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History Overview:

The arid plains and small shallow seas of Felis Prime gave birth to a wide array of cruel, oppressive regimes over the millenia. The Leonians often cruel and unforgiving nature befits those from a world without natural mercy. Needing water as much as any of the mammalian sapients, the Leonians build their earliest civilizations around whatever water sources they could, in turn defining the path nations borders: everything centered on the oasis's. The regions of the world devoid of water were near totally uninhabitable. This set a standard for all the cultures that arose to hold a zero-tolerance policy for disobedience, whether criminal or political. Enemies could simply be banished beyond the borders and left to die. Most criminals who could, instead opted for slavery, an alternative that meant survival. Slaves were often kept in miserable conditions, doing hazardous work for no pay. Mining the barren mountain ranges, tending the carefully irrigated fields of sugar-grass, or serving the household of a wealthy noble.

The heavy stratification of Leonian society went upwards, as well. Minor lords might rule a single plantation or mining complex, they in turn were owned by a regional lord who in turn pledged to a monarch. This feudal system of governance allowed a nation state to run the shoreline of a small ocean, never delving far into the dry inlands. Each segment of the nation, despite its lengthy distance from one end to the other, could have regional overlords that fell under the sway of the greater ruler of that water source. Some coastal kings built vast palace-cities on the small islands that might hug their shores, better allowing their subjects to travel to them by ship.

The wealth and opulence of the powerful attracted many Leonians to rebel against their lords, or try to seize greater thrones for themselves. Periods of war were so common place on pre-atomic age Felis Prime that most of the nations marked in the histories the years there wasn't a vassal-war, a slave rebellion, or invasion from another kingdom rather than years there were. Some 300 years ago, a mostly backwater Leonian nation, descended from outcasts and criminals of other nation states, made a remarkable find. Deep in the deserts that the felines had long avoided, a series of massive pyramidal structures peak out of the dunes. Quickly understanding these structures were never of made by leonian paws, this small nation soon had access to technologies and weapons never seen before on their world. A mere decade after its discovery, the Precursor Pyramid proved to not be alone, many other smaller sites lie buried or lost deeper in the deserts. Building an army of caliber to that of the wealthiest Coastal Kingdom, they conquered their immediate neighbors, claiming an oasis and slaves to begin digging up more sites. The first Emperor to unite the rag-tag bands to a true military engine is known as Leois I in Leonian texts, and some 60 years after his first military campaigns, his grandson, Leois III ascended to the throne of an empire spanning the entirety of Felis Prime. Global unification was enforced in part by threat: a single nuclear weapon detonation in a water source would destroy any would-be rebel oasis. A tidal wave would smash coastal settlements and radiation would leave the water non-potable for centuries. To further solidify the regimes rule, almost all the history of Felis Prime was rewritten or suppressed to suit the needs of the empire. The Leonians are known as such for their great emperor, not as a collective name for their biological species. Leois III also renamed the systems star to its present name of Leo. all prior names for the species or the astronomical bodies observed from the surface have been struck from any record. The unification plan worked: all facets of Leonian society revolved around a single empire, a single throne. The archaic hereditary feudal system was soon replaced with a military-lord system. Ranking officers received titles equivalent to the lords of old, however with the discipline and structure of a military rather than rowdy vassals.

110 years prior to the current date, the Leonian Empire broke the Light Speed Barrier, traveling to the nearest stars. Using their vast production capabilities from an expendable slave population, the newly rename Galactic Leonian Empire quickly began the settlement of two habitable worlds within their large cluster of stars, Thebis and Memphis, both similar to their homeworld. They soon discovered the jungle world they named Karthis (for its native name mattered little to the leonians), and its sapient felinoid inhabitants. The natives knew themselves as the Tigrinar, within their late industrial age nations. It's rumored that early Tigrinar radio signals is what alerted the Leonian explorers to travel to this star cluster, however certainty can never be known on the matter. The Tigrinar were assimilated much as the individual nations of Felis Prime were decades ago, striping their fellow felines of a cultural heritage after a bloody conquest. Today, the Tirginar are rarely seen outside of Leonian space, almost exclusively as slaves, and elements of the regime deny any such forceful exploitation occurred. Very little of that rhetoric is believed as the GLE would conquer the Ra'Kal of Ra-Kalis just the same less than a century later.

First Contact with the Lupis of the FLR occured as said canids probed the outer edges of the Leonians still developing star cluster. Finding an equal rather than prey in the Lupis, the emperor at the time held warm relations with the new neighbor. The Empire gradually expanded into a third cluster, claiming yet another habitable world, Saitis, and making contact with the aquatic mammalian race of the Ottarians, when one of their ships entered orbit of the new colony. Nearby Lupis trade-vessels ensured all three civilizations met and formally made contact at the First Treaty of Saitis in which regional borders and claims to star clusters were formally made between the three spacefaring powers.

The treaty quickly came into contention however when the cluster home to Saitis was revealed to contain a second world bearing life, Ra-Kalis. The Leonians demanded that the treaty stand, the whole cluster was theirs and theirs alone. The Ottarian Council fiercely objected to the exploitation of primitives, and in the end an amendment to the Treaty was signed to allow ownership of a cluster of stars containing primitive sapients, however they were to be quarantined from outside contact. This would allow the potential for centuries to go by before the issue would become pressing. The Ra'Kal wouldn't achieve space flight for at least 200 years based on current development (they seemed to be totally without Precursor ruins as the three primary civilizations had), and as long as the leonians kept a minimal presence in the system instead developing the other stars of the cluster, the three powers were once again in agreement.

Military, cultural and scientific scholars have been in debate for the last few decades as to whether the GLE purposefully engineer the events or not, but 32 years prior to current date a joint Leonian-Ottarian pirate hunting fleet followed its fleeing targets to close proximity to Ra-Kalis. Several pirate vessels sustained heavy damage, and in an attempt to avoid capture, the criminals fled to the surface. Bound by treaty to make planetfall, both nations became gridlocked on how to proceed. After a full year of debate, it was agreed to remotely survey the planet aggressively, to find the runaway pirates. In that time the scoundrels had toppled a native government and wrought havoc with their advanced weaponry building their own nations state. The Treaty or its amendment held no provision for the situation, leading the Emperor Rishmet I mobilized his militaries to invade the primitive world on pretext of ridding it of the pirate threat. The natives that aided the pirates were quickly defeated, however the war did not cease. Claiming that his forces received no distinction from the outlaws that had been reeking havoc on their world, the native fought back against all invaders with equal force, Rishmet I ordered the whole of the Ra'Kal population be subdued. The pirate hunting campaign quickly became a conquest of the world.

Outraged, the Ottarians plotted subterfuge of their own, making contact with the beleaguered Ra'Kal defenders offering aid. Suspicious at first, the Canid Ra'kal became dependant on the transports full of aid the Ottarians brought to the planet in the context of "civil aid packages". Transports arrived filled with Ottarian soldiers in a volunteer-army, equipment to combat the Leonians and relief aid for civilians. The transports left filled with refugees. The aid of the Ottarians kept the fighting dragged out over 4 years, denying the Leonians a quick victory. Over the course of this proxy war numerous close calls to full scale war between the two space faring empires occured. The FLR aided greatly in negotiating these crisis. The Emperor Rishmet I overlooked financial aid some factions of Lupis provided to defenders, content that the Republic mostly stay out of the conflict. Despite the best efforts of the natives and their allies, Ra-Kalis was fully conquered by the Galactic Leonian Empire. Refugees poured off the planet in whatever vessel was available, mainly heading to Ottarian space or on to Lupine space. Many Lupine "Mercy Missions", hospitals and camps for the wounded and sick of both sides, came under attack over the suspicion of funneling refugees offworld on their company transports. Once the dust settled, all three galactic nations were at odds with each other for various reasons. The Leonians and Ottarians held the greatest grudges for the other, however relations with the Federal Lupine Republic fell to an all time low due to their indecisive stance.

Biology/Sociology Overview:

The average Leonian stands at 1.7 to 2.1 meters with exceptional examples of 2.3 meters not being unheard of. Ranging in fur coloration from an dusty light tan to a dark syrup brown, they bear little in the way of coat markings. Males grow large manes alone their necks, grooming them as necessitated by lifestyle. Slaves have their manes shaved completely, while those that work in space tend to keep theirs shorter so as to keep the ability to fit a helmet over it. Both males and females are extremely agile and flexible, able to jump impressive distances or heights without augmentation. Retractable claws ensure this species is always armed to some degree, and with their considerable size, most others would think twice about engaging a Leonian in melee.

Leonians choose mates out of obligation to reproduce, the concept of loving a mate generally comes secondary if at all. Males of low case rank rarely get the chance to take a mate, whereas military officers and other positions of prestige take multiple females for themselves. Females in a military position, while often at risk of assault, have the greatest social freedoms, being allowed to possess a weapon, own property or slaves, or manage a business. For the majority of female Leonians, such things only come through their males standing and are split between the females. Same-sex relations are intolerable, and in pre-spaceflight Felis prime would be punished with mutilation and exile. Family units of modern Leonians center around the mothers, leading to offspring rivalries amongst half-siblings. Several notable clan-wars were caused by sibling disputes alone.

Leonians have no gods or religious creed, but are fully subservient to the Emperor alone. They hold little regard for the lives of those of lower castes, even those of the poorest civilian class hold slaves with disgust. Leonian slaves in turn hold Tigrinar slaves as below them, and other even further. Very few Leonians advance in rank in any given generation, and most of the class system is of the belief that their cast is set by genetics, the most inferior members of the species are there because they are intrinsically inferior. Likewise, they elite castes and military leaders are above the rest because they are capable of more than the rest. If a slave was freed and given command of a military force, the average Leonian would assume absolute failure of that regiment as weak cannot effectively command. This system has had very little exposure to other lines of thinking, and as Leonian propaganda efforts continue, little will change this millennia held belief system in the foreseeable future.

Primarily carnivores, the sparse arid climate of their homeworld demanded some deviance from an all meat diet. The poor subsist off a high-caloric, protein rich plant known as Sweet-Grass. Traditionally mixed with water and spices then boiled into a stew, Sweet-Grass has evolved into hundreds of dishes and food products in the modern day. Meat is much more abundant in modern times, lab-grown steaks being a common sight across Leonian space. Those that can afford it have personal stocks of beasts grazed on plots of Sweet-Grass. Cannibalism is not a taboo among the Leonians, although less preferred of an option. A ship stranded in the void of space will certainly kill non-essential personnel for the express purpose of extending ration supply without qualms. It's rumored that Leonian military units come equipped with tools to strip fur and skin from a sapient, either of their dead or captured enemies, for this purpose; though this is likely just in fact rumor.

Notable Worlds:

Felis Prime- Homeworld and seat of Imperial Government

Thebis- Major trade hub and manufacturing site

Memphis- Agri-world covered in sprawling slave plantations

Karthis- Jungle world host to mining and manufacturing, heavily polluted air common in the cramped slave-cities

Sait- Mining hub along the southern fringes, home to major leonian tech centers

Ra-Kalis- Proving troublesome to organize into proper labor castes, Ra'Kal slaves are mainly exported off world while the planet is used for military proving grounds or sport hunting, killing scattered holdouts, while entire mountain ranges are strip-mined to fuel the Leonian war machine.