Last updated: July 21st 2026

THE ARRENE CORE

The Arrene Sphere | Formerly known as the Luminary Combine

The signet of the Arrene Combine flies muted over government installations and stamps official documents, but its use has fallen more into tradition than pride

OVERVIEW

The Arrene Core is the informal designation given to the interconnected administrative, commercial and demographic regions surrounding Argost and the historical territories of the former Luminary Combine. Although commonly treated as a contiguous polity by outsiders, neither the Treaty of Forzai nor subsequent Foundation legislation provides a universally accepted legal definition of where the Core begins or ends.

Infrastructure is primarily administered through the Arrene Combine, whose responsibilities overlap with those of several Dominion Foundation offices and associated commercial entities. Jurisdiction frequently depends on whether the matter concerns Dominion law, Arrene law, inter-domain commerce, Foundation precedent, or treaty interpretation.

EXTENT

Most contemporary surveys broadly define the Core as the region extending approximately 45 to 75 light-years from Argost, encompassing the oldest Arrene settlements, the principal Dominion institutions, and the greatest concentration of Foundation offices.

Within this volume are found:

• 7 major inhabited worlds, plus Argost.
• hundreds of orbital habitats and industrial stations.
• the largest concentration of interstellar freight traffic in the Dominion.
• the headquarters of the Arrene Combine.
• the principal administrative centers of numerous Dominion institutions.

Despite occupying around 25% of the Dominion's central volume, the Arrene Core remains the economic and bureacratic center of the Foundational Dominion.

Outside this region, Arrene influence becomes increasingly indirect, usually exercised through commercial agreements, legal precedent, Dominion offices, and transportation infrastructure rather than direct political administration.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Unlike most interstellar states, the Arrene Core possesses no singular executive authority.

Political administration is instead distributed across an accumulation of commercial entities, civic administrations, treaty obligations, Foundation offices, standing commissions, and historical jurisdictions whose responsibilities frequently overlap and whose legal competencies have gradually expanded through over three millennia of precedent.

The largest and most influential of these remains the Arrene Combine, successor to the former Luminary Combine following the Treaty of Forzai.

The Combine is primarily responsible for maintaining infrastructure, regulating commerce, administering Core logistics, and coordinating many of the administrative functions necessary for the operation of Dominion institutions. Although frequently described by foreign observers as "the Arrene government", this characterization is generally regarded as an oversimplification.

Authority throughout the Core is largely precedent-driven. Determining which institution possesses final authority frequently depends upon the specific matter under consideration rather than upon any universally recognized chain of command.

Consequently, the distinction between government, commerce, and infrastructure is often difficult to define in practice.

Higher Foundation offices rarely intervene directly in routine administration.

When such intervention does occur, it is generally regarded as final, though the legal reasoning behind these decisions is not always made public.

CULTURE & SOCIETY
Among all Dominion civilizations, the Arrene remain perhaps the most difficult to characterize socially. Visitors to the Core frequently remark that ordinary Arrene appear remarkably... unoccupied.

Unlike other members' domains, there is remarkably little visible evidence of a conventional labor force. Outside observers often describe the Core as resembling a civilization permanently enjoying a public holiday. This impression is misleading.
Office districts exist, ports operate continuously, immigration authorities process millions of travelers, public transportation runs with remarkable punctuality, and critical infrastructure remains functional around the clock, but the average Arrene citizen is far more likely to be encountered dining, shopping, studying, traveling, attending cultural events, or simply living an apparently leisurely existence than performing conventional labor.

A longstanding subject of speculation concerns the apparent workforce responsible for maintaining the immense infrastructure of the Core.

Although Arrene are publicly observed serving as immigration officers, emergency responders, military personnel, medical professionals, engineers, and numerous other essential occupations, outsiders have for centuries remarked that these individuals often appear strangely interchangeable. The widespread Arrene acceptance of human cloning technologies, together with historical precedents established before the Prime Foundation, has led to persistent speculation that a significant proportion of these public-facing workers may in fact be cloned individuals specifically cultivated for institutional service.

Neither the Arrene Combine nor any recognized Foundation office has ever formally confirmed or denied these claims.

LANGUAGE & IDENTITY

Regarding language and identity, the Arrene Core has historically used Norrina, commonly known abroad as Standard Arrene, as its principal administrative and literary language. For most of the Dominion's history, it served as the language of legislation, interstellar treaties, higher education, and communication between Dominion institutions.

Since the Prime Foundation however, increasing concerns regarding accessibility, immigration, and interstellar commerce have gradually shifted the Core toward an increasingly multilingual model. Government buildings, transportation hubs, public services, and commercial establishments routinely display information in a dozen or more major languages, while automated translation has become effectively ubiquitous throughout the Core.

• Arrene Standard, the official language of Dominion institutions and legal documentation.
• Nagiv, the principal language of the Ygiv peoples.
• Corespeak, a Chelok-derived creole that emerged among the numerous human communities living throughout the Core.
• Hukat & Sidessian, by far the most spoken idioms among hoku and chelok communities living abroad in the core, particularly Argost.
• Rolian, also known as Guildspeak, maintained by the Voyager's Guild and considered indispensable for commerce beyond the reach of the Arrene-backed Lodestar Accord.
• Numerous local dialects, community languages, and immigrant creoles maintained by the many populations living throughout the Core.

Paradoxically, although Standard Arrene remains the official language of government, relatively few residents require it in their daily lives. The Arrene themselves are believed to constitute only a minority of the population on several of their own developed worlds, including Argost, where immigrant communities from across the Dominion collectively outnumber the native population.

As a result, learning Standard Arrene, or even familiarizing with traditional Arrene customs, is generally regarded as unnecessary for most foreigners. Outside legal, diplomatic, and institutional settings, everyday life in the Core is conducted overwhelmingly in the many common languages shared by its inhabitants.

RELATIONS WITH OTHER POWERS

THE PANCALESTIA

Relations with the Chelok sphere have remained broadly stable since humanity's admission to the Dominion as an extra-signatory civilization. Although cooperation in commerce and scientific exchange is extensive, historical grievances continue to influence public opinion on both sides.

Within the Core, these events are generally regarded as belonging to a fundamentally different political order whose institutions ceased to exist following the Prime Foundation.

THE HOKU & NAN-NAN

Relations with the Hoku are generally pragmatic.

The Hoku remain one of the Dominion's most important commercial and transportation partners outside the Core, particularly through the activities of the Kahiko Moku and the numerous freight organizations operating throughout Hoku space.

Institutionally, relations are cordial despite recurring political disagreements concerning jurisdiction and frontier administration.

THE SAFFI

The unusually favorable relationship between the Core and the Branch Coalition has long attracted speculation, particularly in light of the Qire's historically positive attitude toward the Saffi. No official explanation has ever been published.

Saffi personnel are disproportionately represented within salvage operations, brokerage services, independent commerce, and frontier logistics.

Official Arrene attitudes toward the Coalition are generally favorable, though often tempered by concerns regarding jurisdictional ambiguity and informal clan networks.

THE QIRE

Foundation records recognize the continued participation of Qire offices within the Dominion. Public documentation concerning their responsibilities, internal organization, and decision-making processes remains limited.

Higher Foundation intervention is historically infrequent.

Compliance, however, is effectively universal.

Dominion History

Last updated: June 26th 2026

DATING REFERENCES

From the Year of Prime Foundation we count backwards (BdF) and forwards (AdF) in time, each year being equivalent to 366.18779 Earth-days - which means that dates in 'present time' are given ~9.32 years in advance when compared to our standard calendar.

SUMMARIZED TIMELINE

THE COMBINE ERA, (aprox.) 5000 BdF - 0 AdF

The Luminary Combine reigns the current Dominion core until its collapse during the Qiro-Arrene wars.

Before 5000 BdF, the establishment of the Luminary Combine

Little is known of Dominion history prior to this era, historians point out that after a major unification period, the Luminary Combine rose up as a major organizational body within Arrene society, eventually growing up to be the ONLY body besides the Lodestar Accord, which traces its origins to approximately this same era. It must be noted that the Arrene were already a blooming interstellar civilization at this point in history (?).

The civilizational goals for the Luminary Combine were to spread across over 800 star systems before its decamillenium, a position they calculated statistically stable for its long-term survival into deep time.

~4600 BdF, the annexation of the Chelok peoples

When the LC first found the hunter-gatherer Chelok peoples across Endreka, they were rather surprised. Not because they had found some moderately sophisticated life form, but because genetic analysis of these beings revealed they weren’t native to that planet - likely brought to or travelled there themselves. Regardless of the truth, it meant the Arrene weren’t necessarily alone in their local bubble of space.

From this epoch onwards, we see the complete change in culture and doctrine to a fulltime war-economy, with complete industrialization of every aspect of society focused on the sole expansion and fortification of its territory. And also, the start of their signature “bait and counterstrike” doctrine regarding extraterrestrial contact.

3560 - 3490 BdF, the annexation of the Ygiv peoples

When the Ygiv first broadcasted their first deep space radio signals, circa 3560 BdF, it deeply unsettled the Arrene sphere. Up until this point in history, the Arrene had only beamed radio and laser pulses into deep space, occasionally firing salvos of relativistic missiles at the few stars that ever replied back - but these targets were usually located tens to hundreds of light-years away. Triangulation and strength of the Ygiv signal indicated they were just under 54 light-years from the Arrene capital, Argost. Somehow slipping right under their radar. The Ygiv Question represented an unacceptable uncertainty. Strategic assessments concluded that immediate intervention represented the lowest-risk outcome. If it were the case the Ygiv were still a planetbound civilization as the Arrene estimated it to be, then perhaps total annihilation wasn’t the optimal choice, perhaps they could be a useful client state.

Arriving from the nearest waypoint, Thosuo, just 25 light-years from Osuna, the Ygiv homesystem - the Arrene armada carried sufficient personnel, industrial equipment and logistical reserves to establish approximately twenty independent colony worlds. Following the first contact phase, in 3495 BdF, the Luminary Combine ultimately seized all administrative and military powers over the Ygiv peoples. The terms of surrender largely focused on the guaranteed continuation of their basic survival and cultural needs.

3500 - 650 BdF, the attrition era

As Combine exploration expanded beyond the Core, repeated encounters with independently developed Chelok societies became increasingly common. Although separated by centuries and often unaware of one another's existence, their recurrence fundamentally altered Arrene strategic planning. Encountering the less technologically advanced Chelok? Fine, they’ll even offer some of theirs for your purposes. But any culture past the nuclear-stage they encountered has posed a sizable threat to their occupation. The Luminary Combine was strong, but not strong everywhere all at once. Chelok resistance to the LC’s presence varied from a few dozens to hundreds of megatons, at times even gamma ray bombs and antimatter missiles. All of which the Arrene had already long passed by, but still represented a logistical and strategic nuisance to the collective.

The general knowledge of Arrene activity or at least notion of it was suspected by the Pankal, which largely fomented supply lines to distant frontier worlds, selling weapons and ships to frontier interstellar states to be used against the Arrene. An effort which subsequently backfired on internal politics as feeding into rebellious interstellar states. The official stance of the Pankal chelok was that the Arrene posed too far of an unknowable threat to directly face them, even if overall human survival was but a guaranteed result.

FOUNDATION CONFLICTS, 650 - 1 BdF

From the perspective of non-Arrene historians, this series if events were the result of a catastrophic First Contact case between a blooming interstellar empire and an extragalactic civilization.

[see the conflict timeline here]

THE DOMINION ERA, 0 AdF CE - PRESENT

1059 AdF, first contact between the Hoku and the Chelok at Dhéģhōm

The Hoku were already in the process of trying to not join whatever the Dominion is, because they are afraid of whatever the elder races are doing. Nonetheless, they become great traders with the Chelok

The Hoku are briefly introduced to the idea of the Dominion, but opt not to interfer.

1660 - 1781 AdF, the Saffi sign up

The Saffi, seeking survival from an unknown aggressor, encounters and attacks a stationed Elder Starship and its crew over a mining outpost. This short encounter was followed by multiple expeditionary and diplomatic ones, which led to their eventual admission as an aligned neutral power.

2064 - 2094 AdF, first contact between the Hoku and the Nan-Nan

The Nan-Nan are visited by the Hoku, and integrated to its interstellar nation.

A planet-bound advanced society akin to 22nd century humanity when the Hoku reached up for first contact. Some wished to join the hoku out of their own volition.

2548 - 2553 AdF, the Hoku sign up

A century prior, hoku asteroid miners in the Muhori system had accidentally pinged a derelict Qire warship in its flyby through the system's outskirts. This ping prompted a first-contact response from the Dominion authorities, and a century of preparation for an annhilation conflict from the hoku side.

The hoku joined in 2553 AdF, albeit reluctantly. After being visited by diplomatic fleet lead by the Elder Starship, Kappa, in the Muhori system.

2642 AdF, the Nan-Nan sign up

It took them a while to decide, but are convinced the net benefit is worth it, inspite of the Hoku's waryness.

3350 - 3550 AdF, the fall of Hokushoku

An unknown extraterrestrial force invades the Hoku space, the Dominion is unable to send enough reinforcements in time to fend off the invaders, Hokushoku and its colonies fall within days of consecutive first contacts. The Fall of Hokushoku represents the start of a period of political unrest since the Arrene have' showed themselves unnable to care for their allies against outsiders.

~3575 AdF, the events of Beyond the Final Frontier (book I) take place

[missing link]

Dominion Organization

Last updated: June 24th 2026

GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION

No official Dominion flag exists, the Treaty of Forzai explicitly forbids symbols that might imply a unified state. The Arrene Combine's signet is used by convention for Dominion-wide communications, though its use remains a point of contention among member civilizations.

The Foundational Dominion possesses no universally accepted central government. Rather, it exists as a mesh of interdependent political, economic, and legal institutions operating under the interpretations of the Treaty of Forzai - a 5200-page document about the complete reestructing of Arrene power - serving as a model for its member civilizations. Which expanded on the terms, interpretations and readings of the Qire's Ultimatum upon the capitulation of the Luminary Combine:

"Halt claw.

Halt Foot.

Failure, undone."

The Dominion is enforced through starlane routes, clone armies and unmanned fleets, mostly of Arrene nature - though, it is mostly uncertain how the Qire half of the Dominion operates, as it is deemed a 'ghost space'.

Most inhabitants interact with Dominion institutions through local authorities, commercial organizations, and member governments rather than through any singular Dominion body.

Institutions are generally considered "Dominion institutions" when they possess standing under Foundation law and participate in the legal framework derived from the Treaty of Forzai.

Political Administration

Dominated by the Arrene Combine, successor to the Luminary Combine and administrator of the Dominion capital at Argost. The Arrene Combine is the closest entity to a central government within the Dominion. It maintains administrative authority over the Arrene Core and operates much of the infrastructure connecting the inner Dominion.

Its influence is strongest within approximately fifty light-years of Argost and becomes progressively weaker toward the frontier domains.

Despite widespread perceptions that the Combine "is" the Dominion, its authority remains legally constrained by Foundation precedents and treaty obligations.

Commerce and Infrastructure

Historically dominated by the Arrene-backed Lodestar Accord, whose freight and passenger services connect the majority of major Dominion population centers through the starlane network. As a consequence, the organization exerts political influence disproportionate to its nominal commercial role, much like a private government system.

Long-Range Trade and Mediation

Traditionally associated with the Ar-Rahhalam Ithnajmyu (Voyager's Guild, or ARI), whose member organizations maintain commercial routes throughout the Pancalestia and neighboring regions. Unlike most freight organizations, navigators maintain the (near supernatural?) capability to travel beyond established starlane corridors, granting access to remote systems and regions beyond normal commercial routes.

Expeditionary and Contract Service

Historically fulfilled by the Kahiko Moku and associated Trader's Guilds of the Hoku diaspora.

Originally founded as a warrior-monastic order among the Hoku, the Kahiko Moku gradually transitioned into a network specializing in escort, courier, security, and contract operations.

Although diminished following the Fall of Hokushoku, the organization remains active throughout the Dominion.

Government Offices and Titles

Unlike most interstellar states, Dominion offices do not form a universally recognized chain of command. Lower offices are generally territorial in nature, while higher Foundation offices derive their authority from ancient legal traditions, treaty obligations, and institutional precedent.

OBSERVABLE OFFICES

MUNICIPAL

Mayor

Administrative authority over individual cities and settlements.

Governor

Regional authority over precincts, provinces, and other subplanetary jurisdictions.

PLANETARY

President

Executive authority over major territorial divisions of inhabited worlds.

Earl

Administrative authority over minor colonies and frontier settlements.

Count

Combined civic and military authority over entire inhabited planetary bodies.

STELLAR

Duke

Administrative authority over a stellar system and its associated colonies, habitats, stations, and settlements. Qire are known to occasionally serve as provisional Dukes until a permanent officeholder is recognized.

FOUNDATION

Arbiter (777 recognized offices)

Predominantly held by Arrene, domain-dependent. Responsible for the mediation and interpretation of disputes occurring between Dominion institutions and signatory bodies.

Principality (155 recognized offices)

Presumed to be exclusively held by Qire. Their exact function remains disputed by legal scholars and historians.

Witness (44 recognized offices)

Generally regarded as the highest observable Foundation office. Presumed to be exclusively Qire. The extent of their authority and responsibilities remains poorly documented outside specialist legal circles.

Determining whether a Arbiter outranks a Principality, or a Principality outranks an Arbiter, often depends entirely on the matter being discussed. The practical authority of an office may vary significantly between civilizations, regions, and legal interpretations. It is generally agreed that Witnesses constitute the highest publicly observable rank among Qire participating in Dominion affairs.

It is unknown whether additional Foundation offices exist beyond those listed above. No universally accepted records concerning higher offices are publicly available.

Dominion Population and Demographics

Last updated: June 24th 2026

POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS

The census work done by Dominion authorities is messy at best and sloppy at worst. Hundreds of bodies over dozens of planets and colonies, responsible for keeping count of billions of individuals, some of which actively hide from said authorities and some of which are constantly moving about.

Here's a 3,350 AdF (~18,000 CE) rundown of the latest counts ranked by species:

1. Ygiv, about 120 billion - too many to count.
2. Chelok, 90 ± 20 billion - might be closer to 100bi with agriworlds.
3. Hoku, 65 ± 10 billion - might be closer to 80bi with agriworlds.
4. Nan-Nan, 18 billion - ~70% planetbound to their homesystem.
5. Arrene, 7.8 ± 0.01 billion - all accounted for.
6. Saffi, officially around 3 billion - many unaccounted for living abroad.
7. Qire, no census given.

Total population: ~330 billion sophons.

Despite its vast stellar volume, most of the Dominion's population is concentrated around a handful of heavily developed worlds and agricultural colonies - 49 developed planetary population centers, from which 29 can be found under control of the Pancalestia, the Chelok domain.

This means that on average, there are ~1,200 "unclaimed" star systems for every inhabited world within reach.

Dominion Astrometry

Last updated: June 24th 2026

GENERAL GEOGRAPHY

The Dominion is a region of space located behind the Coalsack Nebula as seen from Earth's perspective, between 700 and 900 light-years from Earth. Its center is roughly 830 light-years from Earth.

As a stellar region within the Milky Way, it might be loosely associated to the lower Sco-Cen OB Association, as the region includes several bright young blue stars, such as CH Crucis and 251 G. Cen which are under 150 million years old.

It has no physical borders, but it is agreed to encompass a spheroidal volume ~240 light-years across, centered around the world of Argost, the Arrene homeworld.

ASTROMETRICS (and other statistics for nerds)
KEY SYSTEMS & WORLDS
Standard Dominion Astrographic math bases itself on Ykaga's ecliptic plane around Aa Rithel, the sun of the Arrene's homesystem. All coordinates and stellar positions in official astrometrics are given in Arrene Standard, here translated to standard light-Earth-years for viewer comfort.

|      X,    Y,    Z | STAR ID     | PLANET    | NOTES

|      0,    0,     0 | Aa Rithel    | Argost         | Capital of the Dominion

|   -14, -17,   49 | Osuna       | Serenity      | Homeworld of the Ygiv

|    85,  36,   75 | Paza          | Hokushoku | Homeworld of the Hoku

| -130,   -5, -50 | Ou'Papa    | Ma'Okar      | Homeworld of the Saffi

|    98,  67,   28 | Udun         | Dheghom    | Capital of the Pancalestia

THE ARRENE CORE

|      0,    0,     0 | Aa Rithel    | Argost        | Capital of the Dominion

|   -15,   -3,   -3 | Endreka     | New Horizon | --

|     -1,  13, -12 | Nizel           | Hardpoint      | major hoku population in the core

|      2, -15,  13 | Festar         | Radiant         | --

|   -22, -18,  25 | Thosuo       | Tributary        | --

|    28, -15,  28 | Forzai         | Far Haven     | --

|   -14, -17,   49 | Osuna       | Rihuta          | Homeworld of the Ygiv

|   -11,   -7,   70 | Kaegaels   | Stormport      | Former Ygiv extractivist colony

THE HOKU EXPANSE

|    85,  36,   75 | Paza         | Hokushoku     | Homeworld of the Hoku

|    98,  52,   75 | Ninetali     | Sideshoku        | a stormy world

|    91, 117,  91 | Kotalizapa | Voliloshoku      | major moon of a trojan brown dwarf

|    93, 94,  100 | Anaya      | Anaya              | Homeworld of the Nan-Nan

|    73,  21,   76 | Muhori      | Muhori              | oldest Hoku colony, quadruple system

|  134,  62,   59 | Dekutali    | Dekushashoku | an icy world

|  139,  19,   98 | Kakaili      | Qekohoshoku   | Former Chelok colony, oceanic tropical

THE QIRE SPACE

|   -66,   -8, -66 | Qirurtar     | Wayfarer's Orb | A hydrogen mining station around a gas giant

| -105, -19, -34 | Riterkor     | The Nightforge | Qire mining station?

|   -94,    9,  18 | Olgur         | The Hothouse  | Qire colony?

|   -81,   -2,  49 | Surtirte      | The Dustworld  | Qire starport?

| -130,   -5, -50 | Ou'Papa   | Ma'Okar            | Homeworld of the Saffi

THE PANCALESTIA

[click here for the comprehensive list (29)]

OTHER LOCATIONS FOR SPATIAL REFERENCE

|   80, -155, 160 | Coalsack N. | --                | Major cold molecular cloud ~60ly wide

| 229, -521, 467 | HD 117207   | Iir'rinr'ta   | Homeworld of the Raydee

| 284, -546, 556 | The Cradle  | Nam Arde | Forgotten homeworld of the Chelok

| 283, -544, 533 | Alpha Cen.   | --                | Closest star to the Sun

| 290, -540, 563 | Eps. Eridani | --                | --

| 290, -539, 563 | Tau Ceti        | --                | --

STELLAR POPULATION
While largely obscured by the Coalsack Nebula when seen from the Earth, it is possible to spot about ~270 of the 450 giant stars that populate the region (no seriously, it's cataloged.)
Extrapolated data from local surveys suggests the Dominion contains 69 ±4 thousand stars within its 240-light-year-wide volume. By type they are:

53,000 red dwarfs

9,000 orange dwarfs

5,000 late Sun-like stars

2,000 early Sun-like stars

400 bright stars

5 blue giants

+ 8,000 rogue brown dwarfs 

+ 890 white dwarfs

+ 450 bright evolved stars

When compared to the solar vicinity, the average Dominion sector contains about 10x more bright stars, namely evolved stars such as blue subgiants and red giants, due it being contained within the meeting point of star-forming regions.

Needless to say, traveling across this space is like going through a crystal chandelier. The brighter population of which serves rightfully so, as reference 'lighthouse stars' for astronavigation by its inhabitants.

This angle clearly frames all four domains of the Dominion's civilized systems, here UP is north from the capital Argost.

REGION HABITABILITY

The Dominion stellar catalogs register about 58,000 star systems contained within the spheroid. From which 5,700 systems may contain at least one Earth-sized planet in its habitable zone - its estimated that from those planets 600 of them exist around Sun-like stars (high-mass K to low-mass F) and could be considered Earth-analogues. If distributed at random, they could be separated by upwards of 25 light-years from each other.

Only FOUR planets across the Dominion are known to have independently produced technological civilizations. These are Argost, Ou'Papa, Hokushoku, and Rihuta.

Although, simple and 'inferior' forms of life aren't necessarily that rare either. A very common type of ecosphere that can be found in the Dominion is the 'Proterozoic Earth-Analogue'. A recurring frustration among xenobiologists is the tendency for unrelated ecosystems to repeatedly evolve crustacean-like body plans. This has proven beneficial to travelers, who consider "find the local crab" a remarkably reliable survival strategy.

Statistically speaking, it would be expected to exist about 40 exoplanets with an ESI of 0.90 or higher, and at least another ~150 worlds scoring 0.80-0.90 - which is very relevant given all four local species originate from Earth-analogues (technically speaking). Less than a quarter of these theoretical paradise worlds have been identified, however. Most colonial populations live in the few rocks scoring 0.70-0.95 right next to their homeworlds, depending on specific infrastructure tolerances, that means traveling 20-100 light-years in between colonies.

The densest pocket of civilization remains the Chelok-controlled Pancalestia, which have thoroughly scouted this region for the thirty-ish most-habitable planets in the region. A fair demonstration that perhaps, the Dominion might be more comfortable than one might initially deem, or did they just got lucky?

YGIV PEOPLES

Ygiv (neutral vulgar, nonfaction specific)

Qesaxakuho (Whisperers, by the Hoku)

Iurr'nakai (Whimpering Ones, by the Raydee)

Aa'Ruhuhassar (Blue Ones, by the Arrene)

Yig-Yith (Smart Ones, by themselves)

Last updated: June 24th 2026

COLLECTIVE SUMMARY

[missing icon]

The Ygiv civilization had just started to use radio waves when they were detected by the Arrene. The Thosuo ultramarine fleet arrived within 30 years for first contact, circa 11,088 CE. Joined the Luminary Combine in 11,155 CE (3500 BdF)

Joined the Dominion in 14,650 (0 AdF), with the defeat of the Luminary Combine in the Battle of Argost (extra-signatary).

Origin

The planet Aa'rihuteshqatar (Arrene name, often shortened to Rihuta or Serenity by others), in the Osuna system (-114, -17, 49), a double-K binary about 54ly from Argost, 25ly from Thosuo.

Rihuta is a tropical oceanic world surrounded by small moons, it has a characteristic blue color from space given its shallow oceans, bluish vegetation and blue inhabitants, the Ygiv. The other Ygiv population center is the colony world of Kaegaels, a neighboring star system that the Arrene had later populated with them (initially as cattle, later employed as a workforce). Though nowadays, the Ygiv are mostly ubiquitous to the Arrene Core and its dozen worlds.

Description

Being 2’2” to 4’0” tall, 4 to 6ft long, and 40 to 60kg, the Ygiv are lizard-like hexapods in a centaurine posture. Their most prominent feature besides anatomy are their two pairs of pitch-black eyes dominated by one much larger pair, and their deeply azure or sky blue skin pigments. They possess several appendages on their heads that serve sensory and communication purposes, flushing with blood and picking up bright red colors, which means they very visibly blush and bruise, which means they are commonly seen in armor or protective clothing/uniforms not unlike humans.

Their speech is akin to whispers and raspy vocalizations, with some high frequency notes, their languages are popular vulgata among travelers for their ease of learning, mainly Common Nagiv.

Their multiple appendages mean they are very skillful artists and builders, that combined with their genius actively worked in favor of them when faced with becoming food or a slave caste of the Combine. The Treaty of Forzai largely liberated up the Ygiv population, although it hasn’t necessarily freed them.

Spacetravel

Common proton rockets for in-system travel.

Proprietary interstellar mode nonexistent.

Often accompany other species' crews during interstellar travel as a workforce.

Relations

Officially friendly to foreign powers. Non-territorial, social collectivistic, curious anc creative. Largely exploited, second-class citizens across the Dominion.

Fleet size numbering the hundreds.

Population estimated at 50 to 100 billion across the Dominion core.

No civilizational goals, aligned power.

Hostile relationships with qire, positive relationships with the humans, neutral with hoku and arrene.

Civilization has been long assimilated, the Ygiv live for about 70 years.

OTHER LINKS

The Osuna System (homesystem)

SCIENCE&ARTWORK | THE HOKU | STELLAR ERA

FINAL YEARS OF THE PRE-STELLAR ERA

At the time of the Great War, there were six great nations at odds with one another.

• Ent'Shelari Republic
• Dahetian Republics
• Hukatian Empire
• North and South Sidessia (in civil war)
• Kalopan Empire
• Farkade Union

Heavily disputing control of the globe at least for the past century or two.

Thrown against each other in dirty resource wars to feed their ever expanding industry and war machine, regional conflicts soon had these powers meet with each other. Fully bloomed world war. Each fighting on multiple fronts against multiple declared enemies - both deploying terrible weapons against one another, just as soon as they were developed live on the frontlines.

The armsrace had made it so the sun hadn't shined in half a decade. Records of this time are rare and sparse, often removed from context by the movements of the tribes that remained. Legend has it, a small circle of generals accorded to finally put a stop to the massacre. It is unclear if the technology was intentionally leaked, or if it developed independently. But someone had finally split the atom. It didn't matter to that circle who had it, they knew it had to be used if they wanted to fix the world, if they wanted to reset the cycle of violence. If the world had to be burned so it could truly flourish again, if all flags had to be burned to unite everyone, so it had to be done.

It was the last day of summer, 92 PSE.

600 million gone in an instant.

The ash, the radiation, and the scavengers, claimed the remaining 6 billion in the following decade.

YEAR ZERO

The southern regions of the world, mostly a vast sea populated by a single continent, were largely unaffected by the exchange and its effects. Without global trade or ultramarine enemies left to fight. The handfull of organized groups and states that remained in the south continent coalesced into the Commonwealth of Sidessia.

Though, the reality of the aftermath of the nuclear war is that most of the northern lands were far too razed to occupy. Though nature always found a way to creep back in. And so the Commonwealth learned quickly. They too had to adapt.

Engineers, doctors and ecologists alike worked to create variants of known crops and cattle, resistant to the radiation, resistant to the terrible climate that slowly waned... Then it occurred to them, if designing was the key to survival in a new world - then why not redesign themselves?

The result of these decades of research, questionable, inhumane, but deemed VITAL research, were the Kahikōpafi (better translated as "divine servant", or crudely "angel"). The Angels were a mass-produceable workforce designed to clear and re-settle the northern wastelands. Greater resistance, greater strength, superior intellect, balanced by constant work-load, constant oversight, and short lifespans. Easily spotted by their characteristic looks, it was almost impossible to miss those 'elite slaves' amidst the public - and oh they tried.

As the employment of Angels grew. So did the public sentiment that these beings were something else, something more than mere tools sent to work in no-man's-land, something more than lead-soldiers to be cast and mowed down by conflict.

Each generation of Angels meant a different conflict between demand, performance, and the public perception. Different skillsets, different lifespans, different patches in behavior patterns and social skills. Even limited breeding generations for the farthest reaches of the land.

Them Angels fought hard to earn a spot. And a well deserved spot indeed, they had brought that world up from the ashes almost entirely on their own. By the time of the Somoga Event, it had been almost three centuries the Angels had become the Hoku's right hand.

And the promise of freedom came with one last pharaonic task - run for the stars.

Within a few years of building the Somoga Square Zaega Array (Okuiuka Zaaega Iutso det Somoga, O.Za.I.So. literal for Plateau), a radio telescope range, the Somoga Event happened. A stream of radio, gamma rays and radiation all across the high energy spectrum. Peaking on a cluster of stars in Hokushoku's celestial south. The energy levels required to produce such an event from this distance - the physicists reckoned, would require destruction on a planetary scale - compatible with the deployment of a theoretical superweapon, a relativistic missile. No other explanations satisfied the case.

They had barely any chance to ask themselves if they were alone. The forest echoed a roar back at them.

GOLDEN STELLAR ERA

Sending Angels and Hoku to nearby planets in their own system was quite above ordinary - compared to what they had previously achieved on the surface of their homeworld. Settling their neighboring ice world of Namenza with a permanent Angel and Hoku population. But looking up at the stars, require some far more sophisticated leaps.

The Specter, as the Chelok call them, was a natural step in manning missions sent to distant moons, planets - and then stars. The specter chassis varied with the designated tasks, from being simple cores operating whole factories, to UAVs and UTVs, down to being more avipodomorphic with recognizable and relatable faces and expressions, working as police, healthcare, or assistant units worldwide and offworld.

The development of better and even more autonomous AI allowed the hoku to dare sending precurssor missions at various extra-solar planets during their first stellar era, both habitable and uninhabitable worlds, these robotic missions had the same intent of their first efforts, pave infraestructure and acquire intel for the upcoming organic population, once they figured how the hell one does safely traverse interstellar space.

Auot'zae never became habitable again in its full extension because of the still radioactive zones, but the fallout had thinned enough in areas which could be treated and recovered with work. Because many northern cultures and technologies were lost, groups of kahikopafis adopted the ancient languages, and custoums of these lost civilizations as their own, while some created entirely new ways to have a sense of ownership over their fates, hence why we see the reapperance of old tongues such as Hukat and Entselari throughout off-world populations later on.

The Dominion is densely populated with stars, however, many of these harbor dead or gaseous worlds. Very few were deemed high-priority targets for the Hoku's purpose: Escape the Dominion grasp, whatever it was.

The closest of such worlds was aptly named Muhori (in Sidessian mythology, it is an island where demigods reside), some 20 light-years from the Paza system. A brand new, barren and young, oceanic world.

In their early attempts to settle this distant jewel, the Hoku also independently developed what they would later recognize as the modern Starlane. An excavated "tube" in the interstellar medium that allows for safe relativistic travel.

The first crewed ships to cross the void were egg-ships, which incubated an Angel crew in the final two decades of their century-long trip to settle Muhori. Though specter crews were sent to that and other likely target at close to twice that speed.

In the 1000 years since the last great war, the Hoku Expanse (Azapaxako Hoku) had already set foot on five new worlds beyond its home system. But not all worlds were as welcoming as Muhori.

FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE CHELOK

One world called their attention heavily. Qekohoshoku - the golden world. A tropical world with golden vegetation reminiscent of their own homeworld. When the Expanse got there in 734 SE (7,929 of the Ecumenical Era, by Chelok reckoning), they met a local population of Chelok. Their first contact with alien society which they weren't aware existed at the time.

The locals received their extraterrestrial visitors with warm, and told stories of the greater Chelok domain, a string of 'island nations' that crossed straight through the Expanse's claim to the heavens. The population of Qekohoshoku however, was an estranged strain of the Chelok Empire, the presence of the Expanse would be tolerated, but deals and commerce would probably have better success dealing straight with the administrative core of humanity, at Dheghom.

And so the Hoku did use what they had learned on Qekohoshoku and took their case to Dheghom - albeit on a cautious foot.

Meeting the Chelok was a far more underwhelming event than what the tales and the allure for the strange would have you believe. Very few trips, mostly letters through beamed lasers. To the Hoku, they seemed far too firmly planted in place, far too preoccupied with themselves, far too unconcerned about whatever it was they witnessed almost a millenium ago.

'The Dominion'. It had a name, and the Chelok knew of it, had dealt with it. They were there at its founding. With a concerned expression, they told the Hoku what they knew. From what they understood, they had little to fear for themselves in the time being, but they also didn't condemn the Expanse's posture about keeping their distance of it, lest they did not cross humanity.

The exchanges between the Chelok Empire and the Hoku Expanse marked the end of the golden stellar era, and the start of the lower stellar era.

LOWER STELLAR ERA

In 1739 SE, an Expanse expedition mission stumbled on another silent civilization around their north celestial hemisphere. The Nan-Nan of Anaya. A world just shy of 25 light-years from the Expanse colony of Voliloshoku. A race of stout water-adjacent reptilians, highly empathetic, idealistic and curious beings, just getting the hang of launching their first satellites. Peacefully integrated them into the Expanse via various technology trade accords. A significant fraction of Nan-Nan now lives in multiple hoku worlds and trade routes.

It had been almost a thousand years since their meeting with the Chelok.

During a uneventful winter night of 1977 SE, a strange object pierced the comet cloud of the Muhori system at a hyperbolic trajectory.

Ground telescopes looking for comets spotted a very long streak registered across multiple photographic plates worldwide that night. The conclusion, given the light signature and how long the streak appeared compared to the exposure time of the plates... An unknown artificial object traveling close to 8% of the speed of light. It was not fast enough to be considered a relativistic missile heading into their direction, it was not large enough to be compared to anything they knew about starship building, too small for a crewed vessel. Its trajectory vector indicated the rough direction in the sky as the origin point of the Somoga Event, a millenium and a half prior.

Local authorities kept the existence of this object hidden and hoped to study it in complete secrecy. It wouldn't be long before someone spotted a 752 meter hunk of extraterrestrial metal hurdling through their star system - it had already been a miracle it passed nearly unnoticed in its flyby through the system, estimated to become beyond range in little over six months.

With vetoed access to the use of said telescopes at certain intervals of the following weeks, the Expanse Navy managed to send a rendezvouz mission with the foreign object, nicknamed Kooratalil - in classic sidessian mythology, the great serpent that guards the gates of the Underworld. Images from the robotic probe revealed it be a fragment of a presumed larger object, like the lower deck of a starship. It spotted what it seems to be part of an engine module, damaged antimatter storage units, and a bundle of 2-ton ballistic ammunition of an unknown composition. No crew in sight, and barely enough samples in the cloud of dust and debris to make out any organic composition of whatever was inside the ship at the time of its fragmentation.

The derelict continued its flyby through the Muhori system mostly undisturbed as the probe decoupled and launched itself in a four-year return orbit... Until the crew of the Pearly Tear IV, a comet-mining vessel doing routine harvesting of Muhori's comet cloud, spotted a head-on collision of said object with a small asteroid. An event that was just the beginning of a very dramatic series of events.

Actually going up to investigate said relativistic object, the crew of the Pearly Tear IV started to register and stream their process of interception, coupling, and exploration of the derelict ship, hoping to be rewarded for their discovery. They hooked their ship's power supply to the thing, and upon trying to jumpstart it, the derelict screamed into the void with a distress signal, the 'ping' was brief, but it was already too late. Upon meeting up with the Expanse authorities, the crew of the Pearly Tear IV was trialed and summarily sentenced to execution for high treason in situ by the navy.

"THE PING"

... As the event would come to later be called by the public was a day of panic worldwide, for centuries the consensus was that the we were safe for as long as they kept moving away from the Dominion, and now that the Ping was sent, it was only a matter of a century or two before They showed up inside the Hoku Expanse. Although the panic was quickly settled out by the authorities, various commands and investments were issued in further developing weapons and combat ships for a possible disastrous first contact with the races of the Dominion, this Lower Stellar Era had its development focusing on faster and smaller maneuverable starships, energy-based and relativistic weapons.

The intent of miniaturizing combat-able ships and starships was to ease in the manufacturing effort and the formation of potential resistance militias across Hoku space. This wasn't much of a problem due the common traditions of the spacefaring peoples, there was no shortage of work and technological niche opportunities in the industry, and the time for the outsider's arrival had been set into the foreseeable future, thus infighting almost completely ceased.

Soon enough, many of the hoku born into the LSE were enrolled into local militias, interstellar patrol groups and radar stations across known space, waiting for the Dominion to respond to the ping.

The Chelok at their nearby homeworld of Dhéģhōm were the first to detect the ping some 50 years later, and immediately frowned upon the trading with us, because they were bringing the Dominion closer to them and such an encounter could have unpleasant consequences.

At the time being, the south polar star of Auot'zae, Kuoosate'zapa (or Forzai, by its arrene name) was the nearest Dominion system and the first to respond the Ping. The message took 78 years to reach Forzai, a decade-long discussion resulted into an escorted First Contact fleet with ten vessels. Which weren't noticed until their decelleration plume shone at the edge of the comet cloud like a nova directed at them.

THE HOKU JOIN THE DOMINION

It was then, in 2239 SE, that the Dominion revealed themselves to the Hoku, not as a monolith. But as multi-race 'colaborative framework'. Chelok members, the Ygiv, a few Saffi, the Arrene, and ONE Qire science officer.

They refuse to elaborate on the nature of the events that created the Somoga Event, testimonies are hard to cross - but they do make it clear it was not going to happen ever again.

The Dominion has plenty of space and resources for both civilizations thousands of times over, there was nothing the we personally had that was of interest to them, except our known biospheres, which as arguably non-negotiable given the scale of the Arrene force. Private groups however had great interest in trading and learning the ways of the hoku to sell their culture and artifacts as novelties back in the Dominion's capital worlds.

Many Hoku, mainly as researchers, opted for returning with the diplomatic fleet to the heart of the Dominion to learn more and establish a viable pacific presence within, in such a way as to have a representative seat within the community. This was quite a historic moment for both parties, for the arrene, it would be a chance to start pacific relations from the start with a new race. Given the first encounters with the Chelok and Qire were pretty disastrous, not to speak from the outright oppressive way they colonized the Yigiv people before they became a spacefaring civilization as preemptive action.

The Hoku are considered to have joined as soon as the diplomatic fleet knocked at their doorstep, although bureocracy held that a few decades to be effected. Shortly followed by the Nan-Nan, a century after. Though more like an alternate arm of the Dominion, a distant neighbor state rather than part of it, nonetheless given the power and technological disparity, many saw the relationship as a creeping assimilation. It was not without reason, the hoku had clear motives to gulp, being under a Qire Duke's command at times.

DOMINION ERA

With a population of 40 billion at the time, the Hoku Expanse had no shortage of work to be done, though many repetitive tasks were acomplished by machinery, we were reaching a near post-scarcity societal stage, with very few places struggling with obtaining sustenance or resources and only for a lack of heavy equipment, since the off-world colonies needed vast amounts of supplies and tech coming from the core worlds in order the keep productivity and growth rate. The terrible weather and acessibility meant many of those colonies would make it cheaper to manufacture machinery in nearby asteroids, moons, or simply import it from the Dominion's merchant flocks and scout ships. So while the core worlds and capital colonies across the Expanse concentrated the Hoku tech and prowess, the Dominion basically taught colonists how to survive in those extreme environments in which the we were just barely able to settle, given the greater reliability in delivery times by the faster Arrene and Qire ships.

Because of the political reasons behind the expanse, colonies never had any necessity of rebel against the Hoku domain because they weren't really being pressured to produce any goods, their only goal was to be there as a backup in case of catastrophic fail of mainland society, of course, from time to time, companies, private groups, and the navy would bring new technology, goals, and gratifications to the most succesful settlements. Over time, several moon, belter, and farmer colonies were simply abandoned by succeeding generations, because of lack of greater opportunity and goals, with populations migrating towards the core worlds and even venturing into the dominion.

Though the Expanse did not posess any goods that peaked further interest within the Dominion, apart from the occasional novelties, the paved starlanes were still of importance for Dominion scouts and researchers because it signified safe paths to reaching further regions of space of particular interest like nebulae and potentially habitable star systems, without risking slow and dangerous trips across the frontier. Allowing them to remain close to civilization in case of emergencies while they venture into uncharted space.

This state of peace lasted 1000 Chelok-years, and were recorded as one of the most prosperous periods in Hoku history. A period before the 'Unrelenting Force' came upon us...