"Can we be truly free if we have no vision? No hope? No salvation?"

NAME: Althoran States

RACE NAME: The Ryparti (Rectus Sanctus)

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY: Pacifist

"Learning from the past mistakes of other religions, the Church of Althora strongly emphasizes peace and humility. The people are resistant to glorification of anything except for peace. When violence and war approaches, the states are swift to end such actions as quickly and as bloodlessly as possible."

VICTORY TYPE: Diplomatic/Religious

"The true mission of the Church comes in the form of conversion to the cause. Only through diplomacy or religion can the galaxy be united."

FACTION AFFINITY: Light of the World

"Systems visited by unarmed Althoran fleets are more likely to convert to the current ideology that the Althoran States ascribes to."

BIOGRAPHY

The Ryparti were an advanced people until the wreckages of war ships deorbited and covered their homeworld Ioye’Jak with dust. The dust drove them to distrust one another and led to the fracturing of their society and their split into small tribes.

On the other side of the galaxy, Martin Althora began experiencing visions from God. Determined to spread the word, he embarked on a trip to evangelise others. His journey was cut short as the ship he was on crashed into Ioye’Jak. The sole survivor, Martin tried to find a way off the world, but was stranded without hope. Resigned to his fate, Martin lived as a hermit, occasionally healing and helping local tribes who came to him for help. As time passed, Martin grew to learn the language of the Ryparti and began preaching to them of the visions he had.

Several tribes followed and believed his message of peace, trust and salvation. Those who listened reunited together once again, no longer influenced by the dust. As time progressed, each tribe turned to follow him. Upon his death, the united Ryparti renamed their Church after him and set about preaching his message that had saved them to others.

HOMEWORLD

Ioye'Jak (meaning 'Sustainer' in Ijak'ide and pronounced Ee-oh-ye Jah-k) is a planet that orbits a blue dwarf star. The planet is Terran, supports liquid water on its surface and has a diverse fauna along with vast urban environments. The planet is orbited by a single moon, Yona.

SOCIETY, CULTURE & PEOPLE

Race - The Ryparti

• The Ryparti are a sentient, bipedal race. They are bilaterally symmetrical and have an erect posture.
• They breathe through gill-like openings on the side of their necks and are capable of holding their breath for up to 30 minutes.
•  They possess opposable thumbs and have an additional three fingers on each of their two hands.
• Their skin color ranges from beige to olive tones.
• Their eyes are tetrachromatic and are covered with a thin, transparent liquid layer due to their inability to blink. 
• They have an average height of 1.79m for Males and 1.84m for Females and have an average mass of 76kg for Males and 81kg for Females.

Culture - Day to Day

The Ryparti are a conservative and traditional people, guided by the morals of their Church. Traditional robes are worn almost everywhere and collars of clothes are usually adorned with golden inscriptions of good fortune and wise words. There is a special emphasis on music in Rypartian culture, as it was the only way to broker talks between tribes before Martin Althora's arrival on the planet.

Culture - Language

The Ryparti speak two languages. Church officials and academics use Ryparti Latin which forms a bridge between old Ijak'ide, new Ijak'ide and a number of galactic languages. The language is not spoken in the day to day lives of many people and is primarily used to interpret the religious texts that Martin Althora left behind as well as old writings from before the time dust ruined ancient Rypartian society. 

The primary language used in the lives of the people is Ijak'ide (pronounced I-jack EE-deh), a modern interpretation of the traditional language of the Ryparti before their split into multiple tribes. The language utilises 24 letters of which 4 are vowels, 2 are transitional vowels (similar to the letter y), 4 are tone changers and 14 are consonants. There are an additional 4 grammar points, denoting the end of a sentence (full stop), a break in a sentence (comma), an increase in intonation (exclamation mark) and a decrease in intonation (question mark).

FACTION RATIONALE (AKA Why is this different from other ideas)

The Althoran States are intended to be a late game faction that focuses on influencing/converting other factions to their ideology and who are then rewarded for it with faction-specific traits. While they are capable of warfare, they suffer a number of penalties in order to discourage aggressive military play styles and are rewarded for diplomatic/lore friendly actions.

FACTION TRAITS

/// Feeding the Multitude ///

"Systems colonized by this faction gain an additional +15% food for 5 turns if the fleet colonizing the system is completely unarmed. "

Rationale: Allows for an early game bonus while providing a drawback towards the mid/late game by potentially leaving your colony ships vulnerable.

/// Gospel of Peace ///

"+10 Happiness empire wide if the majority of factions are at peace/allied with you. +10 Happiness empire wide if the majority of factions are Pacifist."

Rationale: Simple bonus to further encourage peaceful diplomacy. Plays into the faction affinity.

/// Gospel of Prosperity ///

"+7% FIDS for 5 turns when a faction switches from one ideology to that of the Althoran States."

Rationale: The biggest incentive to push the faction's style of play by incentivising players to manipulate other factions through the use of the Althoran States' affinity.

/// Rock of Faith ///

"All friendly systems gain a +25 defense bonus per faction that shares the same ideology as the Althoran States"

Rationale: This allows the faction to defend itself throughout the early game and to allow for a more 'tank' style of play.

/// The Other Cheek ///

"Fleets take an additional 10% damage when attacking offensively and an additional +15% if the defending faction's ideology is the same as yours"

Rationale: This plays into the pacifist game play of the faction by penalizing offensive military action and further punishing aggression against other factions.

/// Calming the Storm ///

"Systems which are captured take longer to integrate into the Althoran States."

Rationale: Further pushes the pacifist theme by penalizing takeovers of systems.

(Will add/edit more in the coming days)