Drinax

IMPERIAL REGISTRY DATA (UPDATE REQUIRED. LAST SCOUT UPDATE OVERDUE BY 15 YEARS) Two hundred years ago, Drinax was the great power in this subsector, second only to the Hierate. The Kings of Drinax ruled over every world from Khusai to Paal, and also claimed Torpol, Clarke and Blue. A war between Drinax and the Aslan Hierate put an end to the Kingdom of Drinax. The Drinaxians had marginally higher technology, but the Aslan fleet outnumbered them three to one. The war was sparked by an ihatei invasion of Asimov, but conflict had been brewing for years as the Drinaxians tried to muscle in on the Imperium/Hierate trade.
The war shattered the Kingdom of Drinax. The other worlds had chafed under Drinax rule for years, and the Drinaxians had resorted to the tactics of the Sindalian Empire of old, bombing planets to keep them in line. The Hierate returned the favour tenfold – Drinax was nearly glassed by the Ahroay’if.
The only surviving settlement on Drinax was the Royal Palace, which floats above the blasted, lifeless surface on a huge gravity platform. The only survivors were the Royal Family and their servants, courtesans, guards, jesters, technicians, beauticians and other hangerson. Fortunately, the fabled Hanging Gardens of Drinax could be quickly repurposed to provide food. The Kings of Drinax are much humbler now, although Drinax did launch a successful invasion of the nearby planet of Asim ten years ago, mainly to obtain better food supplies. (Invasion is perhaps a grandiose term for ‘jump over, blast the Asimen from orbit, and keep shooting until they give you stuff’ – apparently, old habits die hard for Sindalian descendants).
The current King of Drinax is Oleb XVI, an accomplished boxer and swordsman, infamous for his taste in wine (strong reds), women (ditto) and song (shouted lustily through a megaphone).


ARTICLE FROM "The Drinax Lament: A Primer for visitors to Drinax" written by Stiles Mertin
Behold! The world of Drinax is a thing to behold! This is the lie still told by tourism industries which try to sell people on visiting this backwater of a planet. It is a world of two systems and two people where oppression and cruelty is the order of the day. A world that was once nearly destroyed by one people, squandered by the other, and deserved by neither. I know this for certain because I was born and raised on Drinax.
The first thing that a visitor will notice on coming to Drinax is that we have a state of the art Spaceport with amenities for thousands of people. This is only true, however, if you are Aslan. The Space Station Highport is only for Aslan shipping and if you are an Aslan trader you will find a wide array of goods to choose from. These goods are plundered from planets across the Unaligned Worlds and transported back to the Heirate. I say transported because Aslan do not dirty themselves with money and trade. Only women care about such things and a true Aslan does not dirty himself worrying about this. To those Aslan traders I will say that the artwork which still sits on walls in the Space Station viewing areas are true masterpieces and I hope the automated systems have kept the place clean as whistle like they have for hundreds of years.
If you travel down as a tourist you will be allowed to visit the Floating Palace of Drinax. This is truly the main attraction to be seen. You can fly through the sky on the high powered Grav Belts developed by enterprising humans. You will eat the food grown in the Floating Palace by hard working humans. You will sleep in pristine beds serviced by humans. These humans are not paid, but are not slaves. You see, the clan which rules Drinax does not believe in Slavery, but they also think that all humans should be happy to service the Aslan and their guests.
I hope you enjoy all that you see on your visit. The palace has been maintained and built up by loyal Drinaxians for hundreds of years.
The one place you wont be able to visit is a place we call "DownTown". In the shadow of the Floating Palace sits the only major settlement on the planet. Hundreds of Thousands of humans occupy the blasted remnants of a city which was not directly hit by the Aslan bombardment. No, not the most recent bombardment, although it was hit with conventional weapons a decade ago when the planet was occupied. I speak of the Aslan-Drinax war from 200 years ago when the planet was devastated with nuclear, fusion, and other experimental weapons. Those who have lived on the planetside are known as Vexpers and are plagued by generations of mutations, illness, and barbarism. This may be the fate of those excised to the planet by the Aslan Occupation in a few generations, but for now the humans who live in DownTown survive on whatever can be grown on the planet and from food brought in from Asim by the Aslan Occupation. On more then one occassion the Aslan Forces have used this control of the food as a way to bend the people to their will.
If you were allowed to walk around Downtown you would find all of the buildings are duracrete and steel structures salvaged from the ruins of the city whose original name is now lost to history. Some people get lucky and find the trash thrown from the Floating Palace for several hundreds of years with treasures among the refuse. It is in this way that the people manage to live. People try to farm. People try to sell what they can find or make to others who need it. Everybody accepts their rations from the Aslan Outreach building. And everyone ignores when people disappear for secret Aslan research projects never to return to their families.
The humans survive, although I can not say for how long, and the Aslan prosper, and all the other planets nearby sleep with one eye open in case the Aslan find they need to expand again.

Type

Planet