Zanabarian Empire
"The Empire shall last forever in Zanabar's name."
-The Zanabarian Empire is one of the oldest human domains still in existence. Forged during the Age of Conquest, and tempered during de Blud Kersad, no other realm has proven as resilient as the Zanabarian Empire. It's armies are composed of countless men and women armed with the deadly bolt rifle, encouraged by the Committee of Public Safety, and supported by millions of warmachines, some as old as the Empire itself. The soldiers are well drilled, and many of their battles have been won at the sharp edge of the bayonet as have been those won through volleys of led. Guiding this army is Emperor Zanabar, the immortal man who founded his namesake empire almost four-thousand years ago, and has led it ever since.
The Binary Star Senate (B.S.S.)
"Fortem reipublicae est unum pinned conexum per sicarius ferrum. (A strong republic is one pinned together by an assassin's knife.)"
-The B.S.S. is the perfect republic held together by the will of its various races and factions, as much as by the point of assassins. The B.S.S. is made up of hundreds of different races, the most prominent of which are humans, followed by the sly Renten, backed up by the proud Frawd, and aided by the Shel'veok. In times of crisis, ordinary plebeians throng their way to recruiting stations and formed into regiments with as much diversity as the B.S.S. itself. Providing a professional backbone are the Regulars, men, women, and aliens who dedicate their lives to the B.S.S., and also provide the standards for volunteer units. When even the Regulars are not enough, the B.S.S. will call in its specialist troops: The Execution, a deadly combination of shock-troopers, snipers, infiltrators, and assassins, and the Irritum Aequoreus, regarded as the best military unit in the galaxy.
The Heresy
"Relado Herla (Literally: War is Profit)"
-The oldest and largest of the human domains, the Heresy is an ancient realm whose beginnings stretch back to the Age of Aliens. In their language, Heresy literally translates to "Empire of Trade", and they do just that, with massive fleets of merchants prowling the blackness of space for markets, new and old. Defending the markets, even the ones they don't already own, is a tireless army of Technos, produced in factories capable of producing millions of them every day. As war is disliked in the Heresy, the technos take a very straight-forward approach and will simply walk over the opposing army. Casualties mean nothing to the Heresy, as money is not an object to them, but resources are.
The Syber
"Obagot selbed wson Syber (Oppression creates resistance)."
-Deviancy kills. This adage has been one of the guiding principles of the Syber, the youngest of the major human realms; its history barely spanning two hundred years. The Syber was originally part of the now defunct Eagle Empire, and managed to win their independence during the War of Darkness. Despite being on a relatively small number of planets, the Syber has a population density many times that of its larger "brothers", with planets containing several trillion people being the norm. When at war, the Syber can draw upon this large pool of soldiers and crush any opposition in a tide of men and iron.
Local Order Enforcement Departments (L.O.E.D.)
"Not one step."
-The Universe is a large place, with almost 20 million worlds containing life in one for or another. Of these, only about 7 million are under the control of an inter-planetary power, and more then half of those are in the four major human powers. The rest of the worlds are clustered in a large "buffer zone" between the powers known as Neutral Space. Because they are not under any direct power, the duty of defense falls on their shoulders, and is collectively known as the L.O.E.D.. In times of peace, the L.O.E.D. is a small police force, capable of containing local intrusions and fending off minor threats. In times of war, they can be a massive military machine numbering in the hundreds of millions, and capable or repelling even the fiercest of invasions. Indeed, the L.O.E.D. is so important that even the major powers maintain it in some form or another so that the military can have a pool of recruits.
Anarchy
"Our world was dying, and we rose up to change that."
-The one word any man fears, is Anarchy. Whether under the guise of a radical party or a religious movement, Anarchy is the catch all phrase for any movement against the established powers. Perhaps the fiercest part of Anarchy is Doairato, the perverse opposite of the Triad. Depicting the gods as macabre killers, the followers of Doairato call upon the elementals, servants of the true gods, and unless them to kill loyalists. Should Anarchy succeed, then nothing less then a total genocide of the planet's populace will ensure that their message won't spread to other planets. what makes anarchy truly terrifying is that it is present on almost every world, and often infiltrates to the highest levels of governance.
Trolz
"Zogin' wanka's (*censored*)"
-Trolz are vile barbarians, standing at around seven feet tall, with lean muscle, three tusks (two ascending on the sides, one going down in the middle), pointed features, and a multitude of different skin colors. Their history stretches back to the Age of Aliens, when the Trolz' Blud Kersad not only managed to ruin large tracts of the Vergession empire, but almost destroyed the entire universe. Today, the Trolz are a much more numerous, but dispersed, threat; content to raid as they please. In fact, the Trolz religion, BoBa-BeBuBi, demands that Trolz follow "da groove o' tings" and act in whatever way other Trolz act. If one Trol decides to dance, they all will. If one Trol starts to kill, then nothing short of a full military response will stop them.
Vergession
"Vol verum, verum (What will be, will be.)"
-Once master of the universe, the Vergession empire is a hollow shell of its former self. Fractured by the coming of the Werenaughts, ravaged in the Blud Kersad, and all but destroyed in the War of Darkness, those few Vergession that remain must sell themselves as mercenaries to live. Yet, this is not a bad thing, as the Vergessions are some of the greatest mercenaries the universe has to offer. Indeed, some of the battles since the War of Darkness have simply been decided by who could hire the Vergessions the fastest. When in battle, the Vergessions present impossible targets laying down a hailstorm of accurate rounds, coupled with some of the fastest vehicles available. Often, they obliterate an enemy before they even known they are there.
Marow
".pec ha lu Silat (Life is a circle)"
-The Marow are an up-and-coming race located between the borders of the Zanabarian Empire and the B.S.S.. Despite its location, the Marow have managed to carve out a sizable realm from not only neutral worlds, but also from several planets in the Empire. Marow technology is extremely advance, to the point of making top of the line weapons in the Heresy look like children's toys. This is reflected in the Marow army, which is capable of destroying forces many times their own size. When the Marow go to war, they stalk their enemy into traps, before overwhelming them with their pulse weaponry.
Utillians
"Thie Heide s' kol, os habe w' is i' Pakao shikt (Those Pagan's looked cold, so we've sent them to Pakao)"
-The Utillians are an alien race which have no sorcerers, in fact they
possess a negative influence and disrupt the flow of ''magic''. Long
ago, they were enslaved by what they call Daemons, but then the
Triquetra, the Holy Oracle, had cast it's holy light upon their world
and vanquished the fiends. From that day on, the Utillians worshipped
Triquetra as a deity and had grown a hate towards witchcraft and sorcery
in all it's forms. The Utillian Kingdom is an interstellar nation and
it's inhabitants are highly religious and zealous in their cause to
exterminate all Daemons and Sorcerers from the stars. Their knights, who
combine the doctrine of monk and warrior, are sent on Crusades, to
spread the word of the Oracle, and bring forth it's blessed light in the
darkest of places. Now, more then ever, the Crusaders are at war like
never before, and they shall see the Galaxy drown in blood, fire and
steel.
Werenaughts
"We are the madness that lurks within you all, begging to be free at every moment in your deepest animal mind."
-Werenaughts are men's nightmares incarnate. No one knows exactly how long the Werenaughts have existed for, but the first recorded instance of their appearance in Realspace nearly destroyed everything. Today, the Werenaughts are largely confined to Hyperspace, and can only escape through rifts such as the Maelstrom, the Preacher's Fall, the Needle's Eye, and dozens of lesser rifts. However, Werenaughts are able to influence people to form religious groups, known collectively as the Cult of Shadows, in order to release their masters. While in Realspace, the Werenaughts are able to travel freely through shadows, a phenomenon which has yet to be fully explained. In battle, Werenaughts resemble feral animals, destroying everything in their path with claws, talons, and teeth; yet, they show an understanding of tactics far beyond those of many mortal general.
Orineth
"(various clicks) Why embrace technology, when all it does is breed violence?"
-The Orineth were the first species to form an empire across planets. At its height, the Orineth empire was estimated to cover over five-million worlds. But, for reasons unknown, the Orineth abandoned their empire and fled to the Great Plain, a dimension existing exactly parallel to our own and containing an infinite amount of land, resources, and animals. The main reason that the Orineth are theorized to have done this is their loathing of technology as, even when they were still in this universe, the Orineth never built cities, masters metal working, or any of a hundred other things a civilization needs to do. Instead, they focused on spiritualism and managed to make a series of portals connecting all their holdings, and having the ability to pierce at any point in Realspace. Occasionally, when they feel a civilization has gone too far with their technology, the Orineth will attack and, despite using stone and shard-crystal weaponry, they in more often then not.
Zed
"(various gargles, moans, and wails) He's coming."
-If there is one thing men fear the most, it is the dead. That is exactly what the Zed are: the dead given the ability to walk and kill. It is unknown how the Zed were first created, or even how exactly they spread. It is assumed that the Zed are caused by a virus, but no researcher has ever been close enough to one to find out. While the vast majority of them are not cannibalistic, those who are tend to be more all around better. In fact, there are some strains of Zed which seem to be caused by mutations of their host, such as the waelwulf, the drogars, and scínans. When fighting the zed are an endless horde of bodies, immune to pain, fear, shock and awe, or any of a thousand other things. In addition, it has been noted that, regardless of the methods used, when a Zed dies, it attracts more of them to its corpse, meaning killing one Zed is sure to attract a horde of them.
