable, and Colonizable respectively.
Scion B0L is the second planet orbiting a A-Class star, about .98 AU from it at its periapsis, and .99 AU at its apoapsis. In its past the planet had a dense system of jungles and forests, with few grasslands, and two large oceans separated by a single landmass. Post desertification, it is mostly desert, with most of the water having been trapped underground afterwards. Most of the water formed vast, underwater oceans, though some of it possesses high salinity due to the surrounding salt bearing rocks, and rock salt, after it was turned to steam via the nuclear exchange. The nuclear event left behind is an atmosphere of around 77% Nitrogen, 22% Oxygen, 0.68% Argon, 0.30% CO2, and 0.02% other gases.
Albedo of the planet is semi-high though, given the white sands that make up most or the larger stretches of desert, most of which are broken up by the occasional small inland sea, or oasis, around which, and the rivers that feed them, most people live, minus one clan that lives a nomadic life, though the reasons for this are shrouded in mystery. The average day time temperatures of the planet, are around 35C during the day, or -10C at night
The system itself is home to about five other worlds, Qunus NA0UL, the inner most, is about .40AU at all times, and has no atmosphere, with a surface similar to that of mercuary, if the planet is larger, at about the size of Venus. The next out is Scion, and next from that is Deslov DA0UL, at about 1.79 AU out, and was an posed as an idea for colonization before the Desert Elves got a closer look, finding the planet to have an atmosphere of 40% Chlorine, 30% Florine, 25% Oxygen, 4.5% CO2, and .5% other gases. Its surface is, mostly rocky, with a few seas of Bromine, and Mercury, and a large crater that is theorized to have been a sea of Francium at one point due to the trace amounts of it still there, and high amounts of Hydroxide metals there. The world has two moons, one that has a majority HI atmosphere, named Xul, at 80% HI and 20% SIF, and one that is barren similar to Luna, called Gall.
The fourth planet in the system, Vestilles B1C is in a current snowball state, making it impossible to inhabit despite its 76% Nitrogen, 23% Oxygen, .80% Xenon, .16% CO2, and .04% other gases atmosphere. The surface is mostly ice and snow, almost pure white minus a few pockets of blue near volcanic activity. Life has been confirmed on the world but in a mostly microbial state, with only a few thousand multi-cellular life forms on the world, most being plant like and doing photosynthesis. Colonization of the world is planned as soon as they can warm the planet to a livable state. The planet has one moon, similar to Earth's, called Inias, but with a thick atmosphere of 60% SO4, and 40% CIF3, and a lack of craters due to the winds.
The fifth planet in the system is a gas dwarf, named Li, literally water, at about 13 earth masses, about 5AU out, with 92% hydrogen, and 7.9% Helium, with .1% other gases, making up its atmosphere. The planet also has thirteen, uninteresting moons, most barren, rocky, and pulverized by asteroids.
The sixth and final planet is a ice giant at 40AU out, Named Javos, with a standard composition for such a world, and no moons.
Desert Elves
The dominant race of the planet, the so called ‘Desert Elves’ are a human like race, standing on average six foot four, with pointed ears that average six inches long, with skin and hair colour that varies as much as it does among humans. The most common skin tone though, is a semi-dark colouration, almost brownish, though among the elites it tends to be lighter due to less time exposed to the star of the planet.
The race is also rather resistant to heat, with some claims that they are highly resistant to laser weaponry, though there eyes, being adapted to a constant stream of powerful light, are highly susceptible to sudden changes in light level. There bodies are however, able to retain water better then most as well, able to go around three days without consuming it, but they are easily chilled by colder temperatures, leading to there buildings being rather good at holding heat and warming.
Government and Clans
The government of the Scion Imperium, is highly authoritarian, where different tribes are identified by tattoos across their entirety of their bodies. The government deals with corruption via summary executions, and tightly restricts trade with outside powers in order to maintain their own control over the population. Jobs and procreation are usually assigned locally though, by either clan elders or appointed people sent by the government to ensure the maximum productivity of the people there, and to prevent mass starvation or lack of water, sanitation, healthcare, and a overstretched policing force. The Imperium is currently lead by Imperatrix Limah.
The regulations, and the fact that you can't turn off the urge for sexual interaction, has led to a wide acceptance of anal and oral between sexes and within ones own sex, with bi-sexuality and multiple partners common, in order to compensate for the lack of vaginal sex. Such things also lead to the vagina of females to be highly sensitive to touch and insertion, leading to some women to just use toys such as dildos for sexual relief, finding it far nicer then anal sex.
The race, in general, has had to survive a lack of resources and scarcity of arable land, leading to a tight control of both now, the government's restriction of reproduction being highly rooted in it. The clans, are also, highly specialized in their craft, one doing fishing, another mining a certain mineral, and another making the minerals into metal. This leads to generations of experience being passed down, and being highly proficient at it as well, with the miners, even without equipment, able to turn out far more than humans would be able to, due to the eugenics in the clans as well, of choosing the best at it to reproduce.
Some jobs however don’t have the same clan wide specializations, mainly ones that require smaller numbers, such as news and weather broadcasts, are instead picked by the government from people who apply and show a large amount of proficiency with it. These people, due to the lack of ability to breed with their clan generally, rarely have offspring, so it's seen as something of a sacrifice to work in those fields.
Religion among the people though, is rather laxly controlled, each clan having there own god or gods, though if a radical sect starts speaking out against the government, or about hurting people, the government steps in and arrests people. Some clans worship the former sentients as either deities, or beings who died to give them life, and are some of the few groups allowed to access the artifacts of the race, though any working ones are purged of information about the people. Some groups have arisen to worship the clan in charge as deities, though they do nothing to either support, or dispel the groups, some making trips to talk about their values to the groups. The revelation of them being a lost Golden Empire colony has led to a lot of heavy, and sometimes violent theological debate, though soldiers are usually dispatched before large amounts of people die.
The nomadic clan, curiously, lacks a religion, and armaments, but has strict rules about conduct, to the point of disallowing sexual contact in order to both ensure they don’t break laws about inter clan mating, and to keep their own numbers low enough for the food they have. A strange quirk in their personal evolution though, led to them all being hermaphrodites, allowing the clan elders to just tell which two people to do procreation, while removing the risk of too many men or too many women.
Language among the elves varies from clan to clan, though all clans speak Scion Imperial which is similar to English in some ways such as sentence structure, though as can be expected, the words are far from the same. Clan languages vary from near musical, and musically structured things, to harsh, guttural shouting.
Current extend of there fleet in large ships are the three cruisers, SDFS Imperator, SDFS Desert Heat, and SDFS Motionless, And the two frigates, Water Messenger and Long God, with the Battleship Aelwelth under construction.
Limath
Limath herself is, at the moment, a small lithe girl, at six foot two, with narrow hips, and a A-cup chest, and long gold dyed hair, with the standard Scion tattoo over her body, Gold with winding lines, bold angular lines, and flames along the sides of the angular lines. In general, when she is in her full regalia, she looks more like a Imperator then Imperatrix, with a boyish face and somewhat wide shoulders, living up to her whispered nickname 'The Prince.' Her name, when translated is Li: Water, Math: Bringer.
Economy
The Economy of the Imperium is, primarily, state controlled, though some private ventures are allowed. This, mostly leads to the needs of everyone being met, and prices rather low, along with the money of the system being tightly controlled in order to limit inflation. This tight control has lead to some criticisms from outsiders, though to the people of the world its just how things are and have been for the most part.
The few private ventures that exist are ones that produce luxury goods, though the need to buy materials from the government has led to them not producing enough for everyone to have, leading to items such as jewelry, designer clothes, and high end computers to be restricted to those with the money to afford them, generally those who work important jobs in the government. The lack of private ventures also limits external trade between them and entitys such as NanoTrasen.
The standard currency, the Scion Credit, or SC, also does not have an equal exchange rate to the Thalar, with the SC being worth about .25 Thalars each, limiting the desire internally for external trade, given the masses would, in general, be worse off economically if they had to but from the TSCs. Given the average wage of a person is about 25 credits an hour, a reasonable sum on the world, this is a valid concern, given they would make about 10 Thalars an hour, or in about two hours be able to buy food for a meal.
The lack of valuable exports also dampens the value of trade, with the lack of luxury goods, and mostly production of essential goods or standard goods, not drawing any external attention to them in terms of trade, and the lack of mineral resources or valuable foods also not drawing investors in trade. A few have brought up the idea of bringing in foreign crops to take root and be grown but, due to concerns about environmental damage to a fragile ecosystem, these have been denied.
Views on WMDs
The Scion Imperium, being something of an outlier here, has totally banned nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, executing those who attempt to construct them, usually very publicly and after a show trial. The reasons behind the ban are due to the fragile ecosystem of the desert world, where one nuclear weapon might utterly devastate a large swath of land due to crippling an animal or plants population and ability to breed.
Chemical and biological weapons, due to there lack of control and easy ability to cover large areas or populations, are likewise banned, with the samples of the chemicals or viruses or bacteria being ejected into space on a collision course with Qunus' acidic moon, usually with the creator on board. The large public disapproval of the weapons, thankfully, keeps such occurrences incredibly rare, limited to only the most radical of insurgent groups.
Technology
The tech of Scion is, more or less, on par with humanity's, if not made in the numbers to be seen as such, with the race currently in the process of converting all weapons and ammo factorys to produce DEWs, Directed Energy Weapons, like Lasers, instead of ballistics. Robotics tech is a bit farther behind, with the positron brain not having left the concept stages due to public fears of AI. As such any 'AI' units used by them, the current only being the NT/Scion project S.E.A.I, are wetware, with either the Imperium not quite adept enough to not damage the brain, or intentionally doing so to prevent the units from having attachment to a clan or ambitions of there own.
Robot replacement of workers, as such, has been limited as well, since doing so would require the culling of some clans to work with it, though what has been done has been to augment, with breeding of the clans that labour in jobs that can be slowly going away from the menial requirements, and the population not growing due to the lack of jobs that will be made by it, even as more factories are made.
As has been said all of there electricity comes from Nuclear, Solar, or Wind sources, with the first fusion plants being proposed to meet there own growing energy needs, as the ideas of multi story farms and other such projects that make use of small amounts of land to produce the most results. Along with fish farming, the food supply of the desert world is slowly increasing.
Of interest to note is the races aversion to genetic engineering, believing that it would destabilize there system as people change what they were bred to do, and its easy ability to make biological weapons in the hands of insurgent groups or just plain insane scientists. As such, gene modding as many people know it is illegal, basically relegated to only curing genetic disease. As such hermaphrodites are both rare, and tend to keep it a secret due to the illegality of the modifications to do so, unless naturally born that way.
Legal Code
The Imperium legal code is, rather simplistic to a degree, but in general harsh, with high fines, forced labour, and the death penalty replacing what most races would give jail time for, due to the want to not waste resources on people who don't produce anything and just consume. As such, repeat offenders are somewhat rare on Scion, given someone who does not work would quickly be found, and put to work.
Murder, for one example, is a quick way to execution by firing squad by the Military Police, and the body turned over to the clan for the rites done to them by that clan or city. Stealing, also carries rather harsh penalties, though not as might be assumed the removing of limbs, due to that rendering a person somewhat useless as a worker. Instead the person is moved to a separate city or camp of there clan, to be watched and made to work over that clans craft, or simply asked to pay a fine at about 10X the value of what they tried to steal, and watched to make sure they work honestly from then on.
The one most people might be concerned with, is the laws regarding punishment for reproduction. In general, the fine is to both parties, at 400,000 Scion Credits each, and the mother forced to get an abortion, and surgery to return her body to its 'un-fertilized' state. The law, interestingly, is applied to even the highest in the land, with records showing that in 2230, the former Imperator, Aelwelth, was forced to pay the fine and have his partner get an abortion, before he applied for a permit in 2300 to have a legal child.
Succession laws are also somewhat different from most places, with the heir being the youngest of the children, in order to prevent cases of repeated deaths over a short time due to small age gaps and the like, and the possibility of not having an heir from an older woman or man. The younger heirs also give more time for them to get used to there jobs, with the average age of succession being about 100 years old, and is not limited by gender. As is somewhat inevitable, this has led to some weak rulers who ended up cedeing some power during the rulers to a council of nobles, either by not wanting to run things or being pressured or coerced into it. Current Imperatrix Limath has proven to not be this, being rather strong and iron gripped in her rule over the other nobles and her court.
Court proceedings, meanwhile, can somewhat be compared to Rome, with utter obedience to the Imperator or Imperatrix expected, and any disrespect during an audience or in public coming with both a fine, and a beating from the Military Police.
Gender
While there is the strict regulation on reproduction, gender laws are fairly equal, with neither male nor female being discriminated against, and transgender people getting government assistance, this being one of the few things limited genetic engineering are allowed, so that the person is actually fertile. Hermaphrodites, meanwhile, get a small amount of discrimination against them due to their capacity to throw off calculations of population growth if they have children with another hermaphrodite. This has led to legislation against two hermaphrodites having a child together, given the permits don't say both partners can not be impregnated.
The Central Government
The central government, while a absolute monarchy through and through, is not handled solely by the Imperator or Imperatrix, instead most of the daily tasks are passed on to a body of about 5000 of the best trained and most intelligent, usually at least, of the Noble clan. This body lacks a true translation, the literal being "The body of people who run things daily, and ensure the well being of the Imperium and its people, for the continued glory of the great god Javos, his wife Calos, and his sons and daughters, and their representative in this plane the Imperator/Imperatrix, of the line derived from there own divine blood, and all matters between or concerning clans."
Needless to say most people, including the elves themselves, refer to it as the senate. Its job, as can be easily told, is to handle daily things and matters between or concerning clans, usually via legal means such as making laws to cover new things, adjusting laws, adjusting penalties, and giving out breeding permits. Of note though is that most of these require a simple majority, but they can not overrule any of the current Imperator or Imperatrix's commands, only do what they can to ensure they are handled well. Another note is that the current ruler can't order them to give them a breeding permit, meaning that they have to pass the same tests everyone else does in front of there clan elders, or in this case, the senate.
Said process requires that they prove physical and mental fitness, and a high affinity for there job, with some senators taking it as a chance to, rather personally, test the ruler in front of the whole committee. In general such personal testing is usually only done by enemies the ruler has made or by those they want to curry favor with, in order to ensure they get to breed. As can be expected it is usually sexual in nature, though the exact acts are generally something that vary person to person.
People from other clans have there applications pass through this body as well, though usually if they get that far it is generally excepted, given the clan elders, people who at times are appointed by the senate, are generally trusted, given bad recommendations can mean losing there status. Disputes between land also end up here, which while rare, tend to make major news when they do happen.
The Senate also controls taxes, unless the ruler has dictated otherwise, interestingly enough often taxing themselves more then most clans due to there increased income. This surprises many off worlders, as they generally expect the body to be somewhat corrupt in its methods. And while small pockets of it exist, most people are in general motivated by there love and devotion to the Imperium.
Weaponry and armour
While the armaments and vehicles of the Imperium were covered before, this shall be a more in depth look at them. Theses first few are ones that are recent inventions and tend to be more elite gear. The most recent weapon of the Imperium is the Xilmuth Assault Rifle, a cheap, easily produced, and reliable assault rifle, firing 5.56X60 Scion and invented in 2460. The weapon is limited to semi-automatic and three round burst. The weapon looks far bulkier then needed, due to the space between moving parts to try to keep sand from doing to much damage to it. Its magazine lacks the 'advancement' of the bullpup, instead having a conventinal placement of the magazine, and the length of the gun is large, at almost 1100MM. The magazine of the weapon is rather large, holding about 50 rounds, in a box shape.
The newer armour of the Imperium, meanwhile, is the heavy and hydraulically assisted Javos suit, weighing about 150 pounds, the suit has a hydraulic exoskeleton supporting an average 18.75MM of armour, though this average is misleading due to its thinness at the legs and lower arms, supporting only about 10MM, shoulders and upper arms at 15MM while the torso has almost 40MM. The material is an Titanium and aramid weave. The suit is fully environmentally sealed, with climate controls and a small air tank for light EVA or going into chemical or bio weapons, having about 3 hours worth internally. The helmet is a wide brimmed and self sealed system connecting to the suits, the helmet being 10MM at its thickest, with the brim 5MM thick. The suits battery can sustain about 10 hours of continued use before needing replacement and recharging, and the strength of the user is multiplied about three times, allowing them to carry a large amount of the heavy ammor of the assault rifle and other weapons. The suit was invented slightly before the Xilmuth, in 2456
The newest sniper rifle, meanwhile, is the 15X90MM Scion Halfas rifle, a bolt action weapon with a variable magnification scope, most nations would consider it only good for anti-tank or anti-material duty. The Imperium, due to its thick personel armour, uses it as a sniper weapon, though given its power and weight it requires setting up even with the Javos. The scope can be adjusted from 2X magnification, and 25X, due to the long range of the weapon, with a large muzzle brake being built into it. Its large round size has made it a threat even to the best of NT's mechs in theory, though no war has happened to allow it to be tested. Its magazine holds about five rounds in a box configuration, and as can be expected the weapon is bulky due to the large spaces between moving parts.
The more recently invented shotgun of the Imperium is the Xanos 12 gauge with a one inch bore. The weapon is fully automatic, and bulky due to the space between moving parts, the weapon has two barrels, each connected to a magazine of about twelve rounds in a box. As can be expected from a shotgun it has poor performance against armour, though its size makes it somewhat effective due to imparting force. The weapon as can be expected also fits a variety of other types of round beyond normal shot, having slugs and HE slugs available for dealing with armour. The Javos armour is, again, needed to use it for most people, though most of the infantry can use it without major risk in the Scion military.
The current Heavy Machine Gun of the SDF is known as the Galtos model 18, is a single barrled, water cooled machine gun firing 5.56X60 Scion, and weighing about fifty pounds, operated by a team of four. Its rate of fire is about 600RPM, and can sustain fire for over an hour before its barrel has to be replaced, so long as water is continuously fed to it. Its ammo is fed to it by a 300 round non-disintegrating brass belt.
Prisons and punishments
The prison system of Scion, while some might see as lenient, is a primarily reform based system, with prisoners being given rather comfortable single person cells, and a multitude of reform programs to choose from, though all of them have a key part in teaching the good and values of the current government, especially educational programs and religious ones. While prison conditions are fairly good, with lots of decent quality food, punishments can be rather harsh, with solitary confinement being a common one, for extended periods of time for certain offenses, and the perimeters are guarded by people armed with rifles and shotguns.
Rebels
While there are many rebellious movements within the empire, the biggest and most organized, though often the one to be said to be behind most terrorist attacks, is the Scion Republican Army, seeking to remove both the monarchy, and clan system, to be replaced with a democratic one, where everyone is equal regardless of clan. As can be expected, they spend a lot of time underground in hiding, generally on the colony worlds where the SDF presence is weaker. There use of a Blue flag with twelve planets on it, has gotten them the nickname among some of the 'Blue faction', to distinguish them from other democratic rebel movements.
Other strong movements, are the Strong Scion movement, intent on removing any and all foreign and xeno influences from their society, to the point of some whispers of them having put money into attacking the Golden Empire, the Scion Liberation Union, a communist rebellion, the Sun's Rays, a rebellion intent on forcing a single religion onto the entire nation, and the All Scion, who just want to remove the clan system, and keep the rest as is.
History
Far Past
The planet was, in the past, nearly glassed by nuclear warfare by a prior sentient race. Access to the ruins of the race is strictly controlled, and unauthorized possession of the artifacts, or displaying of the artifacts, is dealt with by swift capital punishment, sometimes on the spot. Said race was roughly at the equivalent of twenty-first century Earth, though with highly fractured nation states fighting over Ideologies, such as fascism, capitalism, communism, and monarchism. Most artifacts that survive tend to be of sturdier equipment, such as rifles, handguns, tanks, and military equipment made to weather a nuclear exchange.
However there is the rare find of a bunker, or even semi-preserved city and small residential area, that holds artifacts of the common populace, and what they appeared to be. The former race was reptilian and tauric, though most weapons were made for two hands, so that they can be used in close quarters, instead of needing the entire tauric body to turn. Artifacts in homes, though, vary from sparse collections of cheap, poorly preserved household items, to expensive, and semi-functional tools, electronics, and mechanisms, most likely from either a noble, powerful politician, or wealthy elite's home.
Given the possibility of such artifacts, to make people realize even more how oppressed they are, the reasons for the tight control of them becomes rather obvious, and the ability to gain weapons, even if they don’t work, but can be either fixed up, or jury rigged, even if the ammo for the weapons is long since destroyed and rendered inoperable by time.
In that race’s time of control, though, they used up most of the planet’s oil, coal, and natural gas, leading to the highly elevated levels of CO2 today. This, along with the removal and burning of the former forests and jungles did a lot to terraform the planet into a desert. Thankfully the high albedo of the sands keeps the planet from getting to hot.
Early History
Desert Elf civilization first started around a few lakes, being farming civilizations similar to that of Earth's Mesopotamia, though trade between groups started quickly once animals suitable for the task were domesticated, the most commonly traded items being those of metals, shells of animals, and occasionally food stuffs that could keep for the long distances. This trade led to the first wars, when city states would fight over who has the right to tax how much from anthers trade caravans, and eventually to capture the other city.
This, along side the need to produce more food, caused the invention of the first bronze tools, the oldest of which is a plough, though was soon followed by weapons, chisels, and various body armours and civilian tools alike, including parts to the axel of chariots, which were soon put into use as a military tool. The way it was used was either as a quick transport for leadership, or to charge through enemy lines, with blades attached to the axle, or just as a mobile platform for archers to use. The use of the chariot continued, up until the first pike like weapons were invented in there iron age.
Said iron age was started unlike the first one, by purely military needs, the proto Imperium equiping its men with mass produced iron gear, instead of rare, expensive to make bronze, quickly leading to a race between nations and city states to see who could make the best iron, quickly leading to the production of early steels on the world, vastly increasing agricultural output as more land could be irrigated and farmed, and better fishing equipment could be constructed as better nails and woodworking tools allowed larger ships to fish the oceans.
Said increase in output quickly lead to an increase in population and culture, as more and more people could be supported by the increased food supply. Such an amount of people also lead to the rapid creation of the first police forces, with the Proto-Imperium using its military to do so, while most other states made there own separate departments for them. The increase in population also led to more exploration, leading to the discovery of the first ruins of the previous race.
The items found there soon sparked plenty of expeditions, the Imperium doing so for military reasons as they soon started trying to figure out the compounds in the bullets, making the first black powder about one thousand five hundred years ago, around the same time it was made on earth in large quantitys. Its discovery soon leaked however, though production was slow due to the lack of wood and coal deposits. By this point the Proto-Imperium controlled around 30% of the population, and had declared itself the Scion Imperium, already starting its system of clan specialization, leading to a great increase in production and inventions, as entire populations were moved to work on them.
Modern History
This led to, despite the lack of coal, in the year 1950, the invention of the first solar powered devices, leading to a vast increase in the rate of advancement and production as the race finally had its industrial revolution, leading to an increase in warfare over resources and land, as the population continued to grow, the Imperium seeing the writing on the wall, instituted its program of limited reproduction, leading to its population to fall behind the other nations, though they started to have internal issues due to overpopulation and consumption, as more factorys produced more objects for consumption. Despite this, the Scion Imperium continued to expand, even as the Machine gun and smokeless powder were invented.
The following wars led to increased depopulation in other nations, as they started relying on attrition tactics to beat down the enemy, and the first truly world war in 2084 as nations either sided with, or against the Imperium as it swelled to having 45% of the population of the world. The conflict, playing out in a similar way to earths, was a bloody march of trench warfare, with the invention of better warplanes, and armoured tanks, the Imperium being the first to adopt them to avoid attrition tactics with its population, unable to use conscription on around 90% of its population due to eugenics. The aftermath of the war though, saw a large increase in Scion lands, and the Imperium expanding its military population so that almost 30% of the population was a member of the military.
The ratio would continue to grow as more conflicts happened, and the world settled into a cold war state. During this, the Imperium would occasionally absorb a smaller state, and started mounting space expeditions, the first space probe being in orbit at around 2130. Soon after plans were made to send said probes to the other worlds, with plans on colonizing Qunus already. Said plans were put on halt however when they discovered the actual state of the planet, with Vestilles taking its place as the prime candidate.
In 2180 they built there first space station, and realized that they soon needed to invent artificial gravity, and breed a clan whos job it was to man space platforms. In about 2300 the breakthrough in artificial gravity came, leading to them setting up larger stations, as the space clan became more accustomed to space life, and started living in cities above the planet, near self sufficient as well as they soon started servicing the first interplanetary craft, and eventually military ones, as they were slowly built.
By 2400 the Imperium had total control of the race and its planet.
Current day
In 2420 the Imperium, finally discovered the secrets of FTL travel, leading to there first timid steps outside there system, slowly exploring the worlds around them, and seizing about eleven worlds that have since been turned into prosperous colonies, but always avoiding what appears to be alien signals due to fears of there weak space navy being destroyed. In 2560, finally about thirty ships completed, three of which were larger then the rest, comperable to cruisers, and twenty others corvettes, with seven frigates completed, they made contact with humanity.
Things on the homeworld are mostly the same though, Most modern people just living there day to day lives rather peacefully, barring the bit of military action here or there. They generally have a comfortable living standard, not that different from most people in the galaxy, though some poorer towns only have planetary internet, not the one used by the galaxy. All information in either one though, is tightly controlled by the government, to prevent dissenting ideas.
Most people though, have some form of transport, either a car, or public transport like electric trains or planes. All of these however, are closely watched by the government, due to the possible use to ferry insurgents, with all roads leading out of, or into a town having a checkpoint. Current military power has also led to more enacting of the Omega Ten protocol, where an entire town is wiped out in order to stamp out the sparks of an insurgency that has taken control of the town. Said town is usually quickly filled with new people of the same clan, who are given breeding permits in order to reproduce to replace the lost population.
Playing one
If you want to play a desert elf the first thing you have to keep in mind is that they are generally only skilled in one job, and there full body tattoo and its colour is related. The naming convention is similar, but not identical to that of the Anglo-Saxons, but since its not identical you are free to make up names and say its a clan name. Also to keep in mind that while sex itself is not frowned upon, vaginal sex, and unbirthing by extension are, due to the laws against them. This means that playing one you would have to be somewhat into anal sex and the like, or have your char HIGHLY against vaginal if it might result in a noticeable change in there bodies, AKA pregnancy.
Clan markings And a Blurb about there culture
Military:
General culture: In general the clan culture of these groups is one of existing to serve, and die, for the Imperium, accepting death when it comes and not pulling back unless ordered, with most members of it drilled to never route the battlefield.
Infantry: Khaki flowing lines. Has a culture strongly focused on teamwork and group efforts, with single ambition being somewhat frowned upon. Culture also promotes closeness with you and your comrades.
Armoured Divisions: Steel flowing lines. Has a culture of steadfast determination and refusal to surrender, with refusing to bail from there tanks if the thing can still move or fire, preferring instead to fire until destruction or ram the enemy.
Air Force: Blue flowing lines. Has a culture of individual action being promoted, and the love of personal ambition, and to a degree, sexual prowess.
Military Police: Red flowing lines. As can be expected they have a culture of promotion of order and the like, with rules being followed to the letter and strict schedules being kept.
Space force: Black flowing lines, though clan culture puts a large white dot on the forehead. Has a culture similar to the Armoured Divisions, in that they refuse to give up unless there ship is blowing up around them, to the point of not installing escape pods and shunning those who go planet side due to cowardice for abandoning ship. Those at stations aswell, generally live there entire lives there.
Research:
General culture: In general these clans are based highly around the act of discovery and the advancement of science.
Robotics: Black Clockwork. In general a culture of eccentric tinkers, with individual discovery praised highly, as is individual invention, with statues of the inventors of major steps in robotics existing in most town squares of there planets.
Xenobotany: Green Clockwork. A culture based around both self discovery, and the protection of others due to the dangers some flora can pose.
XenoBiology: Magenta Clockwork. A culture of group effort when it comes to controlling and messing with animals and the like, with the groups of major discoverys getting a near religious following.
Phoron research: Purple Clockwork. Generally, the biggest mad scientists of the bunch, with those who make it burn the hottest or make the biggest explosion being celebrated similar to demi-gods.
RnD: Pink Clockwork. Easily the most singular of the groups, with cooperation only done when absolutely needed, and most keeping to themselves and a few close friends.
Xenoarcheology: Brown Clockwork. The culture is based on cooperation and group effort similar to the Xenobiologists, with the group swearing an oath of silence around artifacts.
Medical:
General culture: In general these clans are about the preservation of life and attempting to cause as little pain as possible.
General Doctors: Red bandage like. As can be expected this culture is about the preservation of life, but they take as many steps as possible to ensure the greatest comfort for patients aswell.
Virologist: Green bandage like. Contrary to how some would think, this group is not about making super bugs, but rather has a love for curing them, with the using them as a weapon seen as a massive tabboo and social suicide.
Surgeon: White bandage like. A culture efficent and to the point, with no excess time spent talking or messing around, instead focusing on improving there craft.
Paramedic: Blue bandage like. A culture of fitness and speediness, with races being well loved, as are weight lifting competitions, but generally love the act of saving or helping others over all things.
Pyschiatrist: Biege bandage like, with about 3X as many on there head and face as other clans. A culture of improving others and making sure they are okay, even at the cost of ones self, with all efforts being done to help others mentally.
Chemist: Orange winding lines. A rather unstable group about mixing what they can to find new, and healthy mixtures, but often test on themselves.
Engineering:
General culture: As can be expected there clan cultures generally revolve around making things work and such.
General Engineer: Orange Flames. All about improving efficent working, with all of them working to find how little sleep and leisure time they can take to be with the machines they love.
Atmosphereic Tech: Blue flames. All about the preservation of life and protection of others due to there stations.
Engine Tech: Purple flames. There culture is about making the engines they work on the most efficent, and powerful they can, with some accidents happening when they push one to far.
Electrical Engineer: Yellow flames. Similar to the wires they mess with, they are rather to the point and about straightness of words and actions, not liking deception.
Maintenance Tech: Steel flames. Generally about making things both resistant to wear, and work efficently.
Service and Food:
General culture: This is where things really vary due to the huge differences in tasks.
Fishing: Blue waves. Obsessed with water and the life in it, often living most of there lives on floating cities on there seas.
Farming: Green vines. Love the land and the animals in it, often keeping a favored farm animal around like a pet.
Cooking: Red vines. A love of show and display, with colours and the like being carefully chosen for clothing when possible, and food often taking eccentric forms in order to better showcase it.
Cargo: Small yellow linked trams. A love of speed dominates this culture, with those who have moved the fastest being revered highly, and all attempts made to make there vehicles go faster.
Knowledge Keeping: Black Scion Alphabet. Easily one of the oldest of the clans, given they were formed prior to books, but the have a love of knowledge and its storing. They generally work as librarians and such, or authors of there own written material.
Drinks: Green waves. In general this clan is the ones who make alcohols and the like, and as such have a high pride in the craft, even when making soft drinks, taking insults against there drinks rather personally.
Nobles:
General culture: As can be expected one of controlling others and settling who is dominate.
Scion Clan: Gold with winding lines, bold angular lines, and flames along the sides of the angular lines. Generally the most dominant, but also gentlest of the noble clans.
Noble Clan: Gold with thin Angular lines. Generally loyal and obedient to the Scion Clan, but can at times be callous to non-nobles.
Scion Guard Clan: Purple knotting lines. Utterly loyal to the Scion Clan, bred more or less for combat and protection of the Scion Clan.
What most people know
Most people would know about the clan system and the autocratic government, but unless they have spent time studying Scion, next to nothing about its internal termoil. They may also know a majority of the clans, but not the minor clans, again unless they studied. The knowledge that they are a lost Golden Empire colony is also something that your average person, if they have even heard of Scion, is likely to know, due to a lot of political of them posturing that they are not a part of it.