Kosokom, or more formally, the Kosok Kommeckh (Astral Collective), is a notable state entity in the eastern quadrants of the galaxy, comprised mainly of kanads and (to a lesser extent) phiri, with serek, tetrian, and khergian minority populations. Known mainly as a military superpower, Kosokom is also a technological competitor to humanity. It has long held a prominent position within the United Galactic Community, and since the Kanad-Sanghvi War, has held a lukewarm alliance with the Ayr Empire.
Before the 2400s, Kosokom was known as the Kanad Collective. However, a civil war over the rights of its various sub-populations caused a slate of reforms to occur which greatly changed the laws and culture, as well as the official name of the state.
Society (Before Civil War)[]
The Collective contains several social strata which form a main hierarchy and parallel bodies. Movement between some strata is possible within the main heirarchy, as well as between parallel bodies, but some strata exist as permanent castes from which there is no escaping. The development of this system is a natural byproduct of the Collective's history.
The Main Heirarchy[]
The main hierarchy refers to the social strata within Kosok society. The Collective was founded after a catastrophic nuclear war destroyed large portions of the planet Kanadys, perpetrated by the Rozel and Vor'Pangn clans. A third major power which was armed with nuclear weapons was spared from disaster under the threat of mutually assured destruction. The three clans then united to avoid a power struggle, and their peoples were guaranteed citizenship within the new Collective State. Those who could not trace lineage to the newly-empowered clans were denied equal rights, and so two dichotomous castes were developed- the highbloods and the lowbloods.
Prior to the war, there were hundreds of kanad nations, distinguishable by clan membership. Citizenship rights and legal standing would change based on marriage and numerous other traditions, and created complicated familial ties. Sometimes families split among two clans would develop new "house names" which would, over time, develop into new clans. This system continues to exist among the lowblood caste, and so thousands of lowblood clans and houses exist to this day. This is not so for the highbloods. The three major clans had already been promoting lineal purity for the centuries preceding the Collective's foundation, which resulted in large numbers and military dominance, and this tendency only grew more extreme once the preservation of political power became tied to the bloodline. Marriages between the great clans became rare, and unthinkable between highbloods and lowbloods. In the event of a marriage between highbloods of different clans, a "temporary house" rule was developed.
The temporary house rule is simple and effective for maintaining power stability. In the event of a cross-clan marriage, the spouces are automatically expelled from their own clans and must adopt a temporary house name. They retain citizenship rights, but forfeit eligibility for public office. Any offspring of this marriage are born into the temporary house, but, upon marriage to one of the three great clans, become member to the great clan with full political eligibility. They are not permitted to marry into the clan which neither parent was member of. A temporary house ceases to exist once all members are either married, dead, or if the founding couple terminates the marriage with no other family members living and using the house name. In the event of a marriage termination, the former spouses return to their original clans.
The Collective has long held a restrictive view of interstellar travel. To prevent rival kanad civilizations from developing abroad, the state originally imposed a blanket ban against unauthorized travel. However, after numerous contacts with intelligent races and advanced societies abroad, public unrest began to grow over the lack of freedom, with "the right to travel offworld" becoming a key political demand for many years. Believing that it would reduce unrest and provide an outlet for criminals and other undesirables to depart and plague other societies, permission was eventually granted, creating the offworlder class. Offworlders are highbloods who forfeit their eligibility for political office in exchange for permission to freely travel the galaxy. In doing so, they retain their citizenship, and remain subject to Collective Law. This quickly proved to be a double-edged sword, as many professionals departed the core planets along with the undesirables due to high-paying prospects elsewhere. It should be noted that some offworlders waive their citizenship after leaving the Collective, but despite the distinction, are still referred to as offworlders.
Finally, domestic highbloods may be stripped of their citizenship due to egregious crimes or other offenses, and become ex-citizens. Waiving one's own citizenship is regarded as a crime in kanad society, but one which is not enforced beyond the Collective's borders and which can be forgiven if the ex-citizen has not committed any other crimes and requests re-entry to Collective society through the proper channels. The only practical distinction between an ex-citizen and a lowblood is through lineage: a child born of an ex-citizen and a citizen, or even two ex-citizens, is a highblood citizen.
Citizens of Semi-Autonomous Bodies[]
The Collective contains two notable client states which are semi-autonomous.
The planet Itara, home to the tetrian race, is the most recent of these states to join and demonstrates a gradually liberalized viewpoint of the Collective towards its clients. Itara prefers isolation from international affairs and has thus allowed Collective administration of defense and trade policy, and to collect taxes, but otherwise, has retained its way of life unhindered by its annexation. Itara's citizens enjoy a high-level of equality and political efficacy, although the population is largely apathetic towards the pursuit of power. Its institutions are humble and accessible, and the quality of life is high. Although foreigners are allowed to apply for Itaran citizenship, the Collective ultimately controls who is allowed to enter. This has created many interesting situations- the Collective will occasionally authorize immigration to the planet from abroad, wherein aliens are then allowed to apply for permanent residence and citizenship. However, the Collective will simultaneously disallow its own citizens from traveling to Itara freely, effectively preventing them from changing citizenship status in the process.
Vashkom, home to the lirya, has a more exploitative relationship with the Collective. Being far less populous than other races, the lirya were unable to keep their previous government once the kanads arrived with the Black Fleet and thus have no political efficacy in a traditional manner. The lirya do, however, posses a codified book of laws agreed upon between the leaders of the now-defunct government and the Collective's higher offices. Officially, the territory exists under martial law, and so the "citizens" of Vashkom have rights similar to those who serve in the Black Fleet, and must utilize the martial justice system in absence of their own courts. This is superior to the total lack of court adjudication suffered by non-citizens of the Collective, but is still regarded as a point of contention among the lirya, as they must be policed and judged by kanads.
Importantly, both tetrians and lirya posses the same right to travel, just as kanad highbloods do.
Domestic Aliens[]
Those non-kanads who live within the Collective but do not possess citizenship rights of any sort are regarded as "domestic aliens" by the state and are held in equal regard to lowblood kanads. These aliens possess no rights and are not permitted to travel freely.
The most notable domestic aliens of the Collective are the phiri, who were conquered and subjugated in a brazen display of military might in the year 2025. After much of the planet was destroyed by orbital bombing, the Black Fleet further razed the surviving landscape to desecrate forests which the phiri regarded as sacred, and instituted martial law without adjudication, effectively enslaving the population. In nearly 400 years of domination, the civil status of the phiri has remained heartbreakingly stagnant.
Similarly, large numbers of sereks who escaped extermination during the Kanad-Serek War over piracy became trapped within the Collective's expanding borders and were stripped of their rights entirely. Khergians who, for one reason or another, failed to return to Rigel after enslavement in the Struggle of Chains faced a similar fate, as did any other prisoners of war who were not returned to their native territories during the Collective's many centuries of spacefaring.
| Citizenship | Full Political Rights | Full Civil Rights | Domestic Great Clan Highbloods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Territorial Political Rights | Tetrian Citizens | ||
| Suspended Political Rights | Temporary House Highbloods | ||
| Offworlder Highbloods | |||
| No Political Rights | Territorial Civil Rights | Vashkomic Citizens | |
| Special Cases | Restricted Civil Rights | Ex-Citizens by Waiver | |
| Immigrants of Foreign Background | |||
| Subjugation | No Civil Rights | Ex-Citizens by Expulsion | |
| Kanad Lowbloods | |||
| Domestic Aliens |
| Race | Population (Billions) |
|---|---|
| Kanad | 18.532 |
| Phiri | 5.398 |
| Tetrian | 5.112 |
| Lirya | 2.180 |
| Serek | 0.509 |
| Other | 0.027 |