Empire of Zür

The Empire of Zür is an expansionist empire based on the planet of the same name. The majority of the empire's population are Rüreg, the species native to Zür.

History
The history of the Empire of Zür begins in 2000, with Keseken, the great-grandmother of the current Fiery Empress. She united many of the warring Rüreg tribes into "an empire born of cold but blessed by the flames". The Rüreg she united quickly overran the other tribes that refused to unite, and eventually the whole planet of Zür was conquered. The nascent Rüreg space industry quickly took off as the Rüreg looked for more land to conquer.

Military organisation
The military of the empire is not divided into branches like other nations such as Viechtyr or Arkhir. Rather, all soldiers are consolidated into one large unit, called the savar, or horde. These units are deployed en masse in orbital drop pods from large motherships.

Before attacking, the Empire will send a message to any planets saying to submit or be "put unto the sacred flames". If they refuse, then the invasion begins.

Religion
The official religion of the Empire of Zür is fire worship. People are not forced to convert, but fire worship is promoted above all other faiths. There have been attempts to syncretise fire worship with other faiths, such as solely worshipping a fire god in a pantheon.

Law and order
The law code of the empire is brutal, but arguably fair. All subjects, Rüreg or not, are treated equally. Slavery is also forbidden, as is racial discrimination. Queer subjects also have equal rights.

The punishment for all felonies in the Empire is to be burned alive, in a public execution ritual called Kosh, or "Purification" in the Rüreg language.

Felonies include common universal taboos like murder, rape, and treason, but also more culturally-specific things such as extinguishing a flame- any flame, even if it is a forest or house fire. Wasting water is also a crime, though what it means to waste water is up to the interpretation of a judge.

Non-felonies are typically punished with imprisonment and forced relation to another part of the empire, even after their sentence has been served they are not repatriated. This is done to "encourage diversity and put people's skills to good use" according to Keseken.

Economy
Zür has a rather large economy, despite their ravaging and conquering of other planets. They have access to a wide array of goods and resources from several different systems, and their capital city of Khodar has been described as the most diverse and cosmopolitan city in the galaxy.

Crime is very low thanks to their draconian punishments, and so traders very rarely have to fear being attacked by pirates.

Foreign relations
Due to their aggression, the foreign relations of Zür are typically very poor. No nation would consider them an ally at all, and any time Zür fights on the same side as another nation in a war is always because of happenstance.

This is not to say that everyone is Zür's enemy; rather they remain neutral to everyone until they deliver their ultimatum of tribute or defeat. That said, they border Viechtyr and American space and have engaged neither.