NationStates Jolt Archive

Three worlds are capable of sustaining Life in the Yelm system, though only two do so. The trolls of Pamaltela reduced Genertela to a mutated wasteland during their Godswar Period, though twisted Life still slithers throughout that sad, stunted world. This factbook concerns itself with the third world circling Yelm capable of bearing life: forbidden Kralorela, where no man may venture and live.

Kralorela is a world quarantined, it's perimeter patrolled by the muri who destroy any who wander too close. Those few probes as have avoided muri wrath have found the planet largely a frozen waste, with the remnants of advanced structures peeking up from the thick ice that coats much of the world.

The muri do not speak of Kralorela, save to warn others "If you go there, you will die." They do not elaborate further, nor is any mention of this dead world in their extensive histories or researches.

For a people who have recorded recipes from the farthest corners of Known Space, this lapse regarding a nearby neighbor is puzzling. Worst is the most recent studies, who braved the Yelm System and narrowly avoided destruction, bringing back footage of movement on the planet, despite the muri refusal to permit landings.

This factbook will reveal the secrets of Kralorela from the perspective of it's inhabitants, the strange Arisen, and include their history.

Kralorelan myth states that the Celestial Dragon was alone and curious, in the dim and misty Time before Time. These conflicting emotions drove him to study All That Was, in the hopes he would find company.

Of course, he was All That Was, and he embarked on a program of self-evisceration, setting each fragment where he could find and replace it. His studies revealed nothing, and he began to forge new things from himself in the hopes of creating companionship he could not find. His scales became the stars, his spilt blood the seas, his muscles the mountains, but nothing that existed could be his companion, merely his art.

Loneliness drove him to dissect his brain, scattering his consciousness throughout the whole of Reality, bestowing life on his creations.

This act created the gods, who finished the job, taking the dragon's bones to forge metals, and using his innards to make animals and finally finding the Cosmic Egg in the Celestial Dragon's remains, which they cracked open to discover it's secrets.

Reality would never be the same...

When the gods opened the Cosmic Egg, they released Horrors beyond reckoning, for the Celestial Dragon had taken all that was foul and distilled it into himself, intending Evil not be part of Creation, but the gods had released it all, and it flew into Reality, tainting what it could.

However, the Dragon had been wise, and left the keys to his reconstruction along with a cure for Evil-a special creation he set aside for the moment when it was needed, a shepherd for all of Reality-the gods found it and prodded it, and thus awoke the First Man.

Man was not like other creations, for he held the greatest power of the Celestial Dragon-discernment. While a god could fulfill it's duties, it was Man who knew if he did Good or Evil, and Man alone would move Reality to the perfection that was the Celestial Dragon or into the depths of Evil.

Thus it was that Man arose in Creation, having been steeped in Evil but capable of resisting it as even the gods could not...

First Man was wild and practically an animal, for the gods cared not enough to teach or train him, and he in turn beat and abused them, beginning an animosity that persists, and why offerings and supplications must be performed to get the gods to act.

So First Man wandered the length and breadth of the land, seizing and devouring what he could, and coupling with what he could not, creating the various races who were not divine but yet shared the world with him. From animals, he begat the hengeyokai, from the mountains, he begat the uba and yeti, and from the oceans he begat the bonze and kappa.

All this proved amusing to the gods, who bound and forced into service the fruits of these unions, forcing these imperfect beings to build temples and burn incense and make offerings to the vanity of the gods.

However, one goddess, Radamya, saw this was contrary to the Celestial Dragon's plan, and sought out First Man, cleaning herself and applying perfumes to draw him to her.

When he came to her, she goaded him by baring herself, and she forced him to her, taking him into herself and baring one egg for each seed he produced, for she was a goddess and had this knowledge.

She bore seven hundred sons and seven hundred daughters, each assuming one of the arts or crafts necessary for human culture and civilization. Firstborn was the Sage and his sister the Cook, who founded the basis of civilization.

As the family of Man spread, First Man spent more and more of himself into Radamya, who kept each seed and bore new children anew, until First Man was fully spent into her womb, and she herself gave the last of her divine essence to the last of her children, the child Ompalom.

The Kralorelans were unusual in that they acknowledged gods, but never worshiped them, considering that to be the province of the half-creations that preceded them-the primitive races they shared a world with.

Their world view was that the gods had ruined Creation, and that Man was the only cure. The myth of First Man showing the total neglect of the gods which permitted the other races to exist only amplified this secularism that dominated Kralorelan thought.

It is interesting to note that Radamya is the only god to discern the Celestial Dragon's plan, and that her name, which means "Mother of Man" is one of the few given to the gods by the Kralorelans. However, the children of this union are named by their professions, until Ompalom is born, and people begin receiving true names.

It is interesting to note that the Kralorelans considered the older races to be inherently flawed as First Man had no concept of what he was supposed to do, and that likewise, the process of birthing uses up both parents until Ompalom is born out of the last remnants of the progenitor beings.

Kralorelans often embraced new things rapidly, due to their belief perfection was achieved in recent developments, not in their past. Likewise, they were not above seizing new ideas and technology when they could get it.

Once the race of Man was birthed, he needed shelter and a place to practice the Arts and Crafts that made Life possible. Ompalom saw this to be true, and he wandered to Mount Kyumchan, where he met the monstrous child of First Man from when he coupled with the mountain.

The mountain giant desired nothing less than the flesh of young Ompalom, but the cunning boy was able to convince the giant he should build a walled enclave for Man, and if he were completed by a certain time, Ompalom would not only offer himself up, but see to it Cook made him as succulent and delicious as possible. However, if the giant could not perform his part, there would be no payment.

Knowing he was the son of stone, and could do much more than Man in much less time, he agreed and, smacking his lips, hastened to the caverns where dwelled Man to begin his work.

First, Ompalom sent Stonecutter to watch and bother the giant with questions as to his work, and when the giant slept, Stonecutter would take the answers the giant gave and use them to dismantle the work, slowing down his progress, and when the giant chased Stonecutter away, Ompalom sent Woodchopper to do the same, and Cook to bring rich meals that made the giant sleep.

When the giant chased Woodcutter away, Ompalom came himself and confused the giant with rhetoric, making him long for quiet while intriguing him so he would but ask a question and Ompalom would engage him for hours, delaying the work further.

Soon, it became obvious the giant knew much of stone, but little else, for Ompalom could keep him busy and work would only progress while Ompalom slept or Cook was away, for the giant would not eat while Ompalom spoke to him.

The giant soon found Ompalom spoke to him frequently, told the giant when to eat and when to work, and things went much better when he followed these instructions. When the city was built, the giant was weeks behind schedule, but was so used to Ompalom's words, he remained and did all he was told.

With his fine city and his giant servant, Ompalom went to his brothers and sisters, and told them he offered protection and shelter, and all he needed was their obedience. When they balked, he reminded them of the other children of First Man, who dwelled in the lands about and had no love of Man save for his taste, and soon, his brothers and sisters, and their children, moved into the city Ompalom had built for them, and followed the laws he provided, and all lived well.

Ompalom lived in his city for many years, his every order obeyed and written down. His family lived well under him, and Man spread throughout the world, building cities not nearly so grand but following the laws he had conceived and sending the products of the city to Ompalom for appraisal.

The other children of First Man grew jealous and sent offerings to their gods to smite Ompalom, but he sent armies into the wild places where these creatures dwelled, and by force of will bound them to his service, assigning each a place in his city, which grew to be his kingdom, which grew to be his Empire, which grew to be his world...

Sadly, Ompalom was merely human, and thus he died, and the land was wracked with grief. Fortunately, he had left instructions for just this occasion. Long had he shown the people the horrors of the world outside his city, and reenacted the battles that made them safe in arenas where the Great Games were played.

Now, he told them in his writings of the Greatest Game, the one that would determine who would follow in his stead. Across the land, men battled in the arenas until only one stood, then he would go to the nearest larger town, and it would continue until the arena of Ompalom's city was teeming with champions, who went at each other for the honor of being the next Ompalom.

Hungry for power, one victor emerged, and ascended to the throne, only to discover the next Ompalom was no mere figure of speech as the spirit of Ompalom filled him, evicting his own soul.

Ompalom was renewed, and the World continued. When this body, too, grew old and died, new Games were held, and Ompalom took that champion as well. This endless cycle permitted Ompalom to perfect his rule, creating ministries and cabinets to administer the people and the lands as he required, and to fill in when his current body died until the Games gave him a new, young form.

To keep the gods in line, a Ministry of Heaven was formed which performed the rituals and appeased both the gods and their inhuman followers incorporated into Ompalom's world. The Ministry was an odious duty handed out as punishment, for Ompalom had affixed a cult of State which worshiped him above all, and held up exemplary men as saints to be prayed to for intercession. The State provided all, and all Man had to do was wait for it's eventual Perfection to trickle down and enrich the lives of the Common Man.

The inhuman races did receive some benefits, but much later as they were not true men, and thus incapable of Perfection, many of them serving the very gods who had destroyed Reality and loosed Evil into the world.

Such it was, and such it remained, until the Kralorelans broke the Space barrier...

Much of Kralorelan history is patently untrue-the claim that the empire took over the world in one man's lifetime, in particular, is easily disproven, especially in the light some of the greatest foes of the Empire and threats to it's existence were not yet born.

However, the Empire did supply an amazing continuity of power and stability for it's culture, as well as the odd concept of an aristocracy of talent-rigorous exams ensured an office-holder was capable of performing his duties long before he was granted office, which served the Empire well during the Warring Kingdoms period, when Ompalom died and the Games that provided him with a new body were not held for almost three hundred years.

Kralorelan society was both secular and pragmatic, as the existence of the Ministry of Heaven proves. When an alien species was conquered, the Ministry moved in to perform the rituals that appeased the gods. Failure to comply, or holding religious rites outside of the temples was strictly forbidden, tying the subjugated to the bureaucracy, which winnowed through the new populace to disseminate it's people into the Empire.

This had the effect of neutralizing the priesthoods who often ruled or were influential in encountered cultures, and also held the god for ransom as the Ministry would destroy temples when the population threatened a revolt. This farsighted patience saw the Imperial secularism supplant and replace the worship of almost every god. with the exception of some rather odd cults which the Empire endured.

It should be noted that the Empire was not expansionist unless it had to be-it concerned itself with it's internal workings, only extending it's reach when a threat emerged. It would conquer the threat, incorporate new territory, then work out the logistics of keeping the territory until a new threat emerged.

Development of technology moved at a snail's pace, often waiting until a foreign culture made a breakthrough that fell into the Empire's lap then retroengineering it to match the Empire's technology.

A singular exception would be when the Empire developed space travel-the earliest ships (http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hawklq6.jpg) were fairly advanced, with VTOL capability and the design reputedly based on a dream of Ompalom's where he watched an arrow in flight.
These evolved into both heavy fighters (http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mark9hawklh8.jpg) and massive battleships (http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=superswiftblueprintsrl3.jpg) which, while fully loaded with firepower, were no match for the swift and maneuverable ships of the Empire's nearest neighbors.

It is notable that the usually placid muri, who often simply left the field of battle and waited for a race to evolve further or grow extinct, did fear these ships enough that they did not use nuclear devices as they did with Genertela, but instead unleashed Chemical and Biological weapons onto the Kralorelans.

It is postulated that the initial encounters that sparked hostilities occurred after the pyrrhic victory that ended the Storm Hunt, but the refusal of the muri to admit to the existence of Kralorela nor to permit archaeologists to survey makes determination impossible.

Ompalom had just begun his exploration of the Yelm system and the twin moons of Kralorela, long held to be the eyes of the Celestial Dragon, just as the Sun was it's pearl (Kralorela dragons often formed a concretion like a pearl which held vast psychic potential, permitting the dragon to self-levitate and generate powerful bio-electricity, the pearls retaining this property long after the death of the dragon.)

What occurred with his ships was unknown, as none returned to report. If records of the interaction are in existence, they will rest in the dusty computers of Kralorela, if indeed they have survived at all.

Vast cylinders plummetted from the sky, bringing clouds of disease bearing spores and chemicals that ravaged the immune system, and animals and people began falling like leaves in autumn.

Ompalom was swift to act, sealing himself in the life support system known as the Throne-globe, from which he could control the automated systems of the Palace, and announce to the people that all was well.

The Ministry of Artistic Endeavor was set the task of curing the plague the muri had unleashed, but only succeeded in prolonging life through cybernetics, replacing tissue as it was infected and rendered useless, and even then, only in a handful of cases. Eventually reduced to little more than robots, these experiments were assigned to guard Ompalom as his Imperial Guards succumbed to the disease.

When the Imperial ship long believed lost lowered to the courtyard, it's ragged hull flapping in the breeze, Ompalom was the only one alive in the Palace, surrounded by the most sophisticated automatons the planet was capable of. Although the Emperor's sensors detected noises, all he heard was dice being cast, once then again, and a deep voice called out "The game is done! I've won! I've won!" before the air was punctuated by three sharp whistles.

Only one individual strode off the tattered hulk, possessing full red lips, golden hair, and skin white as snow, with a demeanor and appearance that spoke of independence and wantonness.

He strode to the court itself, and no guard stopped him, as if he did not exist to their delicate sensors. "Well, oh Lord Ompalom, it appears you have miscalculated."

"Who the Hell are you?"

"My name is Mormo." The man smiled. "A nursery bogey who bites naughty children, the consort of Hecate,...quite a few other things, but none would interest you. Unless, of course, you'd care to make a deal."

"What could you offer me?"

"I could restore your kingdom, bring your people back-even assure that Games will continue once that Throne-globe fails and you are exposed to the toxic atmosphere here." He sighed, continuing: "Or I can wait for that to happen and take you where I please."

"Why would you do this?"

"Why? Why, indeed-I have to admit I like what you've done with the place-cast down the very gods, imposed an unyielding, sterile perfection. Not at all the sort of thing I'd want gone from Reality, yet. I can salvage it all-with some minor adjustments, but you're a clever man with a versatile people-I'm sure you will adapt."

"And what would be your price?"

The man laughed. "Good--good. Still a bargainer, still ready to deal. Then hear me well-you and your people are beholden to me from this point on-the open side of this sufferance is that you will turn from technology-not entirely, you may keep what you have, but nevermore improve upon it.

"You will instead hone the disciplines of the mind and soul, use psionics and Magic to achieve your goals, and once you have harnessed these things, you will stride forth and claim your rightful due."

"To give up Science-that which sustains me now-and replace it with superstition and mumbo-jumbo? You would make me a fool..."

"No, Ompalom--I shall make you a terror. Your people shall stride the night sky like titans, great and terrible in their wrath. Moreover, I shall teach you the Arts that will make the Galaxy tremble before you. All I need is your agreement to this, and it shall be done-my gift is the gift of time, which will mean as little to you as wealth or power or the concerns of the lessers."

"Then let me see your offer, see you can perform your miracle-and if, a century from now, I have seen your words as more than words, I shall abandon Science forever, as you ask."

"You will abandon Science while you have your test drive, Ompalom-I insist." The pale stranger replied. "And if you should continue in it's exploration, I promise you you shall die in that Throne-Globe, and no Games will ever be played out on Kralorela again."

"A century without Science-we will stagnate, we will die."

"Look about your world, Ompalom-you really can't get much more stagnant and dead."

Ompalom did not need to look, for he had watched it already, and , floating in his amniotic fluid, he nodded. "Very well, Mormo-I will concede your promise is good, and I will abide by it."

"Very good, Ompalom-now we may begin." and clapping his hands, Mormo let his power drift in waves over the skin of the earth, where it wrought a miracle most dark and dire...

The Arisen are the size and weight of humans, albeit slightly stronger. They do not tire nor do they require sleep or rest, instead fueling themselves off whatever force animates their rotting forms. They are capable of sensing life within 60 feet despite intervening obstacles. They are immune to mind-altering effects, including attempts to control them, induce sleep, or generate illusions of living creatures, or to conceal the same. They are quite immune to poisons, paralysis effects, disease, and instant kills or death by any means save intense physical trauma.

It should be noted that while the Arisen can be reduced to jelly this will not necessarily kill them, as devouring the newly dead or other undead like themselves can restore them from even catastrophic damage-however, disintegration can prevent them from recovery by this method.

The Arisen do not breathe, but are still vulnerable to temperature extremes and pressure, so while drowning is not possible, they can be crushed in the depths of the ocean, and burst or frozen by space. Their tolerance for such is greater than a human's, and they may function tolerably in colder environments than their living counterparts.

Most of the Arisen are in various stages of decay, and most have lost their noses already, and some even their lower jaws. This decay factor is not reversed by their healing by ingestion, and may be part of their condition. Being infused with necromantic energies, they tend to absorb such rather than be affected by necromancy, and many darker powers are likewise negated by this odd power.

Currently, the only living being on Kralorela is Ompalom, and he is sealed in his Throne-globe. The Arisen are quite undead and proud of this.

The center of Kralorelan Power, Knowledge, and Technology is Ompalom's Palace, a vast city complex that is maintained in the style it was built for historical purposes, though new additions are always state-of-the-art. The Palace is the history of Kralorelan architecture in visual form, stretching from the Outer Gates of the most advanced structures, to the massive stone dome that is the home of Ompalom, Lord and Master.

Originally simply called "Home" by Ompalom, it gained names over the centuries, most often "House of the Lord Ompalom" or some variant, which morphed under centuries of mispronunciation to "Londra", which is ironically called Londra, House of the Lord Ompalom, to this day.

Londra is the center of the planetary bureaucracy and home not only to Ompalom, but his ministers, his Eunuchs, the heads of all the noble families, and the various diplomats and guests as would treat with Kralorelan government.

The palace is more than half empty, only the Eunuchs patrolling it's many corridors, like blood circulating to keep the Body Politic warm.

The Palace extends from Mount Kyumchan, in whose caves sits the Throne-Globe that holds Ompalom, it's energies maintained by the geothermal generators buried in the mountain.

The Globe is indestructible, or at least said to be, as no one has tested this, and filled with amniotic fluid in which floats Ompalom. A wizened figure in fetal position, he is monitored by numerous sensors through which he controls the whole of the Palace's automated systems. Those who have seen him state his hair has grown over the millenia he has floated, making him seem a mass of floating hair in which two brilliant eyes float, the only part of the Emperor ever seen to move.

From the Throne-Globe, Ompalom is tied into the communications and sensors of Kralorela, able to instruct any of his subjects or guests as he sees fit. He also controls the Eunuchs, it the extent they are little more than an extension of him.

The Eunuchs are mechanical in nature-they are the result of the Fell Plague the muri infected Kralorela with. As palace eunuchs and guards fell to the Plague, a cybernetic solution was implemented so they could work through their illness, eventually creating the most sophisticated machines known to exist-self-willed automatons who begin their learning process from the installation of their computer-minds. While the oldest are little more than machines of Ompalom, current models are self-willed and as independent as any life-form.

The Great Forge which produces Eunuchs is at Mount Li, near Mount Kyumchan, but rumors persist the Eunuchs have secretly constructed their own forges elsewhere. These rumors have never been confirmed or denied, but as no law restricts the forging of Eunuchs to the Imperial Household at Londra, it is not researched further.

Eunuchs are humanoid mechanisms, containing the souls of the Emperor's faithful servants and guards. As such, they have certain senses unavailable to natural creatures. They have no sense of smell or taste, but do have chemical sensors permitting detections of toxins and poisons. However, this highly attuned sense requires analysis through the Central Processing Center and is delayed by 1.5 seconds, more complex formulae requiring longer periods. While analysis is underway, the Eunuch freezes in place, expanding it's sensory net to deal with threats.

Any attack will be immediately responded to, and cleaning instituted, but otherwise the Eunuch awaits analysis and a decision from Ompalom. Only guards are directly tied into the Ompalom Network, but several coordinating CPCs exist to maintain the ministry Eunuchs and cleaning staff, but they are only tied to the Ompalom Network in emergencies.

Without access to the Kralorelan Sensory web, the chemical sensor is slower, about 2.5 seconds, and can only compare the chemical sensed with a small database of common compounds, and hold the analysis until downloaded to the CPC.

Guards will be encased in a tough armor, with an array of force fields, including some formed as weapons for melee combat. They are also equipped with a taser projector as well, and carry a sidearm in addition.

Ministry Eunuchs have visual sensors capable of analyzing fibers in papers for identification purposes, but standard Eunuch vision is human normal, with infrared and ultraviolet capacity.

The hearing sensors of a Eunuch is in the ranges of a dog, though some models may be enhanced further. Eunuchs can perceive radio waves as well.

The Eunuch can lift up to ten tons of material before it's frame begins to buckle, it's response time human equivalent and improving with training. They can leap approximately fifteen feet from a standing start.

The heavier material of a Eunuch's body makes it weigh close to 300 lbs, though the guards are 450 lbs, and have a physical capacity twice the standard.

Ministry Eunuchs wear robes of scintillating microfiber that enhances their capacity and allows them complete biological scans of those within thirty feet, monitoring the changes that would indicate deception. They are linked in a network referred to as the "Bureaucratic Overmind" to facilitate swiftness of communication in Londra.

The service Eunuchs, responsible for cleaning and maintenance, have no built-in advancements, and this is the only model found outside the Palace proper.

The most powerful of the Ministries is the looming Ministry of Heaven. The Ministry is responsible for the maintenance of all temples and upholding the tenets of all Faiths. Originally an Imperial tool to supplant the priesthoods of conquered peoples (the Ministry would force all priests to join the Ministry or be tried for heresy if they practiced their faith) with bureaucrats loyal to the Emperor.

This was a punishment position, as the secularism of Imperial society relegated priests to a mendicant role swiftly, and as the Imperial viewpoint swept out, the temples were abandoned, their gods forgotten. Things changed with the Imperial Ministry Kai Yi, the "Divine Wind", who began the Church of State, turning Imperial shrines into memorials for the Great Men of the Empire, first of these being Ompalom himself. The idea of turning these places of Faith into propaganda stations appealed to the Emperor, who endowed the Ministry with a subMinistry of Sublime Wisdom, who acted as the Imperial news service to inform the public of what the Empire needed them to know.

Technically beneath the Minister of Heavens, the subMinister of Sublime Wisdom is truly more powerful, as he is responsible the Imperial Word is spread, and the Minister exists to preserve the temples and maintain the practices of the Faith. There is a somewhat intense rivalry between the Ministry and it's subMinistry, with especially competant men usually deposing the other to replace with men more conducive to the maintenance of both offices.

During the Warring Kingdoms period, every loyal noble undertook the responsibility of maintaining these Imperial offices until the Great Games would restore Ompalom to the Empire. As a result, this Ministry is still subject to the local nobles in those regions where the noble house is still intact, and some Ministry temples have glorified local heroes as well as the Imperial Exemplars.

As overseers of religion, this Ministry has contemplated the soul long, and learned much. This wisdom fell upon Mormo when he was Exalted to Minister of Heaven, and from it came the Path of the Hidden Shadow, a philosophy that empowered the follower to use the light and darkness of Man's Soul in amazing ways, healing the sick, curing disease, and advancing Life in myriad ways of the Light of Man's Soul, warping minds and flesh in horrific ways in the invocation of Darkness of Man's Soul. These powers make the Ministers of Heaven instrumental in maintenance of the Empire, as the Arisen are empowered in some manner by the Darkness of Man's Soul.

The subMinister of Sublime Wisdom took the Path of Perfect Etiquette, which instead studies the Darkness of Man's Soul and the Twisting Nether, an ectoplasmic construct from which may be formed temporary life forms, and mastery of it's techniques allowing useful abilities when employed against others.

The Ministry of Sublime Celestial Contemplation answers only to the Emperor and itself. Traditionally hidden, this Ministry is unique in that it is hereditary-either one is raised in the Ministry or one is not. Despite the efficiency of it's bureaucrats, this Ministry is known to exist, but only in shuddered whispers in the darkest annexes of Londra.

This Ministry begins it's training at the age of 8, when the techniques of the Path of Glorious Discretion is taught-a combination of stretching, breath control, and smoothness of action, extending into silent movement and a mastery of disguise as the Path is Perfected. They also begin the rudiments of the Path of Celestial Decision, which focuses on strikes and kicks, as well as small weapons designed for stealth, and lockpicking as the Path is Perfected.

When these paths are mastered, the Path of Discrete Discipline is taught, knife-fighting techniques as well as training in thrown weapons. This path includes components of the other two paths, including secreting weaponry on one's person, weapons of opportunity, and close-quarters combat.

This Ministry has operatives scattered throughout Kralorela, and anywhere the Imperial Presence needs additional oversight. During the Warring Kingdoms period, this Ministry supported itself by seizing smuggling routes and operating casinos and dens of prostitution. It flooded key regions with drugs to weaken the populace, and incorporated the Path of Culinary Delight into it's framework, mastering all aspects of poison and alchemy.

This Ministry has always been funded out of the Emperor's pocket, as it reports only to the Imperial Presence. When it began self-funding, it still puts it's treasury at the disposal of the Imperial presence, incorporating the Ministry of Celestial Favor after the Warring Kingdoms, effectively taking over the planetary economy. The Ministry of Celestial Favor was publicly just another civil servant, though possessing a Secretary of Sublime Wisdom who is appointed by the Minister of Sublime Celestial Contemplation and reports to that office before the Minister of Celestial Favor. The Minister of Celestial Favor reports to the Imperial Presence and issues orders to the rest of the Ministry to the Secretary, who is responsible for dissemination throughout the Ministry.

This Ministry's infiltration and control of the Ministry of Celestial Favor is known only to it's Ministers and Ompalom himself. Ministers of Celestial Favor are covered elsewhere.

When the Plague swept through Kralorela, this Ministry became useless, but after Mormo resurrected the people in the Dark Miracle, it soon resurfaced, resuming it's usual functions.

This office is responsible for maintenance of the Imperial Army of Glorious Enlightenment, from equipment to training of warriors, and defense of the nation. This ministry focuses on mastery of arms, including unarmed combat, and techniques to damage and drain a foe, depending on whether capture or death is the intent. These warriors have honed their techniques since the Great Plague, and possess many abilities to distract and disarm an opponent.

The Army of Glorious Enlightenment are armored in technology varying on their region-if not supported by the Minister of Celestial Favor, this Ministry must rely on local funding. Many schools support themselves by training in the techniques of this Ministry, which includes shouts to paralyse, stun, or demoralize an opponent, as well as masterful combat techniques developed over the centuries. Marksmanship is taught, but disdained as distasteful since Mormo's Ban came into law.

This Ministry has many divisions, all answering to local offices, though Imperial Authority overrides this. Certain Ministries had Scarlet Cabinets-researches only reported to the Emperor, but these Scarlet Cabinets have all been handed over to the Ministry of Sublime Celestial Contemplation and removed.

Part of this Ministry's duties is maintaining the Kralorelan Space Fleet, which has been in drydock since the muri sealed the planet off. However, the ships are still polished and given regular checks, never flying out of dock. If the muri quarantine is ever lifted, this Ministry may find itself moving into prominence once more...

An empire must have a reckoning as to it's possessions, and an allotting as to it's needs, and for this purpose was created the Ministry of Celestial Favor. The Ministers wander the land, calculating and assessing all that they find, and allotting Imperial funds or the fruits of their findings wherever will benefit the Empire most. Their assessors are feared and reviled, their bursars coddled and cajoled.

The ministers are trained in analysis and quantifiables, often displaying a technical expertise amazing to outsiders. In truth, they study all to know it's value, and this includes understanding it's uses and permutations. Their agile minds often discovered new uses for existing technologies, and this benefited the Empire greatly.

When Ompalom agreed to put technological advancement in hiatus in his agreement with Mormo, this Ministry swept through the land collecting up all researches, both open and secret, and took them to Londra. This met with some resistance, but Mormo revived the Ministry with odd powers of the mind-cryokinetic and pryokinetic potentials were awakened, as well as an innate ability to manipulate the energies flowing through the body. They focus their cryokinetic ability through the Path of Immutable Will, which allows them to wrap themselves in a shield of ice, as well as project intense cold, form walls and slow or freeze their opponents. Dependng on the relative power of the practitioner, astral constructs of pure cryokinetic energy can even be formed to backstop the Minister.

Pyrokinetic powers are focussed through the Path of Immanent Wrath, which permits projecting fire and expands upon this simple power to generate more and mor devastating blasts, eventually permiting the minister to bathe a region in scathing flames. Some ministers surround themselves with intense fields that combust any material within three feet of themselves, including bullets and combustable/melting slugs.

The Ineffable Path of Self-Discovery permits a manipulation of the inner fires, the odd energies that flow through the undead forces even as bioelectricity flows through the living. The mastery of these energy flows permits an adept practitioner to enhance his own psionic strength as well as generate and project energy fields of variable intensity, allowing damaging assaults, concentration of power into items, and teleportation at it's higher proficiencies.

The Ministry of Celestial Favor was once the most powerful Ministry outside of the Imperial Presence and it's Minister often the Right Hand of Ompalom in Kralorelan history, even after the Warring Kingdoms period, when it was made subordinate to the Ministry of Sublime Celestial Contemplation. This was largely a secret held within the Imperial Bureaucracy, and the Minister of Celestial Favor was a heavily sought post until the Plague, and this office is still most desirable of the posts within the Bureaucracy.

Due to tradition as much as anything, this Ministry is gifted with oversight over the other aspects of the Bureaucracy, and most Kralorelan operations will have a minister of this office in attendance acting in an advisory capacity. With the enhancements bestowed by Mormo, Ompalom is considering levying entire units following the philosophies of this Ministry for accompanying the Ministry of Glorious Enlightenment...