Volarian Empire

The Volarian Empire was a colonial empire based on Volaria, which invaded in 7862 BBY. Formed below the surface of the Volaria after a large conflict devastated it, the Volarian Empire originally thrived for thousands of s underground before expanding into space. The Volarians established a large colonial empire in the and eventually reached  space. Due to their greedy and violent nature, the Volarian Ruling Council decided to conquer the rest of the galaxy. Despite making great gains initially, the Empire was ultimately forced to sign a treaty with the Republic (although on favorable terms).

While officially ruled by the, the Volarian Empire was under the  control of the Ruling Council, with the Emperor being a mere figurehead. Most Volarians were unaware of this, however, and the Council's propaganda had portrayed the Emperors as gods. As a result, the majority of the Empire's subjects were fanatically devoted to the Emperor. Having survived a cataclysm, greed and violence were traits that could be found in abundance among Volarians. Due to their nature, many of them welcomed the idea of a war against the Republic and supported the Ruling Council's (officially, the Emperor's) decision to attack.

Formation and early years
"What did you expect from an empire forged in blood?"

- Prime Minister Thanos Remal

After a major war devastated Volaria in 13,785 BBY, the colonists were forced to abandon the 's surface and flee underground. They carved out vast caverns and tunnels, which eventually evolved into various city-states. Losing much of their earlier technology, including, the Volarians began a meager existence underground that would last for the next five thousand s. Volarian civilization developed better technology as the years went on, however, and the oligarchs of the city of Volar—the closest settlement to the planet's core—unified Volaria in a series of unification campaigns. Despite the fact that Volar possessed the majority of what little modern weaponry survived the great war on the surface, the conflict was bloody (estimated to have wiped out one-fifth of the population) and lasted for 32 years. In the end, however, the King of Volar, Athelisdun I, became the first of Volaria, in the year 12,578 BBY.

His claim was contested, and minor conflicts continued over the next several decades. Athelisdun himself was killed, leading his Imperial Army into battle personally against an upstart. The first Emperor did have a son before he died, who succeeded him as the second emperor of the Tomadrin dynasty. The planet was completely unified within a century of Athelisdun's ascension to the Volarian crown. The newly-formed Volarian Empire thrived after the bloodshed, rebuilding, expanding, and beginning an era of prosperity and growth. This period of development lasted until around 8000 BBY, at which point the power of the Tomadrin dynasty began waning. The Volarian Ruling Council, which was originally formed as a group of advisers for the Emperor, began taking control, and ended up becoming the de facto rulers of the Empire. The emperors of the dynasty became their figureheads over the next several centuries.

Also around that time, the Empire began to run out of space to expand within the Volarian underground. The Ruling Council invested in researching spaceflight technology and created its first spacecraft. The Volarian Empire then quickly expanded through the nearby systems, finding mostly uninhabited worlds and establishing many colonies. By 7876 BBY, the Volarians possessed a large colonial empire in the of. The Empire's scouts had reached the, part of the (from which the first colonists of Volaria had come from), by then. The Ruling Council, seeking to expand its territories, decided to go to war. The majority of the Volarian populace, among which the traits of greed and aggression were common, as well as a devotion to the Emperor, supported the decision. The Council leader, Prime Minister Thanos Remal, had his intelligence agents organize a number of uprisings in Republic territory in order to divide it, including the Thirteenth Alsakan Conflict.

Government and politics
The Volarian Empire was official and absolute monarchy, but was a de facto oligarchy, under the authority of the Ruling Council.

The Emperor
Originally the absolute monarch of the Empire, the Emperor of all Volarians was reduced to the status of a figurehead by the time of Volaria's conflict with the Republic. The monarchs of the Tomadrin dynasty remained the de jure heads of state of the Empire, but the de facto head of state was the Prime Minister of the Ruling Council. The figurehead emperors rarely left the Imperial Palace, located in the innermost districts of Volar, known as the Impenetrable City. In theory, the Emperor's powers included the ability to wage war, command the armed forces, appoint and remove members of the Ruling Council, and pass decrees, as well as the power to veto laws proposed by the Council.

Ruling Council
The highest authority in the Empire, the Ruling Council was originally formed as a body of advisers for the Emperor, but eventually took over the government and wielded absolute power. The Council consisted of representatives of the high noble families. Seats on the Council were mostly passed down from generation to generation, but on rare occasions, outsiders (such as members of the lower nobility or, even rarer, commoners) were appointed to the Council. In theory, it served as an advisory body to the Emperor, but in reality, the councilmen were the leaders of the Empire. It was led by the Prime Minister, who was usually a member of one of the Empire's "Three Pillars"—the Remal family, the Caladon family, or the Amintor family.

At the height of its power, the Council was able to declare war, act as the commanders-in-chief of the Volarian, override decisions made by the Magisterial Court (the highest judicial authority in the Empire), take direct command of military units, pass laws as it saw fit, and had control over the Volarian mark (the Empire's official currency), among other powers.

Military
The main ground branch of the armed forces was the Volarian Imperial Army, while the space branch was the Imperial Navy. Consisting of tens of millions of troops, the Imperial Army was well-trained and devoted to the Emperor. Every Volarian male was required to serve in the military for a minimum of two years, though many stayed longer than that. Individual members of the Army were referred to as grenadiers, and went through the infamously brutal training on the dangerous surface of Volaria. It was not uncommon for recruits and conscripts to be killed during training. However, such methods made the Volarian Imperial Army one of the deadliest military forces in the galaxy by the time the Great Interstellar War began, as shown by their early victories against the Republic. As the war went on, however, the quality of troops became worse, and the Empire was forced to rely more and more on auxiliaries from occupied worlds.

The Imperial Fleet included hundreds of ships, divided into fleets named after their commanding. The Navy was by far the less prestigious branch of military service, and the majority of its members were conscripts even before the war, which impacted its quality quite a bit. However, the Imperial Navy performed competently during the early years of the war against the Republic, and gradually became less effective as the conflict dragged on. It had tenuous relations with the Imperial Army, especially since it was considered by the government to be of secondary importance and primarily served to transport ground troops. Despite its shortcomings, it fielded an advanced array of warships, which rivaled the in firepower and speed.

Society and culture
"A society based on greed and fear is fragile at best."

- Jedi Master Talos Kryl

As galactic historians noted, the cataclysm and subsequent travails suffered by the Volarian people had brought out the worst Human traits among them. Early on in their existence below the surface of Volaria, food and other essentials were difficult to come by, and what little of it there was ended up being contested by millions of people. As a result, greed and violence became common among the Volarians over the centuries. After the Empire's formation, its rulers exploited this by creating a system in which all of the power was concentrated in their hands, and it could only be issued by them. This guaranteed the servitude of most Volarians, who would follow their commands if they were given power in return. Most of the planet came under this feudal society, with different cities (and later colonies and occupied worlds) being under the rule of nobility.

Another common aspect of Volarian society was slavery. Initially, only criminals were enslaved, an act which was met with the approval of most people. However, by the time of the Empire's invasion of the galaxy, slavery was extended to political dissidents, relatives of criminals, and other "undesirable" elements found themselves in shackles. After occupying Republic planets, the Volarian regime also enslaved many non-Volarians, who were treated even worse than Volarian slaves. They were used for every kind of dangerous task, from high-risk construction projects to serving as cannon fodder on battlefields in the Imperial Army's penal units. Members of nobility received a certain number of slaves based on their family's importance in the Volarian hierarchy.

After thousands of years of propaganda, the Volarian population essentially worshiped the Emperor of Volaria as some kind of deity. This practice was begun originally when the Tomadrin dynasty emperors had absolute power, but by 8000 BBY the Ruling Council had taken control of the government and the Emperor was merely a figurehead. Nonetheless, the new rulers of Volaria found this to be useful for their purposes, and continued to portray the Emperor as a god to the people. As an indirect result of this, military service was considered to be very prestigious and was required of every male Volarian. The Imperial Army (and later the Navy) drafted millions of young Volarian conscripts every year from the Empire's growing population, as well as auxiliaries from the occupied worlds in the known galaxy. However, since many volunteered to join before they even reached military age, this practice was almost unnecessary.

The Volarian government also promoted traditional gender roles, including the idea of women being homemakers, in order to increase the Empire's population. Despite this, females were still permitted in the Volarian military, although most were not allowed to serve in combat units.