Tribal Union of Hesparta
The Tribal Union of Hesparta is a world-spanning federal government comprised of approximately 272 Hespartan tribal communities. Based on Hesparta, a planet six light years from Evermorn and four light years from Lepidos, the Union is a near-peer power to the Cobalt Protectorate which remains staunchly independent of that body and, in the eyes of some, is its principle non-alien astropolitical rival.
Structure
The Tribal Union is a federal body that represents the 272 major Hespartic tribes. Each tribe appoints or elects three representatives to the Union Congress which handles most affairs of the state, including foreign relations, through a plurality voting system. If a situation requires immediate action, the eldest member of the Union Congress is empowered to make a decision on the behalf of the entire body, but must immediately cede the next snap decision to his immediate junior. Such emergency actions requiring more than three Hespartic months to enact must have their continuance voted upon by the assembled Congress. Bureaus assembled and funded through acts of the Congress ensure that Congressional measures are carried out efficiently.
Individual tribal holdings consist more of common assets, family ties, and small traditional land plots rather than necessarily a specific piece of territory. A given tribe can easily expand into the surrounding Hespartic System or even remote colonies without risking their sovereignty under the Union, as encroachments into what was their territor has reduced effect on their identity as a group in comparison to a traditional state. Each tribe is also afforded a relatively free hand in governing their own affairs, including the method by which they choose their representatives in the Union Congress, though there are a few Universal Laws (measures approved by the Union Congress by two rounds of unanimous consent separated by at least five Hespartic years) which all tribes must abide.
Culture
Though each constituent tribe in the Union has its own subculture and traditions, there are a few traits that most every tribal citizens exhibit. Regardless of age or socioeconomic strata, coming into ones own as an adult member of society requires some kind of proof through deeds or striving; the culture of the Union places special emphasis on the fruits of adventure, invention, and discovery. Most tribes in the Union have both sedentary and nomadic subgroups, and individual citizens may transition freely between these groups. Often, taking a sojourn with the 'nomad clade' is an important rite of passage most often undertaken by new adults seeking recognition in their exploits and elders looking to spare their communities the burden of their care while undertaking one final adventure. Unieros tend to exhibit great reverence of both their own tribes' traditions and those of others, as they recognize the value of continuity of tradition as a unifying force across the vast gulfs of time and space.
Assets
The Tribal Union of Hesparta is a spacefaring culture with full access to the resources of its home Hespartic System, including its asteroid belts and Oort cloud, as well as those of several colonies in outlying star systems. Union long-haul vessels tend to either be generation or sleeper ships built around industrial production that greatly outstrips the needs of the ship itself to encourage trade with non-Hespartan peoples and the establishment of new outposts. The Hespartic System's orbital infrastructure is only marginally less established than that of the Evermorn-Armoa Binary System, but is more well-established than that of the Lepidos System.
Technological Level
The Union lacks strong artificial intelligence and is not as advanced in the field of biological engineering, but is otherwise a near-peer to the Cobalt Protectorate in terms of technological development. Moreover, because the Union developed all of its technology on its own rather than relying on the revelations of Wurth Harkin and his cohort, Tribal Union technologies tend to be very rugged, better understood by the general public, and better integrated with one another than comparable Protectorate systems; while a Cobalter ship has multiple redundancy to weather damage, a Union vessel in distress can be stapled back together by a Uniero with what amounts to a high school education and still work as intended. The indigenous technology base of the Union also surpasses those of the League of Lepidosian City States (who were still based primarily on diesel technologies when the Harkinite Expedition found them) or the Federated Queendoms of Feldea (who only had in-system interplanetary travel).
As with all current humanoid powers, the Chitiquish Consortium, Vbyifabid Family-Flock, Qogant flotillas, and various Emoxi organizations like the White-Star Union all surpass the Union in terms of technological development.
Foreign Relations
Aside from one-off interactions in remote locations like the Alpha Xymeria System, the Tribal Union of Hesparta has had comparatively little in the way of contact with alien species since their deposit in the Sealed Kingdoms Region by the now functionally extinct Arcopel. Until relatively recently, any objects approaching Hespartic space which could not be identified as allied in some way have been repelled by various means, including force - but, even then, most of these have been asteroids or probes of unknown origin rather than crewed vessels to be interacted with as such.
Hespartic relations with their human and near-human interstellar neighbors have been strained by this defensive tendency to shoot first and ask questions later. The Hespartic-Lepidosian War was a brief military exchange between the Union and limbs of the League of Lepidosian City-States caused by an incident in which a Lepidosian expedition failed to announce its entry into the system properly. Attached elements of the Cobalt Knights were eventually able to de-escalate the situation and even make some diplomatic inroads with the Hespartans on behalf of their rabbit-eared compatriots, but this incident did sour the opinion of the Tribal Union towards both the League and the Protectorate, whom they regard as overly-idealistic interlopers. The Union has no formal relations with other known near-human powers, namely the Federated Queendoms of Feldea, though they have sent diplomatic missions in the hopes of perhaps swaying them into a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Type
Geopolitical, State
Alternative Names
Union, Hespartan Union
Demonym
Uniero(s), Hespartic(s)
Ruling Organization
Location
Comments