Winnu

After the Lazax Empire fell, the Great Scourge swept through the galaxy. All traces of the old Emperors were systematically extinguished from the galaxy in operations spearheaded by the Barony of Letnev and Federation of Sol, which wished to exact their vengeance upon the Lazax. This scourge led to the extinction of the Lazax and the erasure of their art, history, and culture—except on Winnu.

The Winnarans of Winnu had been near extinction when the Lazax first rose to power. They had not yet discovered interstellar spaceflight, and the dwindling of resources on their dying world had catalyzed multiple devastating civil conflicts. When a plague began to ravage their people, the Winnarans truly believed they were at their end.

If the Lazax had found them even a few years later, the Winnarans might have already been extinct. Instead, the Lazax began terraforming efforts and offered seemingly unlimited supplies of medicine and food. The resultant alliance was so strong that the Winnaran people were the first to become part of the Lazax Empire, working alongside the new Emperors hand in glove. With the strength and power of the Lazax and the diligence and discipline of the Winnarans, the burgeoning Imperium became a shining beacon of peace and stability in a galaxy wracked by the whims of the Mahact.

When the Lazax left their home system for the centrally located planet of Mecatol, fully half the population of Winnu left to join the Lazax diaspora on their new throneworld. For thousands of years, the throneworld served as the shining jewel in the Imperial crown. The Winnarans served as bureaucrats, councilors, and administrators of the new Imperium, performing all the rote detail-oriented work of running a massive, growing empire. All beings who petitioned the Lazax needed first to attend endless meetings with the Winnarans to iron out thousands of little niggles and clauses, and the decisions of the Lazax’s great Galactic Council were facilitated and implemented by the Winnarans.

But eventually the Lazax Imperium entered its Age of Dusk. Blinded by millennia of unchallenged rule, the Lazax and the attendant Winnarans failed to perceive the mounting ambition and discontent growing around them. Eventually, the Lazax Empire collapsed, the shards of the throne scattered to the galactic winds as the Great Civilizations embarked on massive campaigns of expansionism and factional warfare. The Winnarans were trapped on the smoldering corpse of Mecatol Rex, cut off from their ancestral home.

Horrified at the downfall of the Lazax, the people of Winnu were powerless to resist, as they had relied heavily on the Lazax for military protection. When the Imperium fell and the Lazax were scoured from the galaxy, the people of Winnu continued to uphold what they believed to be the pinnacle of galactic civilization: authentic Lazax culture.

Throughout the Dark Years, the Winnu kept intact the tens of thousands of years of Lazax lore, wisdom, and art, developing their own civilization along Lazax lines. While the Winnarans on Mecatol focused on the preservation of the capital itself, Winnu culture evolved and prospered, the Winnu fashioning themselves as the true inheritors of the Lazax ways.

As the memory of the Great Scourge faded from the galaxy, the Winnu began to gain an increasing foothold. Apart from preserving great Lazax music, cuisine, poetry, fashion, architecture, and political doctrine, the Winnu had also honed their strategic genius, diplomatic artistry, and technology to a striking point.

The Winnu Today

Historian visitors to Winnu have remarked at the time-capsule nature of some parts of the planet. The trappings and aesthetic of the Lazax Imperium are still very much alive, honored in traditional style but updated to fuse with elements of Winnu modernism. The mode of dress, manner of speech, and even table manners of the Winnu are deeply reminiscent of the old Imperium, and many restaurants and performance houses claim to replicate authentic millennia-old recipes and plays in perfect mirror.

Unsurprisingly, the Winnu have also duplicated the Lazax Imperium’s style of government, and their Emperor rules with absolute authority while supported by a cadre of skilled advisors and aides. The planet of Winnu is established as the Emperor’s personal fiefdom, which the royal family rules from until they can be rightly restored to their throne on Mecatol Rex. Winnu vassal and colony worlds even dispatch envoys to the Winnu’s smaller version of the Galactic Council, and have been assured that when the Winnu claim the Imperial Throne, they will be elevated to full members of the Galactic Council in recognition for their loyalty.

As for the other Great Civilizations, recent diplomatic dealings with the Winnu have run into the problem that their hosts treat other species as subjects rather than equals. Some characterize the Winnu’s proud, traditionalist nature as equaling that of the Lazax for sheer arrogance. Those Winnarans who are persuaded to speak on the matter say they do not recognize in their cousins any of the old ways—the strength of fortitude the Lazax espoused, the wisdom and patience that it took to rule a galaxy—that mirroring Lazax ways had not taught the Winnu what had come naturally to the Lazax.

Goals of the Winnu

As the galaxy grew more connected while emerging from the Dark Years, the Winnu once again made contact with their long-lost cousins, the Winnarans of Mecatol Rex, confident that they would brush aside their custodianship and welcome the Winnu as rightful sovereigns of the Imperium in the old Lazax style—that they would see the Winnu’s millennia of adaptation of the Lazax way made them uniquely suited to rule.

When they instead discovered that the Winnarans had founded the new Galactic Council, the Winnu accused their ancient cousins of sacrilege and recalcitrance. Inviting the civilizations that had committed genocide against their old masters to argue on matters of galactic import was bad enough; that the Winnarans now refused to yield the throne was beyond the pale.

Incensed, the Winnu fielded the construction of great fleets and marshaled massive armies. Conscription into the new armed forces was not necessary; billions volunteered, ready to take back their ancient heritage by force.

Now, the Winnu are fixated on three related goals: to seek what is rightfully theirs, to reclaim the throne, and to rule the galaxy for the betterment of all.