NATION BIO
Technocratic Federal Republic of the City of Alesia and the Peoples of Excaon
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Anthem: Tenshi
Capital City: Alesia
Home Planet: Excaon
Home System: Moria
Location: Approximately 10,000 light years from Sol, along 330 degrees galactic longitude.
Colonized Space: Four planets and six moons in the Moria System (including Excaon), and two interstellar planets: Troia 21185 in the Kelanis System (40 light years away), and Iesti 4 in the Umagon System (220 light years away).
Population: 1,368,000,000
Notes on Excaon: One Excaoni year is about ten Terran months, and a day is about 30 hours. The life expectancy of an Alesian is 170 years (compared to 90 at the end of Ignatius's life); for the underdeveloped parts of Excaon, the life expectancy is closer to 130.
Although the population and controlled space of the Republic could be considered embarrassingly small for an emerging interstellar empire, its potential lies in its technological capabilities, with breakthroughs in all fields of science occurring on practically a daily basis. The capital city of Alesia is a thriving megacity of some 400 million people covering the entire east coast of a continent, and is comparable in importance to most other civilizations' capital planets. The standard of living in the city is extremely high, despite the incredible birth rate of 8 souls per couple. As well, the ratio of synthetic to Excaoni in the city is 3 to 1, providing the vast majority of the workforce while the majority of Alesians hold degrees in medicine, engineering, physics, chemistry, education, computer science, and so on.
Unfortunately, the rest of the planet lags far behind in development, with infrastructure normally being proportionate to the importance of the area - resources, trade, agriculture, and so forth. Many of these such areas have a synthetic to Excaoni ratio of 10 to 1, providing for the needs of both a labor force and an "educated" work force while the natives catch up to Alesian civilization. Unfortunately, most educated natives leave for Alesia, which tends to stagnate growth of these areas. However, the previous President, Clusius Rendt, enacted policies to encourage natives to remain in their home nations, which has seen vast success thus far.
The second-largest city on Excaon is Raio, with a population of 17 million and technological development comparable to that of Terra in the year 2050 A.D. It is expected to become nearly on-par with Alesia's present technological development within the next 20 years. Obviously, because of this technological gap between Alesia and the rest of Excaon, as well as the fact that the vast majority of colonists and starship crews hail from Alesia, the Alesians tend to prefer identifying themselves to other civilizations as just that: Alesians.
Space colonization accounts for approximately 40 million of the Alesian civilization's population, with the most populous city and planet being Caifelle on Anaetican. Caifelle has a population of 12 million (out of Anaetican's 27 million) and is the third-largest city of the Republic. Anaetican is a Terran planet except for what was originally an atmosphere filled with sulphuric gases. It has the largest deposits of shipbuilding metals in the solar system and indeed any readily-terraformed planet yet discovered. For 40 years Caifelle's massive ship assembly centers (both orbital platforms and planetside facilities) have had technological and manufacturing capabilities rivaling those of Alesia's elite industrial parks. Caifelle's population is expected to exceed Raio's in the next 10 years, and Anaetican's population should approach a third of Alesia's in 50.
Still, President Caesius Loeher feels that the Republic's expansion into space has been too slow, and he plans to send out hundreds of colony ships to dozens of star systems. He also expects neighboring civilizations to take notice, for better or for worse - he has ordered scientists to focus on developing military technologies and has commissioned new military shipbuilding facilities to be constructed in Anaetican's orbit.
TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES AND MILITARY TACTICS
To be completed?!
ORIGIN OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALESIA
Many centuries ago, on a snowy winter evening in a valley of the Montes Aetherei, a young Alesian by the name of Ignatius found himself separated from his comrades who had been hunting deer for the cold winter months. Stranded as the coming blizzard would no doubt close off the pass back to his village, he took shelter in a cave in the side of a mountain.
Inside, Ignatius heard the rushing of water from deep within the mountain, along with a mechanical drone the likes of which he had never heard before. He felt a compulsion to delve deeper into the cave, which his body obeyed while his mind was wiped clean of all thought.
As he journeyed further into the maw, the cave walls widened and were illuminated by the soft glow of ever more dense clusters of an alien, bluish-gray crystal. As the walls squared off, he found himself in an antechamber which was completely covered by outgrowths of the mysterious crystal, except for a bridge crossing an underground river as well as a staircase leading up to a tall but narrow threshold, from which emanated an eerie light.
Upon climbing the stairs, he found before him a massive stone Monolith inscribed with writing in an unknown language, and near the top an emblem in the form of an inverted triangle separated into three equal parts. When Ignatius came up to the Monolith to touch the script, the stone facade began to crumble away from the point where flesh met stone, revealing a blinding crystal like those in the antechamber. The crystal maintained the engravings of the stone, as they were burned into the Monolith like pitch-black sunspots. As the last pieces of stone fell away, Ignatius felt his soul lifted out of his body for just a second, but during that brief moment he could feel that his soul had been flung beyond the stars, through the eons and back.
When he awoke, he found that the Monolith had shattered into countless pieces, as had the crystals in the antechamber and beyond; all still gave light, but were steadily dimming. As he trekked back out towards the entrance in the fading light, his thoughts gradually returned to him, and he remembered that during that moment of separation the soul of the Monolith had merged into his, and had made the mind and body of Ignatius the Avatar of the Monolith. At this realization the knowledge of the alien civilization that had created the Monolith came to him, giving him complete understanding of sciences and technologies which his own civilization was centuries from discovering.
Upon exiting the cave, he found the valley to be lush with vegetation and the bright sun warming his skin. He made his way back to the settlement of Alesia, where the inhabitants, surprised to see him alive, fully believed his story regarding the Monolith. An expedition to the mountain even found the remains of the Monolith, which they chose not to disturb. A shrine was erected at the entrance to the cave, were pilgrims could go to pray for knowledge and inspiration.
Under the leadership of Ignatius, the Alesians began crafting tools and constructing machines, with the intent of absorbing neighboring tribes through the show (and sometimes use) of their technology. Over the next 74 years until his death, the Alesian civilization progressed from the Stone Age to the Industrial Age, and from a tribe of 500 to a nation of over a million. Upon his death, and according to his wishes, the Alesians adopted a technocratic Republican system, writing the world's first Constitution and completely skipping the age of kings and emperors. Ignatius left behind him writings constituting an encyclopedia of knowledge and technology to lead the Alesians into the space age.
By the year 198 Ae.M., the planet Excaon had been united under the banner of Alesia, and they had launched their first spacecraft. By 217, they had colonized the planets of the local Moria System, and by 241 they had developed FTL drives and made contact with alien races.
The year is now 309. The Alesians have contacted dozens of civilizations across space, most of which are less advanced. The Alesians are still rapidly advancing in technology, with most of the sciences and technologies described in the writings of Ignatius having been perfected. Doctor Caesius Loeher, the 37th President of the Alesian Republic, feels that Alesia is ready for interstellar politics... and, if necessary, war.