Vilani
Human major
race
(H. sapiens) which developed on Vland
from human stock placed there by the Ancients.
History: The world of Vland, while possessed of a
hospitable
environment, boasted an alien ecology based on its own independently
evolved
biology, a biology that produced proteins, sugars, and amino acids that
were
difficult for humans to digest and metabolize. The humans just
could
not use local plant and animal life for food.
One of the oldest occupations in Vilani society is that of shugilii
(which
translates roughly as miller). The shugilii was a person who
could
transform raw food into edible food through special aging and chemical
treatment.
The shugilii task was more akin to shaman or witch doctor than of
that
cook. Since virtually no food on Vland was edible without
some
treatment, shugiliis were powerful members of society.
The alienness of Vland was reciprocal: humans were unsuitable
as food
for predators, parasites died because humans provided no nutrition,
bacteria
could not infect the human system, and even viruses were unable to
invade
and take over human cells. Consequently, the primitive human
society
found no need for medically oriented shaman. Vilani medical
understanding was very slow to develop because of this.
Vilani legends are full of accounts of the wars
of the gods, terrible destruction, and occasional intervention in human
affairs
by the gods. Legends exist of early explorers who found lands
with great
living stone-metal gods possessed of immense magical powers.
Modern archeologists now believe these "gods" were actually great robot
warriors and juggernauts used by the Ancients in the Final War.
Apparently,
the last of these machines finally ran down around -20,000.
Society: Early Vilani society was dominated by three groups: the
shugiliis,
the aristocrats, and the merchants. Aristocrats were the natural
leaders
of society, the shugiliis were the all important food processors, and
the
merchants controlled trade.
With the flowering of Vilani society (circa -11,000) and its attendant
industrial
revolution, each of these three forces gained power rather than lost
it;
each participated in the creation of the industrialized wealth of Vland.
In -9235 the Vilani made their ultimate breakthrough - one that would
assure
their ascendance for the next 6000 years. A research team working
on
the fringes of the Vland system
created
the first working prototype jump drive
and
demonstrated its effects.
The Vilani found intelligent lifeforms on other worlds within 60
parsecs
of Vland. None of the races had progressed enough to have
begun
interstellar travel. The Vilani found it easy to dominate these
less
technically advanced races. The Vilani were able to impose Vilani
culture
and law on these other races among the stars. However, the Vilani
conquerings
were not militaristic in nature, but rather were economic subjection.
As their sphere of influence was expanding, the Vilani found it
difficult
to maintain control across such great distances with jump-1 as their
maximum
rate of travel and communication. At the same time, each of the
three
power classes of Vilani society found itself threatened by the forces
around
it.
Three bureaux were established, each independent of the other two, and
each
assigned a territory among the stars for which it was
responsible.
Each of the three bureaux was effectively identical, but they initially
espoused
different philosophies, which were based on their origins. The
bureaux
maintained their own governments within their territorities.
Sharurshid, originating with
the
merchant class, emphasized interstellar trade. Makhidkarun, originating with
the
aristocracy, emphasized interstellar government. Naasirka, originating with the
shugiliis,
floundered after it found that it could not control food supplies on
most
of the worlds it dealt with, but it ultimately became a broad-line
organization
which emphasized energy, transport, and luxury goods.
In -6430, the Vilani finally discovered jump-2. No other race had
jump-2,
and the Vilani maintained a sole monopoly on jump-2 by jealously
guarding
its secrets from all subject races. Beginning in -5400, a series
of
wars to subjugate the resisting fringe cultures was waged. This
period
of consolidation wars lasted until -4045.
Grand Empire of Stars: In 4046, the ruling Vilani council, the
Igsiirdi,
declared the Grand Empire of the Stars,
or
in the Vilani tongue, the Ziru Sirka. The Vilani calendar starts
from
this date.
At first, the Empire had no emperor. Within 10 years, the
chairman
of the Igsiirdi (elected for life by the council) was the Ishimkarun -
the
Shadow Emperor - ruled through published proclamations, but never
appeared
in public. In -3610, the Shadow Emperor became the Emperor of the
Stars,
who was the absolute monarch of the Empire. Successors were
elected
from the Igsiirdi upon the death of the old emperor.
For nearly 1,200 years the Grand Empire of the Stars kept the peace
among
its star-spanning population. However, the empire insisted on
cultural
rigidity. Exploration was stopped by -4000. Scientific
research was controlled and then stopped altogether by -3800.
The old Vilani culture which developed during the first Imperium was a rigid caste
system
based on the idea that each citizen had a specific and set place in the
universe,
and it was each citizen's duty to remain in that place. Society
could
not afford to let individuals do as they pleased. Not all of the
subject
races of the Vilani Imperium were able to be completely absorbed into
this
culture (the Vegans, for example) and those
societies
did not do well under the Vilani Imperium.
The beginning of the end of Vilani domination was signalled by the
contact
with the Terrans in -2422.
By
-2408 the Terran Confederation
and the Vilani were at war; by -2219 the Terrans had surpassed the
Vilani
technologically and were marching through the cities of Vland
as conquerors,
and the Grand Empire of the Stars was at an end.
Currently, Vilani is a cultural rather than a racial or national
labeling,
and it is applied to those within the Imperium
who retain some of the old ways. Dialects of the old High Vilani
language survive in certain places, along with a few fragments of
Vilani culture, such
as musical forms and other fine arts. Certain of the old Vilani
noble families have maintained more of the old culture, particularly
the families who control the Vilani megacorporations.
See also Vilani Calendar.
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