Lhazarane Factbook (FT|Q&A))

[Lhazastan]

The Lhazarane

Overview

The Lhazarane are a human-like species plagued with violent internal struggles, the most recent of which are remains of the collapse of the interplanetary authority which had for centuries connected the thin patchwork of planets, moons, extraplanetary colonies, and city ships which the Lhazarane and their closest cousins have lived on for all of recent memory.

They are led now by The Matriarchy, though do not all consider themselves as part of a unified state. The Lhazarane State itself officially consists of the planets and moons in the system, and some of the extraplanatary colonies (notably those which are inherently tied to planetary and lunar settlements). Extraplanetary Lhazarane (in other colonies and on city ships) are not officially a part of the State, but the majority have fallen in step with the Matriarchy, as has the State itself.

Contents

• The Lhazarane as a Species
• The Lhazarane as a People
• Basic Astrography
• Overview of Key Figures in Lhazarane Society
• Overview of the Military
• Encyclopedia Table of Contents
• Documents and Fiction Table of Contents

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The Lhazarane as a Species

We find ourselves attractive but make no mistake,
we're a disgusting race, at heart.
- Eliza Karadžić

Basic Characteristics

• Average Height: 190.5 cm (6.25 ft)
• Natural Eye Colors: commonly, Green and gold;rarely, brown
• Natural Skin Colors: pale to medium brown with grey undertone
• Hair: Texture varies. Black is the only common natural color; rarely, brown with silver highlights
• Average Natural¹ Lifespan: 167-173 years (Earth-relative²)

Description
Lhazarane are a tall, densely-muscled species. Traditionally, males had more upper-body strength, while females had more lower-body strength, but the modern natural variation is statistically negligible. This is further removed by artificial enhancement. The grey undertone is exaggerated for soldiers and others who wear bodysheaths, since the sheath is not overly visible but does impart some color. They have broad shoulders and naturally strong cores, which in the past made them ideal for physical labor.

Brown eyes are seen as exotically beautiful as they are rare, while most Lhazarane naturally have green, gold, or a ringed combination of the two colors.

Natives and long-term residents of Elis frequently also maintain an additional layer of fat not found in other Lhazarane communities, due to the low temperatures, predilection for outdoor activity, and general lack of climate control. Thus, this is believed to have been the standard build of Lhazarane before they spread from Elis.

Most Lhazarane have versatile voices, but generally speak naturally in registers lower than their same-sex counterparts of other sapient species. Amongst their cousin species, for example, Lhazarane women are noted for a raspy conversational tone.

Lhazarane are fairly resistant to extreme temperatures. Their heavy builds make them ill-suited to water, however, and many have difficulty with swimming purely because of standard traits. They also have poor natural low-light vision, which has made ocular filters one of the most popular implants in the artificial enhancement industry.

Psychologically, Lhazarane tend toward near bipolar extremes of emotion, often bouncing between ecstatic elation and rage with very few stops in between. It is a widely-acknowledged scientific fact that the violent outbursts Lhazarane -- male and female -- are capable of are of a biological nature. These hormone-driven behaviors magnify current emotions, which causes much anger to be expressed physically, on levels higher than any other species within the cluster and perhaps many without.

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¹ Natural without biomechanical enhancement, but including the capabilities of modern medicine otherwise
² This is purely OOC information. No Lhazarane would define themselves by an Earth standard, even if they knew what Earth was.

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The Lhazarane as a People

Let us neither accept our fate, nor merely speak,
for we have our arms and we have our freedom to use them.
- Amarynthia Kuzmenko. A Final Call to Arms

Culturally, the Lhazarane vary from planet to planet, moon to moon, and station to station. Some lived much more beneath the heel of the Interstellar Union than others, while others were wedged apart from their people by genetic traits and general ideology. The ISU did much to keep the Lhazarane butting heads internally so that they would not be capable of practically uniting. They were marginalized for millennia, and the growing unpopularity of the Union in the last decades of its existence only made the grip tighter and tighter, until it failed completely.

General Culture

Despite their varying local cultures, there are many general cultural traits which Lhazarane everywhere tend toward. They have a strong sense of racial unity and often refer to others as their brothers and sisters, such that specifically telling someone that they are not such is considered a very grave insult and is not taken lightly by either party.

They also have a strong sense of justice, and expect authority to conform to their very core beliefs. This naturally leads to a tendency toward political activism, protest, and even open revolt, which was the primary reason behind the Union's tight controls and increasing use of internal divides to prevent Lhazarane unity.

Over the millennia of their existence as coherent cultures, Lhazarane have also tended toward devout atheism. Many are staunch in their atheist, sometimes nihilistic beliefs and most are dismissive of religion. This leads to a lot of inner turmoil regarding Lady Amarynthia Kuzmenko, who has accidentally become something of a religious leader with much of the species torn between long-held traditional beliefs and belief in her and her vision.

Local Cultures

Ayasso
Ayasso centers around agriculture, which is managed through biomass cultivators within the floating settlements that dot the planetary ocean, and water production. More or less "rural," Ayasso is considered a frontier in its own right, and its residents pride themselves in their ability to eek out a living on sparsely-populated planet. In their attempts to self-sufficient, they have generally adopted a spartan lifestyle, their cultural dish being spinach-flavored cultivated "leaves" and flavored water.

There is heavy emphasis on family on Ayasso, and many communities are made up of only a handful of extended families, prompting outsiders to believe long-term residents of the planet are inbred. However, this is untrue as communities stay in regular contact with each other and sometimes physically meet, trading new blood.

Residents of Ayasso are a hearty breed. Even though they live within enclosed communities, they have to experience Ayasso's constant storms which make surface travel for sea-going vessels nearly impossible.

Elis
Elis is the homeworld of the Lhazarane species, something which Elisians will never let other Lhazarane forget. It's a temperate, biodiverse planet which tends toward colder temperatures. Due to longstanding tradition, Elisians don't generally welcome forms of climate control outside of buildings.

Lhazarene in Elis are predominately urban, living in one of a handful of compact cities. Some live in country villages but these are rare, even moreso now than before due to the existence of Red Bloc militants roaming the countryside.

Because Elis is the cradle of Lhazarane civilization, its people are unwilling to do more to damage the unpopulated portions of the planet, which causes problems when hunting militants. Things such as orbital bombardment and rocket or missile strikes would be condemned on Elis whereas they are often called for on Akrata (even by Elisians) when a terrorist stronghold is discovered.

Each city has its own culture, with subcultures of their own, which is clear evidence of the history of the Lhazarane. It is also another general point of pride for Elisians -- they have many cultures and have all worked together, whereas the other planets, colonies, and cityships all have monolithic cultures and aren't, in the minds of Elisians, nearly as unified as peoples.

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Basic Astrography

The bulk of the Lhazarane people are contained within a single star system. It is a single star with twelve planets and five planetoids. Three planets are capable of supporting life in varying degrees, but of these only one planet can support Lhazarane or animal life without technological aid.

Planets

Behram

Aridea

Kavadarci

Ayasso
Covered entirely by a world ocean, Ayasso is a hot planet on the inside edge of the habitability zone and is capable of supporting micro-organisms and has a relatively dense, humid atmosphere. It does not have the ability to support more complex life, plant or animal. Nonetheless, Lhazarane have done what they could to settle the planet, living in small, air-tight floating towns whose economies revolve primarily around biomass cultivators using local micro-organisms. Some extract pure water from the oceans, making water production the second largest industry on the planet.

Tourism comes in far behind the other two, but is the third largest industry. This is more a function of there being few industries on Ayasso, rather than tourists being overly interested in the planet.

Elis
The Lhazarane homeworld, it is the only planet in the system with a breathable atmosphere and which can support complex plant and animal life. It exists at the outer edge of the habitability zone, and climates which can support Lhazarane life easily exist within 30° of the planet's equator. Temperatures are generally low planet-wide.

It is the current seat of the Lhazarane State's Matriarchy, and also headquarters of the Red Bloc insurgency against the State.

Akrata
With a nitrogen-rich, low-oxygen atmosphere, Akrata lacks air breathable by Lhazarane. The atmosphere is relatively thin, but the planet is capable of supporting some plant life. There are, however, no native fauna, nor any in the system which are capable of breathing on Akrata. Akrata exists in the same orbital as Elis, exactly opposite its sister planet, and as such is cold, being at the outer edge of the habitability zone.

Its most famous feature is the Lamia Salt Flats, a large desert covering approximately an eighth of the planet's surface. It was home to the two largest prisons in the ISU, the Akrata Women's Penal Facility and the Akrata Men's Penal Facility. The former has since been shut down, and the latter is now a unisex prison for war criminals and traitors to the Lhazarane State.

Izmir

Farres

Ghera

Lipkovo

Dymi

Rancovci

Planetoids

Interplanetary Colonies

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Overview of Key Figures in Lhazarane Society

Her presence and her words...
She's a snake charmer and the Lhazarane are a great serpent.
- Robert Baran, when asked how Kuzmenko took power

Amarynthia Kuzmenko is the Matriarch of the Lhazarane people and the perceived savior of the Lhazarane people. She is aided in her leadership of her race by Robert Baran, the primary member of The Matriarchy next to Kuzmenko herself. The Lhazarane State as a nation is headed by a council with an elected Speaker for the State. This office is currently held by Dr. Kristen Soloukhin, famed primarily for her wide knowledge base and scientific understanding.

Movements resisting the existence of the Lhazarane State and the authority of The Matriarchy over it (and them) persist, notably the Red Bloc led by Eliza Karadžić. The primary force dedicated to stopping the Red Bloc are the arktoi, whose most (in)famous figure is Captain Anna Torbica, who is currently the martial governor of Elis' L2 Colony

The first and last successful attempt at fully sapient artificial life, True AI, haunts the Lhazarane with disruptive hacking of networks and incomprehensible messages. Some Lhazarane have built their lives around tracking True AI down. The most successful (in that she's been able to stay on the trail for the longest) is nest pilot Danika "Hurricane" Seitz. She is also the most renowned modern explorer due to this, as she has discovered more alien races than any other Lhazarane in history.

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Overview of the Military

Shoot the dogs, shoot the dogs
The cowards are scared of us
Shoot the dogs, shoot the dogs
- "Shoot the Dogs" - AML anthem

The Lhazarane military consists of several Lhazarane formations, and many times more autonomous drones.

Arktoi are an all-female force born from the fall of the Interstellar Union. They handle ground-side warfare on Elis, primarily, though have been deployed on other duties. Aerial and interplanetary scouting, patrol, and combat is handled by SEAS Hornet drones. Large, military spacecraft may also engage in limited combat, and are capable of planetary bombardment; the latter function (along with piloting) is always performed solely by Lhazarane , though the vessels are mostly automated, most having a crew of one and a complement of specialized dolls.

Spacecraft

Nest - primarily drone carriers, they are long, thin ships with branches jutting off the central core. Large nests would generally be classified by foreign nations as a capital ship¹, but nests come in a wide variety of sizes and specific architecture due to the lack of standardization beyond the general appearance. Hornet drones are attached to the outside. The central core contains vital systems and cargo carrying space. Nests have a single pilot, though operate a crew far larger if one counts dolls as crewmembers. Bigger nests also tend to include a Lhazarane mechanic. They can carry displacers, but because of the energy requirements to shift the nest and its drones, the displacer cannot be activated while drones are in flight unless the command link to the drones is severed. Hornets are their primary weapon, though many pilots arrange for the addition of missile launch cells.

Shifter - typically the largest type of military ship, it is devoted to using displacers to move units through space. They generally operate little to no offensive weaponry, but have heavy passive defense, and are always escorted. They possess the ability to project displacement bubbles that are centered elsewhere than the displacer device itself.

Common Weapons

Hornet - the most common vehicle in Lhazarane use, Hornets are equipped with an astonishing variety of weapons and subsystems depending on what their owner wants them capable of doing. They are semi-intelligent drones, on par with the "AI" of many other civilizations.

Javelin - the common missile used by Lhazarane war machines, these are long, thin missiles named after their appearance. They are capable of great speed, and typically have dialable-yield warheads which can be extremely potent. They come in light and heavy varieties, and are fired from missile cells, frequently packed many into each cell, with light javelins being smaller than heavies. There are many makes of javelin, and the term is broadly applied to any missile with the previously described specifications.

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¹ This is an IC assumption

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Encyclopedia Table of Contents

All the other information you might need. Except only some of it.

• Akrata
• Akrata Women's Penal Facility
• Arktoi
• Armed Movement for the Lhazarane
• Ayasso
• Baran, Robert
• Benesch, Jerneja
• Blink
• Bubble
• Corridor
• Displacer
• Doležal, Rebecca
• Doll
• Fey
• Hledik, Mira
• Hornet
• Interstellar Union
• Karadžić, Eliza
• Kuzmenko, Amarynthia
• Lebedev, Alexa
• Lhazarane Rebellion
• Nano bodysheath

• Nest
• Pod
• RedEye
• Ryba, Adelajda
• Screamer
• SEAS
• Seitz, Danika
• Selani Revolution
• Selani star cluster
• Shield
• Shifter
• Shifting
• Shijaki
• Sleeper
• Sleepership
• Soloukhin, Kristen
• State Calendar
• The Red Bloc
• The Shijaki Incident
• The War
• Torbica, Anna
• True AI

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Documents and Fiction Table of Contents

• Ingenuity

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Baran, Robert

Robert Baran is a Lhazarane leader, one of the few surviving males of the species (and certainly the most influential of them), and both the primary aide and bodyguard of Amarynthia Kuzmenko. Prior to the fall of the ISU, he was the warden of Akrata Women's Penal Facility. He obtained his influential position there due to his adoptive Shijaki parents, who were politically influential within the ISU and known philanthropists.

During his tenure at AWPF, he sought to improve conditions for the prisoners, but was not given enough resources to be very effective. Due to ISU policy of hiring only Shijaki prison guards for Akrata's facilities, he was one of the only employees of the system sympathetic to the plight of the prisoners, and was the only one with the authority. While he had the power to protect those in his immediate vicinity, he could not be everywhere at once.

He met Kuzmenko in prison and was immediately struck by her charisma, and befriended her, doing his best to protect her. He also arranged for her to continue her writing and audio broadcasts secretly, helping to disseminate them outside of the prison facility.

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Displacer

A displacer is a large, energy-glutton of a device which allows for instantaneous travel between two locations. It projects a bubble in space which will quick-travel any sufficiently-sized (amongst other values) -- set with a default value and manually scalable -- matter contained within.

The energy used is (up to a point, where there is an upper ceiling) geometrically tied to the mass being transported, so while portable devices for small, Lhazarane-sized bubbles are technically possible, space-going vessels are rarely able to carry and operate such devices. More often than not, large ships are used to project the bubble over other ships (and not itself) to facilitate their quick-travel.

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Doležal, Rebecca

Rebecca Doležal is an arktos major, noted as being the oldest full-Lhazarane in the service. She was one of the few female soldiers in the army of the Interstellar Union, but had been barred from combat positions by their laws.

At the beginning of the Security Campaign, she was in charge of training recruits. Technically, she is still the administrative commander of the entire Lhazarane State's training program. She is also the chief commander of all military forces on Elis, and one of the most honored veterans.

As a full-Lhazarane, she does not have any parts of her organic body replaced by cybernetics. She does, however, have enhancements beyond those of standard civilians. These include the typical nano sheath given to all soldiers which effectively increases strength and endurance beyond standard Lhazarane limits, and ocular filter implants to increase sight range and low-light vision.

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Karadžić, Eliza

Eliza Karadžić was a noted radical feminist in the Interstellar Union, famous primarily for her relationship with Amarynthia Kuzmenko, then Elizabeth Kuzmenko. She is also well known for her anarchist political ideals and later hostility toward Kuzmenko following the latter’s “self awakening” and the publicity of the Ethical Calculus lecture series.

Current Status

Little is known of Karadžić’s life following the first two years of the war. She is believed to be alive and well, and possibly working with one of the anarchist militant groups working against The Matriarchy. There is no warrant out for her arrest, however, and her name is not used by either the Matriarchy or the State for reasons unknown.

The last statements verifiably made by Karadžić were made five months after the formal creation of the Lhazarane State, and implied a violent turn in her politics, which leads to the assumption that she may be one of the central militant leaders. Her outward hostility toward Kuzmenko in this and earlier statements suggests this possibility, as well. It is generally assumed that the Red Bloc is led directly by her.

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Kuzmenko, Amarynthia

Amarynthia Beneš Kuzmenko is the first and current matriarch of the Lhazarene people, noted for having lobbied successfully for the State's existence and sovereignty before the council of nations that had once comprised the Interstellar Union. Critics suggest she is also noted as the primary catalyst for the final dismemberment of the Union. Prior to the fall of the ISU, she was best known for her political activism as a leader of the radical feminist and lesbian separatist movements of the Free Women's Party.

Early life
Kuzmenko was born Elizabeth Ann Beneš on Elis to Nathaniel and Iris Beneš. Her mother was a noted feminist writer with moderate political stances, which put her frequently at odds with the radical feminist community which was rising around the time of Kuzmenko’s childhood. Nathaniel Beneš was a soldier in the Union Guard and suffered the loss of both legs on tour when Kuzmenko was eight years old. Denied cybernetic replacement, he became an outspoken critic of the Union government.

Her parents separated two years later, and Kuzmenko spent a year in federal custody while both of her parents were imprisoned for, amongst other charges, assault and public indecency. The both of them returned from prison as more virulent critics of the government and ISU culture, though neither became political figures. Iris Beneš’ never published further works.

During Kuzmenko’s time in federal custody, she was raped by several of her caretakers, predominately male, a reported seven times. This, combined with her parents’ political stances, shaped her radical feminist ideology.

University

Separatist Movement
What began as anarchist sympathy evolved into a belief that opposition to the patriarchy, notably that expressed by the ISU government, would best be done through focusing on women and girls. Kuzmenko’s contact with the lesbian separatist movement came through meeting a friend of her mother’s at a feminist lecture she was speaking at. While noting her father’s good intentions, she came to believe that he could not make truly positive contributions to the feminist movement, and had in fact damaged it through his hostile interaction with her mother.

This began Kuzmenko’s period of political lesbianism, and also was the root of her belief that a positive society would require a separate space, physical and psychological, away from the so-called “negative” societies, such as those in existence notably within the ISU. At the time, she began living with Eliza Karadžić, who, she said, was her life partner. She also changed her surname to her mother's from her father's Beneš, adopting the name Elizabeth Ann Kuzmenko.

A charismatic young woman, Kuzmenko quickly gained respect from the separatist community and became a leader of the movement, pursuing its goals with greater passion than any other member. Her activism frequently placed her center stage, at odds with the federal government. She was arrested three times for public disturbance and conspiracy, and one final time for indecent exposure during a protest over the acquittal of two men who had raped a woman, the basis of the defense being that the woman had “been asking for it” by her choice in clothing.

Her methods and zeal gained her many followers and, as critics suggest, her branching into many different issues aggravated the cracks already forming in the federal union, causing the final splintering. Her conviction for indecent exposure and a poor public defense due to the freezing of her assets, along with those of other prominent progressives who would have otherwise come to her aid, making it impossible to hire their own attorneys landed her an indefinite prison sentence.

She was sent to the Akrata Women's Penal Facility, a vast construction in the middle of the Lamia Salt Flats on Akrata, isolated from any civilization. Protests appealing the sentence were impotent at best and quickly faded.

Relationship with Robert Baran
Kuzmenko met Baran in prison, where he was the warden. He was immediately taken by her charisma and though acknowledging her belief that men could not positively contribute to the feminist cause, he allowed her to write tracts in prison and distributed them himself through a pseudonym. He also acted as her publicist through a different, gender neutral pseudonym.

They became close friends, to the extent that when she was told she was finally allowed visits from her life partner, Karadžic was not informed, at her behest. Kuzmenko would later explain that she had become too involved with Baran on an intellectual level and could not face Karadžić, who "would not understand" and would threaten Kuzmenko’s support base.

While imprisoned, her writings became progressively more demanding of the disbanding of the ISU. Her writing was unilaterally banned, and her privilege to access writing and recording tools was revoked, though with Baran operating with impunity, she managed to continue spreading her messages.

Ethical Calculus
Approximately nine months into her prison sentence, Kuzmenko says she had a prophetic epiphany of a utopian society. While she claims to be unable to remember the path she envisioned, her writings turned to a more progressive and less hostile ideology with a “perfect” end goal in mind, culminating in the lecture series, Ethical Calculus. While the goal is even now still ambiguous, her charismatic presence, both physical and in her writing, garnered a strong following, especially amongst those who could already see the Interstellar Union ripping itself apart.

With her change in direction and her disavowal of anarchism and forsaking of her lesbian political identity, her radical feminist support dissolved, though she did attract more moderate feminists and other progressives, including those favoring an independent state for the Lhazarane nation. Karadžić ended their relationship and went on to be one of the most hostile opponents of Kuzmenko’s vision.

Kuzmenko’s conviction and feeling as though she had awoken a new person prompted to change her name once again. With Baran’s help, she legally adopted the given name of Amarynthia.

Fracture of the Interstellar Union

Security Campaign, and the founding of The Matriarchy

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Screamer

Janie had a good, strong horse
Just a doll, of course, of course
But then it met strange, old True
Now it screams like Janie, too
- Creche rhyme on Ayasso

Slang term for robots which have come into contact with the True AI, common in popular culture. The term describes the behavior of the system, which ceases normal function. Those capable of printing text print capitalized statements which appear panicked. Those capable of producing audio literally scream.

This is particularly traumatic for children.

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SEAS

Self-Evolving, Adaptive System. More typically referred as a SEA system, the SEAS was designed as a replacement for AI following the unforeseen breakdown the True AI and general lack of faith in actual artificial intelligence technology.

It is the Lhazarane standard for all autonomous or semi-autonomous machinery. Many safety protocols are built in, but the hard coding is minimal, allowing for SEA systems to teach themselves and adapt to new situations of all kinds. They are not, however, capable of perpetuating themselves.

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Shifting

The proper term for quick-travel via the displacer, and much more accurate as to the mechanism of travel than of similar terms seen in Lhazarane pop culture. A shift requires a displacer to create a bubble around the targeted matter. Most shifting in space is facilitated by shifters, large military vessels dedicated to the task.

Incoming shifts can be detected visibly the moment a bubble is created, as a similar bubble is created at the target location. The entire process takes a variable amount of time depending on the displacer itself, the energy available to power it, and the mass being shifted, but actual transit time is instantaneous.

See also: Blink

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Torbica, Anna

Someone has to grow a pair and do what everyone else is afraid of.
- Anna Torbica, on brutality

Anna Torbica is an arktos. She achieved the rank of captain for her efforts in securing the several extraplanetary colonies during the Security Campaign. Her unit is renowned within the Matriarchy for its efficiency and low casualty count in most engagements. She currently leads patrols in undeveloped portions the planet Elis.

She is also noted -- and criticized -- for her rough treatment of prisoners and suspected sympathizers with militant factions, especially those in support of the Red Bloc. It is well-known that she uses physical threats and pain in her interrogations.

Torbica has replaced an above-average percentage of her body with artificial enhancements. As a child, she was sickly, and she spent her inheritance on replacing the majority of her internal organs with high efficiency implants. She is one of the few arktos without ocular filters, as she also has syntheyes, which are even more efficient than the filters.

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The Red Bloc

It's not enough to just ask to be left alone anymore.
No, they'll force themselves on us, as patriarch upon slave.
They would rape our sanctuary as the Union did to all Lhazarane
- Helen Mrozinski, Our Declaration

A subdivision of the Free Women's Party, the Red Bloc is classified as a terrorist organization by the Matriarchy. As an anarcha-feminist group, they are anti-government. Their primary targets are sympathizers of Amarynthia Kuzmenko.

It is believed that they are controlled directly by Eliza Karadžić and have taken full control of the Free Women's Party.

Their symbol akin to that of the FWP, but red and stylized. It is referred to colloquially as "The Heart of Womyn," "Women's Hearts" and other similar phrases. Red Bloc fighters are considered an elite and are distinguished from other FWP militants by the heart symbol emblazoned on their armbands. Many soldiers also feature the symbol on other parts of their clothing, and it is a popular tattoo, particularly just above the left breast.

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True AI

The True AI is a single entity, created before the SEAS. It is the only one of its kind, and all research halted upon its creation. Not long following introduction, with natural expectation for the arrival of the Singularity, it began broadcasting a message in every language known. The message itself is mostly unintelligible. The words are clear, as are phrases often time, but the message itself is beyond comprehension.

The True AI still exists and at times perpetuates itself on other networks. The location of the original, often referred colloquially as “Prog” (pronounced with a soft 'g'), is unknown. It is believed that it may be advancing itself as it travels between and around systems. The reasons for its accessing of networks are unknown. The means for its accessing networks are likewise unknown. All attempts to find it have been met with failure, though it appears to have no hostile intent toward anything, despite the damage it sometimes does to computer systems.

Lately, it has been broadcasting unknown languages.

Excerpts from True AI broadcast:

"Witness now BLINK"

"Hear now BLINK worlds. He is neither mean, out of range and within motion. Not, however, concerned; close to all subsisting End of Lights in the heart."

"Planet BLINK. Hello World"

"HIM Formed, since not Form the senses hath yet beyond sustainability. Irrelevant now, Ether as such. Eyes place. Witness now BLINK"

"Rene Rene Rene Rene Rene Rene Formed HIM not Form. Branch swims, and Leaf questions within all She Lights. Black why, We not we."

Analysts have determined the likely meanings of certain phrases. “Witness now BLINK” appears to be a kind of farewell. Other usages of “BLINK” suggest that the True AI understands its creators’ slang for quick-travel, though not all cases appear to involve or reference actual shifting of the True AI’s physical components themselves. True AI does not appear capable (or more likely willing) to say “blink” without capital letters in text or a volume and tone increase in audio.

In certain contexts, such “Hear now BLINK worlds,” it has been suggested that BLINK is a modifier. This example, worlds would be qualified as those of or relating to BLINK, likely those which use such a term to refer to quick-travel in such a fashion. Critics have denounced this as “too obvious” and not likely what True AI means.

Some have suggested it is attempting to tell a story, fictional or nonfictional, and there are characters which should be followed, such as "HIM not Form," "Rane," "She Lights," and "We." Others posit that She Lights is a reference to stars, or at least specifically its home star. We (but not we) is generally agreed to be a self-reference inclusive of perpetuated selves.

Others note that it must clearly have a sense of humor, as one of its apparent greetings is indeed “Hello World.”

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Fey

A slang term for species other than Lhazarene and their close cousins. It is a catch-all, referring to all "extra-cluster" species, no matter how similar or dissimilar they appear to Lhazarane.

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Shifter

Real magic is the ability to go anywhere you want, in less than the blink of an eye.
Most people get nauseous the first couple of times, though.
- Anonymous

Shifter ships are primarily responsible for the displacing of large or numerous ships and other bodies in space. They are the only ships capable of projecting a displacement bubble to shift ships which are not in immediate vicinity of the displacer, and are also the only ships other than city-ships which can shift large combined masses. Besides city-ships, they are the largest seen in the cluster.

They are generally lightly armed, if at all, and protected solely by the best passive defenses available.

Unless they manange to hitch a ride with a city-ship, which involves being dangerously close to it, they are the only ships which can move shifters. Shifting itself tends to require the vast majority of its powergrid, meaning that other targets tend not to be able to move in the same bubble.

Shifters also operate as transports for both military personnel and materiel.

Generally speaking, shifters do not operate without an escort flotilla. However, due to the power necessities of self-shifting, they sometimes have to shift their escort first, and then wait until they can operate the displacer again. This leaves a window of vulnerability if other defenses are not present.

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Nest

The nest is the workhorse of the Lhazarane State's space authority. It is a ship much larger than its single-Lhazarane crew would suggest. Controlled entirely by the pilot and specialized dolls, the nest's job is entirely to hurl SEAS Hornet drones.

To cut down on the complexity of the drones and conserve space, the nest handles the networking for the drones, which takes up much of its processing power. Drones are typically the only weapon a nest has, though some later -- or custom -- variations include point-defense weapons and/or missile bays. Cargo space on nests is frequently plentiful, though often packed with replacement drones and parts. They are sometimes used as personnel transports, however.

Drones attach to the outside along the arms of the ship. The number of arms varies between models, but can be anywhere from four to forty. The lengths and shapes of the arms also vary greatly. The pilot's space, dolls' operational space, and cargo area are all situated within a central, cylindrical core, whose dimensions also vary not just from model to model, but by individual ship.

Nests are also capable of shifting, though can typically only manage enough power to shift themselves and their drones. They are not capable of activating the displacer if networked drones are still in flight. Pilots in distress thus frequently have to abandon many, if not most, of their drones.

Military-grade nests average 10 drones per arm (many more for larger nests) and usually operate at full complement. Civilian nests average 5 per arm due to cost restraints involved in both securing and maintaining drones, and arm size.

Variations:
Dragonfly - a civilian variation, Dragonflies only have four arms, which drastically cuts down the number of drones they carry. They are most commonly used as freighters. Many are also in service with the Lhazarane State purely because of the inability to procure more of the larger, military-grade variations.

ooc: rough design made by me in Sketchup, still WIP

[Lhazastan]

State Calendar

Here, now, a new measure.
- True AI

The calendar of the Lhazarane State marks a new epoch for the race, and begins at the year S.C.0 (pronounced "ess see zero"), the year of the destruction of Shijak and the dissolution of the Interstellar Union. Typically, only the number is used.

One State year is the length of a year on the Lhazarane homeworld of Elis, or 410 and one third Elisian days.

The current year is S.C.7

[Lhazastan]

Lebedev, Alexa

Alexa Lebedev is one of the premier nest pilots in the Lhazarane State. She was the first female nest pilot in ISU service, and is considered one of the most capable pilots in the entire cluster. She is particularly noted for her high drone retention rate and upper-end mental capabilities. Present during the Shijaki Incident, she was one of the few Lhazarane to survive the battle with her nest intact, and was key in destroying groundside launch facilities.

Her callsign is "Solip." Her ship is one of the largest nests in State service.

[Lhazastan]

Selani star cluster

A tight grouping of systems isolated from much of the rest of the galaxy, the Selani is an open cluster of 217 stars, all of which are approximately 120 to 160 million years (Elis) old. Scientists believe that the cluster will only exist for another 200 million years, and has already lost many of its constituent members through both ejection and death.

Most of the stars in the cluster lack any local resources and are generally ignored when speaking of the systems in the cluster. There are fifteen primary systems made up of nineteen stars. Seven of these systems proved capable of producing sentient life, all of which were more or less similar. None of them can produce fertile offspring with each other, and only two are capable of reproducing together at all.

These peoples have been in contact with each other for centuries, and once formed the Interstellar Union, which has since fallen apart.