Second Hapes Consortium

"Never let a man become so deluded as to believe that he is the intellectual equal of a woman. It only leads him to evil."

The Second Hapes Consortium is one of the constituent regions of the Velmorian Kingdoms and was a sovereign nation (called the 'First' Consortium) before the collapse of Darth Ossios' Sith Empire and the subsequent territorial reorganization in 88 AR that led to the Kingdoms. A hereditary monarchy based on the capital world of Hapes, the 'First' Consortium ruled over the region in isolation since before 3005 AR, protected by the Transitory Mists. It originally spanned 130 closely positioned star systems, but when it was reformed in 88 AR, the 'Second' Consortium, under Queen Mother Tarara Chume, expanded their territory & influence core-ward significantly. In 995 AR, the Second Consortium has dominion as far from the Mists as the Togruta homeworld of Shili. It is currently ruled by Queen Mother Tyene Chume.

Adhering to a very strict female-only primogeniture structure of inheritance, the Second Consortium is ruled by the Queen Mother or the Ta'a Chume, who held court at either the Fountain Palace when on Hapes, or aboard the royal transport ship Star Home when traveling abroad. If the Queen Mother failed to have daughters, the wife of the firstborn son became Queen Mother. However, to be in the line of succession meant both the Queen Mother and her heiress, called the Chume'da or 'Crown Princess', had to avoid constant attempts on their lives by jealous relatives who vied for the throne themselves. The great importance of the Queen Mother means that any threats made against her is grounds for immediate execution, usually carried out by the Royal Protector, the Royal House of Hapes' personal bodyguard & assassin.

Similar to how the inheritance of rule is female-only, the Second Consortium itself often places more value in their female citizens than their male citizens, and in the days of the First Consortium, most males were treated as second-class citizens. Though with the reformation in 88 AR and the border expansions came a new age of more-balanced gender politics, especially in planets outside of the Mists, many of the oldest Hapan lines still practice these ancient cultural standards.

The Second Consortium was home to its own order of Force users, called Vovina N'e For'ta, or 'Order of the Dragon'. They are closely tied to the Aten'ka Dragon, a new species native to the Transitory Mists.

Overview
In the Royal Court, alongside the Queen Mother, there are also representatives from each Second Consortium member planet at the Royal Court. Their main purpose is to vote on matters of importance and to give updates on any political and social conditions of their home planets that may require the Queen Mother's attention. The Queen Mother has the final say on everything, however, and her word is considered law.

The First Consortium
After the defeat of the Lorell Raiders at the hands of the Jedi circa 4035 AR, the remaining population of Hapes, most of whom were female, decided to create a new government system which gave power to one woman. Given the title of 'Queen Mother' or Ta'a Chume, the chosen woman united the planets of the Hapes Cluster and formed the basis of the Hapes Consortium. Later on, she would commission the building of Star Home, a mobile replica of the Fountain Palace on Hapes that she would use when traveling abroad.

Around the same time Star Home was completed, the first Queen Mother sealed the borders of the first Hapes Consortium from any outsiders and quickly captured more planets within the Cluster for the Hapans to colonize. After being isolated from the rest of the galaxy for almost 3000 years, the Hapes Consortium only opened its borders to the rest of the galaxy in 13 AR.

Darth Ossios' Sith Empire
The First Consortium was raided frequently as New Republic allies struggled with Darth Ossios' new Sith Empire and the vast number of agents, armies and ships that he commanded. Eventually, the Consortium was conquered by this Empire, and the Queen Mother, Tarara Chume, famously yielded to Darth Ossios' forces. The Consortium would remain in a subjugated state until Luke Skywalker's Korriban raid set Ossios' Sith Empire free of his supernatural control.

Without the Dark Lord's leadership and having been a member state of the old Empire for many years now, the Queen Mother was newly-freed to rule the Consortium as she saw fit and reformed into the Second Hapes Consortium. The Second Consortium then seized much territory in the chaos, pushing their borders core-ward significantly as they fought with the other rising warlords and nation-states in the surrounding territory. The discovery of the Aten'ka Dragon and the subsequent usage of them in space combat made the Second Consortium a force to be reckoned with in this time, the Queen Mother herself riding Great Obelisong, a beast so large it swallowed starfighters whole.

The Second Consortium was, eventually, one of the signatories of the Velmorite Accords, swearing fealty to the High King of Velmor in order to end the chaos within their space and on their borders. Thus, they became a member nation of the Velmorian Kingdoms. At the same time, pressure from the New Jedi Order led to the formation of the Vovina N'e For'ta, or the Order of the Dragon, the Second Consortium's own Force order.

Culture
Hapan culture, at least among the upper classes, was based on assassination attempts and struggles for power. Most upper class Hapans would think nothing of arranging the death of one of their own if it would advance their own cause. For this reason, the Queen Mother and her family employed a bodyguard known as the 'Royal Protector', who was sworn to defend the Queen Mother and her heiress.

The Queen Mother was treated like a goddess by the Hapans, and her selection of a consort was important to all her people. Candidates for the role of consort often came from the nobility, mainly to keep the gene pool vibrant. There were fierce rivalries between many noble houses over which house would get their sons to father the next Queen Mother, and nobles often plotted against both the consort and the heir of the Queen Mother who was not fathered by one of their own.

Following the reformation into the Second Consortium and the subsequent joining into the Velmorian Kingdoms in 88 AR, the stigma around men in the Consortium has lessened significantly, mainly due to the outside influence of new member systems in the Second Consortium who have never had such dramatic gender politics present. However, this influx of new ideas and cultural influences over the next millennia would lead to a different, more polarizing shift in Consortium politics, as illegal Arkanian scientists and colonists from the New Republic world of Arkania fled to Bodgen, a prominent Consortium member and the center of their technological development. These Arkanians were granted safe harbour within the Consortium so long as their research benefited the state, and ever since the Bodgen moons have been home to many Arkanian-Hapan offshoots, and the gene pool of Hapan society was forever changed.

Consortium Force users have their Velmorian crystals turn white upon forming a connection with them. With the strong, Arkanian-born belief that the 'purer' ones bloodline is, the stronger and more powerful their connection to the Force is, frequent inbreeding is then not uncommon among Hapan lines that produce Force users, and is even considered normal for Force-producing houses and families to do so, and once Force sensitivity was introduced to the Hapan Royal Family, they were not exempt from this expectation.

Military
Among the founding principles of the Consortium and the Hapes Cluster was the construction as well as maintenance of a strong military.

One of the higher authorities amongst the Hapes Consortium was held by the Hapan Royal Guard. These individuals wore crimson clothing which identified their status. The uniforms were one piece, and were similar to a flight suit. They were quite fitted, in addition to being deep red in color. In addition to them, an elite commando force was present in the form of of 'Her Majesty's Select Commandos' that were tasked with important missions. The Royal Protector is also a position of a warrior, usually male, who is sworn to defend the Royal House of Hapes.

The Hapan Security acted as the primary Law enforcement agency for the Second Consortium.

In space, Hapes was defended by the skilled Hapan Royal Navy. They are also protected by Vovina N'e For'ta, their Force order, who utilize Aten'ka dragons in space combat.

Economy
The Hapes Consortium possessed a vast amount of wealth which meant that only strong trading groups had a hope of dealing with their traders on an equal basis. After their re-emergence following their isolation, trade was done mostly in the form of goods and the Hapans continued to circulate their own currency which at that time was of a higher value than the New Republic credit, Republic Credit, and even Imperial Credit when it existed. This meant that the Hapan credit conversion was greatly in their own favor. The fantastic amount of wealth available to them also included unique treasures such as rainbow gems fetching high prices on both legal and illegal markets.

Even though businesses could operate on any member planets, Hapan law dictated that all major financial and business transactions must be conducted on Hapes.