Hapan Culture

The Hapes Consortium consists of many unique worlds and semi-autonomous systems that recognizes the Sovereign as their Head of State and rely on the Royal Council to keep their best interests in mind, both in domestic and external affairs. In the millennia since its foundation, the Queen-Mothers sought to mould to their liking the radically different human ethnicities, cultures, and belief systems that had been brought to the Hapes Cluster by the Lorell Raiders. Various indigenous species were also found in the Cluster, many of whom were either conquered by the descendants of the Raiders, or joined the Consortium voluntarily, such as the population of Maires. All these worlds are represented at the Royal Court by their local leaders, such as the Archon of Vergill, while noble rulers represent their dominions in the Council of Lords.

Historical Ideology

In historical times, across nine distinct eras and ten dynasties, the Hapan political scene developed in several directions. While the Consortium was originally heavily centralised around Hapes Prime and Lorell, steps were taken to expand the sphere of influence across the Hapes Cluster. This was accomplished through the establishment of colonies, state-sponsored corporations aimed at exploration, as well as the establishment of a feudal nobility. While the majority of the Hapan population lived in relative harmony, rivalries between noble families plagued the upper echelons of Hapan society, eventually culminating in the Hapan Civil War at the end of the Pal`durath dynasty as an extention of the two Princess' struggle over the contested crown. As a result, distinct ideologies developed, favouring various degrees of centralisation and control. Today, most of these ideological directions are considered insignificant or archaic, playing no major role in the day-to-day governance of the Consortium, or the selection of government officials, as the reunification consolidated its governance across the Cluster as old noble houses lost their claims to their former domains.

Isolationism

The stance of isolationism and non-intervention was an unofficial practice from the foundation of the Consortium, though it became an official stance when the government closed the Hapes Cluster to outsiders some three thousand years ago to prevent the meddling of the Galactic Republic and other contenders for galactic governance, such as the Sith Empire, in Hapan affairs. Contact with the outside Galaxy remained sparse until around Year -2, when Lorell was opened as an ambassadorial world in an attempt to bring new revenue to the Hapan state. Gradually, the Consortium sought out contact with major galactic powers, or were specifically sought out, in hopes of establishing good relations. With the Galactic Republic overthrown and transformed in to the Galactic Empire, and with the Jedi eradicated, the Consortium felt more comfortable with finally playing a role in the galactic community.

Under King Andrew, the Consortium initially dealt with Black Sun as a major trading partner. The Black Sun Crisis in Year 3 would, however, reaffirm Hapan distrust of foreign powers and reignite the movements calling for strengthened national integrity and military superiority. King James established relations with the Rebel Alliance, in part due to the Galactic Empire's unwillingness to recognize the Hapes Consortium. Following the coup that overthrew Emperor Charon, the Hapan government abandoned relations with the Rebel movement and established itself as a friend of the Galactic Empire, which under King James would later lead to the establishment of the Imperial Union, and eventually that of the Galactic Concordiate under King Alexander.

While involving itself in several galactic political and economic alliances, the Consortium remains - for the most part - largely isolationist, and rarely involves itself in foreign conflicts unless its own interests are threatened.

Former King of Hapes, Alexander Tylger giving an address

The Hapan economy is considered to be among the strongest in the galaxy. Historically speaking, the Hapes Consortium has always been extremely wealthy thanks to the careful financial planning and investments by various ruling dynasties. The Hapan Civil War drained much of the economy and the last four decades have been spent rebuilding the economy, a project which has passed beyond all expectation. The continuous growth saw a sudden reversal in the past decade practically overnight, when the shock of a sudden galactic wide recession spread to the Cluster, utterly decimating the state’s tax revenues for many years to come. The Hapan economy was able to ride through the economic crisis thanks to its vast accumulated wealth, launching a massive investment program to aimed at revitalizing local economies and supporting key industries, with the eventual rebound seeing it regain much of its lost revenue.

Lorell is the primary Hapan commerce and ambassadorial world used to link the Hapes Consortium to the outside galaxy. The Lorell system was opened to the outside galaxy in Year -2. Since then it has been built up as a massive trade hub and is home to billions of beings. Dozens of major intergalactic corporations and conglomerates have been granted permits to develop the surface. This has led to a massive increase of income for the Hapan government in the form of taxes and trade fees. Most of the planet's surface is now covered by a giant city which smaller portions are designated as city-districts.

The Royal League of Commerce was originally an assembly headed by the Ministry of Industry where all the owners or leaders of Consortium's nationalised corporations meet to discuss matters of importance relating to their work within the Hapes Cluster, and helped propel the society towards further prosperity through nationally managed and owned industries.

Terephon became a major investment for the Hapan government as it was developed between Year 1 and Year 3. The building project itself created work for thousands of smaller construction companies and millions of workers, all organised by Fel`da Regalix Jaak and the Royal Hapan Support Corps. The planet was bombarded and the atmosphere destroyed during the Hapan Civil War, and so much money was needed to be spent terraforming the planet and building massive glass domes over many of the city-districts, making it the first modern ecumenopolis of the Consortium. All of the planet is now covered in buildings and is populated by close to 19 billion Hapans. Haradan, Gormoth, and Daein were following efforts at creating newer and improved versions of Terephon in other regions of the Hapes Cluster. These projects would come to surpass all expectations, further cementing the Consortium's status as an economic superpower, though the continuing population boom would see many more worlds needed to be developed into modern residential planets. Beyond taxing commercial operators on their profits, other sources of income for the government include galactic trade, customs fees and to a lesser degree zoning permits.

The Hapes Consortium has understood that, although its principles of absolute monarchy are de jure according to the Constitution and the established traditions where the Sovereign’s word is supreme, it also recognises de facto that the exercise of the Royal prerogative in defiance of the rule of Law would only reduce the perceived legitimacy of the State with regards to its own nationals and dependent corporations. Hence, the role of the Sovereign is to act as the final arbiter, who legislates and enforces the law to the betterment of the state and its peoples.

While the Hapan system is not perfect, neither is any other galactic equivalent, as laws are continuously amended, repealed and updated as society evolves, and new realities emerge. A sturdy and efficient legislative process is needed, and the Consortium's legal expertise therefore lies within the Ministry of the Interior, whose Fel`da would present the laws to the Royal Council for their thoughts, then hand it to the King for his consent or veto. The moment it receives consent, it is announced publicly and becomes part of the Consortium’s active legislation.

The Hapan Consortium had a matriarchal society for nearly four millennia, during which the females were favoured. Men were considered inferior and incapable of leading. This did, however, sometimes vary from world to world, and male nobles were sometimes seen as exceptions from the norm. Though no real change took place until the Hapan Civil War which the women of the Consortium could not fight alone. Men served as warriors while women, for the most part, were in charge. Even the most conservative of the Hapans, such as the leaders of the Draconian Union, realised that they needed the assistance of men to prevail in the conflict.

The actual formal equalisation of the sexes did not occur until sometime in to the reign of King Andrew when there was an outcry for equal rights in certain parts of the Consortium, such as the Rifle Worlds region and the Interior region. The decision to give equal rights and status was considered controversial by a majority, but still went through. This led to an increased amount of male government officials and military officers over the years. While the sexes are legally equal today, the females are still considered superior on some worlds of the Consortium.

Family has just the same always been considered important to Hapans, and many take great pride in their lineage. Prior to the reunification period, arranged marriages between popular or powerful families were known to happen more often, to further cement the relationship between the two for joint business ventures and the like. Marrying in to a noble family was also considered a great thing as the rest of the family would become directly related to someone of importance in the Consortium. The Hapan Civil War strained these traditional ties by how many hapan families had members supporting or fighting for several sides of the conflict, and the casting aside of the old nobility added to the shock as gender equality allowed males to partake in all aspects of the society.

The Hapes Cluster is inhabited by numerous sentient species who are all considered subjects of the Hapan throne. The dominant species of the Hapan society is the Hapanii-human race which is a term used to describe any human who is the descendant of the Lorell Raiders. Other notable species are Hapanii-Belgorians, a race from the wartorn world of Belgor, Hapanii-Mairans from Maires and the Hapanii-Varno from Varn. There are a number of other sentient species who, along with the previously mentioned, work with equal rights in the Consortium. The non-human species were granted equal rights either during or shortly after the Hapan Civil War as oppression of these were considered to be remnants of the old ways.

The Consortium has also seen waves of immigration from the outside Galaxy in the later stages of King Andrew's reign and later King James'. Not all applicants are accepted, but both the Hapan government and the Royal Hapan Armed Forces have an increasing number of individuals of species not native to the Cluster serving. As a result, it is no longer unusual to see various species from across the galaxy present even in such places such as the Royal Council, Council of Lords, or the military High Command. The Consortium does not discriminate on the basis of race or gender, save for ascension to Royal titles.

As opposed to the old times where the Consortium maintained a very strict class hierarchy with titles, ranks and positions, the modern Hapan society is seen as meritocratic in nature, divided into royalty, nobility, and regular citizens, with the citizens and nobility enjoying the same protections and opportunities. The members of the Royal Hapan Armed Forces and Lorell Hall are considered citizens alongside employees of the Crown Corporations, though they all typically hold a specific civilian title that indicates their status within the Hapan social hierarchy.

Education has always been considered important by the Hapan government, and the pursuits of knowledge and wisdom seen as honourable callings. In earlier days, only certain types of education were available for males while females could go through higher classes of education. All types are now available to all genders and species.

Newer subjects of the Hapan throne, both from inside and outside the Consortium, partake in the Royal Hapan Academy, known as Star Home Academy, managed by the Royal Hapan Armed Forces in conjunction with the Ministry of the Interior's Department of Culture. There they learn in detail about Hapan history, Hapan culture, Hapan laws and Hapan society, prior to receiving training to be able to function in the military reserves whatever their future careers. Further education is often offered depending on the career chosen, with the Royal Hapan Armed Forces and many government institutions maintaining various lines of higher education and specialized vocational training for their employees.

While a formal military education and a career in the Royal Hapan Armed Forces has retained its popularity among younger generations of hapans as well, it has not seen the society at large forsaking its love for the arts and sciences, which has maintained the excellence of the many public universities around the Cluster.

The dominant language of the Hapes Cluster is Hapan, which is an evolved form of the language spoken by the Lorell Raiders. It is used for all official duties, be it governmental or military. Galactic Basic is used in some portions of the Hapes Cluster, primarily Lorell, for trade and commerce along with other trade dialects such as Sy Bisti. Some lesser and local languages are found on worlds of the Hapes Cluster where Hapanii-humans are not dominant.

Hapan is considered difficult to learn by outsiders. It is described as flowing off the tongue and many terms and concepts within the language can be difficult to grasp. Also, body language and emphasis on sounds are used to distinguish differing meanings of identical words. Even so, most Hapan worlds have different dialects. Notable dialects that differ from the norm are those of Charubah, Gormoth and Arxian.

Hapan art is a term usually used to describe paintings that are near photo-realistic, which Hapans seem to prefer. Most paintings found in the Consortium are of landscapes, as Hapans love nature, but one will always find pictures of Hapan royalty and nobility as well. On most worlds there are countless statues dedicated to living or deceased individuals who had some sort of impact on the Consortium, be it on a widespread or local level.

Hapan architecture varies from world to world as most have slightly differing culture. However, Hapans enjoy keeping their buildings white as most of them have a fondness for light and brightness. Almost all buildings are extravagantly decorated with ornamentation along the roof or around windows, doors and arches. Often domes are built on top of buildings, painted in a colour to represent the status of the building in question. The love of nature and preservation is evident in the way the balance is maintained between nature and the urban setting even in the densest population centres, with ample room spared for parks and well-kept woodland areas, as well as water areas where possible. Large parts of entire planets are kept preserved as natural conservation areas, and sparsely populated resort locations are among the most popular holiday destinations for hapans.

Hapan literature was in modern times mostly poetry about nature and beauty, sometimes tales of heroism and the like. Since the Hapan Civil War, much literature describes battles and events during the war and some have written biographies about the major leaders of the war. Recent events such as the Black Sun Crisis and the assassination of King Andrew have also made their way in to written form and have also been dramatised in holo-flicks and operas.

Music in the Hapes Consortium has always been dominated by female singers and soft string instruments, but recently more extravagant compositions of music have been made, such as the new national anthem and numerous military marches. Hapans from the world Ut are famous for their singing.