Empire of the "Space Brothers"
One of three major powers within the galaxy (the other two being The Nine Systems and, in a broader sense, the Sandibari), the empire of the "Space Brothers" covers most of the rest of habitable space within the galaxy. Their territory comes right up to Stenza space, and periodically Space Brother forces poke around at their neighbors. The Stenza can hardly tell whether or not this is a provocation to war, so as a precaution have enlisted the "Space Brothers" Sandibari to gather information on their technical capacity should the need arise.
Little is known about the interior culture of the empire; the Sandibari spies struggle to gather more than basic social information, which suggests that the empire operates on a caste system, with the mysterious Brothers at the top and every other species assigned to certain tasks by them. The Sandibari spies joined other Sandibari who had found their ways there by other means, as minor ship hands. Periodically an individual gets a mind to try to do something other than their assigned duty; the execution is always public and televised. (Stenza have picked up most if not all of these transmissions, and once translated, they tend to spark rage amongst the general Stenza public. On the other side, Space Brothers have picked up evidence of Stenza traditions and customs and used their piecewise knowledge to label their neighbors as "barbaric savages" who are undeserving or incapable of peaceful negotiation.)
Space Brothers are almost religiously devoted to segregating themselves from the great unwashed of the empire, deliberately hiding their appearance by any means necessary such that not even their closest servants know what they look like. This practice has sparked rumors across every other species in the empire, with a lot of speculation tending toward what humans would call "angels" or "demons". Where the speculation inclines is dependent upon that species' place in the caste and whether they believe their lot was better or worse before the age of empire. Regardless of inclination, there is a notable streak of distrust in the rumors, often to the effect of "if they value us so much why do they hide themselves? What secrets are they keeping?" The Sandibari spies have picked up on this vein and been working it for almost three hundred years. Although the Brothers are diligent about keeping everyone in their place, Sandibari have been able to sell their services and help relay communication between various dissident factions, providing alternative news outlets. Over the past twenty years especially, they have been helping edge the Space Brothers' empire closer and closer to revolution.
Neighboring Nations
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