[center][b]The Fall of an Empire[/b]

[i]You say it is the good cause that hallows even war? I tell you: it is the good war that hallows every cause.[/i]
-Nietzsche

[img]http://all4desktop.com/data_images/1366%20x%20768/4158166-star-wars-fiction-planet.jpg[/img]

It is the Imperial Year 3468. The Arcturan Empire, once the greatest power the galaxy had ever seen and the pride of human kind, is crumbling. Almata, for millenia the seat of Emperors, has been sacked by the Pretender Fleet. His Majesty Fashti XI is missing, presumed to have been killed in the fighting. A new dark age looms over the galaxy.
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Hello and welcome! 

the idea here is for a character-driven NRP set in a far-future, low fantasy 'fall of Rome' type scenario, in which a powerful galactic empire is crumbling under the pressure of civil war and perhaps external invasion. The tone will be that of a gothic space opera, borrowing more from Dune, 40K, the good star wars films, and cyberpunk than from say, Star Trek or hard SF. Magic, psionics, etc are allowed in this RP, but should be a somewhat muted presence.

My hope is that since players will be rping as factions of a crumbling empire, or former rivals or subjects to that empire, a major focus of the RP will be building a shared setting and history. I am intentionally leaving details about the Arcturan Empire and the conflict relatively sparse, so that people can fill in their own factions and histories and build the setting collaboratively. Below are a few suggested factions in the civil war, that people may want to use as inspiration for their nation sheets. 

Please note that everything below is just meant as an inspiration. Names and ideas are thrown out as starting points for folks to run with. I do not have definite plans for anything mentioned below. In terms of lore, we're going to go with a first-come, first serve system, so that as people establish details about the Empire etc in their faction sheets, and once I approve it, the setting and details will get fleshed out.

[u][b]Faction Suggestions:[/b][/u]

LOYALISTS: Those still loyal to the old order and to Emperor Fashti XI before the Sack of Almata, which was a massive defeat for the loyalist forces. The Arcturan Empire was a humano-centric, caste-based, militarized autocracy governed by a vast bureaucracy torn between meritocratic reforms and an entrenched aristocracy. Xenos races were in most places treated as slaves or at best as second class citizens. It was the First Emperor who, millenia ago, brought an end to the House Wars and subjugated the xenos empires. Loyalists will cherish the millennia of peace and order the line of Emperors wrought out of galactic chaos.

PRETENDERS: Upstarts seeking the title of Emperor for their leader. Pretenders could be anything from ambitious generals, admirals or warlords to Utopian revolutionaries to neofascists tired of the inefficiency and sclerosis of the old order. Given the humano-centrism of the Empire, a (genocidal?) monohumanist element blaming the xenos for Imperial weakness is likely to be present among many of the Pretenders.

REACTIONARIES: Aristocrats and conservatives of the ancient, pre-Imperial Great Houses who see opportunity in the present chaos to win back their ancient rights and prerogatives from the power of the Imperial Bureaucracy. The reactionaries likely recognize their economic dependence on the xenos races, and so would look with suspicion on monohumanist radicals or xenos liberation fronts. 

CHURCH: The Arcturan Empire tolerated many religions, but the official creed of state was the Cult of Kaasid, which exerted considerable power throughout the Empire.

SEPARATISTS: Xenos liberation fronts, corporations or Great Houses wishing to be free of the Imperial yoke, client states seizing a chance to break free from the collapsing empire, religious dissidents, etc.

INVADERS/ASTROGOTHS: Factions from outside the Empire taking advantage of its current crises. In fact, an external invasion may have precipitated the current civil war.

[u][b]Faction Sheet:[/b][/u]

Faction Name:

Faction Type: (Loyalist, Pretender, etc)

Faction leader(s):

System(s)/Territory: (Please be aware that as faction sheets get completed, they may need to be tweaked to fit with other players' faction sheets, since everyone is playing as parts of the same [collapsing] super-state)

Planet(s)/Holdings: (btwn 1-5 systems if your faction controls any, unlimited [within reason] other holdings like asteroid bases, etc)

Faction/Government Desc:

History: (Feel free to make up details about the setting and the major powers. I love collaborative worldbuilding, so feel free to work with me and your fellow RPers at building the setting)

Relations with the Empire and Other Factions: (this section is super important, please work with other players to work out shared history, etc)

Military Capabilities: (ships in faction fleets must be under 3 kilometers, though I will allow exceptions. Please keep in mind that militaries are likely to be parts of the old imperial military, and so some commonality between factions is to be expected. As for ground forces, no hard limits here. The Rule of Cool and the Rule of No Effing Godmodding obtain)

[b]Note:[/b] Please stick your NSes (even WIP NSes) in the character tab with NOT ACCEPTED at the top until I accept. Also, this RP will begin just after the Sack of Almata by one of the pretenders.

[b]NOTE:[/b] 

Important announcement- real life issues have just come up in a big way. I'm not sure that I will be able to devote the time and energy necessary here to be a successful GM. If anyone would like to take over this RP, please let me know, you're more than welcome to it. I'll be more than happy to help get things started with this, but I just can no longer GM properly.

My apologies to everyone involved, I had thought I would have sufficient time for this, but circumstances have changed for me (not in a bad way).