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The Divine Principality is a galaxy-spanning empire in the Milky Way. Its culture, members, and physical expanse are often called Divinity by its people. It is comprised of five Stels, each with its own culture and internal structure: Kesh, Nideo, Orion, Columnar, and Apostolos. Stels Kesh and Nideo were the founders, while Orion, Columnar, and Apostolos were enfolded later.
Faith & Governance
Faith and governance are impossible to extricate in the Principality. There are two main faiths: Received Asterism (controlled by Stel Nideo) and Progressive Asterism (splintered into many sects and denominations). Their tenets and philosophies are visually represented by manipulated constellations (asterisms), visible from any planet in the Principality. One constellation lays out the social hierarchy: Elects, Divines, and the leader of the Stels are held above all others, followed by the Hallowed (blessed by a Divine), then the Citizenry, and then the Adrift (as non-citizens are called).[1]
Stel Nideo controls the Received Asterist church, which is also a key part of the governance of the Stel. It is headed by the Cycle for all of the Principality, and under them are the Songs, who lead individual planets. Stel Kesh has the Princept as well as a complicated parliamentary democracy, though the real power is in the hands of the Curtain. Stel Orion is led by corporations, Stel Columnar is a representative democracy, and Stel Apostolos has the Apokine and their military.
All Stels are largely self-governing, although the Princept, as the supposed representative of the people, is the head of all Divinity. Prominent noble families are called Houses and are part of each Stel, though especially important to Stel Kesh.
Calendar
The Divine Principality has an especially arcane and confusing calendar. Over its existence, its years have varied in length, as they continued adding more months to the year. As such, while its eras are officially divided into millennia, these probably do not correspond perfectly to their value in the Gregorian calendar.[2] As of 1423 of the Perfect Millennium, a month is 50 days long, and a year is 10 months long. This calendar will also not coincide with given planetary calendars, and as such almanacs are an important part of Principality culture.[2]
History
The Dawn Millennium
Formed after the events of Twilight Mirage, it was originally composed of the two civilisations of the Principality of Kesh (led by the Rapid Evening) and the Divine Free States (led by the Resolute Regent, Aram Nideo). The two were cemented in the Divine Principality as the first Stels, or Great Houses: Stel Nideo and Stel Kesh. The Asterist faith and philosophy finds its basis in Aram Nideo's Many Stars Argument.
The Ascendant Millennium
The Principality continued its expansion, destroying and assimilating cultures such as the Hypha.
The Miraculous Millennium
The Principality adopted the Many Stars Policy, which allowed for a certain amount of internecine conflict. Horizon was formed, and according to Brightline legend, aided Perennial in taking the Dyson sphere at the galactic core. The new Perennial Wave destabilized many advanced forms of technology, ending the Principality's ability to travel or communicate faster than light.
The empire's reach met the region of space controlled by the Orion Combine and the Divine Collaborate, with which it then went to war in the Divine Clash. Eventually, the Orion Combine betrayed the Divine Collaborate by deploying EDICT[3].
Victorious Millennium
The Orion Combine was officially incorporated into the Principality as Stel Orion. The Portcullis System was soon brought online, allowing the Principality near-total control of travel and communication between planets. As time passed, the Divine Clash was largely forgotten.
The Principality courted the Columnar Tabulary, gifting them the Divine Commitment.
Perfect Millennium
Columnar began to suppress the formerly semi-autonomous Equiaxed, and Columnar technology was repurposed for the Principality. Stel Columnar was formed.
Thanks to a computer glitch, Logos Kantel, an Equiaxed, was sent to the moon of Partizan, which orbits the gas giant Girandole. Once there, they spoke to the True Divine and miraculously brought water and life to the moon. They were soon called a prophet, and to prevent their influence from being destabilizing, Progressive Asterism was folded into the Asterist faith. The Tranquil Princept ruled that no one may expand beyond the Partizan-Girandole system into the Scutum-Centauris arm of the galaxy.
The planet Kesh, the so-called ancestral planet of Stel Kesh, became home to the post-human civilization of the Branched. In response, the Audacious Princept ruled that whoever recaptured Kesh may freely expand past Partizan. Ongoing war eventually led to an alliance between The Branched and Apostolos. The Apokine made multiple attempts to assassinate the leader of Stel Kesh[4]. This attempt failed, and the combined leaders of the Stels decided to secretly replace the Apokine with a new Apokine who was more sympathetic to the Divine Principality. Stel Apostolos was formed.
A mostly-dormant resin heart was found at the bottom of the Prophet's Sea in Partizan by the military. In response, the Disciples of Logos founded the Church of the Resin Heart.
Eventually, the Princept Dahlia was born. They were kidnapped by Stel Nideo, and then rescued by Stel Apostolos, who decided to keep Dahlia and raise them. Upon reaching adulthood, Dahlia claimed both the positions of Apokine and Princept, in dual allegiance. Stel Kesh responded by claiming that Dahlia was not the true Princept and putting forth their own claim, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. Soon after, in the year 1423, war broke out between Apostolos and Kesh.
Five years later, in 1423, the events of PARTIZAN began.