Samebito

**Name of nation:** The Social-Nationalist Interstellar State of Siastrapliny

**Species:** Siastraplinicorns, formerly known as unicorns. They are creatures with more than a passing similarity to ordinary Terran horses. Their pelts only come in shimmering white, silver or black. Their eyes glow in a variety of colourations. They, of course, have their distinguishing single horn. 
The mane is an important feature of the siastraplinicorn to determine their future role in the society. The more vibrant the mane, the more magically gifted a unicorn is. This vibrancy is left in the wake of arcane residue. 

Horn length and other horn features are another element taken into consideration. The horn serves as a focus of sorts for a siastraplinicorn's power, so the longer it is, the better at channeling magic it is. Horn spirals also assist in the process, acting in a manner almost analogous to the role coils play to a coilgun's functioning.

[Siastraplinicorn](http://www.image-share.com/upload/2821/253.jpg)

**Description of government:** They operate under "The Splendiferous Leader Principle", which is to say, they are essentially a despotic nation, wherein one destined unicorn, denoted by their mane consisting of the most grand, vibrant hues possible, holds the power equivalent to an Emperor. The present holder of the title of Splendiferous Leader is Dandy Myriadmane the Savoury. The Splendiferous Leader is theoretically benevolent. 

Siastraplinicorn society functions through structures commonly referred to as "guilds." The guild institution is somewhat technocratic in function. Each guild represents a particular industry, with leadership of the guild only going to those who are most skilled in that particular field. Siastraplinicorns belonging to these guilds are able to vote on matters pertaining to whatever their particular vocation may be.

**Description of military:** The Siastrapliny military is not particularly sizable when compared to their counterparts of other nations, given their role mostly only covers defense of their own sectors of space and wars only with their most immediate neighbours.

On the land, siastraplinicorns utilize machines to amplify their already somewhat formidable magical powers instead of firearms. The most ubiquitous example, the horn sheath, slots over a siastraplinicorn's horn, as the name implies. They are designed to enhance the magical output of their horns, honing these energies into lethal beams. They come in a variety of "calibers", varying from the sheath equivalent to a laser rifle, to specialist devices with firepower comparable to artillery.

Their equivalent to armor comes in the form of harnesses bearing arcane shield generators and other equipment their soldiers require on and off the battlefield.

Aside from transports and other utilitarian vehicles, their armed forces are actually bereft of the standard array of combat vehicles. Their equivalent of an armored formation should instead be envisioned as specialist units of siastraplinicorns galloping over the field with upper tier shield generators and high caliber horn sheaths, giving the individual of their race the might comparable to a tank. Even then, as impressive as it may be to see lone soldiers wielding such power, they are nonetheless still as vulnerable much the same things as their aforementioned counterparts. The shields can only take so much damage before dissipating, after all.

More over, as implied, it is only the elite of the army that get such mighty arms and armament. The standard infantry are about on par with the galactic norm.

Air and sea vehicles are less easy to supplant with these magitech gadgets, and are more readily comparable to the norm than their land forces. They are fairly bog standard as far as such things come, save for their arcane engines and weaponry. Fighters are much larger than usual as to accomodate for something of the shape and size of a horse, as well as their protruding horns, their control panels also drastically different to accommodate for their physiology.

The space navy is also greatly constrained by its size. The thousands of years of history the siastraplinicorns have with ship design does ever so slightly mitigate the gulf between the might of their navy and those of their counterparts, but it only does them so many favors. The bulk of their heavier classes of ships are equivalent to upgunned heavy cruisers, rather than battleships. Their true battleships are rather scarce. 

Their Sangfroid-class dreadnought ships, of which there are only two ("Sangfroid" and "Crumbsicle"), are theoretically mighty, outfitted with truly ruinous arcane weaponry, but have never seen combat of any particularly significant scale. Representing an investment too large to risk in battle, they are most often employed more in the role of deterrence. In their last war, they were kept at port in sectors near enemy supply routes, their presence inspiring their foes to commit more of their ships to safeguard their military's lifelines from their potential danger, keeping these escort ships from being deployed to other parts of the front-line.

With the concept of direct confrontation being something widely held to be something with extremely slim chance of turning out well for their navy, the focus is instead upon harassing supply lines and merchant shipping, with the hope of strangling adversaries into submission. A portion of the fleet consists of cloaking vehicles as to fill the role submarines would for the equivalent to such strategies with wet navies.

The true might of the siastraplinicorn space navy is to be found in the Fortress of Exultation. Situated near the homeworld, it consists of a massive network of fortifications suspended in a shielding field of arcane energy forming a perimeter around the centerpiece of the station: its main battery, Grandhorn. When Grandhorn is brought to bear, around 100 of the most magically potent siastraplinicorns the navy has at its disposal are gathered aboard it and focus all of their sorcerous energies together. The cannon then amplifies this and fires it as an absolutely devastating beam with incredible range. However, such vast outpourings of power greatly tire the gunnery wizards, and so the cannon is neither given the order to fire at all frequently or lightly.  

**Technological Overview:** Moderately advanced compared to the average, owing to their frequent inter-meshing of the arcane with science, but they don't really dominate in either field. Their extremely long lasting space ship building tradition ensures their vehicles are mechanically very reliable, but there are never enough, as far as their military needs go.

The aforementioned horn sheaths also have non-military variants that are used for a wide array of applications. They are the most commonly encountered siastraplinicorn-machine interface, using their magic to input commands for whatever device the particular sheath belongs to. They fill the roles of things like control panels for vehicles and even the equivalent of keyboards.

Present research is directed towards machines to enhance the natural capabilities of the siastraplinicorns even further. Cybernetics are one possible avenue that is considered, but the emphasis on maintaining the purity of their kind lends itself to the disapproval of such technology. Instead, worn gadgetry to magnify arcane output are favored, such as the aforementioned combat sheaths and shield generators. They are reaching the upper extremes of size for horn sheaths, so work has commenced on exoskeletons to accommodate even greater calibers of horn sheath than previously available. 

Most power generation is derived from magic, though what exactly it is they use to provide this when it comes to their larger engines is poorly understood, and the siastraplinicorns keep their secrets well guarded.

**Cultural Overview:** The siastraplinicorns emphasize three things above all others: health of body, mind and spirit. Siastraplinicorns that do not meet these standards are callously cast out of their society, through any means necessary. Their struggle for survival that has spanned many millennia makes no concessions for weakness. Those born with no horns are considered to be no better than their idiotic Earth relatives, horses, and are particularly despised.

The siastraplinicorns are rabid, paranoid survivalists, and are prepared to make any sacrifice to ensure the continuance of their great race. The more extreme of their kind have expressed sentiments along the lines that if they were to destroy everything around them but one male and one female unicorn, this would still constitute a victory in their eyes. 

Siastraplinicorn culture is extremely vain and self-aggrandizing. Statues and murals demonstrating the sublime splendor of their kind decorate every street and square of their settlements. The tragedy of "Great Betrayal" is a common theme in their media of all kind, using it to kindle their hatred towards anything resembling their perceived antagonists, the humans, too closely.

**History:** The origins of this race of space unicorns can be found well into the distant past of their former home planet, Earth. Their own legends and mythology purport that the early history of their race and the Christian Bible are intertwined. As it goes in their minds, the unicorns were yet another one of the world's creatures, but when the great flood came and all animals were gathered upon Noah's Ark, they were forsaken and left behind. This is what they today refer to as "The Great Betrayal." 

Instead, the unicorns took fate into their own hands and constructed their own evacuation vessels. Using their powerful arcane unicorn minds, they had in fact created ancient precursors to space vessels. Their exodus took them far from Earth. They believe that in spite they also took all of the magic from that planet with them. After a long, painful journey, they found their way to an unoccupied system on the fringe of the Andromeda galaxy, there establishing their new homeland. 

While the veracity of many of their claims are questionable, it is certain that the unicorns were of Terran origin and did indeed set forth on their intergalactic journey upon thaumaturgic transports while mankind still inhabited mud hovels. Since the colonization and establishment of themselves in the sectors of the galaxy that belong to them, they have expanded in ultimately small, but locally extremely noticeable chunks of territory, securing many new planets for their realm. Their extreme paranoia and arrogance has brought them into many conflicts along their border, but their nation endures.

**Other:** **ONE LEADER.** **ONE NATION.** **ONE HORN.** **SIASTRAPLINY!**