Xxcha Kingdom

The pacifist Xxcha are among the oldest of all the Great Civilizations, predating perhaps even the Mahact as one of the first great interstellar civilizations. Long-lived and thoughtful reptilians with no interest in expansionism or playing at power, the Xxcha preferred to tend their gardens or debate meaning and origin while smoking from long-stemmed pipes.

Their homeworlds, known as the Archon Twins, lie nestled in a rich region of space, allowing early starfaring Xxcha to obtain great wealth through trade with other interstellar civilizations— there is, after all, great value in being the first to get there. Through the deposing of the Mahact kings and the rise of the Lazax, the Xxcha were there, becoming trusted advisors and respected allies of the Lazax Imperium.

Xxcha annals tell that during the Age of Dusk, Xxcha envoys were seated at the right hands of all the Great Civilizations. They watched the pieces falling into place, the kindling that would lead to the sparks of the Twilight Wars. In the absence of strong Imperial leadership, it was Xxcha ambassadors who mediated new treaties, enjoined ceasefires, and brokered détentes in order to defuse the mounting tensions, to greater success than most anticipated. The Xxcha warned fervently of the rising partisanship and fragmented empire that would eventually lead to collapse. But the Emperor grew distant, mistaking the warnings for threats, and expelled his Xxcha advisors in what was soon seen as one of the great foreshadowings of the fall of the empire.

When the Letnev blockaded the Quann Wormhole, Xxcha diplomats attempted to arbitrate the dispute. They were on board Letnev ships when the Sol fleet opened fire—that Xxcha blood was spilled during the opening shots of the crisis that would ignite the Twilight Wars was a tragedy not lost on their people.

The war soon engulfed known space. To fund his war effort, Baron Daz Arrokan I moved Letnev ships into the rich Xxlak system, bringing their asteroid mining operations and gas-giant extraction works under his yoke. Before the Kingdom could respond, Letnev dreadnoughts were within bombardment range of Archon Ren and Archon Tau.

The weaponless Xxcha fought with the only tool they had, quickly negotiating a partial settlement whereby they ceded Archon Tau to the Letnev while retaining Archon Ren as their home. Despite having lost one of their ancestral homes without struggle, the Xxcha were not fools—once the Baron’s war started going his way, their agreement would be dust before his ambition.

The reigning Xxcha monarch, King Llixkas, set out to free his people. The gentle, lumbering Xxcha had long been considered soft and weak—few knew that when roused, they were as fast as any Hacan and as cunning as any Human. Within the secret groves and hidden vales of Archon Ren, King Llixkas oversaw the formation of the first Xxcha armies and the construction of its first war fleets.

For a decade the Xxcha had been mustering in secret, when tragedy struck. The Letnev suffered a stunning defeat against Federation forces in the Gral system. The Sol Phoenix Fleet was soon at their throats, engaging the heavily fortified Barony positions on Archon Tau. Daz Arrokan I made his last stand on the planet, fighting the Sol to a standstill over two years of constant bombardments and endless battles.

The horrified Xxcha watched as their beloved homeworld was reduced to ashes. The blue skies grayed with soot from the fires, and the surface cindered into blackened craters as the dust of the burning forests caused a winter that would last centuries, shattering the ecology of Archon Tau beyond repair. When at last the planet was abandoned by the main forces of Sol and Letnev alike, the Xxcha struck, putting the remaining invaders to rout and reclaiming their system.

The Xxcha relocated all survivors of their people from Archon Tau to Archon Ren, building a new royal palace in Kklaj, the only true metropolis in the Kingdom. Sculpted from the last of the Q’waar wood from Archon Tau, the palace houses enormous flower gardens and rivers populated with the surviving flora and fauna of their lost planet, the final monument to the destroyed twin.

King Llixkas saw out the rest of his days at Kklaj, overseeing the resettlement. His final decree: That what happened to Archon Tau should forever remain a reminder to all Xxcha. Never again would his people bend to foreign invasion.

The Kingdom of Xxcha Today

Archon Ren is blanketed in leafy forests, inland oceans, fruitful rainforests, and gently rolling mountain ranges. The Xxcha make their homes in myriad arboreal settlements buried in the depths of the forests or bordering the shores of shallow lakes. Life on Archon Ren is slow and leisurely, with plenty of food and natural beauty, all bathed in the gentle light of its star, Xxlak.

Even on Archon Tau, the Xxcha do their best to maintain that lifestyle, though the planet’s population is confined to cities where the air, water, and soil have been cleansed of toxins and restored to some measure of fertility. Even in these urban environments, populations tend to group themselves into neighborhoods, each with a significant amount of local autonomy.

The Kingdom of Xxcha could be described as a meritocratic gerontocracy. Individual villages (or neighborhoods on Archon Tau or in the city of Kklaj) are governed by councils of elders, each selected by the community from among its oldest generation. These councils, in turn, elect members to sit on the Council of Elders, who serve and support the ruler of the Xxcha. When the ruler dies or abdicates, the Council of Elders chooses a new ruler from among their number.

A central tenet of Xxcha philosophy is Vaxlaj, “A Great Life’s Work.” Each Xxcha over the course of their long existence seeks to create something that is meaningful, beautiful, or simply of great utility to pass on to the next generation. Vaxlaj tends toward the humble—an Xxcha may forge a faster travel route between two trading outposts, or compose a work of poetry cataloging the fish living in the planet’s ocean, or simply walk every road in every community on the Archons. To have the privilege of completing multiple Vaxlaj is considered a source of great pride.

Goals of the Xxcha

The current monarch, King Ccrysus, has made it his Life’s Work to ensure peace and stability for all Xxcha, especially now that the Mahact have returned. He has continued his predecessor’s policies of forming mutually beneficial alliances with the Xxcha’s neighbors, expanding the Kingdom’s reach and influence so that should the unthinkable occur again, the Xxcha retain more sway than during the disastrous outbreak of the Twilight Wars. In fact, it was Ccrysus who was one of the original proponents of the Keleres, as a more surgical method of mediating galactic threats compared to the hammer of all-out war.

The Xxcha are some of the strongest backers of the restored Galactic Council, seeing it as an opportunity for the myriad galactic factions to work together peacefully. But Ccrysus worries deep in his hearts that the other Great Civilizations are not as committed to the Council as the Xxcha. He fears that there may come a time when the Xxcha have to step into the role of leaders, just as the Lazax did so long ago.