Arkant Horde

The Arkant Horde existed between the years 137 UC (2777 AD) and 142 UC (2782 AD). Originating in the ruins of the Drakhassi Federation, the Arkant Horde eventually stretched in its greatest extent from the Aedon Vortex in the galactic west to the Mechyrdian Nicólei sector in the east, and to the Varannia sector in the south.

The Arkant Horde emerged from the reunification of the Aedon-worshipping marauders under a single leader, the Great Khagan, whom the Khanate Council proclaimed ruler in 137. The Horde grew rapidly during his rule, as he sent out invading fleets in every direction.

The Horde fell in 142, as the Great Khagan was killed by Mechyrdian Corporal Róman Gawrilówič Štertów, who sacrificed himself by detonating the reactor of the Khagan's flagship. Mechyrdia reclaimed its lost territories, as the remnants of the Horde squabbled among each other, becoming known as the Diadochi.

Background

The Prodroman Realm and the Veil

See: Aedon § Fall of the Prodromans

The Drakhassi Federation and First Human Revolution

The Drakhassi Federation was an alliance of several alien races that evolved on worlds bordering the Aedon Vortex. These various peoples recognized the danger that the Vortex poses to the galaxy, and so they set up pylons on worlds surrounding it to help contain it and prevent it from spreading. These aliens resorted to harsh measures to prevent anyone from falling to Aedon's influence; they established their Interrogation and Intervention Office to root out Aedon-worship wherever it appeared, committing mass executions and enslavements just to preserve their Federation. In 144 PC (2496 AD), the Federation invaded human space and enslaved a majority of the local populace, forcing them to labor for the Drakhassi apparatus of state as helots.

This sudden act of aggression infuriated the Tylan Theocracy to the galactic east, spurring them into action. They declared a war of liberation on the Federation, in order to liberate the humans. Meanwhile, the humans eventually started an uprising among their fellow slaves, and commandeered one of the Drakhassi's planet-killer weapons.

Originally constructed to destroy planets that fell under the influence of Aedon, the weapon was turned against its former masters, and used to destroy hundreds of the Federation's inhabited worlds. The destruction of so many worlds had a terrible effect: the birth of the Avenger of Death, the fourth and most recent Aedonic god, which sent a psionic shockwave throughout the galaxy. This alarmed the government of the Theocracy, which occupied the revolutionary republic, ostensibly to protect it from the influence of Aedon, yet in reality, to punish the humans for committing such an atrocity.

Unification and Conquest

Meanwhile, on the worlds surrounding the Aedon Vortex, alien life was being influenced by the Veil. This led to the creation of several marauder cliques, that feuded with not only each other but also outside empires. They sold mercenaries to fight in foreign wars. They raided into both Mechyrdian and former Fulkreyksk space. Eventually, these marauders would be united by the Great Khagan, founding the Arkant Horde. The Arkant Horde began a wave of conquest into the Galactic East, starting with minor marauders that refused to bend the knee, and eventually reaching Mechyrdian space.

The Horde pressed on until they were in reach of the planet Mechyrdion itself. The battle raged, until eventually the Khagan's flagship was destroyed in a suicide attack by Corporal Róman Gawrilówič Štertów. The loss of the Khagan resulted in the dissolution of the Horde into hundreds of feuding Diadochi. Mechyrdia reclaimed the territories it had lost, and began to set up fortifications along the western border in order to fend against Diadochi raids.

The Diadochi

The Diadochi ("successors") are the various remnants of the Arkant Horde. Historically accustomed to arbitrary rivalries and infighting, and a general lack of stability, in recent years one Diadochus has become stronger than any other, and appears to be setting the stage for a reunification of the Arkant Horde: the Diadochus Masra Draetsen, led by Ogus Khan. While Chancellor Basileiów is pushing for further fortification along the western border to prevent the Masra Draetsen from raiding or invading, he is facing opposition by elite politicians who see protection from the Diadochi as being nothing more than national discrimination and a diplomatic provocation.

Other Diadochi

Other than just the Masra Draetsen, various other Diadochi exist as well, such as the Diadochus Togatorum, the Diadochus Magistrorum, the Diadochus Humilitatum, the Diadochus Diabolorum, among many others.

Three Civilized Diadochi

The "Three Civilized Diadochi": the Magistri, Humilitates, and Togati, were turned from barbarous tribals by the Mechyrdian government into administrators of economic zones. The Magistri were formerly known as the Caligati, the Humilitates formerly the Serpentes, and the original name of the Togati was lost to history, but it is rumored that they were originally a cannibal star-tribe.

While they were subservient to Mechyrdian interests early on, in recent years the Humilitates and Togati have formed secret alliances with the Masra Draetsen, with the Togati promising to support Ogus Khan's conquest of Mechyrdia, and the Humilitates planning to strike at the Ydroun system, a Mechyrdian military foothold in Diadochi space. Ydroun has a stable wormhole to the Vensca system, located in the Mestyla sector of eastern Mechyrdia, which makes it a high priority for Mechyrdian defense.

Diadochi Raider Tribes

The Diaboli and Viperae are less centralized Diadochi tribes and more agglomerations of feuding clans with common shared cultures - the Diaboli are heavy users of drugs, and the various clans of the Viperae are mostly ruled by the dark religious decrees of Aedon-worshipping shamans. The Noctiferi, on the other hand, are much more centralized under the rule of Father Konrad, who is affectionately named "Papa Kurt" by his subjects. Konrad is heavily pursuant of justice and order, punishing crime against innocent people with an iron fist. However, he too has allied with the Masra Draetsen, since he feels that his people were unfairly harmed by the Mechyrdians during the Aquae Acerbae Bloodbath.

Aquae Acerbae is a nebula in the Vescar system, (named so due to its high contents of water vapor) and it was formerly a hideaway of the Diadochus Noctiferorum before they were forced into exile in northern Diadochi space by Mechyrdian military action. The Aquae Acerbae Bloodbath was the accidental massacre of a civilian starship convoy by Mechyrdian Navy ships: the Mechyrdian forces at Aquae Acerbae attempted to inform Navy Central Command that there was a civilian convoy, but communications were garbled by an intervening bulkspace particle storm, so Central Command ordered the present Mechyrdians to open fire. Unfortunately, by the time Command realized their mistake, it was too late: over one thousand civilians perished in the attack.

The Mechyrdian government has offered financial reparations to the Noctiferi on multiple occasions, but Papa Kurt refused every time. Currently, Aquae Acerbae is the site of a refugee center, operated as a charity by the Dutch Outer Space Company.

Diadochi naming

The Diadochi's conventions for the names of the people in its space are similar to those of the other cultures of the Galactic South, with a personal name, a patronymic, and a family name. Each person's name takes multiple parts:

• Personal name This is the name that a child is given by the parents when they are born.
• Patronymic This is the name that a child inherits from the father's personal name. It's prefixed with am-, for instance Niran am-Ogus Khan, son of Ogus am-Yuli Khan, takes the patronymic am-Ogus.
  • Marriage name Upon marriage or capture, the new wife/concubine replaces the patronymic (or otherwise the second name) with the husband's personal name prefixed with ka-.

• Family name(s) This is the name shared by each family. People of the Diadochi culture may have multiple family names if they were born into one family and were adopted or captured by another, or if their family is big enough that it needs to distinguish different branches. In the first case, the names are separated by a space; in the second, by a hyphen.

  For example, Kotan am-Sural Porok-Miras, a former aristocrat of the Masra Draetsen who led a failed rebellion, belonged to the Miras branch of the Porok family, thus his family name is Porok-Miras.

  Mautheyna ka-Yuli Dulakaaxi Khanym, mother of Ogus am-Yuli Khan, was formerly of the Dulakaaxi family on Calibor (a planet in Mechyrdian space) before being captured by the Khan family. Thus, while she keeps her first family name Dulakaaxi, her second family name is Khanym, the feminine form of Khan.

Diadochi starship gallery

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