Ad Astra: The Tovenaar Empire

Any good SF or Space Opera setting features an evil empire. The scourge of the Star Ocean is definitely the Tovenaar Empire, a expansionistic, militaristic and faschistic nation ruled by the iron fist of Arbach Tovenaar, heir to the throne of General-Emperor.

The Tovenaar Empire (Quick Facts)

Main World: Tovenaar Prime, 1st planet of the Tovenaar system
Government: Military Dictatorship
Head of State: General-Emperor Arbach Tovenaar
Official Language: English
Official Currency: Tovenaari Denar
Military: Universal Conscription
Economy: Free Market Economy
Major Religions: Atheist 90%, Neochristianity 6%, Other 4%
Major Worlds: Tovenaar Prime, Ayasi Secundus, Bethalor, Turondro, Outback, Serpentus V

“Not everyone was happy with how things worked in the Gaian society. One of these people was Alexander Tovenaar, a young and brash Gaian career soldier. He believed democracy to weak, to slow to solve the problems the Gaian Republic faced at that time. In 317 NR Tovenaar and his followers tried to overthrow the Gaian government. The coup failed and they were forced to flee.” – From a Gaian history textbook

After their flight from Gaian space, forces loyal to Tovenaar conquered a colony world on the rim. They called the planet Tovenaar Prime and made it the capital of their fledling empire. Today the Tovenaar Empire is one of the superpowers of the Star Ocean.

The Tovenaari Empire is ruled by the General Emperor and the Tovenaari Senate who has only advisory functions. All members of the Senate are drawn from the higher echelons of the military. In fact the whole Tovenaari society is highly militaristic.

The Tovenaari industry is totally focussed on war production, shortages of non-military products are common and the standard of living of civilians is pretty low. Only members of the military and industrialist enjoy a higher standard and have a lot more freedoms than the ordinary citizen.

The Tovenaari government has almost total control over the lives of its subjects. The second most important person in the Tovenaari Empire is the propaganda secretary. The indoctrination of young Tovenaari begins in early childhood making sure they don’t fall out of alignment.

The Tovenaari maintain the largest military of the Star Ocean. In the last centuries they invaded their neighbours repeatedly. Currently most of the imperial forces are trying to quell an uprising on several imperial frontier worlds.
Relations with its neighbours are tense to say the least.

That concludes another installment of my “Ad Astra” series. Stay tuned for the next episode when I will reveal some details on the corporate state of the Star Ocean: SpaceCorp! As always I am interested in your comments, so don’t hesitate to post your thoughts.