Latherian Empire

The Latherian Empire, or formally The Dutchy of the Organized Nation of the Grand Imperial Lather, holds both one of the largest collections of worlds in The Coalition, longest histories and the galactic record for most wars and conflicts over inane things. Lather society is integrated from the top down in accordance with an aesthetic sensibility, black and white coloration, believed to be mandated by Lavo their State Goddess.

Latheria was instrumental in the foundation of The Coalition and held a widely recognized position as the top government of the Coalition. Historically they have opposed the Navine Territories over the so called dead zone.

History
Southern Latheria has existed in some sense for all of recorded history, with some records prior to the Calamity.

Politics
Latherian politics revolve around its nobility and orbit it's Emperor at the center. Minor nobles organize in courts below more important nobles, who also organize in higher courts, forming a sort of tiered system of noble courts going all the way from the local regional courts to the high imperial court.

Internal
Internally Latherian nobles fall into one of two camps, Heimaterists or Lavonians. Heimaterists are so called because they believe that the Heimater of Latheria should comprise its natural ruling group, and that the unifying and operating principle of the empire should be the unification of Heimater. Heimaterists view non-Heimater constituents and citizens of the empire as persons who would benefit from stricter Heimater rule and seek to bring the Heimater sections of Heilegterra into Latheria. They are more concentrated in the northern sections of the empire. Latheria's Holistic Church minoritiy tends toward this ideology.

Lavonians are so named for their slogan "An appeal to Lavo, Latheria" which implies that Latheria itself exists primarily for the benefit of its eponymous church and cult. Lavonians tend to place church doctrine and adherence to them as the highest value of the empire. Both sides of this dispute have fought civil wars both empire wide and on small scales.

Monarchy
Fortunately for everyone involved the monarchy has kept largely neutral on these disputes, generally concerning itself more with the overall stability of the empire. The Emperors or Lords-Imperial as they are known as has looked the exact same since around 720 years ago, and theories abound as for this occurrence. The most popular remains that the Emperor has been a clone of Emperor Markolts IV since he died.

External
Apart from Latheria's infamous feuds with the Navine, they are known to quibble with the Heilegterrans. These feuds are largely fuelled by religious differences and border disputes but are usually adjudicated and suppressed by Nikerea, one of Latheria's oldest and staunchest allies. Nikerea and Latheria have no real major similarities beyond both bordering Dogia, being the only states in the galaxy that support their respective religions, and having both lost significant territory in the dead zone. However, these similarities bind them more-so than they divide, despite the massive superficial and deep differences between the two.

Religious Affiliation
The goddess Lavo forms the basis of the Lavonian cults, or as they refer to themselves Lavonians. Lavo holds domain over ornate beauty and familial fertility (Lavo does not hold dominion over agriculture) and her venerators fall into two principle factions: the fecundity cults and the appearance cults. The appearance cults emphasize the aesthetic sensibilities of Lavo’s dominion. Notably in Lather, a variant of one of them controls their forming the basis for that society’s variant of the Coalition church, as well as its nobility’s aesthetic sensibilities. The fecundity cults enjoyed larger followings in times long since ossified, emphasizing family building, to even extreme extents.

The nobility's adherence to this aesthetic sensibility is one of Latheria's defining features as well. Beyond the proclivities of the aristocracy, the Latherian populace remains highly religious. Within Lather, Konig, the god that Sidy holds hostage, sees high importance in the church as well. The lore holds that he was the sibling of Lavo and Lind, an older brother. Along with this he is seen by those who hold to this lore as the embodiment of the ideals of the Coalition, similar to how Lavo embodies Lather itself. As a result the Latherian church and Lavonian cult hold of near as much importance to if not more important than Lavo. This importance is where the divide with the Navine originates from, as the Latherians see Sidy's holding of him a violation of their cult and a national act of sacrilege that is unforgivable.

Despite this feud with the Navine, the Latherian state does support Hemeritists among the Navine and has historically offered citizenship to those among them that serve the empire in their armies, allowing their families to become members of the empire as well.

Military Disposition
The Latherian Army is a rather bifurcated institution in terms of organization. Units tend to be equipped and organized based on their origin, the criteria generally is volunteer or levied. Volunteer units are active at all times, and therefore can be trained to do specialized tasks with equipment. Levied units cannot do this, as they are created when they are needed, armed and trained quickly, therefore requiring a great deal of standardization. Levied units tend to draw from limited geographic areas as well, leading to high morale as each man fights alongside his neighbors, congregation, and men he has dealt with prior to the army. Consequently, levied units tend to name themselves for towns and regions, and often bring over friendly rivalries or local traditions onto the battlefield.

Demographics
Latheria is a majority Heimater empire, as illustrated by its political divides. Other groups inhabit Latheria as well, within the edge of its western borders Dogians live. In some areas in its south-western half a Kavov subgroup known as the Rović  live, who live peacefully in a self autonomous zone within the empire due to their adherence to the Latherian state religion. Along with them, another group referred to as the Kakurahvas live on the eastern edge of Latheria, characterized by their admixture between Heimisch and Toki types, adherence to the Lavonian Cult, and rejection of Latherian aesthetics.

On the edges of the empire Aran also live. Aran are groups of people, usually limited to a single or several planets, that have been genetically engineered or eugenically bred for specific purposes for the empire. They generally are coded by unique hair and eye color.

Culture
Latherians are known for their love of beer, accordion music, and sausage like all Heimater. Beyond that, Latherian women tend to be extremely family focused, it is not uncommon for a noble family to employ entire families as their servants with the descendants of both the servants and nobles choosing to uphold the relationship. Such is the Latherian focus on familial fecundity that a common mother's saying among them goes, "Young women pray for looks, Smart women pray for children, Wise women pray for twins."

Latheria's nobility strictly enforce both an external and genetic adherence to the aesthetic ideal of Latheria, any member of the aristocracy who do not possess black or white hair, eyes, and pallid skin are exiled or stripped of their titles. There are limited exceptions for eye color but hair and skin tone is non-negotiable. Otherwise, the bulk of the Latherian lower classes are indistinguishable from their non-Latherian ethnic counterparts in terms of appearance.

An interesting anecdote of their devotion to their cause is placed forth by an interesting anecdote concerning Lord General Astor Lucas Inwell, the leader of Latheria's 5th Combined Fleet Army Group from 605 to 632. In tame Dogia a daughter of a minor noblewoman of a specifically excellent visage by Lather standards dwelt on the planet of Sidon. Her skin was pure white and smooth, as if composed of porcelain, here hair was raven’s black, deep and dark, and her irises and pupils looked like inkwells, that one might be able dip a pen into and write. Her name was Astarte. When word of her beauty reached Lord Astor, he knew he must possess her. So at the first opportunity Astor sent word requesting Astarte’s hand in marriage. He was rejected. He then sent a caravan for dowry filled with all manner of treasures and honors along with another request. Yet again he was rebuked. Astor again asked her house in person and was again rebuked. So Astor went, gathered his fleet, and declared a war upon Sidon. Sidon possessed no army of its own, so had to acquire assistance from Walkure, an ally of theirs. The two armies arranged a meeting and prepared a conflict. The conflict would be a fire exercise, fighting with live weapons but shooting above one another’s heads, and “defeated” units quitting the field. Astor would emerge victorious and as was tradition, he would claim his prize. So Astarte became Lady Inwell and has remained as such since.

Beyond the proclivities of the aristocracy, the Latherian populace remains highly religious.

Latherian life centers around cafes, restaurants and bars, which are often combined with other activities, such as dancing, bowling, or the favored national pass time, chess. A favorite Latherian beverage beyond beer is alcoholic cider, which they mass produce and drink at an impressive rate.

Overall the Latherians further tend to love to adhere their rules and hierarchy, organization for organizations sake being a hallmark of their society.