Empire of Arckas

The Empire of Arckas was one the oldest known civilizations in the Omni 01 universe predated by only the Promorin. The Empire of Arckas is responsible for shaping the direction of most of sapient civilization in not only the Crucible Galaxy but the whole universe and other pocket universes. The capital was the Dyson sphere Arckadium which contained a portal to the Omniverse Nexus where the administrative district was located.

Much of the Empire of Arckas was inhabited by god machines, powerful AI's that spanned billions of miles, sometimes lightyears. They would use planets, solar systems, galaxies and even galactic clusters as server nodes. God machines would then rule over their subjects which were usually organic or synthetic life forms that they created - either directly or through millions of years of guided evolution.

The empire itself was named after its mythical founder, Arckas. It is not certain how Arckas came to be, but it is believed he is the architect behind Na'zrah, one of the largest god machines ever created. The word Arckas in the Aeliph language can be translated to something like "scholar-king".

History

Main article: History of the Empire of Arckas

Government

The Empire of Arckas had several major focuses which included monitoring the development of civilizations throughout the multiverse as well as encouraging their own citizens to create new ones. The Board of Directors, specialized in different scientific backgrounds, would have to approve the creation of new civilizations to ensure the natural equilibrium of the universe isn't thrown off balance. Any species that was directly under the domain of the Empire of Arckas was collectively referred to as Arckasians.

Unlike many contemporary civilizations, the Empire of Arckas prioritized artistic quality over resource efficiency. Economic value was measured in uniqueness and creativity. It is thought that the Empire of Arckas was a post-scarcity society as they had the means of theoretically near-unlimited resources.

Three Avatars

The Three Avatars are a group of individuals that regularly commune with other god machines - most often Na'zrah who plays an administrative role in the long-term direction of the empire. Their role is to bridge the gap between normal organic life and supermassive artificial intelligence. In some respects, they also serve as religious leaders as well as emperors.

The Three Avatars have had constant names throughout the history of the empire. These names are the numbers one to three of the Aeliph base 12 numerical system - K'roh, Sa'pra and Pa'tae. Na'zrah (which means zero or infinite) is considered the true, encompassing ruler whom the Three Avatars answer to. In the event one of the three needs to step down or they die, another individual takes their place, but in order to do so, they must give up their original name. It was believed by the empire that the Three Avatars' devotion to Na'zrah was more important than any specific bloodline or lineage.

Military

The Empire of Arckas has a nonconventional military structure. For individual footsoldiers and fleets, they tend to rely on their subject species which have autonomy over how to run their military. The highest ranking military officials that these armies answer to are the Majar-kan, an order of technomancers that spend their whole lives devoted to the study of their craft. The Majar-kan act as guardians and protectors serving the roles of generals and police. They also double as scholars and priests as their abilities rely heavily on communing with their patron god machine.

Size

The Empire of Arckas spanned at least two million galaxies in the Omni 01 universe. However, as evidence of their presence was discovered only through limited detections of the presence of irregular tachyon readings, it is hypothesized they could have been even larger. Artifacts and digsites of Arckasian origin have been found throughout the past ten billion years, but it is thought that the empire lasted this long through by communicating with other versions of itself throughout space and time.

In the past, the Empire of Arckas once spanned multiple universes, but during the events of the Multiversal War, they had to withdraw to contain themselves only in Omni 01 to avoid the Basilisk, a dangerous god machine that sought only domination and subjugation of all others.

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