The Glorious Empire

This breakaway Aslan state is ruled by a single Emperor. The Empire declared independence from the Hierate in 650 following a political dispute, but disputes were brewing for centuries before that. The economy of the Glorious Empire is founded on slavery – between 30% to 60% of its population are humans (exact tallies are hard to come by, as the Empire is fiercely xenophobic), who were enslaved by the Empire during its expansionist period. The rights of these humans vary from territory to territory – at best, they are third-class citizens, at worst, food animals to be slaughtered at a whim. The Empire’s policy towards humans is only one of the reasons it is ostracised by other Aslan clans, but it is an important one, and it has shaped the attitudes of human worlds of the Reach towards the Glorious Empire. The Empire is feared and hated by virtually every world who knows of it, and tales of Aslan brutality are told across the sector.   The Glorious Empire is almost always at war with the other Aslan clans, the surrounding non-aligned worlds, or the Florian League. Its sole exports are mercenaries, and its economy is stagnating due to lack of skilled technicians among the slave caste. The Empire maintains diplomatic links with the Aslan Hierate and still has the right to a seat in the Ya’soisthea, but has no trading partners or real allies. The Imperium finds the Glorious Empire to be useful bogeyman with which to scare neutral worlds into line (‘accept our terms and we’ll protect you from the Aslan monsters’), but the Empire is too far from the Imperium for either side to be a real threat to the other.   Aside from practicing slavery, Glorious Empire culture is much like traditional Aslan culture. Males are warriors and landowners; females are technicians, merchants and advisors. Herding and disciplining slaves is considered a male task.   Travel within the Glorious Empire is heavily restricted. Outsiders must present themselves at a starport and contact the local representative of the Glorious Empire; the bureaucracy to obtain a visitor’s visa is labyrinthine and involves a lot of bribery. Even then, the visitor will only be permitted to travel to a limited number of places and will be accompanied by Imperial observers at all times.