--Reaching over to pick something up, once again annoyed that I can't sprout tentacles at will.
Would I actually like having tentacles? I dunno, but seems like they'd be fun to try out.
Not feeling all that celebratory right now, but I want to wish everyone in the USA as happy and determined a "NO KINGS!!" day as possible.
Seems like a good time to speak up for the principle that those who hold authority must be held accountable for how they use it, however you feel able.
I think it's important to remember that if the forces of absurdly blatant and utterly pointless evil believed we were powerless against them, they wouldn't put so much effort into suppressing our power.
What we do matters.
Yeah, fuck despair. It's understandable that people are struggling with despair right now - I sure am! But despair is useless. It's what they want us to be feeling. As long as we're breathing, we have the ability to make a difference.
We need hope, and we need wrath.
...potentially leading to a simultaneous counterattack, if Jherdak commits to a major invasion.
However, Jherdak can claim less than a third of the old Kherandi territory, and has far less influence in many bordering areas.
The most common form of faster than light travel in Kherandafsah is generally known as the Kherandi warp drive or the warp wake. There are several variants on the technology developed by different civilizations, all quite similar.
The drive projects a bubble of space with altered rules, greatly enhancing the speed of anything within it. This bubble leaves a wake where it passes, fading slowly over several years, that makes other warp bubbles easier to establish and maintain. Commonly used routes, thus, build up deeply...
-established wake trails, allowing ships to reach a much higher speed while sticking to the route. A network of warp paths stretches all across Kherandafsah, connecting major systems. Following these trails is often faster and cheaper than traveling to closer systems would be...
-even when it requires a highly indirect route. Star charts almost always include established warp paths. Jherdakil charts are the most extensive, but local charts are more likely to include less heavily traveled routes - still much better than open space.
There are a few civilizations in Kherandafsah that use completely different forms of FTL tech. These are often less restrictive than the warp wake drive - but considerably less efficient, if there's an established route available.
Everyone in Kherandafsah with concerns beyond their own planet must pay attention to the politics of Jherdak. Even far from its borders, the Jherdakil Empire has too much influence on trade and diplomacy to be ignored.
The Emperor's authority is vast, but not unlimited, and of course much goes on that is outside their notice. Everyone in Jherdak holds a precise numerical rank, ranging up to 9,000,000,000 for the Emperor, but there are many organizations within the Empire with fields of authority that overlap...
-in complex ways, so determining who is actually in charge in a given situation can be complicated. Directly under the Emperor is a group of Sector Lords, each ruling 10-20 major systems and their neighboring minor worlds. Most have subordinates handling each major system...
-but the next official layer of authority is the Planetary Governors. Most planets have internal subdivisions, varying in names and complexity. Each layer has its own governing apparatus, law enforcement, and often military.
The Emperor can command sector lords and call upon their military forces, but there are also several (sometimes competing) groups under the Emperor's direct control. Along with various administrative bodies, three key organizations preserve and enact the Emperor's power.
The Wolf Pack is the most feared within Jherdak - the Emperor's eyes and hands inside the Empire. They are agents and investigators, handling Jherdak's counterintelligence operations, seeking out potential rebels, and helping local law enforcement with particularly tricky - or sensitive - cases.
They look for corrupt officials and deal with them - officially or quietly, depending on the situation. They are also involved in spying, especially when someone high in the ranks wants a dubious report confirmed. They are chosen for loyalty above all else.
It isn't just their training and the power of their organization that makes the Wolf Pack formidable. They also have the best bioengineering and cybernetic enhancement that money can buy in Kherandafsah. One division, known as the Black Hounds or Witch Hunters, uses specialized equipment...
The Jher Dakkar are the Emperor's soldiers - the most elite fighting force in Jherdak. They have similar enhancements to the Wolf Pack, but train for combat instead of investigation. They also control vast armies of war robots, and the most advanced Jherdakil warships.
The Jher Dakkar form the core of Jherdak's military, commanding all major operations. They operate less frequently within the Empire, but the Wolf Pack sometimes calls on them for additional firepower.
The most mysterious of the groups that uphold the Emperor's power is the Yolsay priesthood. Outsiders know little about this secretive religious group, but they are fanatically loyal to the Imperial throne, and hold substantial authority to preserve the stability of the Empire.
When a Yolsay priest turns up to take control of a Wolf Pack team or Jher Dakkar squad, they know they've become involved in something especially important - a valuable (and dangerous) opportunity.
Even the Emperor themself does not have access to some of the Yolsay secrets.
Although Jherdak will use force to maintain control over its territory - and influence its neighbors - it prefers using fear of external enemies to keep people in line. Some of these dangers are exaggerated or manipulated. Others are exactly as hazardous as Jherdak's propagandists claim.
The Phalzarog war-clans are one of the latter. They are one of the oldest nations in Kherandafsah, predating the fall of the Kherandi Empire. In fact, they were one of the groups that brought it down.
The phalzarogs likely control more of Kherandafsah than any country other than Jherdak,..
-though it's hard to be sure how much is held by the Blaze and the Drummers. They would certainly have the second most powerful military - if they were united. Fortunately, they are not. The warlords who control the phalzarog clans spend as much time fighting each other as they do waging war...
-against their neighbors. It is a core element of foreign policy for every other nation in the region to keep it that way. Preventing phalzarog unification is one goal that will prompt even the groups most fervently opposed to Jherdak's expansion to cooperate with the Empire.
While Jherdak is certainly no beacon of freedom, it at least rejects the concept of rule by one species. It is the deepest philosophical core of Phalzarog society that phalzarogs rule, and others obey.
There are different movements among the phalzarogs that disagree on how best to handle other species (most prominently the Phalkain, Zarkain, and Vothkain), but they all regard everyone else as fit only to serve the clans.
