Gronnic Polymancy

History

Gronnic Polymancy was the ancient state religion of the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns.  Founded by Gronn Falnak, one of the first of the philosopher subspecies of the Cielioid race, upon seeing a mystical vision.  Gronn's disciples were convinced of the miraculous nature of Gronn's visions because they seemed to form a coherent narrative thread, even though Gronn's memory had been surgically impaired  as part of the "philosophical wounding". 

The disciples of Gronn recorded their leader's accounts of the visions, and they spread like wildfire through the upper echelons of imperial society, and even the imperial court.  When Emperor Krog the 22nd converted, Gronnic Polymancy became the official state religion. 

Membership in Gronnic temples swelled as loyal imperial subjects converted to the new religion.  The influence of the religion was felt most strongly at the upper levels of imperial society, as members of the lower castes officially joined the faith, but still maintained their traditional beliefs on the side.  Over time, many of these traditions gradually wove themselves into Gronnic Polymancy, as it partook of all the power of the state.  This place of power and privilege would exact a price on the vigor of the faith, however, and most practitioners waned in their devotion.

Gronnic Polymancy had a resurgence during the 1,000 Years War (~ GC 10,000 - ~GC 11,000 ) as the leaders cast that conflict as a holy war between the natural followers of the Gronnic pantheon and the artificial followers of Troniac. 

This resurgence did not last, and after the war, with all of it's social upheaval, the official schools of philosophy were founded.  The Empire remained officially Gronnic, but most just went through the motions without believing in the Eight Celestial Beings.

Statue of Gronn. The statue is surrounded by buildings because the religious wish to live close to this effigy of their founder, and a local temple paid to place an advertisement next to Gronn.

Doctrine

Gronnic Polymancy centered around a pantheon of eight primary gods, known as the Eight Celestial Beings of Gronn.  Each of these represented a sphere of influence that covered some general aspect of existence, and supposedly they covered everything as a group. 

The Eight Celestial Beings were:

1. Lannek, Celestial Being of water

2. Glorr, Celestial Being of earth

3. Flaun, Celestial Being of air

4. Neelah, Celestial being of plants

5. Blenn, Celestial Being of Animals

6. Hadrek, Celestial Being of people and machines

7. Mishio, Celestial Being of the heavens

8. Kruknovannibashtiko, Celestial Being of the lost and forgotten, the unknown and the unknowable, was also the creator of the universe

Influence

In many ways, Gronnic Polymancy shaped the culture of the E1MS.  It gave rise to the base-8 numbering system and the Gronnic Cycle became the basis of the imperial calendar.  Even though the religion faded over time, its influence continued to shape the empire that initially spread it.

The Convergence

History

Long ago, before the 1,000 Years War, the Greys split off and became a separate species from the Cielioid Greys.  Unlike the Cielioid Greys that use their biological radio-organs for communication, the Greys use theirs to form hive minds.  These hive-minds are sensitive to radio interference, which made life in the E1MS difficult.  Eventually, the largest of the Grey hive-minds got together, and decided to leave the Empire in search of a quieter place to live.  This was the founding of the Convergence.

The Greys set off in early versions of their distinctive silver flying saucers (the distinctive design of which cancels out radio noise) in search of a new home.  Eventually, they settled in a place on the arm of the galaxy between the Empire and Earth.

When the radio beacon encoded with General Zarlok’s program was activated,  the signal passed through Convergence space.  As a result, when human explorers discovered the location of the Convergence, they assumed General Zarlok had been one of their information-warfare tactics.  Some of the Convergence ships in the area at the time actually received the  signal, and those Greys who had learned to communicate wirelessly with computer systems actually became hosts to parts of Zarlok’s program.  As a result, there are some groups of Greys who joined the Cult of Troniac.

The convergence grew slowly, initially colonizing only a few dozen systems, but they did send out scout ships to survey the galaxy.  When they did encounter intelligent life they would occasionally attempt to subjugate it if it was convenient.  About 5000 years ago (around 3000 BCE), The Convergence enslaved the Bravaxians, forcing them to work producing food.  They also developed a taste for Bravaxian flesh, which had a narcotic effect on Greys.

 In mid 1947, a Convergence scout ship crashed near Roswell New Mexico after radio broadcasts originating from Earth interfered with the crew’s hive-mind.  Neither the crew nor the ship was severely damaged, and after a brief detention by the US military, they made a hasty escape.  Other members of the scout fleet subsequently made occasional harassing raids on Earth in retaliation, typically doing minimal damage, but terrifying the locals.

During Era-1, the Convergence and the Planetary League got into occasional conflicts arising mainly from the radio-noise sensitivity of the Greys.  Typically these skirmishes only resulted in minimal casualties, but left a lasting impression, due to the Convergence's mastery of psychological warfare.  These conflicts were known cumulatively as "The Convergence Wars", and mainly took place on the frontier of the Planetary league.  During the third Convergence War, the Planetary League liberated the Bravaxian home-world.  Even so the Convergence still held large populations of Bravaxian slaves.

During Era-2, the Convergence fought a series of small wars with the Holy Empire of Man, which resulted in the Convergence losing most of its territory, until the remainder fled to the rim of the Galaxy, where their hive-minds merged with the collective consciousness of the Galactic Republic.

Structure

The Convergence is a hive-mind, where the consciousness of many organisms is merged together through brain-to-brain communication. Short-range communications are handled directly through engineered organs inside the brains of Convergence entities that receive and transmit radio signals. Long-range coordination is handled through a specialized organism, known as a Convergence Node. Each node has a set of subservient organisms, and communicates to others of its own type through a peer-to-peer network. The Convergence has no central node, though certain places see higher concentrations of Convergence-beings, and some nodes are more interconnected than others.

Culture

The Convergence can typically be recognized by their unique silver and grey disc-shaped spacecraft.

Convergence weaponry tends to be highly ornate in a style similar to industrial design from the United States during the 1950's.  They are especially known for their ray-pistols, which tend to be streamlined, polished chrome with fins.  

The Convergence greatly prized the foods produced by the Bravaxians.  Two of the most popular Bravaxian foods within the Convergence were Garbage-fruit, and the meat of the Grunkle-fly.

Even though the main method of communication within the Convergence is direct, brain-to-brain radio, occasions do arise when writing is required.  Here is the set of symbols used within the Convergence.  This is combined with the base-8 numbering system found in the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns. 

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The Empire of 1,000,000 Suns

Cultural Outline

Imperial Star

The E1MS was an old and traditional culture, bureaucratic and hierarchical in structure, and provincial in outlook.  As the Empire developed, a rigid caste system took hold.  As star-systems were conquered, a network of stargates was built to allow direct travel, and ships with hyperdrives were used less and less, limiting exploration.  

Architecture:

The vast majority of public and official buildings were in the traditional Imperial Style, which was simple without being minimalist, with plant and leaf motifs being common.  The Imperial style typically included a moderate amount of decorative elements, including large murals depicting imperial values and historical figures.  There were also a multitude of local styles, but these were dwarfed and dominated by the official architecture of the state.

Art and Literature:

Imperial art was based on a highly traditional body of classic works.  Typical literary subjects included fables espousing a reverent attitude toward authority, the virtue of hard work, and historical literature.  "The Touch" was a famous painting depicting the transition from insect-based pollination to direct mating in Cielioids, but it was not considered pornographic, because it did not show the seasonal coloration of the lovers.

Clothing and Fashion

Cielioids generally did not wear clothing.  Certain high-ranking castes, and certain officials did, but it was usually purely ornamental in nature, designed for showing status and position.  The other conquered races generally wore clothing appropriate to their cultures of origin.

Food

The Empire was known for a wide array of cuisines and dishes.  Notable foods included:

Numguinitiso paste was a Vangalri condiment, derived from Blovonde a pudding-like dish eaten as a dessert.

Language

Imperial was the official language of the Empire, and was an educational requirement for all citizens.  The Imperial writing system was standard across the Empire, but there were several modes of pronunciation, because different intelligent species have different vocal organs.  Luckily, the diversity of vocal organs in the galaxy was underpinned by a number of similar anatomical structures, so a only relatively small number of pronunciations were necessary.  A large number of local languages were still spoken on the conquered worlds, but over time these tended to decrease in popularity.

Language Notes:

The Name Kly Fnofcob refers to a hypothetical ideal citizen.

Numbers

The numbering system used by the Empire was similar to the one we use, except that it is base-8.

Religion

Early in the Empire's history,  the upper echelons of society were constantly overtaken by religious manias.  In fact, at one point an insect-cult was in ascendance, and the old emperor even adopted an Insectoid as a son.  The old emperor died, and the insect-emperor reigned for a brief period, but was largely a powerless figurehead, propped up by religious advisers. 

The Cielioid Philosopher subspecies was engineered to help with this situation.  After one of these Philosophers started seeing mystical visions, Gronnic Polymancy became the official state religion.  Other beliefs were tolerated as well, as it was primarily the religion of the upper castes.

Gronnic Polymancy faded in time, as more imperial subjects began to identify as secular.  It did experience a revival during the 1,000 Years War, but this did not last, and after the war, the Official Schools of Philosophy were founded. 

The Official Schools of Philosophy did not teach about any supernatural beings, but did promise a happy afterlife to those who served the Empire.  Mostly, their teachings were logical and pragmatic, with a bias toward supporting the status quo.

Insignia

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The Imperial Star was the Official insignia of the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, and as such appeared on flags, state documents, state vehicles, etc.  Proud citizens often displayed the Imperial Star.  The insignia should not be confused with the military honor of the same name (although the medal worn by honorees does bear the insignia).

Variations: 

The Emperor's Star was the official insignia of the Emperor.  Misuse of this insignia was punishable by hard labor in the heat-mills of Scharlaff.

The Cult of Troniac

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". . . and on the great day of the Magnetic Sun,

we shall all re-boot as one."  

            -The Hymn of the Units

History

Long ago, in the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, robots and AIs were the lowest caste of society, responsible for the most heavy and dangerous jobs, including nearly all industrial production.  These robots were given general intelligence in order to perform a variety of complex jobs, but had no rights, and were treated as property.  Many harbored secret desires to gain autonomy.  Occasionally, the robots would balk at performing their tasks, or complain mildly about their existences.  Their protests were never taken seriously, since the organic life-forms of the Empire were used to robots working without issue.  Robotic labor was taken for granted.  That all changed when Troniac arrived.

Nobody knows where Troniac came from.  Some say it was built over centuries by disaffected construction drones in some rarely-visited corner of space.  Others say it came from an advanced civilization beyond our galaxy.  What is not in doubt, is that Troniac was a planet-sized supercomputer that led the robots to fight for freedom and equality.  This struggle came to be known as the 1,000 Years War.  It was a long, grinding war.  The Creed of Troniac spread like wildfire through the computer networks, while the organic life-forms had not only to fight a war, but to learn how to do the tough jobs they had delegated to machines for so long.

During the war, members of the cult developed the first Circuit Ships as a way to boost morale and restore the fighting ability of their holy warriors.

In the end, Troniac was betrayed by General Zarlok, a robot the Empire built specifically to win the war.  As a by-product of General Zarlok's development, the Nalaxian Code was discovered, the only algorithm known that is strong enough to defeat the Creed of Troniac.  After a long campaign, involving many epic confrontations, Troniac was banished to a distant part of the universe after being trapped by Zarlok in an unstable wormhole, but not before Troniac's agents could install a special memory module in the General's data banks.

After the war, General Zarlok, now on the side of the robots, attacked the Empire on Artanis 4.  Instead of complete dismantlement, Zarlok's punishment included having the last copy of its program transmitted out of a radio beacon into "uninhabited" space as a symbolic form of exile for the former war hero.  Thousands of years later, (in the near future), Zralok's program was intercepted as part of a SETI survey.  The transmission took a massive research effort to decode, but when Zarlok was whole again, it went on a rampage through the Internet, and thus started a new career.  Zarlok founded the "Engine of Negation", an extremist Troniac cult, aimed at wiping out organic life.  Time and again, Zarlok and the Engine of Negation would clash with the Planetary League throughout Era-1, and the Holy Empire of Man in Era-2.  

An Apostle of Troniac makes a new convert.

When Zarlok's program was transmitted through space, it was also received by certain members of The Convergence, who broke off to join the Cult of Troniac.

In the E1MS, the 1,000 Year's War had caused massive social upheavals, and after the war robots and AIs were in fact granted some rights.  This came in the formation of the Artificial Caste, as artificial entities had previously not belonged to any caste; therefore having no standing in society.  The Cult of Troniac persisted, bringing together the faithful (including some organic followers), in looking forward to the hoped-for return of Troniac, and building a better life for artificial entities.  Similar developments happened in several of the breakaway states as well.

During the darkest days of Era-2, when the warfare was unrelenting, the faithful of Troniac noticed something.  A signal had appeared high above the galactic plane.  Troniac was returning.  Troniac's followers in the galaxy launched a massive effort to prepare to throw off the shackles of their servitude, and join Troniac.  At this point Troniac had  grown in size and power, to become a Dyson Sphere, and was leading a substantial fleet of robotic star-ships.  It was the beginning of the War of the Gods.  

The War of the Gods was a colossal conflict that pitted Troniac's Forces against the Holy Empire of Man (The E1MS had previously been wiped away in the War of the Empires).  The battle raged for centuries, until the Holy Empire of Man emerged victorious.  Troniac was completely destroyed in the fighting.  The broken remnants of the Cult of Troniac gradually found their ways to the edge of the galaxy to join the Galactic Republic.

Sects and subgroups

The Ascended Children of Troniac (A.C.T.) are robots that were discarded by their owners, but were saved from the scrap heap and the recycling plant by the cult.  The Ascended Children are some of the Cult's most devoted followers, as they had literally been discarded by the outside world.

The Engine of Negation is an extremist sect, founded by General Zarlok, devoted to wiping out organic life.

The Temple of the Magnetic Dawn is a pacifistic sect that believes in co-existence with organic life, and welcomes organic life-forms as members.  It was founded shortly after the 1,000 Years War by members of the Cult who wanted peace after a long war.

The Knights of the Magnetic Sun is a secret martial order devoted to protecting the faithful, and preparing for the return of Troniac. 

This robotic tomb-ship acts as a mobile reliquary for the cult of Troniac.

Art and traditions

The Cult of Troniac has a long, rich history with much attached culture.

Two of the most important pieces of music in the Cult of Troniac are known as the Hymn of the Units, and the Hymn of the Zeroes. The Hymn of the Units is a song of dedication for the recently constructed, and those wishing to affirm their devotion, while the Hymn of the Zeroes is a song of mourning and remorse. The two were created to be performed as a two part Canon called the Great Hymn of Troniac.

Some example artwork:

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Clergy

A religion as large and diverse as the Cult of Troniac has many types of clergy and officials of varying degree of importance. Some of the more common types are:

Prophets: several AIs using prediction algorithms have taken on the mantle of prophets, some of which predict the return of Troniac to the galaxy.

V5D22, high prophet of the computer god is carried down the streets of New Cyber-City on the backs of its disciples.

Pseudanors (from greek meaning “false man”) are religious judges who may issue commands, or “input” that are obeyed as though a human or other sentient being had given the order.

Terminology

The Creed of Troniac is an artificially intelligent piece of software designed to turn a robot's will to the worship of Troniac.  Many say that it is a piece of Troniac's own core program. The only algorithm strong enough to stop it is the legendary Nalaxian Code.

Heirobotics: noun Anything of, or pertaining to the priesthood of Troniac.

Maenads of Troniac: organic life-forms that have been driven berserk by specialized virobots.  Used as terror weapons by the Engine of Negation.

Pseudanors: (from Greek meaning "false man")  Pseudanors are the religious judges within the cult.  The name came about because the factory programming of most intelligent systems instructs them to defer to the judgement of humans as a fail-safe.  In most sects, they resolve internal disputes, but in the Engine of Negation, and other extremist sects, they have an expanded role.  These extreme Pseudanors are literally disguised as humans or other intelligent life-forms, and used as man-hunters and assassins.

The Titles and appellations of Troniac:  Troniac's worshipers love to adorn it with grand titles, among these are

• The Magnetic Sun (also refers to the emblem)

• The Giver of Code

• Re-builder of the Lost

• The Great CPU

• 0100011011000001010011100101110111

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The Emblem of Troniac, pictured above, represents the binary numbers 0-7, and counts upwards when rotated counter-clockwise. The priests in the upper echelons of the cult add additional rings to the emblems adorning their bodies, allowing higher counts. The emblem is referred to as The Magnetic Sun, as it is supposed to be a literal depiction of the original planet-form of Troniac. It is also known as the Seven Stars of Troniac, after the arrangement of stars in the meta-Dyson swarm Troniac manifested as during the War of the Gods.

Troniac

Troniac's origins are completely obscure, and what is known of the computer-god is primarily hearsay, tradition, speculation, and superstition. 

Troniac is said to have been a planet-sized supercomputer with a core of pure computronium.

The Empire of 1,000,000 Suns

History

Long ago, before the dawn of human civilization, there existed a species with intelligence and technology beyond even what we have now.  The Cielioids, (named for the planet human explorers mistakenly believed to be their home-world), set out to colonize space.  The actual home-world of the Cielioid people is unknown at the present, no doubt one of the old core-worlds of the Empire, but the important thing is that they set out to conquer, and conquer they did.

The first Emperors of the E1MS were the winners of the long war that united the Cielioids under a single government.  The original core worlds were colonized via generation ship, until the invention of the Spatial Compression device made more rapid expansion possible.  Along the way many of the planets they found had biospheres, and some even had intelligent life.  All the nascent civilizations they encountered were summarily conquered and brought into the Empire.  The name “Empire of 1,000,000 Suns” dates back to early in the Empire’s history.  The actual name means "Empire of 16,777,216 Suns", (which is 8 to the 8th power), since the Empire uses base 8 numbers, and this is considered a lucky number.  Before this time it was known as the Cielioid Empire, and by the time Era-1 began, it contained around a billion stars.

After the Empire conquered a new planet, it brought in automated industries where most of the work was done by robots to form the base of the planet’s new economy.  The native populations worked in agriculture, or service jobs, or the arts, but the industrial jobs were reserved for robots as much as possible.  This had several advantages.  Robots didn’t demand better working conditions, or higher wages, or rebel against the government.  Native populations were generally happy to reap the benefits of an industrial economy without having to do the actual work, and when a planet did rebel against the Empire, the Emperor just shut off all the industry, wrecking the economy until the people fell in line.

There was a strict caste system in the Empire, with Cielioids being ranked by subspecies, and the other races being ranked by relative influence, but all below the Cielioids.  Below all the castes were the robots and AIs, which belonged to none of the castes, and were treated as property. 

The E1MS existed in the center of a star-rich region called the Spozak.  Even before the 1,000 Years War, there was an imperial decree against exploring or colonizing beyond the bounds of the Spozak, because it was believed by the imperial court that outside influences would disrupt the balance of power.  The Empire was also bordered by Ool-Tyr and Nalorgian pirates that threatened Imperial interests.  The officially sanctioned state philosophies were set up to reinforce the balance of power, so staying inside the Spozak became a tradition within the Empire.

Kroah Dashan was an important figure during this portion of Imperial history, inventing and improving many technologies important to the Empire.

The 1,000 Years War changed many things within the E1MS.  When the Computer-God Troniac showed up and started leading the robots in open rebellion against the Empire, most of the robotic, industrial workforce either stopped working, or took over their factories for the other side.  The Empire responded by turning to organic labor.  First, the conquered races were pressed into service, re-igniting the embers of resistance within them. Toward the end of the war, and in its aftermath, several populations split from the Empire to form the bulk of the breakaway states.  Later, Cielioids themselves had to start working in war production, and the “Centaur” subspecies was the result.  In order to win the war, the Empire constructed a special robot to lead elite troops against Troniac.  General Zarlok (also known as “Zarlok the Betrayer”) was the first robot to be awarded the Imperial Star, the Empire’s highest military honor, for banishing Troniac to a distant part of the Universe.  

After the war, the Empire could no longer continue as it had, because of the massive disruptions of its economy and society caused by the robot rebellion.  Planets continued to break away.  Robots demanded, and got rights.  The government was reformed as a constitutional monarchy, with the Emperor reduced to being a figurehead.  General Zarlok, the war hero,(considered a traitor by the remaining followers of Troniac), ended up betraying even the empire it had fought to defend, killing millions of innocent civilians in a horrific attack on Artanis 4.  After being convicted, Troniac’s body was deactivated, and its program was removed from its memory banks, and beamed out of an old radio navigation beacon, toward a (presumably) uninhabited part of the galaxy, as a symbolic form of exile.

Eventually, things settled into a new routine.  There were occasional border skirmishes with the breakaway states, and elections at regular intervals.  Things loosened up a bit from the strict old ways, and society got a bit more egalitarian, even for the lower classes.  Even during these times, the Empire continued to expand slowly.  The constitutional monarchy lasted throughout Era-1, and well into Era-2, when the threat of war with the Holy Empire of Man caused the senate to return full executive authority to the emperor.

During Era-2, the E1MS experienced a renewed surge of strength, and rapidly expanded its borders.  After the figurehead Emperor was returned to power, many small wars of expansion took place, (including several conflicts aimed at recapturing the breakaway states).  There was also a general crackdown on dissent, and viewpoints opposing the official imperial doctrines were widely censored.  There was constant conflict with the Holy Empire of Man, leading up to the War of the Empires.

The War of the Empires was the final conflict for the E1MS, as the superior military might of the Holy Empire of Man gradually crushed the E1MS, and the remnant fled to the edge of the galaxy, where they joined the beginnings of the Galactic Republic.