M'KHara
M'KHara or the M'KHaren Empire is one of the largest and oldest powers in the Known Worlds, dating back to the Dynastic Period of the Mage Wars. It is the only such nation to have survived, as it was spared by the Gudersnipe Army during Laytami's campaign to wipe out the dynasties.
M'KHara is an imperial monarchy that stretches back to the Dynastic-era of the Mage Wars. Though the Royal line is broken in many places, each emperor legitimizes his rule through some claim of lineage. Officially, M'KHara is a constitutional monarchy guided by a "philosopher king". The emperor is required to be very well-educated, and particularly knowledgeable about the history of his people.
M'KHara controls about 10% of the known worlds. Their empire is vast and considered economically very strong.
History
Purportedly, the Empire's national symbol is of Eladamrian origin; but in the story Forbidden Zone, it is implied to derive from a synonym, in that language, of "Waste Dump".
Tradition holds that the empire was founded on a date which corresponds to B.G.A. 2321 in the Alliance Calendar. The M'KHaren's have their own dating system, which is best left to imagination.
Briefly in the mid Dynastic Period, the M'KHaren's conqured much of known space, controlling, at one point, a region larger than the present-day Gudersnipe Foundation. By the end of the Dynastic Period, most of this space had been lost to the Marcon Alliance, with whom the M'KHaren's were very bitter enemies.
During the Second Chaotic Period while the old Gudersnipe Army was wrecking havoc on the Marcons and other dynasties, the M'KHaren's were left in relative peace. The Foundation would later explain that they saw no fault in M'KHaren civilization and felt that waging a war against them would be unneccsarry It should also be noted that the borders of the M'KHaren Empire at the time of the Second Chaotic Period were they same as they are today, which presented significant challenges in the kind of war the army was waging.
The M'KHaren's still held vast territory throughout the mage wars, maintaining a region of space that is boarded on one side by the edge of the galaxy, another by a large, nearly empty expans, and on the last two by large demilitarized zones. The M'KHaren DMZ, or Nuetral Zone, is a dense region of nebulas and steller nurseries. black holes, and various navigational challenges that make it both a poor settlement zone and a very effective natural boundry. The DMZ was established by a treaty signed between the Alliance and the M'KHaren's, though the Foundation agreed to honor it without question.
During the Mage Wars era, the M'KHaren's also held considerably territory in other dimensions and on several flat worlds, but most of this territory was given up early in the Golden Age. As the M'KHaren's moved from a magic-using society to a technological and industrial one, they would have become reliant on the GATE to maintain their off-world holdings. These regions were sold or granted independence, with many maintaining strong M'KHaren traditions.
During the Ages of the Alliance, the M'HAren's were generally regarded as a closed society. Many regarded them as xenophobic or isolationistic, but the truth was the simple impracticality of travel. The M'KHaren DMZ was thousands of light years accross, and the region beyond it sparsely populated. Few nations, especially during the early golden age, had the capability to travel that far, and trade was a literal impossibility. As one M'KHaren historian put it "They didn't have anything we wanted, and we didn't have anything they could afford."
The route into M'KHaren space had only one narrow cooridor that had been mapped through the DMZ, and the journey through it took months(until advancements in FTL technology in the mid Third Age.
M'KHaren Empire
The largest multi-world government to escape the Mage Wars was basically functional. The exact distance of their reach has never been determined, but at one time the M'KHarens may have controlled as much as half of the Known Worlds. By the time the Known Worlds Mapping Project took place, M'KHara controlled roughly 10% of known space.
Government
The M’KHarens have always had an absolute monarch; and although they practice limited democracy on the municipal level, it is the emperor who makes all the big decisions. How, then, do they succeed in being a technologically-advanced major power in the verse?
The M’KHarens have always followed the system of having a “scholar king”, which essentially means the emperor is smart. There is a royal family and a royal line, but they are extremely learned. The next Emperor begins his training in boyhood, when he would be carefully groomed for the throne. Science, mathematics, philosophy, economics: the future king studies all of these. The royal family may even include several princes, all competing to see who can be the smartest, because the emperor will always chose his most competent heir.
In this way, when the emperor makes appointments, he chooses wisely, and for the good of the people. He lives to serve his country, not his selfish desires.
Technology
M'KHara is technologically very advanced. Their spacecraft use Slipstream Drives, their power generators operate on principles no outside group has been able to discern, and their star mapping and navigational capabilities are second to none.