Asteria ¹⁾ is a special self-governing regional suzerain of the Yamatai Star Empire.

It is best described as a frontier area where the central Imperial government of Yamatai has almost no presence other than a handful of Star Army of Yamatai assets. Asteria was founded in YE 39 following the departure of the Lorath Matriarchy from the region. As a result, it os now a self-governing Suzerainty, run as a Constitutional Monarchy ruled by a Mikado, who could be male or female. The Asterian Mikado ultimately defers in matters of international affairs to the Empress of Yamatai, but remains sovereign in all other aspects, including the raising and equipping of troops.

Asteria is located in the Kikyo Sector in sector grids 2309 (starting at the sphere 80 LY from Yamatai) to 2909 (ending at the sphere at 120 LY from Yamatai) and some additional space to the South following the Fifth Expeditionary Fleet Defensive Line of YE 30, which was the border of the former United Outer Colonies. It includes the following star systems:

• Asura System (capital)
• Kotoku
• Miyamae System
• Tange System

Also included is a large portion of the Ayumi Nebula and Misato's Passage.

The culture of Asteria is less homogeneous than some nations due to its complex history tying in with several wars, a few alien neighbors and various international politics.

As much of Asteria was originally a part of the Yamatai Star Empire prior to the formation of the United Outer Colonies, the vast majority of citizens are comprised of former Yamataians who had re-branded themselves as Jiyuuians following a series of scandals and foundation shaking events, with most of their numbers being made up of Yamataians or ARIAs. These Jiyuuians still harbor the core values that many in Yamatai hold dear, such as valuing life, preferring peace first, and hating slavery. Additionally, they are less xenophobic and more accepting of outsiders than their Yamataian counterparts. Perhaps most importantly however, is their abhorrence of the various scandals that had shaken Yamatai itself, causing their departure to begin with.

Many Jiyuuians believe that they should never let such events happen again, and dream that they can do better than their first homeland did. This dream persists even after the fall of Jiyuu itself, and is a testament to their resolve. This positive outlook had not escaped the turmoil unscathed however. Conspiracies about the UOC's fall - ranging from Yamatai allowing the Mishhuvurthyar to destroy their nation, to SAINT itself assassinating their leadership - continue to cast a shadow over the Jiyuuians. However, like all conspiracies, they are as many as they are impossible to prove or are outright untrue. In the end however, this very mystery surrounding the fall has lead to Jiyuuians finding it hard to place blame on members of their fallen government such as tange-katsura_ayana or their very system of governance, lending them a flawed, rosy tinted lens when looking back at the late United Outer Colonies.

As a result of these circumstances, they stress independence and freedom, but also posses non-conformity and anti-authoritarian tendencies. This, combined with even anti-Yamataian sentiment, made them difficult for Yamatai to govern, necessitating a non-Yamataian governance.

<wrap left>²⁾</wrap>

Elves are the smallest ethnic group in Asteria, yet are perhaps the most noteworthy, considering that the first Mikaido is one herself.

Tied deeply into the origins of Yamatai itself, they were present when it was known as Geshrintall and 'magic' was abundant in the form of nano-technology permeating the air. Since the series of discoveries that lead to the understanding of this technology and the ousting of its source, AvaNet, the elves have fallen from being the dominant force and gone into decline. Secluding themselves in their sole remaining city of Xiluria, they had intended to simply wait out those 'young upstarts', however, their own young grew restless. Many of the elves in Asteria are the youngest and brightest of their kind and are following in the footsteps of the Mikaido, bhelith_blackspear, to make their own fortunes.

However, unlike the other factions, they are not truly unified, as each individual is their own agent. Having been faced with the end of an age where they were great, and the dawn of a new era where they are now the underdogs, they have a lot to strive for.

<wrap right>³⁾</wrap>

The Lorath of Asteria are the second largest cultural group within the nation. Even then however, they make up a small faction of its total. As the UOC and lorath_matriarchy were close both physically and politically, people from both nations ventured back and forward between the two during brighter times. Even as the Matriarchy withdrew entirely from this dimension, many opted to stay in their new homes within what would eventually become Asteria. At the same time, many others were drawn in by Sen’yhty "Fate" Fyunnen following her failed rebellion against the Tur'lista leadership's schemes to flee this universe in ye_39.

As a result of this rebellion, the perceived betrayal by their rulers, the fact that their Xiaah - Destiny - had been killed years ago, and their time in the UOC, the Lorath within Asteria have undergone changes to their culture. Of note, they have less authoritarian leanings despite keeping many of their traditions, such as their religious adherence and selective breeding. Though the Lorath in Asteria still much of their old caste system, they no longer look to the Tur'lista for leadership out of mistrust, leaving them a marginalized ethnicity. Though the Lmanel and Fyuunen still remain the spiritual and military castes, both New Tur'lista and surviving members of the Occhestian castes are dominant in the field of technology.

Despite being shaken by these events, the Lorath continue to try and work together in unison as they did before, making them a small but powerful faction within Asteria.

Born, bred and engineered to be appealing, submissive and unoffensive by the Lorath for hundreds of years, the Helashio⁴⁾ of Asteria find themselves conflicted by their newfound freedom. With the disappearance of the Matriarchy, fear hangs over their heads like a guillotine ready to strike as liberty presents them with the unknown. The vast majority of the Helashio choose to become indentured servants, having known little else, and flock to the comforting bosom of the Asterian Lorath or otherwise selling their high-end services to the crowds that continue to demand. However, a small, brave few still have something special to them despite centuries of utter subjugation. Somehow, someway, the old blood coursing through their veins still remembered a time when they shot down the Lorath from the skies with muskets in hand.

It's these select few Helashio of Asteria that yearn for freedom and dare to dream.

After the fall of the United Outer Colonies, its territories were reclaimed by Yamatai. Having been the only UOC system untouched by the Mishhuvurhtyar invasion in the Second Mishhuvurthyar War, the Asurans were unwilling to outright join the Yamatai Star Empire. Rather than use force to conquer the region, Yamatai decided in YE 39 to give the region a special status that essentially let the region run itself.

The capital planet, Asura III, being one of the most hotly contested - and heavily populated - positions in the new-formed frontier, required special consideration. Although previously kept free by the Tenth Standard Fleet, the planet had come under Yamatai's more direct claim and governance shortly thereafter, causing a certain amount of discord within the several countries and factions upon the planet.

Contained within the planet, and the system, were three major factions that would have to be unified in order to produce a true sovereign entity; the first were the Jiyuuians who had chosen to remain independent, despite the various and myriad threats that they had weathered in the United Outer Colonies, the offers of citizenship from nations like Nepleslia and Yamatai, and who had decided to dig their heels into Asura. The second faction had gone over, near wholly, to the idea of forming up with the Lorath Matriarchy; though it was scarce credited, several groups of Jiyuuians had essentially been operating as Lorath territories, deferring to one of the Lorath Admiralty, hitherto unnamed⁵⁾.

And then there was the third group; the group of surrogate clans loyal to the Mitsuya, the last remnants of the true lineage of the United Outer Colonies, who had decided to turn their attention, not to Yamatai - for they could have left to become Yamataian citizens at any time - but who had chosen to have faith in Mitsuya Ember.

Politically speaking, these three clannish factions split even current politics into three distinct camps - the Mitsuya, the former Lorath citizenry, and the Independents. The actual governance of Asteria, and Asura III, is accomplished by an alliance between the first two camps behind the current Mikado and her ally, the former Lorath admiral, Fate Fyuunen. The third group, the true independents, represents a current minority within the Asterian government.

Governance in Asteria can be referred to as a 'Martial Federalism'; while the federal government oversees things on a broad scale, the states are fairly independent and tends to more local affairs. Local power can be asserted or achieved in a number of ways, creating new states, but they must meet key requirements to be accepted by the federal government, the Morioka Bakufu. These conditions or requirements include having a stable economy, fairly providing the basic necessities of living such as electricity and running water, and providing a healthcare system capable of caring for the citizens and NI-ARIA unit. There are others, however, what is considered perhaps the most important is the ability of a state to fund at least one Free Company with standardized equipment.

Ultimately, the states and their people rule themselves as they see fit with minimal intervention from the Morioka Bakufu. However, the Bakufu controls the economic flow, and has its own military forces on hand.

As a suzerainty of the Yamatai Star Empire, Asteria is only allowed a small self-defense force known as the Shield of Asteria. As a fledgling nation, the equipment it uses was taken out of storage and reactivated as a gesture of good faith from Yamatai; its fleet consists mostly relics of the not-long-gone UOC which had survived its fall. In order to compensate for its shortcomings, Asteria's relatively small military relies on being better trained and drilled while looking to the use of various force-multipliers wherever possible. When that alone is insufficient, it makes to hire Free Companies to bolster its numbers.

Most importantly however, the Star Army of Yamatai itself is only called upon to help with existential threats that the defense force would not be able to handle on its own.

Ivory Tower: Asterian Government Plot
knights_of_asteria : The Azalea Free Company of Lorani province fighting for control of the province from the mysterious Black King's army.
interregnum: A crew of former IPG look to start a new life as mercenaries away from Nepleslia.
The Brave 18+ : Two former SAoY veterans try to start a new life running cargo between Asteria and the rest of the Kikyo sector but people are out to kill them.

• This page was originally created on 2017/06/09 19:41 by wes
• This page was approved on 2017/07/24 in this thread here
• Note: need to restore a lot of Asura III since it was defaced
• Note: make history section

• asteria_roleplay_notes
• Marshal Thing- WIP Idea
• free_company
• Asterian Helashio Culture