Holy moly! What a start! This is DAMN well written! Excellent stuff! And I wanna know more about the AUSphere :D
Well, since you asked, here's a few brief writeups for Era Report: 3142 - The Concert of the Sphere. It is incomplete in that I haven't finished every "Brief History", but it should whet your appetite.
Granted, at least one of them is out because the player demanded I excise all mention of his state (As it turns out, when projecting the future for well over a dozen players, some of them may not like what you do to create the environment you like, feeling you've short-changed or damaged their faction unfairly or have simply not created the future they feel their efforts would have led to. It's not an unfair charge.).
Free Communal Republic of RasalhagueRuling House: None
Capital: Rasalhague
Ruler: Gothi Haakon Magnusson
Sometimes referred to as the Free Rasalhague Republic, the Free Republic is a large state that takes up much of the old Rasalhague Military District of the Draconis Combine and beyond, ruling from Buckminster up to the Periphery, and including Tamar. While one of the less aggressive states (by comparison), it maintains a strong military force renowned for their fanatical fighting and battlefield aggression and provide the bulk of the fighting force of the COMINTERSTEL alliance (with the Communal League of Sudeten). Relations with their neighbors in Lyran space, the Kingdom of Ghastillia and the Royal Federation, are amicable now that most territorial disputes have been settled to both sides' satisfaction, but their relations with the reborn Draconis Combine are understandably negative after the brutal invasion of Rasalhague during the 4th Succession War.
Brief History:
Regaining independence from the collapsing Draconis Combine in 2839, the Principality of Rasalhague struggled over the next hundred and fifty years, trying and ultimately failing to hold an expanded frontier along the old Lyran border. By 3015 they were reduced to twenty worlds, but would gently expand again once the Second Age of War commenced around 3030. Ultimately, they were outpaced by a Rasalhaguan splinter state based on Nox, the Rasalhague Commune, which trumpeted socialist economic policies with fierce Rasalhaguan nationalism. The attempted invasion of the Principality by the McAllister Shogunate in 3034 led to a mutual alliance and ultimately the union of Rasalhague under a combined constitution that made them the main power and center of COMINTERSTEL.
The resulting state was one of the Inner Sphere’s most powerful in raw economy, so it was a major target of the Terrans in Operation Revival, with Rasalhague and Nox being invaded and occupied (although Nox especially was fiercely defended, the former Gothi of the Commune dying in the effort and inflicting severe losses on Terran forces). The Terrans, as they did elsewhere, failed to secure Rasalhague’s submission to their proclaimed restored Star League, and were ultimately driven off-world, although they inflicted severe damage to Rasalhague and Nox’s military industry as they retreated. The extent of the damage kept Rasalhague from being part of the final destruction of the Terran Union, although they did provide logistics support and would be granted a share of the spoils of Terran factories and technology.
Focusing on rebuilding their state, they remained at peace for the next fifty years, only rarely engaging in border raids against the Azami, Ghastilla, or the Defiance-Hesperus Consolidant during points when relations were strained. They mediated the end of the Concord-Compact War with the Peace of Nox and would continue efforts to reduce conflict and encourage social transformation during the Second Age of War.
Nevertheless, when the 4th Succession War broke out, they were ready to fight when Ghastillia, as a pre-condition for supporting the Royal Federation, insisted on a campaign against Sudeten. Rasalhague helped stem the tide of the Lyran thrust at Sudeten, but this left them ill-suited for the sudden attack on their rear by the forces of Galedon under Yori Honda. The betrayal of Masako Honda’s long-standing pledge of support for Rasalhague’s freedom, and the clear Kuritan restorationism of the regime, prompted fierce resistance, although they swiftly lost Avon, Pesht, and many of their systems conquered from the McAllister Shogunate in the 3030s. With Galedon also plunging into Azami territory and even attacking Lyran forces on Vega, Rasalhague became one of the most ferocious theaters of the entire 4th Succession War. Its very independence teetered under the onslaught when they were offered a lifeline: a peace offer from High Queen Jacqueline Proctor of the Royal Federation, exchanging Arcturus for Buckminster (with surrounding worlds included) and reshuffling the Sudeten-Ghastillan border, and with its acceptance the same Ghastillian and Arcadian troops they’d been fighting ended up on the Kuritan front, helping to stem the tide and preserve most of Rasalhague’s territory when peace was settled at Dieron.
In the twenty-two years since the end of the war, Rasalhague’s focus has been on rebuilding and preparing for any future aggression. Above everything else, they are committed to preserving their independence and their way of life, and will fight with the fury of Viking berserkers against any perceived threat to the people of Rasalhague.
Azami ConfederacyRuling House: None
Capital: Albalii
Ruler: Prime Minister Amir Khalid al-Abbas
Formed after the collapse of the Combine in the 29th Century, the Azami Confederacy has survived nearly three hundred years of warfare and struggle. While one of the smaller Successor States, their alliance with Tikonov and the Federated Suns has often worked to keep the Confederacy alive against their more powerful neighbors, and they have benefited particularly by gaining Dieron and some surrounding worlds in the fall of the Terran Union. With a capable, if relatively small, military, the Azami are a tough fight for any would-be conqueror.
Brief History:Left to their own devices by the collapse of the Draconis Combine, the Azami became the power of the old frontier with Skye, and geared their forces towards raiding and swift strikes on other targets. In the Second Age of War they expanded as other states did, ending up in conflicts with the Rengo Directorate and the Defiance-Hesperus Consolidant. They would launch two invasions of the former Lyran states, hitting the Isle of Skye in 3034, the Duchy of Buckminster in 3037, and both in 3041, gaining them Sabik and later Vega, as well as a number of minor worlds along the old border. Beyond these gains, they raided deep into Lyran space, even striking Hesperus' shipyards to damage or destroy several Consolidant ships during the War of Donegal Succession.
Since then the Azami history has been a mix of defiant defeats and hard-fought victories. They were nearly subsumed by the Terran Union during Operation: Revival, their exiled forces fleeing into Lyran and Davion territories to continue the struggle until liberated with the aid of Galedon and Rasalhague in 3054 through 3056. Their reward for not succumbing to Terran temptations was control of Dieron and surrounding worlds, as well as a bridge to said worlds gained by trading Markab to their Tikonov allies. Outfitted with the product of Terran factories, they resumed warfare with the Lyrans through the 3060s, trying to wrest Buckminster from the Defiance-Hesperus Consolidant while the Oriento-Capellan Empire, a fellow St. Ives Compact member, engaged the Consolidant's Terran gains.
It was from the opposite direction that they faced disaster, as in 3069 the forces of Galedon poured over the border. Albalii fell once more, this time to the Swords of Light, and Azami forces fought ferociously in trying to save their state from being conquered by Director Masako Honda's forces. Aid arrived from an unexpected quarter; the Arcadian Royal Federation, which convinced the Consolidant to side with their enemies against the greater threat, and so the forces of the Lyran Alliance entered Azami territory as allies instead of foes. Albalii was liberated with the aid of the Skye Rangers, and while the Azami lost the Kitalpha Military District in the Peace of Nox, it emerged intact.
Gratitude only goes so far, and the bonds of their wider alliances led them into future skirmishes and raids against the Consolidant. The two states clashed openly again in the 4th Succession War, as the Lyrans invaded the Oriento-Capellan Empire on Andurien's behalf. This conflict expanded as the Azami found overwhelming Galedon forces pouring over their borders once more. Albalii resisted occupation by only a thin margin, and was cut off from the rest of the Confederacy. Their main saving grace was that Galedon, empowered and looking to conquer everything they could lay hands on, attacked Rasalhague as well and even struck at the Consolidant and Arcadian troops on Vega, leading to their nation becoming part of a three way war throughout the 3110s. Through persistence and ferocity the Azami maintained a core force to raid and strike back, and in 3120 hosted the peace talks on Dieron that became known as the Congress of Dieron and brought about the Peace.
The Confederacy survived, but again, faced loss. The Minakuchi and much of the Kessel Prefectures were lost to Galedon, including Vega, and they were forced to cede Sabik to the Royal Federation to regain Kessel itself. To their people, such is the will of Allah, just as their survival was. In time, perhaps they will regain those worlds, but until then they remain ready to defend their nation and faith against any threat.
Draconis CombineRuling House: House Kurita
Capital: Luthien
Ruler: Coordinator Yorinaga Kurita
The last of the “restorated” Great Houses, the Draconis Combine remains in the top rank of the Successor States, with the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery (DCMS) fielding the largest army and third-largest Navy in the entire Inner Sphere. They are considered the most militarized of the Successor States, inheriting a large force and empire from the Galedon Mutual Co-Prosperity Sphere. Due to their aggression in the 4th Succession War, there is not a single border that is not militarized and hostile, although they have made some ground on expanding friendship with the Oriento-Capellan Empire.
Brief History:Formed in the 24th Century originally, the Draconis Combine was considered defunct in the 29th Century after the death of Coordinator Zabu Kurita led to a struggle for the throne that broke the internal machinery of the Combine state, which could not then survive the pressures of the 2nd Succession War. Among the states to arise from the ruins of the old Combine, the Galedon Directorate would take center stage under Director Mitsuhiro Honda. His great-granddaughter, Masako Honda, took charge in 3027, and within a few years unleashed her forces on neighboring independent worlds to put down local warlords and pirate gangs and protect her borders, signaling her entry into the Second Age of War. Director Masako is now regarded as the “spiritual restorer” of the Draconis Combine (a title that most biographical experts would suggest she would have reviled), such that the regime of her great-grandson, Coordinator Yorinaga Kurita, has gone to great lengths to claim Masako was of Kurita descent as well, including forged genealogies in the public records.
Galedon came out as one of the leading powers of the Inner Sphere by 3040, and would be the first state to repulse the Terran Union when Operation: Revival launched in 3050. Their first real check came in the Compact-Concord War in 3069-3074, when the unexpected entry of the Lyran states on the side of their former enemies turned the tide at Tikonov and New Avalon, eventually forcing a stalemate and the Peace of Nox that ended the war. Masako’s son Hoff continued her policies, but her granddaughter Kori seized power from Hoff’s elder daughter Yumiko in 3095 and embarked on a new policy of “Kuritanization”, including ending her grandmother’s tolerance of the independence of the Hartshill Federal Alliance and the peace with the Rasalhague Free Commune. The former was forcibly subsumed in 3107, and with the outbreak of the 4th Succession War in 3110, Galedon troops would invade Rasalhague while its troops were bogged down fighting the Lyrans. They likewise invaded the Azami Confederacy and Tikonov Union, expanding that invasion into Lyran territory, and ultimately, would take the step that would have infuriated Masako the most: the Outworlds campaign, where Galedon forces caught their old Concord allies by surprise and conquered much of the former Outworlds while the Concord was locked into battle with the Federated Suns.
While Kori Honda’s ambitions were checked ultimately by the sheer number of foes she was facing, when the Peace of Dieron came Galedon had gained several more worlds in conquests from Rasalhague, the Azami, and their former allies. In celebration, Kori - trumpeting her ancestors’ alleged Kuritan blood and her marriage to an avowed Kuritan heir - declared House Kurita and the Draconis Combine restored and transferred her capital to Luthien. They have allowed the Peace of Dieron to survive, for now, but already speak of the destiny of the reborn Dragon to rule all of Humanity.
Tikonov UnionRuling House: None
Capital: Tikonov
Ruler: Premier Martina Nikolayevna Timoshenko
Formerly a Commonality Capital of the Capellan Confederation, this Russian-founded world now commands one of the most technologically advanced Successor States, as it controls one of the largest chunks of the former Terran Union and a swath of planets from the old Draconis Combine down to the old Capellan Confederation and Federated Suns. Allied to their Azami and Davion neighbors, Tikonov maintains a sophisticated military force that has often been the difference between victory and defeat for their allies.
Brief History:After securing independence from the collapsing Capellan state, Tikonov settled into ruling a swath of worlds within a few jumps of its position before joining the other Successor States in the expansions of the Second Age of War. Participating in various conflicts that raged around the Terran Union borders at the time, they ultimately allied with the reborn Federated Suns of First Prince Ian Davion and the broader St. Ives Compact that First Prince Ian and then-Harsefeld's King Alexander forged among their neighbors. Once Harsefeld became the Oriento-Capellan Empire, concerns of the new state's interests in forcibly restoring the Capellan Confederation proved unfounded, while Tikonov was still more concerned with the looming power of the Concord on their Anti-Spinward frontier.
Instead it was the Terran Union that descended upon the state. Tikonov, despite ferocious resistance, was one of the first worlds to fall to their advance, and would be the last capital system to be liberated, in 3056. Despite pressing Terran offers for a place in a new Star League, Tikonov refused to break with their allies, and ultimately benefited as they received one of the largest zones of control carved out the defeated Terrans' territories. Such widescale access to Terran technology, as well as their own efforts, allowed Tikonov to become a leading power in the fields of research and advancement.
Control of Terran assets ultimately placed them in grave danger, however, as the states that made up the St. Ives Compact ended up at war with the Concord and their allies, the Galedon Mutual Co-Prosperity Sphere. While the Concord bore down on New Avalon, Galedon's great armies descended on Tikonov and the Azami, and despite several defensive efforts Tikonov again became a battlefield. The arrival of Arcadian reinforcements turned the tide, preventing the planet's fall, and ultimately Tikonov's borders were restored in the Peace of Nox. Tikonov turned its attentions back to scientific endeavor, although with some tensions from their former allies the Oriento-Capellan Empire, as Liaoist restorationists were determined to add the Union to the realm.
This peace ultimately lasted a generation. The 4th Succession War brought an end to that, and like other states Tikonov was swept up in the struggle to attack or defend against powerful enemy forces, fighting both Galedon and Concord forces in their primary front, and exchanged a few worlds before the fighting was finally brought to an end with the Peace of Dieron. Having survived the fires of that war and the Second Age of War, Tikonov's energies have shifted toward pushing the advancement of science further, and seeing to the well-being of their people.
Kilbourne UnionRuling House: None
Capital: Kilbourne
Ruler: Chancellor Milos Cavanaugh
The Union is one of the largest Successor States, formed over the Second Age of War from various Successor States banding together to resist external attack. Once allied to the Galedon Mutual Co-Prosperity Sphere, they were bitterly betrayed in the 4th Succession War, with Galedon conquering several ex-Combine worlds held by the former Concord as well as a large chunk of the Outworlds, all while the Federated Suns regained worlds once lost to the Concord. Many of these losses were rolled back in the final years of the war, due to Galedon and the Federated Suns battering one another in the conquered Draconis March worlds, but the shocking betrayal left the Union vulnerable and alone when the shooting ended, bereft of allies and surrounded by enemies. While no longer allied to what is now the Draconis Combine, the Union guards its independence jealously and continues to field a powerful force to oppose both Houses Davion and Kurita.
Federated SunsRuling House: House Silver-Davion
Capital: New Avalon
Ruler: First Princess Grace Silver-Davion
The Federated Suns, once reduced to twenty worlds in the Crucis Pact by 3030, is today one of the most individually powerful Successor States, ruling more worlds than any other state under the protection of the tactically-advanced, lithe fighting machine of the AFFS. House Davion’s dynastic merger with the family line of accomplished buccaneer Long Tom Silver, by far the most successful pirate in Human history when he retired in 3061, brought forth a union with Silver’s empire based around St. Ives, and the resulting state rules a vast realm from Filtvelt to the formerly Capellan Victoria.
Oriento-Capellan EmpireRuling House: House Halas-Liao
Capitals: Sian and Oriente (traditional investiture on Harsefeld)
Ruler: Emperor Robert Halas-Liao
Ruling much of the former Capellan Confederation and a sizable portion of what was once the Free Worlds League, the Oriento-Capellan Empire has a long history of battlefield success, taking pride in being the first power to successfully challenge the Terran Union in the early Second Age of War. Descended from the Allisons that carved out their own state from conquered Capellan worlds around Harsefeld, and who subsequently married into House Liao to gain legitimacy in Capellan society, the Empire is an occasional ally or enemy of the Liaos’ traditional enemies of House Davion and has a history of conflict with the Flavian Principate and the People’s State of Andurien. Their full ire is reserved for House Proctor of Arcadia, whom they have waged war with countless times since the Arcadians led the Lyran Alliance against them in the Second Andurien War (3036-3037).
People’s State of AndurienRuling House: House Humphreys
Capital: Andurien
Ruler: Duchess Karla Humphreys
The former Duchy of Andurien transformed by an internal socialist reform, the People’s State of Andurien is the smallest of the Successor States. Forswearing aggressive expansion at the start of the Second Age of War, Andurien was quickly the target of Oriente and Harsefeld, Canopus, and the Terrans themselves. Yet they have survived all such attempts on their independence, fighting fiercely to protect their reformed state while accepting the help of even former enemies against whatever threat arises against them. After beating off the Oriento-Capellan invasion that sparked the 4th Succession War and even reclaiming worlds lost to them nearly ninety years before, Andurien has happily settled into peace under the Concert of the Sphere, maintaining a small and competent military for its own self-defense.
Magistracy of CanopusRuling House: Centrella
Capital: Canopus
Ruler: Magestrix Kamea Centrella
Canopus emerged from the Second Age of War battle-hardened but alive, having reclaimed their pre-Star League borders entirely and absorbed by marriage House Arano’s Aurigan Coalition. Allied to their more powerful neighbors, the Flavian Principate, Canopus remains vigilant against the threat of the Capellans and (less prominently) Davions.
Brief History:Canopus remained quiet for the first years of the Second Age of War, beginning an expansion campaign partway through 3033 to reclaim worlds that broke away in the post-Star League collapse. After the disastrous Second War for Andurien, fatal for Magistrix Kyalla, Emma Centrella embarked on an extensive plan re-orient both the military and the Revanchist sentiment of her government. Militarily she expanded the Navy to provide a more powerful deterrent, and established a series of deep penetration and raiding regiments based on her own experience.
Where possible the Magistracy tried to avoid conflict with its neighbors in favor of a policy of colonization and reclamation. Rebuilt, the MAF would prove a competent and professional force in the handful of conflicts Emma and her daughter were unable to avoid. They did their part to help their allies during the War of Donegal Succession, and would defiantly resist the Terran demand for submission to a Second Star League. During the war against the Terrans Emma's daughter married the son of High Lady Kamea Arano of the Aurigan Coalition, guaranteeing the union of the Aurigan Coalition to Canopus, by treaty a semi-independent section of the nation to be governed by a Regent of Arano ancestry appointed by the Magestrix. They briefly joined the Compact-Concord War with the blessing of Imperatrix Lucia O'Reilly-Logan, using it to capture several Periphery worlds the Lexington Concord seized during the 3030s that threatened the lines of communication to Auriga. When Scipio O'Reilly seized power in the Principate, they sheltered Flavius O'Reilly and his family from Scipio's assassins, and broke the legions sent to secure their submission before helping restore Flavius to Alphard and the O'Reilly throne. They would likewise return to the battlefield in 3110, rushing troops to Andurien to help save that nation from the Oriento-Capellan invasion. Throughout the following decade the survival of Andurien was in part due to the efforts of the Magistracy's troops, working with their former enemies against the greater threat.
A happy adherent to the Peace of Dieron and the Concert of the Sphere, the Canopians received no material gains from the war, but they did gain a mostly-secured border against further attack, allowing the nation to return to Emma Centralla's long term plan of restoration, pouring a sizeable portion of both the civilian economy and government funding into worlds that had been abandoned after the fall of the Star League. While allied with the Principate the Magistracy continues to assert independence in all matters, as they will not let their society, industry or economy be so tied to foreign powers or conquest that it could collapse in their absence.
Flavian PrincipateRuling House: House O’Reilly
Capital: Alphard
Ruler: Imperatrix Julia O’Reilly
The greatest success story since the fall of the Star League, the Flavian Principate began not two hundred years ago as the Marian Hegemony, founded by Johann Sebastian O’Reilly from the germanium wealth of Alphard past the old League Periphery. Made to be the new Rome, it proved such might in the Second Age of War, exploding in size with invasions as far as Bolan and Tamarind to conquer worlds and seize slaves for their expanding economy; the Legions were the terror of the Spinward Inner Sphere for much of the 3030s. It was in that decade that the Marians were ultimately put on the path of abolition and social reform by Corvus O’Reilly, who after a long period of upheaval and rulership changes became Imperator in 3035 and reformed the state into the Corvid Principate. His great grand-nephew (great-grandson by law) Scipio O’Reilly briefly turned back to conquest upon seizing power in 3097 and establishing his Scipian Dominate, but upon his defeat on Arcadia and subsequent assassination Scipio's cousin Flavius O’Reilly restored the Principate and guided his people through the tumult of the 4th Succession War and the peaceful merger of their long-time allies, the Rim Commonality, cementing their leading place among the Successor States. Allied by custom to their former Arcadian enemies and their Canopian neighbors, the Principate’s Legions remain ready for another round of warfare with the armies of Oriento-Capella if the Concert fails.
Royal FederationRuling House: House Proctor
Capital: Arcadia
Ruler: High King Nathaniel Proctor
The Royal Federation is arguably the closest revival of either the Free Worlds League or the Lyran Commonwealth as will ever be managed, operating a hereditary monarchy on Anglo-Gaelic principles with a semi-constitutional system and a noted abolitionist devotion. Ruling a stretch of both former Successor States that spans from Atreus to Arc-Royal, Tamarind to Arcturus, and Alarion to New Earth, the Royal Federation has expanded through both war and peaceful dynastic merger from its origins as the Arcadian Free March, formed in 2956 as a small union of four former Lyran border worlds. It has since inducted its initially more powerful neighbors, the Kingdom of Donegal (3040) and the Defiance-Hesperus Consolidant (3116), through marriage, while Atreus and part of the old Marik Commonwealth was taken by force during the Second Skye War (3034-3036). With a capable Navy known for its highly-trained aerospace arm and an army honed by the years of warfare in the Terran and Atrean Theaters, the Royal Federation has been the primary foe of the Oriento-Capellan Empire for over a century, backed by its allies in Ghastillia and the Principate.
Kingdom of GhastilliaRuling House: None
Capital: Inarcs
Ruler: Konigin Gerda Bradford (of Coventry)
Formed from the old Lyran Periphery worlds around Inarc after the collapse of the Lyran Commonwealth, Ghastilla is an elective monarchy that came to prominence in the Second Age of War as a member of the Lyran Alliance. It grew greatly in power upon the collapse of the New Commonwealth in the War of Donegal Succession, seizing most of the former state's holdings, including its capital at Coventry. Ghastillia's energies have been mostly turned toward the resettlement of the dozens of abandoned systems in their borders, but they have spent the Second Age of War in off-and-on campaigns against the Communal League of Sudeten due to the ongoing territorial disputes and ideological enmity. They have a sophisticated military industrial system and have become a leading force in the restoration of lost colonies across the Inner Sphere and Near Periphery.
Communal League of SudetenRuling House: None
Capital: Sudeten
Ruler: First Speaker Karl Luvacs
The result of a rebellion that destroyed the small Duchy of Antares on the cusp of the Second Age of War, Sudeten was one of the most aggressive states early in the age, seizing dozens of worlds to expand and eliminate nobility and other groups they deemed oppressive to workers. Allied to Rasalhague, they became a part of COMINTERSTEL and remain so, although there have been periods of unease given Rasalhague's national aspirations versus the League's ideology of anti-nationalist social revolution. A long time foe of the Kingdom of Ghastillia, and having a history of some border skirmishes with the Royal Federation, Sudeten's militancy has been dormant more than dispersed, and time will tell if their revolutionary ideology will regain its edge under the Concert. Either way, the League's military forces are keen and eager to fight neighbors they regard as social oppressors.
