House Olanji

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House Olanji was a powerful noble family that governed the Charu system from 350 until 3991. Originally explorers, the sisters Charu Olanji, Ta'lana Olanji and Jyll Olanji discovered the system during the First Expansion Era. The worlds Olanji and Charubah were settled by their crews and they established an important industrial society that contributed to the expansion of the Hapes Consortium over the course of the centuries. The family privately owned the Olanji/Charubah shipyards, Royal Armaments Guild of Charubah and Charubah Industries which were the primary sources of instruments of war and defence for the Hapes Consortium throughout history. The last two members of House Olanji died in the final months of the Hapan Civil War after living seven years in exile from Charu.

History & Profile

Exploration

The Olanji family answered the Arxianic Queen-Mothers' call for the expansion of the Hapes Cluster and spent some years exploring along the Transitory Mist with a small fleet of five freighters. They explored the proximity of the star X-20394, later named Charuzad in April of 350. The sisters Ta'lana Olanji and Charu Olanji named the star and the planets Olanji Jyll and Charubah after themselves. Olanji was settled by Ta'lana Olanji, Jyll was settled by Jyll Olanji while Charubah was settled by Charu Olanji by converting three ships of the fleet in to colonies and using the crews as initial settlers.

Industrial Achievements

The Charu system colonies became increasingly important to the Hapes Consortium as time went by. The Olanjis established the Olanji Mining Guild in 381 in order to exploit the natural resources of the system, especially by extracting tibanna gas from the three gas giants of the system, and other materials from the rough surface of Jyll. The job opportunities the mining provided led to a large wave of immigration to the Charu system during the First Expansion Era.

Narli Olanji and Qasith Olanji, descendants of Ta'lana Olanji and Charu Olanji established the Olanji/Charubah shipyards in 469 as a rival to the Hapan Consortium which was owned by the royal family. Over the course of the centuries, the two shipyard corporations engaged in an arms race which was often encouraged by the Queen-Mothers in order to bring new technology to the Royal Hapan Navy. The company gave the three branches of the Olanji family great political and military power in the Hapes Consortium and their opinion on matters of military and industrial nature held great sway in Lorell Hall.

The Royal Armaments Guild of Charubah was established in 611 and owned by the descendants of Charu Olanji. The guild came to be as Olanji family bought up numerous smaller arms producers based on Charubah (and some other worlds across the Hapes Cluster) and united them under a single leadership. They became famous for their unique and innovative weaponry, especially the gun of command and the RAGC-750 repeating pulse cannon. Charubah Industries was established in 689 as a companion to the guild, producing heavier weapons of war, such as tanks and eventually Charubah Cyborgs.

Their greatest achievement was perhaps the Charu Wheels, two massive circular shipyard facilities which were each 90 kilometres in diameter. The facilities were destroyed in 3997 as the Olanji twins led an attack attempting the reclaim the Charu system from the Phoenix Movement. Olanji/Charubah suffered greatly during the Hapan Civil War and was the target of many attacks and raids by the Sword Confederacy, Victory Alliance and Phoenix Movement. It never truly recovered from the conflict and was officially merged with Hapan Consortium under the new name Olanji Corporation in 4031.

Political & Military Power

The Olanji family officially became nobility on September 14 702 during the Antiquity Era as Queen-Mother Tini'duran III established a new feudal system of control in the Hapes Consortium. The standard was that each system controlled by the Hapan government had a governing Lady and each settled planet a governing Countess. However an exception was made for House Olanji as both Zeciv Olanji of Olanji and Tupi Olanji of Charubah were granted the title Lady with joint governance of the system. The Jyll branch of the family had died out at this point and governance of the planet had been taken over by Cell'dar Rix'farin who became a Countess.

The family exercised great political power with their dual-representation over the course of the centuries, never officially disagreeing on anything and generally voting in directions approved by the Queen-Mothers. Most historians agree that the Olanjis were often a "power behind the throne" in most cases of weak monarchs. The family ensured that these Queen-Mothers stayed in power by flexing both political and military muscle to discourage any nobility who would make a bid for power, but were known to help unseat at least two Queen-Mothers, most notably Queen-Mother Serlanum VI in 1404. This way the family indirectly controlled the Hapes Consortium without having to sit on the throne. It is speculated that the Olanji family was unwilling to make a direct bid for the throne because they thoroughly enjoyed the wealth and freedom they had within the Charu system.

The Olanji family also had a massive fleet in the Noble Navy which strength surpassed all other fleets in the history of the Hapes Consortium. House Olanji "reunited" the two branches of the family with intermarriage in 3906 and the sisters Xania Olanji and Alidra Olanji had joint rule of the house at the outbreak of the Hapan Civil War in 3946. They pledged their forces to the efforts of Princess Da'tan and helped form the Draconian Union in a bid for the Hapan throne. It is speculated that the Olanji sisters feared that Princess Ta'lan would restrict much of the nobility's power and influence if crowned as Queen-Mother. They therefore favoured the conservative Princess Da'tan who often spoiled the local nobility and favoured feudal rule instead of central rule.

The sisters were instrumental to the war effort, but Xania Olanji was killed as early in the conflict as 3955. Alidra Olanji had twin daughters, Eledri Olanji and Aladri Olanji (often referred to as the Olanji twins), who maintained the family's devotion to the Draconian Union until the bitter end. The loss of the Charu system in 3991 was an enormous blow to the house and it never truly recovered. Eledri Olanji died in the second battle of Gallinore and Aladri Olanji killed herself upon hearing the news of her sister's death, effectively killing House Olanji.

Legacy

The remnants of Olanji/Charubah came under joint ownership of many important Draconian noble houses in the form of the Draconian Shareholders Committee. The company never truly recovered from the war, but was bought up by the Hapan government and merged with Hapan Consortium in the form of the Olanji Corporation in 4031. Many consider the name a proper tribute to one of Hapes' most important historical families.

King Andrew was the son of a noble woman from Charubah and her pleasure slave. While it has never been proven, rumours say that Aladri Olanji was actually King Andrew's mother and that the family ended up on the Hapan throne in the end, but it seems more likely that the mother was actually Countess Tenar of the Ta'lana province on Charubah. The rumours and romanticised story has been the subject of many historical research papers, but it is doubtful that the truth shall ever be known.