Praesia

"They were bigger than us. Stronger. Smarter. And angrier. They hated us. I don't know why, but they did."

- SPARTAN-D318 on the Praesians

Praesia
Praesia is a very large, rocky planet about 12 times the size of Earth. The location of the planet and even its whole system is unknown, but it easily stands outside the boundaries of the UNSC or Covenant Empire. It is inhabited by extremely diverse wildlife, some of which include animals similar to those found on Earth (most notably cattle and reptilian organisms). A couple of troopers have claimed to see certain kinds of large reptilians on the planet, very similar to the dinosaurs living on Earth millions of years ago (though this is widely dismissed as preposterous). Many details are left unknown to the UNSC, however, aside from size, geography, and climate. The only things that are known about it are the result of contact with the Praesians and their homeworld during 2555-2559, mostly within the Praesian Wars. It has a number of satellites in its orbit, though most are overlooked and the one most widely recognized is what is referred to as its Moon. The only known access we have to this planet is by way of a Forerunner portal discovered on the UNSC outer colony Nexus XXIV. Considering the planet's very isolated position, its state of being out of range of the Halo Array, and the fact that there is a portal leading specifically to it suggests that this may have been designated as a Shield World, though this theory has not been confirmed.

Geography
Most of the planet's surface is very rough, and differences in regional climates seem to have bipolar tendencies. When viewing the planet from orbit, one would see a pattern of mountain ranges in parallel alignment all around the planet's surface, each range extending towards the North and South poles, and come together at each polar region as one large plateau. The pattern would mostly remain intact with the exception of seas and oceans on the surface. The landscape follows a general tendency to go from Windward, Mountainous, and Leeward, due to the continuously adjacent mountain ranges. The windward areas are where most settlements were built by people on the planet. Praesia features innumerable forests, rainforests, grasslands, rivers, and lakes in these areas. The leeward areas sport vast deserts, commonly found to have gargantuan dunes across their expanse. The deserts are mostly empty, leaving only the weather to kill anyone who would dare to walk through one. On the rare occasion, underground water sources may be found, usually landmarked by groups of desert-dwelling organisms. The tops of the mountains are somewhat labyrinthine, where crevices and indents scatter around the peaks of the mountains, but usually form a path of some sort. There have been some known stations or outposts located within these. Standing on the very peak of a mountain is nigh impossible, for two reasons: You would most likely freeze to death before getting halfway up, and you would freeze to death near-instantaneously if you did reach the top. On a mountain of medial elevation, exposed skin tends to become frostbitten in under just a few minutes. As such, the average mountain on Praesia is of comparable height to the Himalayas on Earth. The lack of oxygen atop these mountains makes it practically impossible to survive without equipment strictly suited to these conditions. In the more habited regions, the climate is much more moderate, but still usually maintains around 100-110 degrees fahrenheit. In this case, it's most likely that the people either grow accustomed to, or are naturally tolerant of high temperatures.

The Moon


The giant is accompanied by a much smaller satellite, which is still substantially larger than Earth (approximately 4x larger). The surface of this moon is much more even, and sports a much closer resemblance to Earth's geographical properties. While the larger planet, Praesia, remains somewhat barren, and contains no exceptional amount of valuable resources, the moon is practically a goldmine of all the resources Praesia lacks, including enormous, rich deposits of metals and other resources contained underneath the surface. The Praesians colonized the moon almost solely for this reason. Whereas only about 35% of Praesia's surface is water, it's moon is somewhere around 65-70%. So far there are no known no major cities on the moon, but several examples of ancient ruins and some Forerunner artifacts have been found.



Praesians
The dominant residents of Praesia are known as the Praesians. They are highly intelligent organisms, and are very similar to humans anatomically. So much so, in fact, that some consider them to be within the same genus as humans. One could interpret them as a highly evolved human, that exceeds us in both physical strength and mental capabilities. They also have the ability to commune amongst themselves by a means of extrasensory perception, though they are only capable of doing so with themselves. Their technology is highly advanced, thousands of years beyond humanity's, and even moderately surpassing the Covenant. On the Technological Achievement Tiers, they may be classified as a "low" 2, since they are not yet worthy to actually be deemed Tier One (albeit somewhat close in certain aspects). The first records of their society begin around 120,000 B.C.E. In general there are two main types of behavior shown by the people there. All of them are proud of themselves and their society, but two sides disagree in certain ways. One side, which encompasses the majority of the race, regards themselves as highly superior and views all others in a scant regard, and are very profound in their distaste towards anything related to the Forerunners (and most other species in fact). The other side, however, behaves more open-mindedly; and while they still have pride in themselves, they don't consider others to be below them, and tend to have a much more hospitable disposition. They claim to derive the ancestry of their race directly from the Precursors, though it is uncertain as to how much truth is in this claim.

Zogburrat
The Zogburrat (Zogburre, singular) were a bipedal, sentient race of people with distinct humanoid-avian features. They bear a very tough hide, which is partially covered by quills (mostly forming around the skull, forearms, pelvis, and lower legs). They have rather large wings spanning off of the lower back area, and are capable of flight with the assistance of smaller, supplementary wings spanning from their forearms, a tail, and sometimes plumage on the lower legs. They are very physically strong, and their skin is resilient enough to reduce injury caused by ballistic weaponry, but continued fire will inevitably bring them down. They are, however, rather primitive and operate in tribal societies led by a Kryetar, or chieftain. Before the rise of the Praesians as an advanced civilization, this species dominated the planet. By the year 2000 C.E., they have become dangerously close to extinction, with only several hundred left populating isolated forests, plains, and valleys on the largest moon.



Early History
The earliest known records of Praesian history date back to c. 120,000 B.C.E. It is speculated their existence may have traveled much farther back than that, however, considering their present state of evolution. While it was under Forerunner rule, it does not seem to be within range of any Halo installations, which may explain the uninterrupted lifespan of their race. They were first overtaken by the Forerunners around 115,000 B.C.E. They put up a massive resistance, but were ultimately defeated very badly. They claim the damage done to their world and people to be unimaginable, despite newer advancements as part of being under Forerunner rule. This event has been passed down and written in their history until this day, and they still have managed to keep their hatred alive. As we learned in the Praesian Wars, they seem to harbor hatred for the humans as well, as they saw us as the Forerunners' successors. Since their defeat, they swore to never be conquered by another world ever again.

The Forerunner-Flood War
While the Forerunners went into a state of disarmament, and were weakened when it came to fighting the Flood, the Praesian world remained mostly uncontacted by the infestation. On the occasion it was, however, the Praesians were able to contain and destroy the infestation because they held on to their weaponry, and were advancing and producing military technology for a very long time, for when they may need it the most. Luckily, the Flood only contacted the planet once, and were entirely contained and destroyed. Should another attack have happened, Praesia would most likely have been overrun as over half their planet's population was taken during the conflict. Being out of range of the Halo array, they continued to live undisturbed past the Forerunner-Flood War for the next 100,000 years or so. If it really were a shield installation, then the most likely reason why no one was able to take refuge there would be because the Praesians would reject/expel any of the Forerunners who would have gone there when activating the Halo Array.

The Silent Era
The approximate 100,000 year period in which the Praesians were isolated from external conflicts is known to them as the Silent Era. Throughout this time, the Praesians slowly began to lose their possessions and knowledge of Forerunner technology, instead going back to their own personal forms of arms and armor. About halfway through this period, the Praesians went through extensive internal conflict with the Zogburrat, another species of sentience bearing avian/humanoid features. After thirty-thousand years of conflict the Zogburrat were defeated by the Praesians, ending in the near-extinction of their species. 90% of all the Zogburrat had become deceased and the remaining 10% were either deported to containment zones on the Moon or stripped of all dignity and forced into the Praesian army as the lowest of the low, serving as pure cannon fodder with no additional training. This event is not considered to be of much importance to the Praesians, despite the length of the war.

Praesian-Covenant War
In 1503 C.E., the planet was discovered by the Covenant. They noticed all the Forerunner artifacts left behind on the planet and its moon, and at the same time noticed the Praesians' military potential and invited them into the Covenant. Due to historical events, however, the offer was spurned by the Praesians, who then proceeded to cut off contact with the Covenant fleet. Following this, the Covenant assaulted the planet with a very large fleet at their disposal. Dozens of thousands of troops were landed on the surface, and razed a number of cities to the ground. Angered, the Praesians declared war, and mobilized their full military might. Most of the Covenant ships had deployed their troops to the surface by this point, while the Praesians organized and deployed their navy. While their ground forces were enough of a match for the Covenant's, the navy was much stronger compared to the Covenant's, and easily dominated most of their ships. The Praesians' ships had a much longer targeting range, stronger weapons, a stronger hull, and stronger shielding. As it turns out, the Covenant fleet was destroyed long before the ground conflict ended, and any reinforcements continued to be repelled by the Praesians as the Covenant's invasion force gradually wore away. The most notable fighter of this conflict is known as Praecus, who is celebrated by the Praesians as their Hero above all others to this day. He died at the very end of the war, after sustaining heavy injuries and becoming exhausted as a result of constant fighting. After the Covenant were driven away, his body and armor were buried in a crypt hidden underneath a monument standing at the moon's northern polar region. In the times before, Praesia and the Praesians referred to it and themselves as "the world" and "the people," respectively. In honor of their celebrated hero, they named the planet Praesia and themselves the Praesians from that point onward.

Praecus
There was one commander during the Praesian-Covenant war who was known as Vasticoous Praecus. He is recognized in Praesia's history as their greatest hero, and modeled their present-day Code of Conduct after his philosophies and teachings. He was an ordinary citizen and soldier before, and during, the PCW, though he quickly rose through the ranks in his displays of courage and skill on the battlefield, as well as an exceptional knowledge of strategy and battlefield tactics. Since his death, all soldiers and officers aspire to come as close to him as they can, and all trainers work with the intent of helping their soldiers do just that. During the mid and late war periods, the simple knowledge of him being on the battlefield gave troops a huge morale boost. Though his last name, Praecus, was a simple family name -- and not even one of an exceptionally noble class, at that -- his name became part of the language as commemoration. His name is now typically regarded as a title, and in modern usage his name means "The Chosen Commander", and has its own glyph in the written language. It would be a title for anyone to use, with Praecus ending after their own name to become something like "(Name), The Chosen Commander." Nobody has reached this status however, except the original, because the extent to which Praesians idolize him sets up an extremely high standard for anyone who tries to be among his equals. If anyone does hold this position, however, their level of influence would be enough to surpass even the rulers of Praesia, and even have some effect on the decisions they make.

Human-Praesian War
By 2555, the humans made first contact with the Praesians through a Forerunner artifact -- a portal -- on Nexus XXIV. At first, reconaissance and exploration missions were assigned to scouting parties, until they made contact with the locals. Somehow, the Praesians connected us to the Forerunners, and remembered their old hatred for the Forerunners. Civilians and local militia assaulted the Spartan-III Scharfrichters that came to the planet, who in turn assumed hostilities from all Praesians, and attacked or defended when they found it necessary. After escaping the mess, the Scharfrichter squad reported this to the Office of Naval Intelligence. In the meantime, they would be sent back to continue their exploration, as well as investigation of political/social structure and military technology, fighting through multiple skirmishes with the Praesians along the way. In due time, around 2557, a force of 10,000 Scharfrichters was assembled and deployed to Praesia to launch an assault. They performed well, inflicting moderate casualties on the Praesians once they took hold of their weaponry. The symbol of Praesia's military strength, the Praesian Dreadnought (similar to and clearly influenced by the Forerunner keyship), rested over the planet, gathering an invasion force and was poised to launch an assault on Earth. Once arriving directly underneath the ship, the Scharfrichters proceeded to initiate a boarding attempt on the ship to destroy it from the inside. However, Praesian ground forces held them off for too long, allowing the Dreadnought to fire an orbital round to the surface, ultimately incinerating a 2-km wide crater into the face of the planet, along with all but ten scharfrichters who were still out of range of the blast. The mission still remained however, and in a second attempt, the remaining Scharfrichters had managed to sneak through the ship and destroy it from the inside, nullifying the possibility of an invasion. Reserved recruits began to slowly refill the ranks of the Scharfrichters, as the fighting continued until a ceasefire in 2559, ending in a tactical victory for the UNSC.



Technology
The Praesian military built up until 1500 C.E., where it assumed a pause of technological advancement, and went through the Praesian-Covenant War. From 1515, the end of the war, to 2559, their military technology remained the same, with the exception of improving armor systems for their troops (they had exceptional offensive capabilities, but were not that well protected). Following the end of the war with humanity in 2559, they proceeded to "advance" their technology more. Technically, they had been advancing for the last thousand years, but never implemented the technology; they simply developed the research and blueprints, with the knowledge of how to create it when the time came. Their armor had become much stronger, and combat shielding systems rendered ballistic weaponry 90% ineffective (the exceptions being shots from higher-calibre weapons to weaker portions of the user's armor), and the energy output of their weaponry was increased significantly. The properties of most of their firearms, aside from explosives, could be compared to the Covenant Carbine: the rounds were effective against combat shields, but still retained penetrative properties and an unshielded opponent would easily be dispatched with one round to a vital area. Most of the time, these rounds also have a sort of "bursting" effect in which the energy casing surrounding the shot disperses and spreads out on the surface it strikes, opening wide holes in flesh or splitting apart armor. Many of their weapons are also sonic, utilizing such a decibel output that could instantly kill a human if unprotected. Armor systems implemented for the military also proved to have a good level of resilience towards energy weapons.

Army
About 50% of the Praesian army is composed of standard infantry, equipped with light (by their standards) shielding and standard issue armor, which protected against ballistic weapons and provided moderate protection against energy-based weaponry. The remaining 50% is composed of: Scout troops (30%), Commandos (15%), and Assassins (5%). The Scouts are the most lightly armored, providing moderate protection against ballistic weaponry and little-to-no protection against energy weapons. They are equipped with enhanced vision modules, able to see objects as far as 2km away in clear detail, and are fully capable of spotting through dark areas. They keep no weapons, and possess stealth modules in order to help them infiltrate/escape areas. A Commando is the most recognized and feared portion of their army, whose armor renders all current UNSC weaponry useless, and is able to lock itself up to protect from explosions, and is very resilient towards heat and energy weapons. They are also given biological enhancements that beat out those of the SPARTAN program in practically all aspects, but with a much higher success rate. The Assassins are, to the few who know of their existence, the most feared of all potential enemies. They are one of the most expensive soldiers, and very few can be trained at one time. They possess all of the capabilities the Commandos do, and their biological enhancements are even more potent. Their armor is light and in no way hinders movement, but is nearly as strong as the armor used by Commandos. They also possess all of the stealth and visual assets that a Scout troop has. The more Elite section of the army, which encompasses the Commandos and Assassins, is more colloquially referred to as the Shadow Warriors.

Royal Guard
The Royal Guard is considered an official military branch to the Praesians, separate from the army. These soldiers serve the planet's leaders, and a few nobles who have access to such expensive assets. They are drawn from a select group of army Commandos who have proven themselves extensively, and outfitted with the strongest weapons and armor ever developed by the Praesians, and are practically walking tanks outfitted with hyper-lethal energy weapons and pikes. Their physical strength is trained to practically the natural limit, and then buffered by augmentations that boost the ones already given to the Commandos. Their reflexes are assumed to be instantaneous based on descriptions by those who have survived an encounter; one soldier remarked: "By the time you can think of your next move, they've already avoided it."

Navy
Praesian ships are more heavily influenced by Forerunner technology than any other asset they've implemented. They have longer targeting ranges than even Covenant ships, have faster and more efficient slip-space drives, and have a much stronger hull, weapons, and shielding system. The strongest symbolically and in battle was the Praesian Dreadnought, which acted as the capital ship for the entire navy, but was destroyed in early 2558 by the Scharfrichters. The navy is divided into two sections: Domestic and Aggressive. The Domestic fleet stays back at home to safeguard the planet, while the Aggressive loads up soldiers and moves out for an invasion. Throughout history, however, the Aggressive fleet has found very little use, other than intercepting incoming enemy fleets.

Society
"You will be the best that you can be. You will show your fortitude and audacity to all the world, and you shall not be afraid to use your acumen and subtleness to counter the lowly and deceitful. Be brave. Be strong. Be true. Uphold your dignity. Uphold your family, and uphold the safety of your homes. But above all, uphold the proud origins of the blood of our people, and those of our One and Only mother [Praesia]!"

- Vasticouus Praecus, the Praesian Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct
All Praesians are led to believe in a Code of Conduct, civilians and military personnel alike. It calls for dignity, honor, and boldness at all times. It tells that one must be as brave as possible, even when faced with a superior enemy. It tells that one must always be as honorable and honest as possible, but when facing an enemy who is deceitful and despicable, then you are allowed to go back on this oath (mostly in the military), since they fully recognize that an underhanded leader clearly has the advantage in battle. As such, when a leader fights in accordance with the code of honor and defeats another skilled commander who uses underhanded tactics, he or she is highly celebrated.

Roles
All people are recognized as equals in this society, men and women alike. They celebrate men for their "fortitude and audacity," and women for their "acumen and subtleness." It is very common to find women serving in the military in Praesia, especially as all but the highest ranking officers. It is considered favorable for the children to be raised by their mother or father, respectively, according to their gender. A boy is expected to be with his father and to be raised by his father, as is with mother and daughter. They typically alternate on at-home roles, where one pair will stay at the homestead to take care of it and raise their child, while the other usually goes off around town to satisfy themselves by some means of entertainment. In accordance with this practice, it is considered most favorable to have at least one male and one female child. Nobody is really forced to enter a military role, and almost all militants are volunteers from society. The Praesians are still fully capable of fielding a very large force, however, as they use very effective forms of propaganda to try to convince all members of society to serve in the military. To test how strongly they've been convinced to become a soldier, the volunteers are even given descriptions of war horrors, and those that hold steady are recruited. This is most likely for the purpose of having soldiers with high morale in their military. Due to the way this society operates, it is also very common to find a random person on the street who has a decent level of combat training.

Politics
The Praesian society is ruled over by an Empress who resides in the Royal Palace on the globe's capital city. The Emperor actually does not partake in many of these affairs unless the Empress is unable to rule for some period of time. Likewise, the Empress will take over the Emperor's duties if he is unable to rule at the time. The Emperor usually resides in the Grand Citadel, which is the headquarters for all things war, and the main garrison of the Praesian Royal Guard and Assassins. The son and daughter of the Royal family take after their corresponding parent, and are raised to rule in such a position. The prince would receive the highest level of combat training available until he becomes Emperor, and the princess is extensively versed in law, economics and other politically-related affairs until she becomes Empress. The Emperor's court has four ministers and 50 councilors. The four ministers are second only to the Emperor in status, and to one another according to which position they hold. Their status, in order from least to greatest, follows as such: Minister of Civility, Protectorate, Minister Bellum, and Austere One. The Minister of Civility handles foreign affairs such as diplomacy or battlefield negotiations. The Protectorate is, simply, the head of the Royal Guard. Minister Bellum is also a military rank, the highest beside the Emperor. This minister would manage all military forces, ground and naval. The Austere One is the most respected and looked up at in the court, and serves as a very strict personal advisor to the Emperor. The Government is also organized with a plentiful supply of appointed regents, who are not only used as temporary replacements for when the ruler cannot rule, but also as decoys to prevent harm from befalling the Emperor/ess in certain public sessions. Each of the Ministers in the Emperor's court also has at least one regent to ensure that his duties may be carried out in his absence. In fact, each Minister also fills in a position as a regent for the one who is immediately superior in status. In this case, the Austere One may be the regent for the Emperor if there is either no Empress to take his place, or if the Empress is already too preoccupied and unable to take on the additional tasks of the Emperor.

Justice
The judicial system of Praesian society is highly based upon the concept of "an eye for an eye," and criminals are often punished according to the crime they committed. For example, a thief would usually come home to find his house ransacked of all his valuables, including any he may have stolen. Ideally, the owners of stolen items are sought out and returned their possessions, if possible. Another example would be a murderer. If he has any friends or family, then a number of those associates will be killed in accordance with how many people he killed before being apprehended (If it was determined that the person killed another in an act of vengeance, such as for the death of a family member, he will simply be imprisoned for a time). If he does not have any friends or family, the murderer is sentenced to a crippling torture procedure, denying him of the release of death, but stripping him of most of his fingers, patches of his skin, and others such as the eyes, tongue, or a non-vital organ of some sort. Needless to say, they are very brutal towards killers in society. Of course, this is done with the most accuracy possible, using their unique ability to telepathically communicate with one another, and the most extensive investigation possible, to determine who did it. All in all, the crime rate is consistently very low. As far as has been recorded, there have not been any mistakes in issuing sentences.

Language
The Praesian language exists in both a very complex verbal and written form. Many symbols and single words are included in the language that can easily express a wide range of concepts languages on Earth cannot. Some words even encompass several ideas or meanings within themselves. It is also biologically impossible for a human to "properly" speak the language, as it is spoken using a distinct anatomical component. This component allows for a double-tone within the voice or the ability to pronounce two different syllables at the same time. It has still not been determined exactly what allows this but theoretically it may be a system of bisected vocal cords or another set of them entirely, working in cooperation with the primary set. In multi-syllable words, syllables are pronounced in pairs. For example, if you listened to their pronounciation of "Praesia", you would hear the pronounciations of "Prae-" and "-sia" at the same time, overlapping each other. Due to this, even one who is well-versed and has much knowledge of the language will most likely find the majority of native speech to be un-intelligible. This is a major factor that prevents the implementation of human spies in Praesian society, the others being the very noticeable difference in body mass, and their unresponsiveness to any Praesian who may attempt to telepathically commune with them. Their written language is expressed by a very large collection of glyphs. There are typically single glyphs to represent individual ideas or concepts, while still having other less significant glyphs that simply represent sound. In words that have only one syllable or an odd number of them, the syllables that cannot be paired are pronounced "singularly" (which in this case means by itself, and using only one vocal tone out of the two available to Praesians, the same way we speak).