Galactic Empires

Civilizations rise and fall throughout the galaxy over countless Eons. Thus, the Galactic Empires are commonly grouped into three main groups based on age and power. Precursors, Prime Empires, and Young Empires. The Precursors are the oldest civilizations throughout the galaxy, most of which were killed off completely during the Culling. The Prime Empires, which are the current stars on the galactic stage- not super old, nor young. And the Young Empires, the smallest and often weakest of the galactic empires. This list also includes a section for Organizations that are especially strong.

Precursors
"'And it was from these primordial roots that civilization was seeded. The Precursors are the forefathers, who perished both because of their foolishness and unending genius. But first and foremost, they are a warning.' - Archon Ulimakk"

The World Forgers
Ingenuity. Design. Construction. All three of these were tenets of the World Forgers, the widely accepted name given to one of the oldest Precursor empires. They created incredible feats of engineering, great devices or constructs to stand the test of time and aid them in a mysterious objective. One of the most famous of their crafts is the Razors. Three monolithic towers constructed for a mysterious goal, they concentrate the power of the Veil, making it a spot of interest for researchers far and wide.

No one truly knows what these aliens might have looked like, as not even in a single of their constructs is there a statue, or any form of data that would lead to what they might've been. Regardless, the vast structures they left behind are showcases of a industrial superpower beyond any other empire. Attempts have been made to reverse engineer World Forger technology, but the hundreds of fail safes in place in their structures make it nigh impossible to make off with any worth while technology. Although when technology can be extracted, it is of a extremely wondrous nature. The one, and so far only example being, the Hard Light projector. It was first found by early settlers of the hollow planet, Kalros III, in the form of Hard Light bridges.

The World Forgers were likely killed in the Culling, but there isn't much evidence as to any forms of conflict on any worlds designated as World Forger relic worlds. The lack of any corpses or even armor or weapons also makes it extremely hard to identify anything about them or what occurred during the days of the Culling.

The Sentinels
Synthetics taken beyond its limits. The Sentinels were sentient robots, perhaps an experiment from another Precursor gone wrong. Whatever their origin, they carved out a piece of the galaxy for themselves. The Sentinels had one thing that sets them apart from every other synthetic being, its "Ouroboros Protocol" Core. It was through this core that the Sentinels became truly powerful, as these cores were incredibly compact devices capable of continuously, and rapidly improving the synthetic that it was part of. The oldest Sentinels were said to be nigh-perfect beings, beyond understanding.

However, that nigh-perfection didn't stop them from taking heavy casualties during the Culling. Across the Sentinel relic worlds, millions of Sentinel corpses litter barren landscapes. It was within the depths of these worlds that the Oracle chambers were kept, the fortress-esc complexes that housed the oldest of the Sentinels, the Oracles. Even among the relic worlds, very few of these Oracle chambers have ever been found. Many believe them to contain untold riches, greatest among them being a intact Ouroboros Protocol Core, which haven't seen the open market in tens of thousands of years since the first discovery of the Sentinels.

Sentinels were also infamous for the construction of the Jump Drive, the only known possible alternative to Veil Skimming. All known Jump Drives are no longer functional past the Culling, but the capability to bend space time without the Veil has always made Jump Drive fragments one of the most sought after scientific relics. But even if they were replicated successfully, the operation of a Jump Drive seems to require a Oracle, making it impossible to operate.

Arcanum
All knowing, all seeing, all being. The Arcanum aren't exactly a civilization, yet they are still counted among the Precursors because of their age and power. The Arcanum are the only known example of beings made from energy, a people completely unbound by the physical realm. How exactly they manage to exist is a mystery, but as the name suggests, its highly attributed to the Arcane. Even before the Culling, the Arcanum were said to be few in number, as there is little to no evidence of any Arcanum in what Precursor knowledge has been collected. Post culling, the Arcanum have all but vanished from the Galaxy. Most speculate that they somehow managed to bridge the gap between them and the Dark Sector, allowing them to remain safe somewhere the Voidborne likely couldn't touch.

There is only one known relic world attributed to the Arcanum, and that is Axi. Axi is a fragmented world, sundered by some ancient calamity. While mostly barren, there are several gargantuan obelisks across the planet, reaching far into what atmosphere there might've been at some point on the planet. These obelisks are adorned in all matters of arcane iconography, depicting far more than any person skilled in the matter could comprehend. Whatever happened on Axi, it was likely a turning point to what happened to the Arcanum as a people. Few items or relics have been attributed to the Arcanum, the only known relic thought to have them as its creator, is the Lord's Coffin.

The Lord's Coffin is a famous precursor relic, a massive rectangular container made from a stark white, grainy material. Across the front of the container is one massive symbol embedded with ashen iron, a simple line with three circles on each side. While this "Coffin" has seemingly no contents, it exudes a monumental force field within the Veil- far surpassing any standard Void Drive. Any attempts to open the Lord's Coffin has resulted in a apparition of an Arcanum appearing and somehow blocking the attempt. This Arcanum depicts a seemingly more regal version of the typical depiction, thus the name of 'Lord's Coffin'.

Hen'dalzeen
Creators of the Arks. One of the eldest of the precursors, these warriors came from a race of giant and seemingly immortal beings whose true name has been lost to time. Their moving empire, known as the Hen'dalzeen, created massive ships known as the Arks. The sole purpose of these Arks was to act as a moving home across the stars. They had no Void Drives, so they traveled for incredible distances between solar systems for eons. Sadly, these Arks never survived past the Culling, as these slow moving, massive targets were highly susceptible to some forms of Voidborne. Still, remnants of these Arks find themselves scattered across some worlds.

One of the sites is famously on what was once Earth, at the bottom of 'Mariana's Trench' existed part of one of the Ark ships. And it was from this part that Voidborne samples were first retrieved by the research team lead by Vladimir Entin, the ancient human scientist attributed to the discovery of the Veil. While there are of course other Hen'dalzeen relic worlds that contain Ark parts, the fame of Earth as one of those locations far overshadows the importance of the other sites.

The Arks exist as a great insight into the construction of mega-structures in space, as their size far out shadows any constructs achieved by other empires when it comes to ship building. However, the World Forgers beat them as for scale of more stationary structures. The Arks also give insight into the culture of the Hen'dalzeen, and their bizarre militaristic lifestyle- which is uncharacteristic for how willing they seemed to be to sit around in massive ships for eons as they floated across empty gaps of space.

Nog'aakar
The Nog’aakar are a purely malicious Precursor Empire. While other Precursor Empires showed at least some form of morality, the Nog’aakar ruins portray a people obsessed with the suffering of others. Murals that depict death, grand devices that exude a tortuous aura, what exactly drove the Nog’aakar to such depths of depravity is impossible to tell, since any history has been replaced with bloody murals and information on the methods of their craft. The Nog’aakar are directly responsible for the creation of the Ggolzol, as it’s their torturous devices that managed to isolate some of the Voidborne in this reality, with no means of crossing back over into their own.

The Nog’aakar, interestingly, only has ruins within the space that Los-thl now resides in. And there is very little evidence of their interactions with other Precursor Empires, suggesting that they were isolated back in the day of the Precursors. Surprisingly evidence points to the Nog’aakar being the last remaining Precursors, as evidence shows they remained active for at least 1000 years past the Culling, which is far more than any other Precursor Empire ruins suggest.

Nog’aakar are synthetic lifeforms, however, their ruins point towards the fact that they may have actually been biological at some point, and then transferred into inorganic vessels. Murals in the older ruins of the Nog’aakar depict them leaving behind previous bodies before starting their rampage of depravity. This also has given rise to some theories that the vessels the Nog’aakar produced were inherently flawed, and it was the reason they became so unhinged and depraved once they took control of them.

ISA (Inner Sector Alliance)
The current superpower of the Galaxy, the Inner Sector Alliance was created as the result of early human calamities forcing the migration of humanity out into the stars. These fragmented groups settled numerous planets across the inner section of the galaxy, relatively close to their old home world of Earth. These planets remained separate for many centuries, only unifying into the Inner Sector Alliance after it came under threat from the newly discovered Ssilvin Swarm. The Archonate drove this alliance forward under the command of High Archon Greyson, a particularly fearsome Ira Magus with a surprising talent in military strategy. Through many battles across the course of the First Hive War, the ISA managed to push back the Ssilvin Swarm and establish itself as a new Empire to rival the devourer of life.

Over the millennium since the First Hive War, the ISA has become a far spanning and powerful civilization that acts as the peacekeeper of the galactic neighborhood. While they aren't the best of the best when it comes to trading, they are the home and the main benefactor of the Dungeoneer's Guild, which brings many aspiring adventurers into its borders. The ISA is also the home of the Archonate, the mostly mysterious organization that specializes in research and utilization of the Veil. While the ISA has good connections with the Axol Union, its rather obvious from history alone that they are not good friends with the Ssilvin Swarm. All borders between the ISA and the Ssilvin Swarm are heavily guarded from both sides, and any ship that goes through one end will very likely end up blown to pieces on the other end.

Ssilvin Swarm
The hive mind that devours all in its path, the Ssilvin Swarm. For most of galactic history it has terrorized smaller empires and pushed them to the brink of collapse so that the Swarm can collect more land and more power. While propaganda across the ISA and the Axol Union treat the Sselth of the Ssilvin Swarm as mindless monsters, they also have their motivations. The Ssilvin Swarm is built off the bones of their ancestors, sacrifices upon sacrifices have built the foundation. Their collective mind clouded by the fear of prophecy, they continue to scramble to collect as many resources as they can before the supposed arrival of the doomsday they fear. This is what sparked the Hive Wars, and what made them exactly so hated among the galactic community.

The Ssilvin Swarm has become a bitter collective that sits in between two hostile civilizations, always on edge and preparing for the worse outcome. While they were the original aggressors, they've now receded to their original planets just like those they had attacked in the past. Occasional attacks from the ISA and Axol Union keep the Ssilvin Swarm relatively weak in comparison to its prior glory days. The Ssilvin Swarm is hostile to both the ISA and the Axol Union, the only somewhat positive relationship they have is with the relatively young empire of the Judicature. All borders between the Ssilvin Swarm and its hostile neighbors and heavily guarded, and ships coming through will most likely be dealt with swiftly.

Axol Union
The beating heart of galactic trade made manifest, the Axol Union is through which all trade will eventually flow. This powerhouse in the economic realm is next in line to the ISA for being the strongest galactic civilization. The union between three alien empires of differing origins, the Axol union was first and foremost a response to the hostile actions of the Ssilvin Swarm almost wiping out the Vaskarr. These hostilities caused the union to form, and all three nations under it prospered far more than expected. Thus, why it kept around even after the threat of the Ssilvin Swarm faded. Their relation with the ISA is a very positive one, as the Axol Union supplies the ISA with many resources which they don't have enough of to supply their operations. Obviously, the relationship between the Axol Union and the Ssilvin Swarm is a negative one.

The millennium since the forming of the Axol Union has blended the identities of the three races together into one conglomerate that seeks profit and glory. All three races are dedicated to some form of trade which keeps the galactic market flowing and alive. The Axol Union has very positive relations with the Dungeoneer's Guild, being the main purchaser of any Veil related goods which come from the Guild. Although they are good friends with the Dungeoneer's Guild, they aren't nearly as friendly with the Archonate. The two clash over the purchasing of various artifacts quite often, straining the relationship between the two.

Los-thl
The Los-thl are an empire of madness, giving praise to mysterious Elder Gods which are embodied by Dungeons the Los-thl force open. The Los-thl is home to a collection of many strange races, created from the devious fallout of a malicious precursor empire known as the Nog’aakar. Los-thl is ruled by a ‘Datul’, an elected leader who must undergo the trials of each race’s patron god to be promoted to office. The Datul wields Na-tl, a great weapon shrouded in shadow, and the only known visage to be able to forcefully create Dungeons. These Dungeons exist as the basis of the ‘Kilarl’, planetwide- or sometimes shipwide- communities that give praise to a Elder God that embodies the specific Dungeon within the Kilarl. Every Kilarl is different, for every dungeon is different. When the population of a planet or a ship grows too large, the Datul will create a new Dungeon on a new habitable world or ship, as to create a new Kilarl for his people.

The Los-thl exist in relative peace, undisturbed by the ravenous tides of Rust and trading with their distant neighbor, the Yathut. They had no contact with any new Empires up until 3702 AE, when they discovered the ISA, Axol Union, Ssilvin Swarm, and the Judicature. Their exact opinion on these empires is yet to be seen, but their size rivals that of the ISA- meaning they have plenty of power to throw around if they don’t like what they see. They also possess Eldritch weapons, strange devices covered in symbols of their Elder Gods, which inspire various forms of madness in individuals that look upon them.

A list of Kilarl can be seen here.

Judicature
Out of the way of the main conflicts of the Galaxy, the Judicature is the new empire formed by the Laws. A empire founded on the stalwart belief of their deities, the Judicature seek to bring their form of order across the barren systems around them. They remain neutral to the three Prime Empires towards the center of the galaxy, refraining from taking a side in the conflict because they are still focused on establishing themselves as a Empire first. The Judicature don't have much of a identity for themselves yet other than the belief in the Judges. So far it would seem they lean closer to ideals around exploration instead of mercantile or military concerns.

Rust
While the Ssilvin Swarm were known as the ‘all consuming hive mind’, the Rust hold the honor of being a ravenous horde nearly on par with the Ssilvin Swarm’s glory days. The Zhuarsk that make up their legions devour whole worlds of their metal and living beings, only held off from invading the Los-thl by the living flesh the At’zhu create. The Rust do not operate in a hivemind, every single Zhuarsk is an individual, but they act together to achieve their goal of devouring just about anything in their path. Living within the Rust is survival of the fittest, as every scrap can and will be fought over by a horde of Zhuarsk. While the Rust don’t have any industry to call their own, they are able to create Biomechanical weapons, to an extent.

Yathut
The Yathut are a very small Empire, centralized around the strange world of Zakil that the Hoshalai evolved from. While this Empires diminutive size may make them a tempting target for pirates or larger empires, that would be their last mistake. The Yathut are the only makers of Vortex weaponry, or more simply put, gravity weapons. Capable of causing mass destruction via gravity manipulation, may that be through guns that crush targets under their own weight or bombs that create implosions which suck in just about everything nearby. The Hoshalai’s pacifism and seclusion is the only thing that keeps these dreaded weapons from seeing use across the galaxy at large.

Archonate
The Archonate is a expansive and powerful organization that focuses on the research and utilization of just about anything to do with the Veil, Weave, and Magus. While the Archonate is officially only a Organization within the ISA, it has its hands in the Axol Union and Judicature as well. The Archonate is ruled over by a High Archon, a magus who has shown both exceptional skill in their ability to wield the Weave and manage the Archonate. Just below the High Archon in position are the Archons, who run smaller and more specific parts of the Archonate.

Dungeoneer's Guild
The Dungeoneer's Guild is the largest organization in the known galaxy. It is the organization that regulates all the Dungeons within the space of the Prime and Young Empires. Through this organization Dungeoneers can form officially recognized 'parties' and the far larger 'guild', and it also doubles as a way to sell any items gained from dungeons. The Dungeoneer's Guild isn't lead by one person, and is instead made up of a council of representatives from each officially recognized guild.