Empire of Tuchanka
From FABT
The Tuchankan Empire at its greatest extent in 759 CE prior to the deployment of the genophage. | |
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Political information | |
Type of government: |
Regicidal imperial chiefdom |
Founding document: |
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Constitution: |
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Head of State: |
Archlord Driash Drogor (first) |
Head of government: |
Archlord Driash Drogor (first) |
Commander-in-chief: |
Overlord Juntor Moro (first) |
Executive: |
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Legislative: |
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Judicial: |
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Military: |
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Societal information | |
Capital: |
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Official language: |
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Currency: |
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Official religion: |
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Holidays: |
Day of the Firestorm |
Anthem: |
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Historical information | |
Formed from: |
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Dates: |
24 June 42 CE - 18 December 764 CE
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Preceded by: |
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Succeeded by: |
Tuchankan Imperialists |
- "Every dead warrior is a milestone for Tuchanka."
- — Krogan proverb.
The Empire of Tuchanka, simply known as the Empire, also known as the Krogan Empire and as the Tuchankan Empire, was the representative body of Tuchanka, its provinces and krogan colonies from 42 CE to 764 CE. Prior to the Empire's founding, the krogan clans of Tuchanka had been divided and isolated from one another, intermittently warring with each other as their species struggled to survive in the self-inflicted nuclear holocaust that had obliterated their planet and rendered much of it uninhabitable for over a thousand years. In 40 CE, their species made first contact with an alien race when an advanced force of rachni landed on the planet during the Third Rachni War, believing it to be occupied by an as-of-yet unencountered Council species. The first contact was a slaughter, but this proved of immense interest to the STG of the Salarian Union, who had been observing Tuchanka since 31 BCE, who eventually decided on uplifting the krogan to use them against the rachni and turn the tide of the Rachni Wars. The salarians made first contact with the krogan the following year, which was far more peaceful, and the salarians helped to make Tuchanka semi-habitable again whilst modernizing their society and readying them to join the galactic community. In 42 CE, the Tuchankan Empire was born, created by several of the most krogan clans that served as a rally cry for all krogan across the planet, giving them hope for a better future as well as a new enemy to fight. Despite a thousand years of technological and societal regression, the krogan responded positively to this and united under this new Empire, believing it to be a new beginning for the krogan. By 45 CE, the Empire had colonized much of their solar system, and by 47 CE they'd begin to colonize the systems beyond. Finally, in 48 CE, the Tuchankan Empire marched off to war with the First Rachni Collective in the Fourth Rachni War, driving the rachni to extinction and achieving a decisive end to the Rachni Wars.
The structure of the Tuchankan Empire was emblematic of the krogan clan system, and as such, the ruling government was handled in much the same manner. The head of state was the Archlord, a term once used to denote the chieftains of the First Clans and primordial kingdoms of old, strong warrior-emperors who maintained their empires through crushing those who challenged them. Only the most powerful krogan could be allowed to rule the Empire, and as such any krogan who called themselves Archlord had to fight to keep their title, and those Archlords who were killed would be replaced by their usurper. Krogan politics were a tumultuous affair, defined by bloody struggles for power that almost always resulted in a minor civil war that ended within days, the victor seizing power, whilst other times it'd be decided by a duel. Krogan females were traded, a remnant from the thousand year long nuclear winter that had encompassed Tuchanka where the krogan were forced to treat their women like commodities in order to survive. Warlords rose and fell, each one with entire armies and provinces under their command, each one a ruler over their own land, only answering to the Archlord. These warlords had many minor warlords and subordinates under them, and the krogan blood struggle often incurred that these minor lords would kill their overlords to gain power, and the overlords would kill the Archlord, and so forth. The greatest krogan warlords of the time were giants of their time: Shiagur, Moro, Kredak and Veol would gain notoriety for their actions during the Fourth Rachni War and eventually even the Krogan Rebellions, their fame known far and wide, and whose actions elevated them to legendary status within krogan society, earning them each the moniker of "hero", a title rarely granted by the krogan as a whole, and only granted to those whose respect was demanded by every krogan to be granted. These krogan heroes forged the mighty Tuchankan Empire, the first krogan nation-state and the one that made the krogan the most feared species in the entire galaxy.
The Krogan Empire represented the first time in history that the entire krogan species stood united under a single banner, single ruler, and a single state. The Fourth Rachni War was the first time all krogan fought side-by-side against a common enemy, but it was inevitable that this foundation wouldn't last forever and the damage the salarians had done by uplifting the krogan before they were ready became apparent in the immediate aftermath of the Rachni Wars. The krogan were not ready to join galactic society, so while they were now equipped with the technological advancement and progression that every other Council species had, their societal progress and maturity as a species had not kept up, and such the old rules for the krogan applied: if they could not find enemies within to fight, they'd find enemies without. The salarians had utilized the symbolism of imperialism to unite the krogan under one banner, but they had failed to appreciate the true meaning that "empire" held for the krogan: it was less of a unifying emblem to them and more so of a challenge. Krogan empires were built upon conquest, bloodlust and glory, and as was taught by krogan shamans, all empires had to collapse so that new ones could take their place, stronger and more powerful than the last, an infinite cycle that had ultimately resulted in the nuclear annihilation of Tuchanka. The krogan were not ready to move past this ideology, for the salarians had not given them that time by uplifting them, so the mindset was the same. In the end, it was inevitable the Tuchankan Empire would look for new enemies to better itself and strengthen it, and ultimately those foes would come in the form of the Council. In the 700 years following the Rachni Wars, the Tuchankan Empire began to aggressively expand, their exceptionally high birth rate and the subsequent population explosion causing the krogan to require world after world to handle their overpopulation, quickly exceeding the worlds awarded to them as concession for their sacrifices in the rachni conflict. The krogan policy of "Jebreksad" only encouraged this aggressive expansion, arguing that krogan didn't more and more living space and that the krogan way demanded this territory be taken to strengthen the Empire. This expansion inevitably brought it into conflict with the Council races, which included the new species on the galactic scene, the hanar and the quarians, who frequently competed with the Empire when its expansion brought it to their borders, with the quarians even fighting a brief border conflict with the krogan. The Empire's expansion eventually brought it to Outer Council Space, where it made first contact with the vorcha when it conquered their system, uplifting and enslaving their species and annexing them as a vassal of the Empire, making use of the vorcha as cheap labor and also cheap auxiliaries to their armies. There appeared to be no end to the Empire's expansion, but it toed around provoking the Council directly, something which would not last forever and both sides knew it.
Eventually, the Tuchankan Empire neared the apex of its expansion in 697 CE. When final provocation sparked open war in 700 CE when the warlord Moro and his forces annexed the asari colony of Lusia against warnings from the Council that doing so would be a declaration of war. This began the Krogan Rebellions, with the Council and the Tuchankan Empire now finally at open war. Despite this however, the Tuchankan Empire was simply too powerful and the Empire seized a lot of Council territory in the early years of the war before it was finally checked and the conflict entered a stalemate, with the Empire's vast numbers and firepower slowly breaking down the Council's forces. Victory for the Tuchankan Empire was all but certain, even after 749 CE when the Turian Hierarchy joined the war on the side of the Council, their powerful military being just enough to hold back the Empire's advance, but not forever. Soon, the Tuchankan Empire gained ground again, beginning to use asteroid strikes to pulverize Council worlds into submission, brutally occupying the ones they captured: while the Council navy was able to defeat the krogan navy time and time again, it just wasn't enough. Driven to desperation, the STG developed the genophage virus, hoping to use it as a deterrent to force the krogan to the negotiating table and force the Empire to make concessions. Not wanting to take the risk, the Hierarchy instead took the genophage and launched a massive offensive against Tuchanka, quickly securing one of the Shroud facilities and using it to deploy the genophage rapidly across the planet. Over the next few years, the genophage was deployed on every krogan occupied world, and as krogan numbers shrunk, the Council launched a massive counteroffensive, driving the Empire back.
Finally, by 764 CE, the Empire was completely driven back to Tuchanka, and it was here that the krogan military, too badly depleted and demoralized from an inability to breed, finally surrendered. At the Treaty of Taetrus, the krogan were forced to make humiliating concessions, being stripped of a navy and their weapons, confined to their homeworld and their cluster demilitarized, all of their worlds being rescinded back to their original owners and former krogan worlds abandoned and the vorcha formally granted independence. Deemed too dangerous to be left intact, the Empire was completely demolished from top to bottom, with the title of Archlord abolished and the krogan clans prohibited from uniting under a single banner ever again. The CDEM was left behind to ensure the terms of the treaty were enforced. Divided, demoralized, humiliated and outraged, the krogan had no choice but to turn to each other to vent their anger, and old rivalries resurfaced and with it, inevitably, came a return to hostilities. The Krogan Civil Wars broke out not long after, and would last for a thousand years. While the krogan would eventually be united under one banner again, the Tuchankan Empire would never rise again, a relic of the past that could no longer be tolerated. The Empire's eventual successor, the Tuchankan Confederacy, would not repeat the mistakes made by the Empire, and resembled none of what the Empire had been.