Ascendiai was a terrestrial world and ecumenopolis in the Ascendiai system of the Core Worlds. A Core Founder of the Galactic Republic, Ascendiai was one of the first worlds settled by Humans, who made up the overwhelming majority of the planet's population. It was a member of the Eminent Eight and contended with Halcyon for the position of the third most influential and powerful planet in the galaxy. Ascendiai was well-known for its high-quality and high technology goods, on which the Ascendiai prized themselves.
Ascendiai had a longstanding rivalry with the neighboring Brentaal systeem and its capital Brentaal IV, which attempted to usurp Ascendiai's position as a member of the Eminent Eight several times. It also had a friendly rivalry with both Coruscant and Alsakan, as some Ascendiai thought that their homeworld should have been the galactic capital.
Ascendaiai, as one of the the Republic's foremost worlds, was its own sector, forming an enclave in the Bormea sector, much to the chagrin of the latter.
Ascendiai was known in the Republic for its democratic system of governance. The planetary state was the Ascendiai Democracy, which utilized direct democracy and gave every citizen a voice in important matters. The Ascendiai were one of the Republic's strongest supporters of democracy and republicanism, which often brought the planet into debate or conflict with planets which had non-democratic governments. The Ascendiai strongly opposed the membership of monarchies and dictatorships in the Republic, and looked down on these systems of governance as primitive and archaic.
Ascendiai was the homeworld of Kai Shadao, a singer and politician who became the first directly-elected President of the Galactic Republic in centuries, and of Kay Iraseth Zavarai, the father of Caspian Zavarai.