|
||||
|
|
DRAZI FREEHOLD
Drazi civilization has existed for roughly 3,000 standard years and is one of the strongest races in the League of Nonaligned Worlds. Drazi have a group oriented social structure, where rivalry amongst the different groups drives the Drazi economy and sciences. An individual's status in Drazi society rest on how well he/she serves the various groups he/she is affiliated with. Drazi society is a male oriented patriarchal society and, while there are no obstacles to female Drazi in seeking power, they often shy away from such ambition, preferring family duties. The Drazi are predominantly middle class with a small lower and upper class. Governing body of the Drazi Freehold is the Shadak. The Shadak is a council made up of five representatives, each representing the five branches of the Drazi race. These council members are chosen once every five earth years when the whole of Drazi society break into two opposing camps and fight to choose which side will be dominant for the next five years. Unlike such struggles seen in other races, the Drazi do not make war upon one another because of political, social, religious or economic reasons. The side to which a Drazi will fall in a Shadak conflict is a purely random one. When the time to choose new leaders comes about, every Drazi chooses either a Purple or Green sash, chosen randomly from a large barrel. This divides Drazi culture into the two opposing camps and the two sides then attack each other. Typically these attacks are not to the death, only to one Drazi lay bloody and unconsciousness, the victor having proven that he is stronger. The side that succeeds in acquiring the most victories at the end of the five cycles well then chooses the new Shadak council members from within their own ranks. Once the Shadak conflict is concluded the Drazi again return to being one people. This odd ritual is based upon a Great War that led to the five branches of Drazi society to unite several hundred years ago. Drazi are often thought of as a war-like race, which is not entirely accurate. While it is true that every male Drazi must spend at least three years in the military, the Drazi do not often go to war with their neighbors and generally keep to themselves. Still, given the Drazi's natural aggressive nature, their military is very well equipped and effective by League standards. Drazi military is symbolic of a warrior tradition that has endured for nearly 3000 years. The Drazi Sun Hawk, their class-A battle cruisers, are fast and maneuverable attack cruisers in possession of considerable firepower for their relatively small size. Drazi fighters, known as Sky Serpents, are among the best in the League and are almost on par with the Earth Alliance's Aurora class Starfury. Despite popular misconceptions, the Drazi are indeed very technologically advanced - technologically superior to both the Narn Regime and Earth Alliance. The Drazi have had interstellar flights for almost 400 standard years and their weapons and space technology is superb. Solar power is used to power a vast majority of Drazi technology, more so than even nuclear fusion. One of the most spectacular examples of this is the Jakalte' Solar Station - an orbital solar energy station that boasts solar panels some 12 miles in length. Despite their relatively high level of technology, the Drazi Freehold was hindered by their close proximity to the Centauri Republic, which nearly encircles the whole of Drazi space. This severely limited trade and due to the extreme lack of Quantium 40 deposits in their territory, the Drazi have very few starships capable of independent jump capability. There are three primary religion in Drazi culture. The "Thrazda" is the dominant belief of Drazi society. Thrazda is known as the "Way of the Fighter", a warrior code that includes the worship of the sun and stars. "Kri Maru", the "Sun Child" is a religion that is growing in popularity. This is a gentler religion than that of Thrazda, emphasizing peaceful cooperation between all sentient beings. The prime deity of this religion is Droshalla and is apparently heavily influenced by the Vorlon. The least practiced of the Drazi's major religions is "Chayar" the Azure Path. Chayar is a cult religion with mystic overtones that emphasizes individual growth thought the study and emulation of Drazi legends. Another religion growing in acceptance is the belief in the "Great Maker", a belief that there was conscious thought in the creation of the universe and that a higher power created the heavens, the stars and the planets. This religious belief stems from having once been a subject world of the old Centauri Republic and was outlawed up until about a century ago. During their war with the Centauri in 2259/60 the Drazi lost almost all their colonies to the Centauri advance. Several of these colonies were regained after the Centauri retreated following the Shadow's attacking holdings in Brakiri Space. When war again broke out between the ISA and the Centauri Republic in 2262, the Drazi found themselves on the front lines of the conflict. Following the defeat of the Centauri, the Drazi regained all their lost colonies and even won worlds that were long held in dispute with the Centauri Republic. This helped to dramatically open up Drazi trade lines, which had once been hindered by a strong Centauri presence for nearly 600 years. Of all the Drazi's colonies, the most valuable are the Shambah III and Fendamair Research Colony, as well as the Mokafa Station. Shambah III is the primary good production center for the Freehold, with extensive terraforming and land/sear farming. Fendearmir is the Drazi's primary science, research and military-industrial complex for the Drazi freehold. Mokafa station, which also resides in the Mokafa system, is a massive orbital factory, positioned in the mineral rich Mokafa asteroid field. |
|||||||||||||||
