| Category | Empires | ||||||||
| World | Cryphoeca | ||||||||
| Region | Tetragnatha | ||||||||
| Government | Dictatorship | ||||||||
| Capital |
|
||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
| Races |
|
||||||||
| Deity | Mokerrian | ||||||||
| Enemies | Deep Six, Giff League | ||||||||
| Established | 9 Warper 251 HE |
Arachnidion is the largest Neogi empire of the Quara'tun System. Founded on Cryphoeca during the Lith-Crillion Era, Arachnidion was always on the move. In the Neogi fashion, the empire was nomadic and predatory, and after exhausting the local food supply, they would move on to devastate the next. By the end of the Lith-Crillion Era, Arachnidion and other Neogi states had depleted their food resources. To satisfy their insatiable hunger, they engaged in a cataclysmic conflict known as the Great Neogi War. It was a war of Neogi against Neogi, each fighting for survival and, more importantly, their next meal. Starvation was the real scourge in this war, and the Neogi hoped that either divine intervention or their own ingenuity would bring an end to the ruin and devastation. The hope for a miraculous resolution led to the worship of Mokerrian and her promises of salvation, while the ingenuity was the belief that Arachnidion and other nation-state planners would devise a way to produce or acquire more food. Lasting much of the Horgon Era, the Great Neogi War ultimately resulted in the survival of a single power, Arachnidion. They now claim loose dominion over an entire world, an achievement made possible by the advent of their first skyship. These primitive flying vessels, held together by spider silk and buoyed by ballooning, marked a significant technological advancement for the Neogi.
Arachnidion's most steadfast warriors are its umber hulks. The longstanding alliance between neogi and umber hulk bodyguards dates back to when dwarves sold them to the neogi for use in mining and burrowing underground complexes. By the onset of the Great Neogi War, the dwarves had long since vanished, consumed to appease the neogi's insatiable appetite for flesh. During the conflict, the bond between neogi and umber hulks had grown increasingly familial, with the two species reveling in each other's company; moreover, the neogi find umber hulk flesh unpalatable.
By the First Epoch, Arachnidion stood as the sole powerhouse on Cryphoeca. With no adversaries remaining, the neogi commenced amassing umber hulks as a testament to their might - the more one possessed, the more powerful, esteemed, and dreaded one became among their kindred. This dynamic has precipitated a succession of fleeting dictatorships, typically enduring no more than a decade before being toppled by a coalition of influential neogi leveraging their personal armies to overthrow the incumbent regime. Yet once the usurpers have prevailed, the tenuous alliance soon dissolves, erupting into internecine conflict as the victors succumb to a neogi's innate drive to subjugate those within their sphere of influence.
The umber hulks possess limited intelligence, unable to comprehend the inherent power dynamic. It is a master-subordinate relationship, with the umber hulks of Cryphoeca serving as obedient servants to the neogi. The neogi command the umber hulks much like a master commands their canine companions.
T'got Tin, void mariner of the Tercell - "Neogi Hounds"
The third most populous race within Arachnidion are the formidable frost giants. These colossal beings were the initial people to be subjugated by the neogi on their homeworld of Cryphoeca. Though their resistance was steadfast, their numbers ultimately proved insufficient against their oppressors. Ultimately, they aligned themselves with Arachnidion. Legends tell of a pact forged between the deities Thyrm and Mokerrian, stipulating that frost giants were to be neither preyed upon nor consumed, even in death. While this edict has been brazenly flouted on numerous occasions, often out of perceived necessity or malicious intent, those who dare to violate it seldom escape unscathed. They are eventually hunted down by bounty hunters and specialized agencies tasked with enforcing the divine pact known as Arachnidion's Promise - a pact that some neogi privately refer to as Mokerrian 's Pity.
The Neogi view cannibalism as a practical means of culling the weak, as they believe the feeble drain resources better suited for those most likely to survive and thrive. To their sinister minds, there is no differentiation between consuming a deceased slave and consuming a deceased Neogi - both are simply sustenance. The concept of "bigger is better" holds great importance among their kind, with the largest and most corpulent Neogi held in the highest esteem. Those Neogi who possess sizable slaves are regarded with even greater reverence.
Vice Admiral Khuziglun, of Deep Six at Stellar Debates 903 - "Everybody is Food"
Near the end of the Horgon Era, Arachnidion once again confronted the specter of starvation. On 19 Hollow 1946 HE, they were granted a new lease on life when a Suellk voidship landed on Cryphoeca near the ancient ruin Salticidae. This Suellk exploration mission culminated in the capture and consumption of the entire ship's crew. The seized voidship was then meticulously studied and reverse engineered. A century later, the neogi were mounting expeditions into the Void, collecting lifeforms to repopulate their world and harvesting food and slaves from other worlds of the Quara'tun System. The empire's void navy has swelled to its immense current size due to their ravenous appetite for meat, which their barren homeworld could not satiate, compelling them to invade others. Arachnidion's void-faring armada now numbers in the hundreds, eclipsing the voidship navies of Bal-Kriav.
In addition to wars for food, Arachnidion has also engaged in conflicts for essential resources. During the First Epoch, they waged war against Deep Six. Lacking the precious blutium on their home world, they sought to acquire this vital metal on other planets. Required to construct their lifejammer engines that power their voidships, they occasionally launch raids on the blutium mines of Nurak.
Late in the Third Epoch, Arachnidion allied with the Drachdekai Pact, engaging in conflict against the inhabitants of Bal-Kriav.