Hhrot Dominion

The Hhrot Dominion is the militarist sovereign ruling body of the Hhrot people, and their largest polity. The Dominion controls forge-hives and colonial territory scattered across the ashen wastes of Planetfall , Harvest and Gorass . It also controls minor objects along the Fifth Orbit, such as the The Proving Grounds space station.   After struggling to establish themselves on those worlds passed on by other polities, the Dominion now seeks to regain power and garner respect. Theirs is a culture of military collectivism, with little place for personal ambition. The Dominion is led by Susura Golex Skullgrimmer, a battle-tested warlord hard-pressed to protect the Dominion colonies from hostile Hhrot and Zaalan tribal cells on Planetfall... as well as the megafauna that plagues the worlds of the Fifth.  

Overview

  Across the uninhabited ashen wastes and the jagged rocky surface of a world in constant evolution, the Dominion endures every new day to the beat of the forge-hives which make up its core territory. It must be said that each city is an ash-accursed land of trial and glory, built on a foundation of blood and sweat, and furiously defended from the megafauna which continues to roam the planet. Trace elements drift along with the wind, giving the air a distinct taste of iron. Mineral wealth is abundant and easily accessible, whilst geothermal vents ensure a steady supply of electrical power. Titanium and Mithral can be found in deep underground lava tunnels, but so can mighty drakelike beasts, jealously guarding their metallic hoards.   Volcanoes and ash plumes dominate Planetfall; the wheat-plains of Harvest are somewhat more hospitable at the cost of mineral wealth. The Dominion gets around with difficulty, though their inventors have come up with ingenious transport solutions to cross the ashen desert. The Dominion is not afraid of using old-fashioned methods where they are proven; perhaps most ubiquitous are the tamed, flightless reptiles used as mounts by most of the population to cross volcanic dunes and ride along glacial crevasses.  

Core Colony

  Somewhere on the equator, in the shadow of the Looming Mountain, the great forge-hive of Blade's Edge rises mightily above the desolate landscape. Some say it was not built, but summoned whole, presumably from a piece of Embassy Ark driven into the world's crust and used as the hive's steel skeleton. Within the squalid city, millions live, work and commute in ritual harmony amidst forges, huthouses of iron and stone, and underground dwellings built by the Dominion's most honoured stone-binders. Gravspires and blastforges spill fire as the Dominion's hardy citizens walk past from job to job, whilst banners exort workers to work for the Great Plan and according to the Five Cycle Plan. Embers and ash are blown across surfaces by strong winds, and beyond the city's walls, the acid waters that make up this world's oceans lap at the hive's edge. Deep glacial crevasses provide obvious avenues of expansion to the pragmatic planners of the Dominion. Where needed, buildings are carved directly into the stone, connected above the deep chasms with bridges and skyways. Ashswept streets are cleared daily, as are gardens and rooftop sanctuaries.   At the very centre of Blade's Edge, adorned by the frayed banners of every great clan, the Arena is a giant amphitheatre that provides entertainment and bloodspots to the populace, usually pitting specially trained and honoured warriors against captive or vatgrown megabeasts.  

Architecture

  Hhrot structures are generally pragmatic and squat, with rounded edges and defensive slits for windows. They are generally modular affairs, designed to interlock and be replaced easily, yet must be strong enough to endure volcanic activity and earthquakes. In the streets and on rooftops, the hard-working Hhrot often hang curtains and banners that ripple in the wind and feature their Legion's classical fractal shapes. Most buildings sit low into the hive-valleys, or rise in tapered tiers, especially civic buildings which are calculated to project strength and impress street-view visitors. Forges, foundries, arenas and temples are never isolated to special districts, and often rise above mundane structures, and provide waymarks for confused travellers.  

Population

  The Dominion's settled territories make up a small part of its planets but contain most of the its population, mostly Hhrot. By tradition and necessity, the people of the Dominion are hardy and resilient, as well as rigidly organized. Indeed, a strict caste system is involved; each is thought equal, but in practice, priests and forgemasters who learn leadership from their naming day forward get promoted to the top of their Legions faster, above artisans, farmers, and members of the logistics caste. There is no dedicated warrior caste, as every citizen is expected to be part of a hierarchy and defend their homes if necessary.    The Dominion is divided into Legions, each administering a specific sector of territory. Some are more prestigious than others, and all act as a single chain of command to which every member must defer. Promotion depends on caste, of course, but also achievement and, increasingly, political loyalty.   The Hhrot language is written in a cuneiform script that represents a highly inflected language, notable for its absence of vowels in noun or verb radicals.  

Landmarks

 

The Drinker's Den

  Deep in the warren of streets that make up Blade's Edge, the Den is a large tiered structure of dark stone and iron girders that functions as a political forum, concert arena, and overpriced drinking hole. The local liquor, Icoriss, is one of the Dominion's greatest cultural exports - and blacking out on Icoriss is a badge of honour for any recently promoted Legion worker. There are often card games going on here - the Hhrot are surprisingly inventive when it comes to those. The Den sits on a geothermal spring, which it also operates a hot springs resort for battle-weary patrols and exhausted workers. There are many such establishments across Planetfall, but none as renowned or as highly praised as this one.  

The Hanging Gardens

  The tapered nature of many Dominion buildings lends itself well to a form of communal gardening, and many rooftops are used as parks and botanical centres by the population. The Hanging Gardens are perhaps the best patronized; they sprawl over the rooftops of the city of Auror's Rest, irrigated by cascading waterfalls, whilst vegetation and banners drape over concrete walls like ivy. Many foundry workers spend their off hours drinking and meditating in the Gardens, making the atmosphere sharply contrast with the city's Arena, which literally borders the garden district. The Steelrest gardens host a variety of festivals ranging from the slaying of some particularly bothersome megafauna to the death of an honoured soldier, along with naming day celebrations and the observance of various historical milestones. One particular festival is the "Day of Dendriks", which involves racing the pesky reptiles across the Gardens for glory.  

Outrock Skyport

  A near-vertical rock formation serves as Blade's Edge's skyport, with buildings and facilities dug into the rock giving way to landing platforms and gravship berths. Chiseled into the rock, terraced gardens and allotments provide some vegetation and a lovely view for travellers to play card games or hone their blades. The Skyport sits against the High Court, and transports of prisoners from the Court directly to the Skyport are fairly common. Atop the Skyport, a tower controls all of Dominion orbital space and projects an illusory shield that wards off some of the local megafauna...for now.  

The Proving Grounds

  The The Proving is a ruined space station discovered hovering in the Hodeth Belt by Hhrot engineer Karuuk. Its orbit was changed to fall into the L5 point trailing Planetfall, where it would remain indefinitely. The Proving serves as an arena for aspiring Hhrot warriors and as a waypoint for Hodeth Belt mining convoys. It also acts as a research station for Hhrot scientists working with Boshaari Council engineers. Before the Great Jump, Hhrot were once known for their widespread use of Sentinels. These vat-grown soldiers are given very little in the way of rights and respect until they have earned it from their superiors, usually by charging into a hopeless fight against the enemy. It is unknown where their name comes from; Hhrot are not known for keeping accurate archives. Less Sentinels exist nowadays, but the breeding vats exist somewhere in the Proving Grounds, it is rumoured, ready for any contigency.  

Social Norms

  The Hhrot are a pragmatic and hard-working people, and most behave in blunt and stern ways. Communication is particularly gruff and matter-of-fact, with little attention given to fluff, context or manners. The Hhrot are simply dispassionate, but they are not cold or emotionaless, and will acknowledge outsiders by greeting them more formally than is required. Conflicts are settled by duel, though they seldom involve any lethal weapons - drinking contests, quota rushes, or card games are equally valid ways for two Dominion citizens to work out a dispute. Despite a generally cold and unwelcoming demeanour, work songs and chants are often heard around training grounds and construction sites, and many ships' crews also get together to sing and dance at social functions.   In the Dominion, identity is not given - it is forged. Hhrotlings are given baby names, which are phased out in favour of a name that commemorates some early deed or attribute. One's official renaming ceremony is one of life's most important early milestones, as it determines not only one's name and new identity, but also which great caste they will join within their family's Legion.   There is little held in higher regard in Dominion society than selflessness and courage, even (especially) against overwhelming odds. Conversely, cowardice is seen as the One Great Sin. Minor transgressions of this sin are often repaid with the offering of a shard of ore or the forging of a new weapon, but repeat or severe sinners are banished, ostracized, or forced into intensive rehabilitation on the hillsides of Gorass.  

Home & Kinship

  The centre of a Dominion home is a hearth, where a chiselled stone passed from clan elder to clan elder is carefully kept. Hhrot live and gather together as ancestral clan families, their lineage officially tracked by Lorekeeper Prelates. Each Clan serves a particular Legion based on history and affiliation.   Clans share work quotas and training obligations, and must provide able-bodied soldiers to the Legion's Platoons. Homes are squat with little personal space, but well-built, and organized like deceptively well-organized mini-citadels.  

Politics and Warfare

  Hhrot society is effectively a militarized stratocracy, where one's rank defines their status in life more than their clan or their caste. Ranks are highly formalized across the Dominion, and individuals can achieve a promotion by completing military or labour obligations, performing courageous or noble acts of service for the Dominion, and through merit at work or in society. Hhrot are expected to fall in line within the hierarchy and follow lawful orders from their rank superiors, though in reality, context often matters : a Hhrot of higher rank could be ordered around, for instance, by a lower-ranked chef, provided this happened on their kitchen's premises. This concept is called jagrak arja, or the "game of contextual paradox", which often results in small-scale duels between conflicting parties.   With one exception below, Hhrot of all ranks belong to one of sixteen different Legions, which form the bread and butter of Dominion society and military. Legions are granted parts of the Dominion to administer, and are allowed to enchage with the Hhrot economic system in exchange for providing labour, soldiers and productivity. The three highest-ranked Legion members form the Executive Trium, responsible for leading a Legion and ensuring that it fulfills its military and economic obligations to the Dominion. A lack of oversight mechanism means that the Trium remains fairly stable, and its membership really only changes should a specific Trium-Prelate die or otherwise leave their position vacant, at which point the Council will elect a new member to be promoted.   Legions are then organized into Sections, each comprised of Platoons - military divisions that activate in times of need, as part of a Legion's labour obligations to the Dominion, or at their direct request in times of warfare. Legions are military structures first, and political institutions second. As a result, each Legion maintains its own small part of the Dominion's Navy, and also generally features some sort of specialization.   Beyond to the concept of military ranks and platoons, each Legion is comprised of several ancestral Clans - a leftover of earlier times. Clans are personally important to Hhrot, especially as inter-Legion marriage is frowned upon. Nevertheless, one's Clan alliegance holds little power within the Dominion's hierarchy. What ceremonial power they hold is spent on providing guidance with the day-to-day running of the Legion. At the Trium's behest, all clan elders - usually a clan's oldest or highest ranked member - gather in the Clansmeet to provide perspective and debate alternative viewpoints. Hhrot also belong to different Castes - another leftover of ancient times - which decide what labour and occupations they are trained in and what positions they can occupy. Castes are supposedly equal in status, but the forge-priest caste, dedicated to leadership and higher education, generally fills each Legion's upper ranks, whether by design or simply out of logical conclusion.   Overseeing the organized chaos of the Hhrot communities below, the Supreme Legion rule over the Dominion as a whole. Its members effectively act as commissionned officers to the rest of the Legions. who in guiding its work quotas, drafting five-year plans and allocating sectors of Planetfall to be pacified by specific Legions. Caste and clan no longer mean anything within the Supreme Legion, only military rank matters. At the top of the Supreme Legion is the Conclave, led by a Susura - a warlord wise and battle-tested beyond their years. Promotion to the Supreme Legion is brutal and permanent; those honoured with this prospect are ceremonially kicked from their Caste, Clan and Legion, chained in irons, and taken to a random spot in the wastes of Planetfall, where they must make their way back unaided, with only a ceremonial dagger as weaponry. Those who do are honoured with permanent membership in the upper hierarchy. Failure is not an option; candidates who fail to reach the Supreme Legion's headquarters but somehow survive back into Hhrot society are seen as cowards or unworthy, and seldom welcomed back into their old communities. When they do, it is at the very bottom of the ranking system.  

Clothing

  Dominion fashion is practical, stern and yet also strangely aesthetic. Most wear hardened leather suits, adorned with long draping veils that ripple in the wild and protect their wearers from the ashen winds. Boneplates, horncrests and metal pauldrons often feature prominently in Dominion outfits, as do indicators of caste and rank. As a general rule, the colour of the veil follows that of one's Clan, but each Caste must wear appropriate fractal patterns. More formal wear involves long and intricately woven robes. No Hhrot wears unearned trophies; to do so is to incur a quick and severe penalty, and the scorn of one's entire community.  

Food

  Dominion cuisine is renowned for braised meats and fungal stews; as well as moss-cakes, which pass for desserts, though they are always eaten first. The flesh of native beasts often makes for game, and the Hhrot hunter or butcher will ensure to give her product some intricate lore as part of the selling and eating process. There is little plant life, and the Hhrot are reliant on food imports from Aistanar, but in case of austerity could almost certainly do without.   Meal rituals are important to the Hhrot, whether with their platoon-mates or with their Clan. A prayer is often recited to the spirit of the slain beast about to be consumed, after which the Hhrot sing and eat merrily, recanting or boasting of recent deeds. The Hhrot seldom eat in personal plates, instead directly helping themselves from shared iron platters. Icoriss or other liquors often flow at the dinner table, and it is quite customary, on festive occasions, to pass out in drunken stupor.  

Art

  To the Hhrot, weapon-smithing is perhaps considered the finest art, and even a Hhrotling soon learns to craft a blade and "sing" the steel into shape. Knives, daggers and curved swords are seen as the most ideal expression of art on a battlefield, though great care is also given to one's personal weapons, which are often adorned with intricate details and customizations. Every Hhrot has a favourite weapon, which (ironically) hardly ever sees combat, for fear of damaging it. Such weapons are named and kept extremely safe; to lose such a heirloom would be one of the greatest insults to one's Clan.   Other Hhrot arts include banner-weaving and stone-carving, as well as the bardic arts of song and dance. Many Hhrot practice a form of tattooing called bloodinking, using heated sigil-irons to print patterns upon their own skin.  

Religion

  The Hhrot believe in a dual God collectively called the Moonclad Cataray. This God is refered to as the mokkmoka, the Claw-That-Waits, aspect of peace and tidy hearths, and the lakkraka, the Fang-That-Leaps, aspect of warfare and hot foundries. Often depicted as a veiled, banal feline with Hhrot features, this twin-god is worshipped in temples across Hhrot territory, his teachings passed on from generation to generation by hallowed priests. In addition, in smaller temples, the Hhrot revere the Stormwalker, the ancient Hhrot warrior who first united the Dominion together from sects of bickering tribes, as well as a growing roster of honoured warriors, the Paragons, noted for their death or extreme courage in impossible situations.   Depictions of a God strangely resembling the Moonclad Cataray on Nufano have led to a warming of relations between the Hhrot and the Mewei Domain , with some suggesting that both species' religions are at least cognate in more than superficial aspects.   Albeit technically forbidden by the Supreme Legion, the Helots of Gregara continue to be worshipped. They are a semi-secretive sect, their churches often found hidden in seedy back alleys. They are believed to hold no allegiance to any Legion, but instead to accrue power only for themselves. They are known to hold several rituals, including the Ritual of the Sun God or the Ritual of the Blood Legion. The frequent element of sacrifice and torture involved in these religious outpourings is probably connected to the Helots' interest in controlling prison-industrial complexes across the land - and curiously, few in the Hhrot Dominion seem fearless enough to oppose them.  

Economy

  The Dominion's economy is small, centrally planned, yet extremely stable. It is underpinned by mineral extraction and collective labour, but based in reciprocity between clans, castes and legions. Labour allocations can generally be separated in three categories : community-based labour, Dominion civilian labour including infrastructure works, and military obligations. These allocations are devised by the Supreme Legion, which is also responsible for the planning of the ecomony and the redistributious of surplus goods across parts of the Dominion, generally in accordance with pre-approved rigid concepts called Five Cycle Plans. Each Legion then allocates the labour in whatever way it finds most appropriate, taking into account the labour force's ranks, castes and clans. Generally, members of a specific caste will be allocated relevant work; more menial work is reserved for the lower ranks, with upper ranks generally supervising or providing advanced labour. In exchange, the Supreme Legion provides materials and high-ranked soldiers.   Member clans of each Legion collectively own their land, which they must redistribute amongst themselves. Housing is never privately owned, and is instead granted based on rank and personal need. Personal property is allowed, however, especially everyday goods, ritually crafted materials, or trophies acquired through battle.   In each Dominion outpost, once local needs are met, any surplus is sent by workers of the logistics caste to Dominion warehouses, where it waits to be allocated where the Supreme Legion deems it most appropriate. A surplus of workforce is sometimes an occurance; each Legion must provide able-bodied workers for infrastructure works or other Dominion-wide projects. There is a legal difference in the way the normal peacetime economic system works versus a hypothetical war economy, where a doctrine of total economic and military war would prevail. However, as the post-Great Jump Dominion has never been in a state of legal total war, it is unknown how the economic system would change.  

History

  Before the Great Jump, the Hhrot were a proud warrior species, and their colonies often had a reputation for their forceful way of keeping the peace. In fact, very few Hhrot were initially interested in joining the other refugees on what would become the Embassy Ark and most considered dying to protect its launch as more honourable. Nevertheless, a large number of troops provided security to the Ark against the Oberon Incursion. Descendants of these Hhrot have become today's Hhrot Dominion.   The Hhrot wasted no time and efficiently evacuated their people and their share of Programmable Matter to the Fifth Orbit, which no other species wanted, a fact that never bothered the Hhrot. Over the course of a few years, two settlements had been built : the city of Blade's Edge on Planetfall and that of Steeledge on Harvest. Both planets were hardly livable - cold ashen deserts with scant breathable air, requiring many Hhrot to venture outside wearing rebreathers, and to make things worse, the presence of apex predators on both worlds. Thanks to their military training and to their hardy constitution, they are nonetheless in the process of taming both worlds and making them more homely. Whilst they do trade with the rest of the Stream, they typically keep to themselves due to their new homeworld's unhospitably high gravity. Lately, the Hhrot have taken to colonize the slightly milder world Gorass in the hopes of turning it into an agricultural world - something that Harvest definitely did not live up to