Sanguine Empire

The Sanguine Empire is one of the oldest galactic powers in the realm. From the earliest records of what they once were, the Sanguine Empire had been driven by genetic research and eugenics-based ideology to the exclusion of most divergent avenues of advancement. The founding species, known as the Primogenitors, no longer exists, having long since been replaced by their successive and successful attempts to genetically alter themselves into beings they considered worthy of deification through the period known as the Aurum Sanguineus. Also known as the Golden Age of the Sanguine Empire, a time during which all inanimate creations of old were replaced by genetically engineered alternatives including the existing ecosystem.

Aurum Sanguineus:

The Aurum Sanguineus, also known as the Golden Age of the Sanguine Empire. For the Sanguine Empire, time is split into three era signifiers, AAS, AS, and OAS to represent before, during, and after the Golden Age.
During this period of history, the Primogenitors of the Sanguine Empire set about in their great undertaking of genetically engineering replacements and subversions of every known species and function on their homeworld, while pioneering their development of interstellar biological lifeforms with an emphasis on biological FDS travel.

Caste System:

The caste system is a series of species and collections of species designed for specific purposes by which they are designated. These species have fully supplanted the natural processes on the worlds of the empire and in some cases the functions of solar systems themselves. The progeny and future of the original species compose the Alpha and Beta castes. Other castes hold sacred and revered positions due to the favor of the Alphas or due to the positions they were designed to serve.

Alpha:

The ruling caste of the Sanguine Empire is composed solely of the original sapient species of the Precursors of the empire. Heavily genetically modified, they have long lost any genetic resemblance to their progenitor species. With an average height of four meters for males and females. Bipedal, plantigrade, warm-blooded omnivores. Their bodies heal at an accelerated rate, possess powerful immune systems and highly developed brains. Their skin, hair, and iris' are a vibrant gold, composed of an alloy containing gold. Their bones, organs, and muscles are composed of more durable alloys.

Beta:

The future of the ruling caste of the empire. New genetic variants are designed to improve the species which have not yet finished being observed and tested to ensure they are genetically superior to the Alpha caste that preceded them. When testing is completed the genetic strands are introduced through the next generation, with the previous generation being preserved in genetic samples and suspended embryos as Betas.

Omega:

A servile caste of priests composed of a single species designed using a base from the closest genetic relative of the precursor species from the old animal kingdom. Bipedal, plantigrade, warm-blooded omnivores made in the image of the Alpha cast. Standing an average of three meters for males and females. They likewise have skin, hair, and eyes that are composed of an alloy, containing silver. They are among the most intelligent species of the empire and possess some of the greater degrees of freedom of thought and action within the empire.

Chi:

A collection of species designed to serve as lovers to the Alpha caste as well as those favored by the Alpha caste. All are bipedal, warm-blooded sentient or sapient beings. They vary in form as plantigrade and digitigrade, as well as omnivores, carnivores and herbavores. Their intellect is equal to the Omega caste. Their reproductive organs are chimera organs, genetically identical to and capable of procreating using Alpha genetics, or those of a favored individual. The Chi caste is also among the most emotionally complex species of the empire.

Rho:

A large variety of species serve as the platonic companions of the Alpha caste and those favored by the Alpha caste. They take on many forms ranging from the instinctual to the sapient. They may be warm-blooded or cold-blooded; omnivores, carnivores, or herbivores; plantigrade or digitigrade; bipedal or quadrupedal.

Gamma:

A caste comprised of numerous sapient species of low intelligence utilized in all manner of manual labor throughout the empire, along with the menial labor tasks of administration of the empire.

Delta:

A caste composed of numerous sapient species corresponding to those of the Gamma caste. The Delta caste is tasked with overseeing the efforts of the Gamma caste as low-level management within the empire. They have moderate levels of intelligence allowing them to imagine and convey orders to deal with potential obstacles to their assigned duties.

Epsilon:

A caste composed of numerous sapient species corresponding to those of the Delta Caste. The Epsilon caste is tasked with the administration of the large-scale efforts required in expanding and painting the empire through the use of their Delta caste underlings.

Zeta:

A caste that is composed of numerous species of living mineral structures that are used in the construction of works of art by the Mu caste. Used in the crafting of sculptures, jewelry, and other forms of ornamentation.

Eta:

A caste of numerous species designed for the production, harvesting, and storage of energy. Ranging from single-cell organisms to immense sapient lifeforms. The primary utility of the Eta caste is to provide nourishment to the Pi, Sigma, Tau, and Upsilon castes in the form of Eta canisters that provide high-density energy storage for use in situations that require excessive or continuous performance.

Theta:

A caste of numerous species designed to serve as food sources. These range from simple instinctual lifeforms to complex sapient beings that possess the intellectual capacities to be self-sufficient. Species of fauna are typically left isolated from species of other castes and the truth of their fates and purpose in life.

Iota:

A caste of vast numbers of species ranging from single-cell lifeforms to immense but non-sentient species. Designed for waste disposal and the recycling of refuse materials.

Kappa:

A caste of vast numbers of species from single-cell lifeforms to large and sapient species of flora. Designed to extract, refine, harvest, and even produce any inanimate matter necessary to maintain the health and welfare of other castes.

Lambda:

A caste of numerous species of flora and fauna; designed to serve as living fabrics, textiles, leathers, and furs. They serve as clothing, accessories, blankets, carpets, drapes, etc.

Mu:

A caste of various species of sapient flora and fauna, designed to serve as artists, performers, and entertainers across a wide variety of arts.

Nu:

A caste of various species of flora and fauna designed to serve as researchers, test subjects, and necessary equipment ranging from those utilizing instinct to those that are sapient. The species designed to serve as researched possess the greatest intellectual capacities outside of the Alpha and Beta castes within the empire. They also possess unparalleled freedom of thought and autonomy of activities, in addition, they are among the highly cultured species.

Xi:

A caste of numerous species designed to be utilized as the servants and materials of the empire's espionage efforts. Agents, assassins, saboteurs, as well as the various tools and vessels used in their operations. They range from simplistic instinctual lifeforms to sapient species with complex intellectual capacities, freedom of thought, and autonomy of action.

Omicron:

A caste of numerous species designed to serve as the military personnel of the empire. Warriors, soldiers, guards, war beasts, vehicles, ships, aircraft, and warships. They range from simplistic instinctual species to sapient species with complex intellectual capacities, freedom of thought, and autonomy of action.

Pi:

A caste of numerous species designed to serve as means of transportation. Mounts, vehicles, ships, aircraft, and starships. Most of these species are armored and possess a means of providing security and defense against potential aggression. All species of this caste are sentient or sapient with various degrees of intellectual and emotional capacities.

Sigma:

A caste of numerous species designed to serve as independent armaments and armors. Melee weapons, firearms, explosives, chemical, and biological agents as well as protection from the same. Ranging from single-cell organisms to complex though typically immobile lifeforms that are sapient, varying degrees of intellectual and emotional capacities.

Tau:

A caste of numerous species designed to serve as tools and utilities not otherwise classified within the other castes. Ranging from flashlights to computers and from instinctual to sapient with varying levels of intellectual and emotional capacities.

Upsilon:

A caste of numerous species designed to serve as the architecture and infrastructure of the empire. Buildings, roads, tunnels, bridges, etc. As with most castes, their intellectual and emotional capacities vary from instinctual to complex and sapient.

Phi:

A caste of numerous species designed to serve the medical field of the empire. Physicians, surgeons, and geneticists. They are sapient with vast intellectual but limited emotional capacities.

Psi:

A caste of numerous species designed to serve as the genetic engineering and pharmacological field of the empire. Species that produce and manufacture every chemical and mineral compound utilized within the medical field which is exclusively single-celled organisms. Genetic engineering equipment including birthing vats which are exclusively sapient beings with complex intellectual capacities that are capable of brooding any species of any caste within the empire which are small enough to be contained within them.

Cultures:

The cultures of the Sanguine Empire are scattered out amongst the different caste systems as are their jobs, functions, intellectual and emotional capacities, privileges, etc.

Alpha Caste:

Seen by the entirety of the intellectually and emotionally capable among the Sanguine Empire as the pinnacle of culture, genetics, intellect, and importance. The Alpha caste is self-reverential and typically rules over their own domains as autonomous entities. The culture regarding interactions between members of the Alpha caste is complex, in which the Alphas maneuver to protect their own sense of divinity while placating those of their peers. They also extend greater courtesy, consideration, and respect to the Beta caste, which often turns out to be the future of the Alpha caste. For all other castes within the empire, the sentient and sapient species are treated as servants according to their use and individual attachments that may have formed. Most of the Alpha caste live isolated from their peers, preferring to not interact with others of their won Caste excepting offspring and by necessity. In matters that affect the territories or populations within the domain of multiple Alphas, the entirety of the Sanguine Empire will become involved.
In regards to any interactions with foreign sentient or sapient species, similar levels of reverence and deference are required of the foreigner as those of their peers in the empire. Those foreign species that due will receive slightly higher regard from the Alpha caste than the peers of the empire, in that they will be allowed the freedom to leave though may be commanded to perform brief menial tasks. The Alpha caste does possess an innate curiosity of foreign species, and for receiving their application they will regularly bless the foreigner with a boon in the form of one a member of one of the applicable caste species such as the Chi, Rho, Mu, Pi, Sigma, or Tau castes.
Some members of the Alpha caste, despite their tendency to isolate themselves away from each other, will live in tribes consisting of close family lines, separating their planets into geographical pantheons. They carefully manage their reproduction to prevent the numbers of the Alpha caste beyond the levels with which they desire to share power. In these cases, they tend to regularly interact with each other to maintain strong familial bonds.
The Alpha caste worships the original species from which they come, known as the Precursors. They hold even menial objects from the age of the Precursors as sacred relics. Among the other sentient, sapient and emotionally complex species of the empire, the preserved bodies or bones of a deceased Alpha caste member are sacred relics that are tended to and venerated.
All sentient, sapient, and emotionally complex species of every other caste than the Alpha and Beta castes are genetically engineered to revere, love, and worship the Alpha caste as deities beyond reproach.

Beta Caste:

Seen by the empire as its potential and its future, but barely existent in the present sense. They are kept isolated from the wider culture and other castes, they are instead required to function in a self-sufficient manner in tests of their capacities compared to the current Alpha caste. Though they are differentiated from the Alpha caste, great care is taken to avoid any unnecessary burden or threat for their tests to be conducted out of concern of misusing or abusing what could be the future of the Alpha caste.
Each stage of the next Beta variant begins from the ground up in constructing a new culture and society, eventually transitioning to the introduction of other castes in order to test their capacity to interact with them. Due to the significant degree of isolation in the early stages of a Beta variants cultural development, new cultural advents occur and reoccur regularly which often go on to enrich the culture of the Alpha caste and the empire as a whole.

Omega Caste:

The culture of the Omega caste is highly theocratic in nature due to their design and their proximity to the members of the Alpha caste. Much of their art is dedicated to depicting landscapes shaped and inhabited by the castes of the Sanguine Empire and their reverence to the Alpha caste. For leisure, they prefer to spend time in groves and gardens, picnicking, performing religious ceremonies, socializing, and listening to the stories and songs of the Theta caste flora which provide them with nourishment. Being centered around family, with their leisure time spent dedicated to such activities in order to include their families and strengthen social bonding.
The Omega caste, as the priests of the Sanguine Empire, are tasked with the consecrating, dispensation, and safeguarding of the sacred relics of the empire. Ranked in a pyramid structure of eldest to youngest, the highest rank of the priestly caste are the Prophets, served in succession by the ranks of Saints, Elders, Priests, Teachers, Apprentices, and Pupils.

Chi Caste:

The Chi caste lacks a complex culture due to the fact that they are exclusively grown in the Psi birthing vats and held in stasis. All members of the Chi caste are genetically engineered to pair with one individual as their mate and will become hostile to any other lifeform that attempts to approach them with romantic or intimate intent. Aside from their mate, they only bond with the children they birth for or impregnate their spouse with. Members of the Chi caste are highly protective of their mate and their offspring. Their mate and their offspring are the only beings permitted to touch them for any other reason than protecting them from a threat. Due to their pairing with a mate, members of the Chi caste are required to remain in close proximity to their mate and will pass away if separated from them for more than a month, or their death.

Rho Caste:

The Rho caste lacks a complex culture due to the fact that like the Chi they are exclusively grown in the Psi birthing vats and held in stasis. All members of the Rho caste are genetically engineered to imprint on their master/mistress. They are devoted platonic companions who seek to offer solace, advice and act as a confidant. They are protective of the master or mistress they imprint upon, as well as any offspring and mate that they may have.

Theta Caste:

The Theta caste has two distinct subsets of cultures among their people. The culture of the flora that exists among the other castes is that of acquiring and reciting workers of literature and music from the Mu caste to entertain themselves and the guests which they post in their groves and gardens. They are philanthropic by nature, passing out their yield of fruits and berries for those that can enjoy them and providing them with entertainment in the forms of stories or songs that they know.
The culture of the fauna exists isolated from all but members of species of flora of the Theta caste during their lifetimes, only interacting with others at their birth and upon their deaths. The only interaction with the Alpha caste for these individuals is in the form of their sacred relics in the form of bones from bodies that were not fully preserved. These remains can be left with the fauna of the Theta caste, who tend to and revere these remains as their deities. During pregnancy, fauna species of the Theta caste along with their mate instinctively travel to a harvesting center, where the pregnant individual will give birth. The offspring is set on a ritual altar, the altar is a species of the Psi caste which is a genetic analyzer designed to determine if the offspring has any genetic mutations or defects, if it is it is harvested and otherwise is reclaimed by the parents.
After the ritual of their birthing the members of the Theta caste return home, and largely live among the groves and gardens of the flora species of the Theta caste, enjoying their stories and songs while tending to and revering the remains of their deities. When they begin to reach the end of their natural lives, they will again take an instinctual pilgrimage back to the harvesting center to present themselves again in old age on the altar. The elderly are harvested for their edible parts and collected by appropriate members of other castes for distribution.

Mu Caste:

The Mu caste is responsible for the cultural music, dance, and artwork that is enjoyed by all of the sentient, sapient, and emotionally complex lifeforms in the empire safe for the Beta caste. As the artists, entertainers, and performers their culture consists of the arts. They spend their days telling stories, singing songs, and performing dances dedicated to offering reverence to the Alpha caste and the empire that they rule over. Members of the Mu caste spend time teaching the flora of the Theta caste within the sanctum of the Fauna of the Theta caste before the fauna themselves are introduced, allowing the flora to spread their songs and stories in their absence.

Nu Caste:

The Nu caste prefers music and artwork dedicated to depicting the intellectual aspects of the empire, genome sculptures, and songs dedicated to the complexity of the various species of the various caste systems as well as the reverence owed to the Alpha caste for these achievements.

Xi Caste:

The culture of the Xi caste is nearly nonexistent due to their duties being related to espionage and a desire for secrecy, with a culture consisting of stories they hear of the Alphas and the lessons they learn of their trade from times when they are not deployed which they hold sacred and unspeakable to those outside of their own species. Their weapons and armor, if not part of their being, are considered sacred relics gifted to them by their deities, the Alphas; for those species whose equipment is compartmentalized as part of their being, they view themselves as sacred relics required live in accordance to the will of their deities.

Omicron Caste:

The culture of the Omicron caste largely consists of reading military literature, works of art depicting great warriors and notable soldiers receiving recognition from the Alpha caste, along with cadences, songs, and tunes to hum and whistle dedicated to fighting and dying for at the blessing of the Alpha caste. When at rest, the members of the Omicron caste likewise enjoy relaxing among the flora of the Theta caste to hear stories of great battles and songs dedicated to the glory of the Alpha caste. Members of the Omicron caste revere their weapons and armor as sacred relics gifted to them by their deities, the Alphas.

Other Castes:

The culture of the other castes is largely homogenous for those capable of culture. Consisting of works of art dedicated to displays of the empire on a grand scale in terms of their planets, systems, and territory as a whole. Their music and stories largely relate to their own fields of work and the ways that they serve their deities, the Alpha caste, in the administration of their empire. Most that can enjoy going attending the groves and gardens of the Theta caste flora to witness the official religious ceremonies performed by the higher-ranking members of the Omega caste at regular intervals. Members of these castes seek to receive the blessings of prophets to have their bodies consecrated for entombment upon death in private ceremonies lead by priests in the presence of the sacred relics of the Alpha caste remains. Those that receive this privilege are honored in death by their families as holy men and women whose remains are blessed and lives to be emulated.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire