The Veil

The Veil is a Free World under the protection of the Freedom Army, governed by a queen.

= Planet =  The Veil is the fifth of fifty-three planets (most of which are tiny), orbiting an A-type white star that appears yellow through the atmosphere. The system, surrounded by asteroids, dust, gas and molecular clouds, is hidden in the bulb of a nebula. That makes it almost impossible to see stars from the ground, only the planets of the system and the grey smudge of the nebula, which is sometimes broken by the atmosphere to appear in color. The atmosphere, rich with oxygen and ozone, has some components unique to this world that break and reflect light and distort vision over great distances.

 The planet’s crust is made up by three tectonic plates, with massive mountain ridges spanning along the seams. The plate’s rock surface is covered by a thin layer of earth in some places, and a layer of fine sand around the equator that forms a desert. All the water is located either under the crust, forming enormous underground oceans, or in the air, clouds and plants, only leaving two seas on the surface. These seas, rarely more than 1,5 meters deep, travel across the planet’s flat surface, drawn by the gravity of other planets. A few small rivers traverse the mountains. There is a huge indentation from one side of the planet, called the Ebene, that is effectively a flat surface thousands of kilometers across. It is covered by earth and grass. The great spaces of exposed, flat stone are overgrown with moss in the warmer latitudes. Huge tree-like plants grow almost exclusively in the mountains.

 A day on the Veil equals 153 hours in a rather slow rotation. A year is 553 such days, but it does not bring changes worth noting to weather and temperature since the planet’s axis is not tilted, and the orbit is almost a perfect circle. The poles have neither day nor night – the sun moves round them, barely peeking over the horizon. Surface temperature varies by a great deal for day and night. That amounts to a difference of about 40 C in the temperate zone, to a difference of up to 100 C in the desert on the equator. The weather has great variety.

 = Culture =  The Veil is home of a very rich and ancient culture of horse people. They’re divided into folks, clans, guilds, groups, each of which is a unique way of life and culture in itself. The population is approximately three hundred fifty million. The population of horses is at least that, with countless more feral horses roaming freely.

 In spite of their differences, these people have several common traits. They have great respect for both tradition and change. Their common goal is to perfect their art of battle, not for the sake of war, but to maintain peace. In general, every person has a horse as a companion for life. The way of life is not centered around cities, and only a few moderately large settlements exist, as the rest of the population are either nomads or live in remote homes in families or small groups. Training and education are considered the greatest virtues, and the people strive towards perfection in even the most mundane tasks of life. Genders are not viewed as the same. All men, regardless of what else they do, are trained into soldiers. Women are schooled for organization and leadership tasks, and are the generals and commanders. Love is free, and families of man, woman and children are the most common, although those who refuse to train for war, don’t fight in battles or are deserters, are forbidden to have children. Horses are not bred in the traditional sense, but commonly given some freedom in the matter. Weapons, armor, tools, spaceships, etc., are not made by factories but by people, commonly craftsmen families. Huge projects take on collaborative nature.

 = Technology =  The Veil is commonly assumed to be primitive, as they have no warships,   rely on horses for transportation, build no factories and are largely nomadic. In fact, they are rather advanced, as they successfully build C-class spacecraft for travel, create sophisticated weaponry, and their medicine is one of the best.

 One of the more interesting aspects of their technology are the materials they use. One of them is a complex metal alloy, which they artfully forge so that the different metals and materials form a specific structure in the object and make it hard and flexible at the same time, so that they could be made resistant to bullets from some angles. Well-forged swords like this are almost unbreakable, and armor almost impenetrable by strikes and bullets. Another material, the most versatile and expensive, is made of horse – Using genes of the best horses, tendons and bones are grown into the required shapes, creating swords, armor, gun parts, spaceship parts and more. It is a very strong and rather light material, and its only downside is the large amount of care it needs. Veilan firearms are among the finest.

 = Government =  The Veil is many people, clans, guilds, folks and communities that have their own cultures and effectively rule themselves. They all are governed by a monarchy headed by a queen, who is considered the property and servant of her people. The various groups tend to handle their disagreements themselves, through wars, battles or even duels, which is usually appreciated as a way to weed out the weak. Any group or person has to obey the queen or they can rebel. Rebellions are deemed acceptable except in times of global war and serve to test the strength of the queen’s following. The severe education and training of the populace are the most important handle for the queen’s power, military power being second to that. Queens are considered tactical geniuses with complex long-term plans, that is why questionable orders are supposed to be tolerated and mistakes tend to be ignored.

 The queen’s main purpose is that of a war general for the entire world in case of war, and she may use any means to keep the world united and prepared for warfare. Since she holds, in effect, absolute power, those means can include profound changes of entire societies and the eradication of whole groups. If the queen calls to war, everyone must come and fight alongside each other – that is considered the most vital duty. The other purposes of the queen are guiding the future of the world along a way of progress. Furthermore, she is the one who represents the Veil to off-world powers in all dealings and negotiations and is the one deciding in those actions.

 By tradition, the Veil does not interact with other worlds unless absolutely necessary, holding no lasting trade routes or agreements, no stakes or holdings, and starts no invasions.

 The Veil used to be governed by an elective monarchy. A queen would be chosen by the warriors for her tactical and strategical abilities out of many capable women and would rule for life. Upon her death a new queen would be chosen. Then once, the daughter of the queen got chosen because she was superior to all other candidates, and after her death, her daughter was chosen. This became an established tradition, and a hereditary monarchy in all but name – queens are still chosen, but the result is considered predetermined. Another tradition that started then is for the queen to have children with the greatest warrior of the time.

List of recent Queens

 * Rasha of the Redded Clan, rode Babo.
 * Taigana of Rasha and Ab Jindun, rode Dalboba
 * Caietana of Taigana and Sunthuwe, rode Gouyun
 * Doceora of Caietana and Fogman, rode Sky’s Four Pillars
 * Cercey of Doceora and Arkhip, rode Calliston
 * Corhynea of Cercey and Xerxes, rode Sky
 * Desdena of Corhynea and Kassius, rode Spirit Flare, then Jihad
 * Crestor of Mond and Desdena, rode Shethe



 List of prominent groups

<p class="MsoNormal"> = History =
 * People of the Ebene
 * Ridge Nomads
 * Frost Folk
 * Dune Dwellers
 * Dream Guild
 * Redded Coterie
 * Clan West
 * Ghosts