Nabu–Zariin Empire

The Glorious Holy Nabu–Zariin Empire المَجِيدَة المُقَدَسَة الإمبراطُورِيَة نَابُو–زَرِين al-Majidat al-Muqaddasat al-ʾĪmbraturiat Nabu–Zarīn
Flag Emblem
Seat of government
Capital	Nabuzan, Nabu ⅠⅠⅠ, Nabu System Tamenkar, Zariin Ⅴ, Zariin System (jointly shared)
Largest city	Nabuzan, Nabu ⅠⅠⅠ, Nabu System
Official elements
Languages	Nabu–Zariinian
Religion	Nabu–Zariinian
Denonym	Nabu–Zariinian Nabu–Zariin (informal) Nabu–Zariine (rare)
Government
Type	Shared absolute monarchy
Iron Emperor (Nabu System) Stone Emperor (Zariin System)	Salaam ⅠⅠ (Nabu System) Maktaar Ⅰ (Zariin System)
Iron Prince (Nabu System) Stone Princess (Zariin System)	Faaktiim ibn Salaam (Nabu System) Suurya ibn Maktaar (Zariin System)
High Priestess (Nabu System) High Priest (Zariin System)	Alamiina Tufaryi (Nabu System) Zaqtem Kiluyaa (Zariin System)
Legislature	Emperors jointly exercise legislative power
Area of control
Systems	2
Planets	2
Outposts	37
Establishment
Empire founded	December 14, 2153
Population
Estimate	51,300,000
Ethnic groups	99.93% human

The Nabu–Zariin Empire is a small, independent human state formed by religious extremists originally from Earth. Nabu–Zariin is considered technologically and socially backward by United Federation of Planets standards. Most of its fifty million inhabitants live in conditions that could be considered abject poverty. It has never been a member of the United Federation of Planets, and in fact frequently allies itself with enemies of the Federation in disputes. However, as it has no military, political, or economic power to speak of outside of its own, small borders, its stated allegiances have never really mattered.

Other than its fundamentalist religion and its belligerence toward the Federation, what Nabu–Zariin is most known for is its slaves. Slavery is legal, justified by religious beliefs, and there is an elaborate culture surrounding it. Almost three quarters of Nabu–Zariin’s population, thirty-six million people, are slaves, twenty-five million of whom are publicly owned. Nabu–Zariin slaves are in high demand throughout the galaxy, and fetch astonishingly high prices where legal, and in the black market within the Federation. While Nabu–Zariin officially abhors selling slaves to anyone not of the Nabu–Zariin faith, unofficially it supports its economy through such sales.

Important locations

Nabu–Zariin is primarily made up of only two star systems: Nabu and Zariin. The two systems are 3.8 light years apart, both approximately 72 light years distant from the Sol system. Both stars are M-class, but Nabu is a red dwarf, while Zariin is a red giant.

Star	Type	Class	Distance from Sol ly	Mass M☉	Radius R☉	Luminosity L☉	Temperature K
Nabu	Red dwarf	M3 V	72.4	0.31	0.29	0.013	3,480
Zariin	Red giant	M3.5 III	72.1	1.3	84	1,500	3,626

The Empire has also planted small facilities or military bases in dozens of other systems, or on rogue planets. A few of these facilities are active mining operations or functional military outposts. However, the majority are skeleton operations crewed by anywhere from one to a few dozen personnel. They exist only so the Empire can claim territory. Because these claims amount to little more than bluster, and almost never have any strategic or economic value, and because the Empire has no capability to defend those claims in any case, they are largely ignored by the rest of the galaxy.

Nabu System

Planet	Mass M⊕	Rotation period hr	Gravity g	Surface temperature K			Surface temperature °C
				min	mean	max	min	mean	max
Nabu IIIa	1.06	34.7	1.06	183	302	336	−90	29	63

Most people think that the planet occupied by the Nabu branch of the Nabu–Zariin Empire is Nabu III. This is not technically correct. Nabu III is a gas giant that is barely inside the star’s habitable zone, tidally-locked to the star. It is its only natural satellite, Nabu IIIa, that is habitable.

Nabu IIIa is a hot desert planet, with very little natural water. Nabu IIIa’s day-night cycle is more complicated than that of a planet that orbits its star directly. Its rotation provides a 35-hour day, but that is only when it is not behind the gas giant. When it moves behind the gas giant, as it does once every 235 hours, it experiences an 87-hour “night” all over the planet. During this long night, the planet cools considerably, dropping well-below freezing even at the equator. But this is a good thing; without this cooling-off period to counteract the extremely hot “days”, the surface would not be habitable without significant terraforming.

Because mining operations on Nabu IIIa are difficult due to the gravity of Nabu III, most heavy industry is done off-world. Nabu III itself is heavily mined for the precious volatile gasses trapped in its upper atmosphere. There are also mining operations on the other planets of the Nabu system, as well as its asteroid belts.

Although Nabu IIIa and Zariin V are officially on equal standing, Nabu IIIa is considered to be the cultural centre of the Nabu–Zariin Empire. Around 90% of the non-slave population lives there. Most of the slave population are involved in agriculture or food production, or serve as domestic servants; very few are industrial labourers. Virtually all of Nabu–Zariin’s non-elite, non-slave population lives on Nabu IIIa.

While, by law, all Imperial services have facilities on both Nabu IIIa and Zariin V, the facilities on Nabu IIIa tend to be much larger and better used than those on Zariin V. Most of the major temples, military facilities, and economic institutions are based on Nabu IIIa.

Zariin System

Planet	Mass M⊕	Rotation period hr	Gravity g	Surface temperature K			Surface temperature °C
				min	mean	max	min	mean	max
Zariin V	1.29	43.4	1.29	242	313	361	−31	40	88

Like Nabu III, Zariin V is a hot, dry planet. It is quite a bit hotter than Nabu III, and its gravity is 20% greater. For most of the year, on most of the planet, the surface is too hot for human habitation. Humans live primarily near the poles, or in canyons and crevasses.

Zariin V has two natural satellites, both less than 5% of the size of Earth’s moon.

Most of Nabu–Zariin’s solid-matter mining is done on Zariin V. Due to its heavier gravity and high interior temperatures, it contains a wealth of precious gems and other rare mineral forms.

The population of Zariin V consists of a very small number of elite citizens, and a small number of non-slave citizens who oversee industrial or military operations. The rest is almost entirely slaves working either in the mines, the processing facilities, or other factories or industrial operations.

The Empire has facilities or bases on every other planet in the Zariin system, as well mining operations scattered throughout its asteroid belts.

Culture and society

The Nabu–Zariin religion is the core of Nabu–Zariin society. The Emperor and the priesthood maintain absolute control over every aspect of life, public and private. Officially, every single citizen of the Empire is an adherent of the religion. No heresy or apostasy is tolerated. Anyone who attempts to leave the religion, or preaches any competing religion or heresy, is either executed or enslaved.

Citizens are expected to attend in-person worship rituals at least once every three days, and to meet with their local “spiritual counsellors” once a month, though few citizens keep to this schedule perfectly. It is not uncommon to lapse for months at a time, which is tolerated so long as the citizen is otherwise behaving in accordance with the faith. When meeting with their “spiritual counsellors”, citizens are supposed to confess any sins, or impious or heretical thoughts, including any suspicious or potentially heretical actions of their neighbours. These confessions are always recorded, and used by the authorities to stamp out any dissent, heresy, or illegal behaviour.

In part due to the citizenry reporting on themselves and their neighbours, and in part due to widespread poverty leading to a general lack of anything of value to sell or steal, there is very little crime in the Nabu–Zariin Empire, aside from occasional scuffles arising from petty disputes and crimes of passion. The sentence for virtually every crime is either enslavement or death, so there are no repeat offenders.

Nabu–Zariin culture can be challenging to understand because it bucks so many of the standard assumptions. It is based on a rigid, fundamentalist religion and overseen by an absolutist police state, which would normally imply an almost fanatical degree of control over every aspect of life. However, the religion’s founders were quite sexually liberal – Soukal Nabu famously had thousands of known lovers, of all genders – and one of the implied tenets of the faith is that the faithful deserve pleasure and happiness… so long as it does not corrupt one’s soul. Thus, outside of religious heresies and anything that would disrupt the smooth functioning of society, almost nothing is forbidden to Nabu–Zariinians. Alcohol, drugs, and other such substances are widely imbued; gambling is a popular pastime (and often leads to enslavement of serial losers); and all manner of sex is publicly enjoyed. People think nothing of having sex in full view of passersby on the street (slaves, in particular, are often used quite publicly), and the type of sex engaged in is often anything but “vanilla”, and can involve multiple participants. Casual sex, sometimes with complete strangers, is common.

However, this sexual freedom exists only for the men, and much less so for the women. For women, the danger of casual sex is pregnancy, because abortion is absolutely forbidden. Contraception of any kind is also forbidden. (As with most things on Nabu–Zariin, it becomes less “forbidden” the wealthier one is.) If an unmarried woman becomes pregnant, she becomes immediately enslaved to whoever impregnated her (if she becomes pregnant by a slave, she becomes a public slave). Women can engage in whatever sexual shenanigans they wish to… but must be very careful to avoid pregnancy. This usually means sticking to non-penetrative sex, oral sex, anal sex, or careful timing of one’s cycle, which can leave women sexually frustrated and unfulfilled if they cannot be satisfied by artificial means. In practice, that makes young women rush into marriage, often with men who already have multiple wives, because Nabu–Zariin allows men to have multiple wives, but each woman can only have a single husband (and if a woman has an affair, and becomes pregnant, she becomes her husband’s slave). For the men, even if they cannot find a free woman willing to have sex with them, they can always use a slave.

Social castes

Nabu–Zariin society is extremely stratified, with the wealthiest living lives of luxury and excess, and the poorest living in abject poverty and squalor. Although the faith asserts that all adherents are equal, in practice there are four social castes.

The elite class

The elite class consists of high-ranking government officials, military and religious leadership, and a handful of extremely wealthy private industrialists.

Elites are effectively “above the law” for the most part, so long as they do not cross the Emperor or the priesthood. They can and often do have dealings outside the Empire, which would normally be highly illegal, but authorities can be bribed with the fruits of off-world trades to turn a blind eye. In fact, it is this kind of shady dealing that often results in the most lucrative benefits to the Empire, particularly when it comes to acquiring technology.

Elites dress in robes made of the finest materials, and shower themselves with jewels and precious metals. Most have ornate head wear associated with their position or family name – a turban or tiara, or something equally ostentatious. It is not uncommon for elites to wear long, flowing garments that require slaves to assist in carrying.

Elites often live in sprawling castles or estates in their own private fiefdoms, populated by small armies of slaves that act as servants and labourers. There are always rumours of lurid acts of debauchery and sadistic amusements carried out within these estates – everything from horrifically depraved orgies to gruesome gladiatorial tournaments – and some of those rumours are undoubtedly true. However, so long as they remain mere rumours, and do not cause too much trouble for the Emperor and priesthood, they are ignored by the authorities.

The merchant class

Below the elites, but above commoners, lies the so-called “merchant class”, which is made up of wealthy business owners and industrialists, military officials, and members of specialized professions like doctors and clergy.

Members of this class lack the freedom of the more powerful elites to live “above the law”, but at the same time, have enough wealth and power to enjoy freedoms and luxuries unattainable by commoners. Most have a household, ranging in size from a single domicile to a small estate, and will own anywhere from one to a dozen or so slaves.

Some members of this social strata will dress in the same fashions as the elite… as much as they can afford to, anyway. Other dress similarly to commoners, though with much finer fabrics, and will accentuate with accessories, jewellery, and makeup. Often the choice of how to dress is determined by what company is being kept; one dresses more like a commoner when mixing with commoners (though better than them, of course), and more like an elite when mixing with elites.

Members of this class will occasionally have dealings outside of the Empire, although, unlike the elites, these dealings will have to go through official channels, and will be heavily monitored and censored.

Commoners

Commoners make up the largest class of citizens in the Nabu–Zariin Empire (though the number of slaves is orders of magnitude larger, slaves are not considered “citizens”, or even “people”).

Commoners live in conditions of abject poverty, with only a bare minimum of low-quality food to survive on, and the most basic medical services only in cases of dire need. They usually live in simple, stone structures, sometimes individually or in small groups. It is not uncommon to own a slave, or maybe two, for those who are slightly better off. However, they will usually have no other luxuries, and often lack even the most basic amenities, like electricity or indoor plumbing. They are usually cut off from the rest of the galaxy, and are profoundly ignorant of anything but religious and Imperial propaganda.

Commoners typically wear very little clothing, mostly as a practical matter, due to the combination of extreme poverty and extreme heat. Both men and women typically wear nothing more than two rectangular pieces of cloth, one in the front, one in the back, fastened at the shoulders and belted. The poorest would fasten at the shoulders by tying the cloth together, but most use some form of fastener. Younger, single men and women use the smallest, lightest pieces of cloth they can get away with, often leaving their hips and back mostly bare, and almost all of their thighs showing, and the men will often only fasten one shoulder, or sometimes neither, leaving their entire upper body bare. Older women and men prefer more and heavier cloths that cover more. Most commoners will wear sandals, though the poorest go barefoot. There are usually no designs, just plain cloth with muted colours. Few wear much in the way of jewellery or accessories. When temperatures drop, they will create makeshift boots with wrapped cloth, and wear hooded cloaks made from heavy materials. Outsiders are often surprised to discover that Nabu–Zariinians have no nudity taboo, and will frequently interact completely nude in mixed settings, like public baths or while working together (and they will even engage in casual sexual acts with strangers; hand jobs in public baths are quite common, and a group of workers will often unwind after a workday by exchanging oral sex). One can hardly be scandalized by nudity with all the completely naked slaves walking around. Indeed, they often only wear anything at all to signify that they are not slaves.

Because slaves do all of the menial labour, commoners primarily work as slave overseers. For example, a wealthy businessperson may own a factory, which requires teams of hundreds of slaves to do the actual production, and a few dozen commoners to organize the slaves, and keep them working at pace. Other than slave overseers, the most common jobs done by the commoner class are service jobs for other commoners, such as running trading booths in the local bazaar.

Slaves

Though not considered “people” by the Nabu–Zariin faith, slaves make up the lion’s share of the Nabu–Zariin population.

Slaves do all menial work for the Nabu–Zariin, everything from construction to waste processing, including all agricultural, mining, and industrial work. Slaves even serve as sex workers, and as livestock for breeding. Most slaves are public property – owned by the Empire – and do all public works required to keep the Empire functioning, everything from road repairs to public transport.

The life of a slave can vary dramatically depending on where and how that slave is interned. A slave on Zariin V can expect a harsh and miserable life of extreme toil and suffering, working in a mine, or on a farm (as one of the livestock). On the other hand, a slave in Nabuzan – the main city on Nabu IIIa – who acts as a domestic servant, may live a quite comfortable and peaceful life, without any extreme stresses. In some ways, their life might even be better than the life of a commoner, because they are no longer forced to follow the religious precepts, and no longer under threat of arrest or further punishment by the ever-watchful authorities.

Slavery

It is important to understand that Nabu–Zariin slaves are not “slaves” in the traditional sense. They are not merely people whose liberty has been taken from them, and who are treated as chattel. Nabu–Zariin slaves are a religious caste; their state of slavery is a religious state, not a legal or economic one. You can restore liberty to a traditional slave – or pay off their debts, or revoke an enslavement order – and they are no longer a slave… but there is nothing to “restore” to a Nabu–Zariin slave, because nothing was taken from them (according to the faith, they lost the connection to their soul, but that is hardly something anyone in this universe can restore). Thus, it is nonsensical to talk about “freeing” a Nabu–Zariin slave; that would be like talking about “freeing” a monk. It is true that most Nabu–Zariin slaves did not choose to become slaves. However, once their faith dictated that that is what they are… then that is what they are; they cannot be “freed” from what they are.

Slave always wear collars – required by law – and usually very little else, if anything. Nabu–Zariinians do not consider this indecent exposure, anymore than they would for a dog or cat; slaves are not people, after all. Slaves are often at least partially shackled, usually attached to whatever it is they are supposed to be working with. This is not because people fear the slaves will run away – that would be unthinkable – but rather because they do not want other people to drag the slaves away from the work they should be doing, and use them for something else. Slaves will usually be working under a slave overseer – usually a commoner or another slave – who keeps them working, often with the threat of corporal punishment; the whip is a popular choice.

In every city and town there are areas for the display of slaves enduring public punishment. Slaves may be whipped or tortured in front of an audience, left restrained in painful and humiliating positions for hours or days on end, or (rarely) even executed and their corpses left on display. Some of these punishments are actually punishments for the slave’s owner – such as the failure to pay a debt – which the slave is forced to endure instead. These displays are not meant for other slaves as much they are intended for the non-slave population. Penitence through pain is part of the faith, so seeing slaves endure punishment is a reminder that justice still maintains absolute power in society.

However, most slaves simply work their duties without any notice being taken of them. Most Nabu–Zariinians will not even deign to glance at a slave they pass by (unless the slave is particularly appealing, or otherwise distracting), and it can be jarring to outsiders to see natives casually stroll by a team of naked slaves harnessed together and pulling a carriage while being driven by a whip without so much as batting an eyelash. They are just background noise to the society, rarely noticed or commented on, doing their work to keep everything running smoothly.

There are numerous types of slaves, and a multitude of ways they are used:

Transportation

Especially in poorer areas, there are no automated vehicles, and all transportation is by rickshaws, carriages, and coaches pulled by teams of one to eight or more slaves, all harnessed together.

Construction

All construction and repair work is done by teams of slaves, under the watchful eye (and often whip) of one or more overseers.

Domestic service

Virtually all households that can afford to have at least one slave to perform cooking, cleaning, and other housekeeping services, to look after children, and to perform other domestic duties.

Customer service

Virtually all businesses will have slaves that act as greeters to clients, as wait staff, or as receptionists to see to their needs or to direct them to a proper agent. (Many businesses also have designated “scapegoat” slaves, to placate irate customers by punishing the slave until the customer is satisfied.)

Entertainment

Slaves are often used as forms of entertainment. Wealthy parents will occasionally gift a slave to their children, who will then treat that slave as a pet… literally, as in they make the slave walk on all fours, being lead around on a leash. (Actual non-human animals are very, very rare on Nabu–Zariin, due to the climate, and are usually obscenely expensive.) Slaves are also often used as dancers, singers, or props in other kinds of entertainment.

Industrial labour

Slaves do all heavy labour in mining, production, and other industrial operations. This is usually the most extreme usage of slaves, and has the highest turnover rate – that is, more slaves die while toiling in industrial work than anywhere else.

Livestock

By genetically altering slaves, they can be used as growth mediums and to produce custom liquids, which can then be harvested. It is often debated whether this or heavy industrial labour is a worse fate for a slave.

Breeding stock

The population of the Nabu–Zariin Empire is maintained by using slaves as breeding stock, either being impregnated by other slaves, or by regular citizens. Nabu–Zariin has an extensive eugenics program to ensure that the Empire’s population is of the highest quality (by their standards).

Outside of Nabu–Zariin, Nabu–Zariinian slavery is widely misunderstood, and heavily mythologized. The popular perception – likely inspired by the fact that slaves are usually nude, the sexually open nature of society, and perhaps by actual usage as breeding stock – is that Nabu–Zariinian slaves are sex slaves, primarily used for pleasure. This does happen, but it is exceptionally rare; few but the elites can afford the luxury of a slave that serves no purpose but pleasure. Rather, what most often happens is a slave that serves some other purpose – transportation, domestic work, etc. – is waylaid by a sexually frustrated citizen, used for sex, and then returned to their usual work. This is socially frowned upon – because you are taking a slave away from doing useful work – but never punished, or even prevented.

Another misunderstanding is that Nabu–Zariin slaves are treated cruelly. Again, this does happen – there are plenty of stories of horrific sadism inflicted on slaves, for their owners’ amusement. However, this is again exceptionally rare. Again, few but the elite can afford to waste a perfectly good slave on sadistic entertainment. What is true is that Nabu–Zariinians can appear to be cruel to slaves, because most will think nothing of inflicting absolutely savage beatings or other tortures on a slave – or even executing them outright. However, they will only do so if it will (in their mind) make the slave work better… not merely to be cruel. In fact, most Nabu–Zariinians would react in horror if someone asked them to harm a slave – even so much as a light pinch – for no reason other than sadistic cruelty. Generally, slaves are forced to work extremely hard – more so for industrial slaves than domestic ones – but they are not subjected to pointless cruelty. They will be punished, but only if they fail to work hard enough… or, for some types of slaves, they may be punished in place of their owner or another slave, but again, that punishment would have been earned (even if not by the slave actually enduring it).

But perhaps the biggest misunderstanding comes from assuming that Nabu–Zariin slaves are just “slaves”, like slaves anywhere else in the galaxy. The Nabu–Zariinian language has two words for “slave”: one corresponds to what the rest of the galaxy considers “slaves” (sentient beings deprived of their liberty and treated as chattel), and the other is a specifically Nabu–Zariin religious concept that does not translate. Unlike other slaves, Nabu–Zariin slaves are “willing” slaves in the sense that, while they may not have chosen to become enslaved, now that they are, that is what they are, and they can never be anything else. They will never rebel, they will never run away, and they will never accept being “freed” (they will simply find someone else to serve).

Nabu–Zariinians are loathe to give Nabu–Zariinian slaves to non-Nabu–Zariinians… which just increases the black market value for those unscrupulous enough to sell to outsiders. Thus it is very, very rare to find an Nabu–Zariinian slave outside of the Empire.

On the flip side, the only way to become a Nabu–Zariinian slave is to be a Nabu–Zariinian – to be a member of the faith – who has been officially declared enslaved by the Emperor (or indirectly, via the Emperor’s agents). A Nabu–Zariinian slave is specifically a member of the faith who has lost their soul connection, not just someone who happens to be chattel in the Empire. There have been multiple cases of non-Nabu–Zariinians coming to the Empire and begging to be enslaved… only to be rebuffed and deported (or, just as often, handed over to outsider slavers to be their problem).

Enslavement is the punishment for virtually every crime, religious and otherwise (under the religious logic that if you committed a crime, you cannot be attached to a virtuous soul). It is also possible to submit to enslavement; in theory, you ask a priest if your soul is still attached, and after performing a ritual to check, they may even say it is and you are not a slave… however, if you ask to be enslaved, the priest will coincidentally always discover that you are indeed one (especially if you are poor). It is not uncommon for the poorest to submit themselves into slavery, especially when promised to be enslaved to a wealthier person who will treat them well; this is how wealthier people often acquire slaves. Children of slaves are not automatically slaves, but in practice, being born from a slave means being born into poverty without even parents to rely on, so children of slaves often end up becoming slaves themselves anyway.

Slave technology

Although Nabu–Zariinian slavery is a religious concept, over the years it has come to be supported by advanced technology. This technology is almost never developed by the Nabu–Zariin themselves. Instead it is acquired through shady dealings with other slave-trading species.

When a person is enslaved, they are first ritualistically stripped of their clothing and possessions by the person who is claiming them. There is a traditional knife used to literally cut the clothing off the slave-to-be. Traditionally, this is done in a public ceremony, in front of the slave-to-be’s family and friends, as an act of humiliation. In modern times, it is usually just done by a public servant in one of the Imperial slave processing centres that exist in every district.

Once stripped, the slave-to-be is taken to a surgical room, where they are laid face down and locked into a machine that proceeds to operate on the slave… without anaesthetic. The machine implants a highly-sophisticated graft of nano-filaments, sensors and actuators across the subject’s body, interfacing with and sometimes replacing large chunks of their nervous system. Almost instantaneously, as the subject begins healing, the new systems become part of the host body. They can never be removed without killing host.

The purpose of these implants is to provide total control over every single system in the slave’s body. For example: the system allows setting the sensitivity of a slave’s body – any part of it – either to completely numb them or make them so sensitive that a puff of air can knock them unconscious. The system allows forcing the slave to fall asleep, or preventing it, can trigger pangs of hunger or suppress them, can force and withhold the creation or release of wastes, and can eliminate or intensify sexual arousal. Anything that can be controlled by a body’s muscles or hormones can be forced or inhibited: one can force erections or deny them, increase or suppress sperm production, trigger ovulation or prevent it, and can even cause breasts to swell and lactate, or secrete other kinds of liquids. Slave emotions can even be manipulated (though the system is not precise enough to manipulate thoughts). On command, it can even paralyze, or kill a slave.

The implants are almost entirely invisible from the outside without a medical scan, except for a small black circle on the back of the neck. This is the interface between the collar, and the nervous system control network.

It usually takes slaves three days to a week to recover fully from the operation, although some take several weeks. After an hour or so, the slave is usually able to get up and walk, and though they will be in agony, they are now made to present themselves to their owner. The presentation is a ritual where the slave (completely nude) approaches their owner – or a representative of the Emperor if they are going to be publicly owned – kneels, declares their status as a slave, then prostrates themselves and begs to be accepted by the owner. The prospective owner can, and occasionally does, refuse the slave, in which case they are offered to the Emperor as public property instead. (The Emperor’s agent never refuses, but if they did, the slave would simply be taken to the incinerator and disposed of. This is a costly waste of a slave – especially after the surgery has already been done – and so it never happens.) Usually, though, the prospective owner accepts the slave, and collars them.

The collar is not a mere loop of material around the neck. It is a computer, transmitter, and other supporting systems, that serves a number of purposes.

1. It provides an interface to the slave’s internal control systems. More advanced collars will provide a holographic user interface on command. Simple collars will just have a physical plug or wireless connection that can be used by a terminal.
2. It stores publicly visible ownership and usage data for the slave. Anyone can see who owns the slave, what their purpose is, and what services they can or cannot provide. For example, a person who sends their slave on a delivery run may not want the slave to be delayed because they caught the eye of a horny passerby, so they will encode instructions that the slave is not available for sexual use until the delivery is complete.
3. It connects to the Nabu–Zariin public slave-tracking system, so the authorities always know who is a slave and who is not, where all the slaves are, and what they are doing. In emergencies, authorities can commandeer private slaves, using this system.

The collaring is done, again, ritualistically, by having the slave rise to their knees and lift their hair out of the way (if necessary), and then the owner locks the collar in place. The lock on most collars is permanent, but even when not, there is no way they can be removed without the owner’s codes. (Removing a collar is a crime; if an owner were to make it possible for a slave to remove their collar, and the slave does so, then the owner would be enslaved.) Once the collar is in place, the slave bows again, and thanks the owner for accepting them. At this point, the rituals are complete, and the owner can do whatever they please with the slave.

Within Nabu–Zariin, actual collars are always used, because they are large enough to accommodate all the necessary technology, and serve as an easy way to visually identify slaves. (Non-slave Nabu–Zariinians would never wear collars or anything resembling them – like chokers, or thick necklaces – in public, except as a joke or an act of protest.) However, it is technically possible to cover the nervous system interface with a simple – though highly technologically advanced – patch that serves the same purpose, and otherwise leave the slave’s neck bare. There are always rumours that this or that public figure is actually a slave, and not wearing a collar, but instead hiding a patch that covers their slave interface with their hair or clothing. There are no known cases of this actually occurring. (There are also rumours of elites using patches instead of collars, for the decadent thrill of being served by un-collared slaves that look and feel like non-slaves. Sometimes the rumour is that the non-collared slave is a look-alike for a celebrity or other public figure, that the owner can pretend they are with. Again, these are just rumours that have never been substantiated.)

Politics

Nabu–Zariin has a unique political system: a shared absolute monarchy. There are two emperors: the Iron Emperor of the Nabu system, and the Stone Emperor of the Zariin system. Both emperors are considered equal in power, both having absolute sovereign domain over the entire Nabu–Zariin empire. Technically, according to the articles of founding, the true head of state for Nabu–Zariin is God, with the two emperors merely acting as his agents in the physical universe.

In practice, this power sharing is accomplished by having each emperor exercising absolute control only over their own system. Decisions that encompass the entire empire are usually made only after mutual agreement between the two emperors. Emergencies that require rapid action have required decisions by only one emperor.

Each emperor delegates the day-to-day affairs of their territory to local governments, and to the priesthood. In fact, although the priesthood is technically not part of the government, it functions almost as an administrative body and a police force acting on the emperor’s behalf.

In theory, a citizen from either system may petition whichever emperor they please. In reality, if a system were to petition the emperor of the other system, it would be looked on as highly offensive. In all likelihood, the emperor petitioned would not only refuse the petition, they would refer the petitioner to the other emperor, which would probably not end well for the petitioner.

Proposed unification

Since the establishment of the Empire, there has been a movement to unify the government under a single Emperor. There are movements on both Nabu III and Zariin V to have their respective emperor declared the absolute ruler, but these are mostly fringe movements with little public support.

The most often suggested mechanism for uniting the Imperial throne is by marriage. This was suggested as early as the founding of the Empire, and there is language in the articles of founding to allow it.

The main hindrance to this plan is that there have been no female emperors on either throne since the foundation of the Empire. There have been six named Princesses, but all of them either died or were denounced and enslaved for various reasons before ascending to the throne. The current Stone Princess, Suurya ibn Maktaar, is the most likely female candidate in almost a hundred years. However, Suurya ibn Maktaar is an extreme religious hardliner, while the current Iron Prince, Faaktiim ibn Salaam, is eight years younger than her, and a notorious playboy who has been implicated in several scandals. A marriage between the two seems unlikely, thus unification will probably be postponed at least until the next generation.

Religious and spiritual beliefs

The Nabu–Zariin Empire is a theocratic absolute monarchy, based on a monotheistic faith, where the two Emperors claim to act jointly as God’s sole direct representatives in the material universe. Every aspect of life in the Empire is heavily intertwined with the faith, and religious concerns almost universally supersede material concerns.

The flawed universe

In the Nabu–Zariin cosmology, there is one true god who reigns over an infinite multiverse. The Nabu–Zariin god has no particular name, since names only exist to differentiate between entities, and their god is supposed to be the “ultimate of everything”. The faithful simply refer to him as “God”, or “The One” or “The Ultimate” or something similar, or simply “He”. (The god is always referred to as masculine; there are been minor sects that advocated for a “genderless” or “multi-gender” god, but they have been declared heresies.)

To administrate his infinite realms, God has created “lesser gods”, or agents. These agents handle mundane chores that are not worthy of God’s direct attention, like ensuring that time flows properly – that one moment correctly follows the previous moment – and that the laws of physics are obeyed, that “1 + 1” always equals “2”, and so on. Unlike God himself, who is taken very seriously, these agents are often used in humour and storytelling. Much Nabu–Zariin fiction and entertainment revolves around agents that are incompetent, unscrupulous, or otherwise tragically (and sometimes comically) flawed.

Agents that please God sufficiently are allowed to create and run their own “lower dominions”, which they may rule over. These lower dominions, because they were not created directly by God, are always flawed in various ways. God still maintains ultimate authority, even over those lower dominions. However, so long as the agent creates and controls them well enough to satisfy God, he will allow the agent to do mostly as they please within their own lower domains.

Our universe is a lower dominion that displeased God. It was created poorly, and never showed enough respect or love for God. As a result, God punished the agent, and seized control of the lower dominion.

Thus, in the Nabu–Zariin religion, everything in and about our universe is corrupt, flawed, and disrespectful in the eyes of God. There is no need for a “Satan” in this theology (though Nabu–Zariinians will sometimes speak of “devils” or “the devil” metaphorically). The universe itself serves that purpose. Nothing good or pure can even exist in this broken universe. Its very existence is an affront to God.

A proving ground for souls

By all rights, God could have, and should have, destroyed our universe and everything in it. However, God is both merciful and wise. Rather than simply destroy our flawed universe, the Nabu–Zariin belief is that he instead chose to use it as a means to rehabilitate souls. To do this he takes souls from the divine over-realm, and connects them material constructs within the universe.

In the Nabu–Zariin religion, humans – and only humans, and specifically only humans who adhere to the Nabu–Zariin religion – are the only things in the universe touched by souls. The souls do not exist within the material universe, but instead “impress” themselves upon suitably formed meat bodies to guide them. As the soul presses on the meat to control it, the meat itself presses back against the soul, making the influence bidirectional. This is why souls can be corrupted by the material universe, and by desires of the flesh in particular.

Those few humans who are connected to souls are observed by God, to witness their behaviour. When a human has been touched by a soul that is worthy and good, that soul’s goodness will be impressed into the flesh of the human, and they will behave in ways that please God. But when a soul is unworthy, the flesh will act according to its own base desires, and displease God. Thus the soul is judged by the human’s actions. If the human acts in a way that pleases God, the soul is absolved, and allowed to ascend into the more heavenly levels of the cosmos. But if the human behaves poorly, then the soul is judged unworthy, and forced into darker, more horrible places.

The Empire of the faith

Our universe is so flawed that it cannot function properly as a testing ground for souls without some help; it is simply too corrupt. So to give bodies touched by souls even a chance to prove themselves, God has assigned two of his “lesser gods” – agents – to act upon two humans. These two special humans have instructions to create a safe space within which humans can learn what behaviours please God, and are given everything they need to do so… so that if they fail, they can blame nothing but their own unworthiness.

The two special humans are the Iron Emperor of Nabu, and the Stone Emperor of Zariin. The Nabu–Zariin Empire is the one and only proving ground for souls in all of our universe.

The religion never explains why there must be two special agents, but a common apologetic is that because the flesh bodies the agents control must occasionally die – because, like all material in this universe, they are flawed – having two agents means one can always be alive even while the other’s body is dying, and the agent’s soul is being transferred to another, thus creating stability and consistency. This does not entirely solve the problem, as it raises the question of what happened to the soul that was connected to the prince or princess before they assumed the throne, if there was one. However, as asking challenging questions about the legitimacy of the Emperor is a dangerous proposition, there has never been any real interest in pursuing this matter.

Thus, the Nabu–Zariin religion establishes the Nabu–Zariin Empire as the only place in the universe where souls interface with physical beings. Everywhere else in the universe is mere base matter, and all other living creatures are just organic mechanisms driven by their base material needs, and all of it is corrupt and flawed and distasteful in the eyes of God. The two Emperors are the physical avatars of agents of God, whose role is carve out a safe space in this broken universe, where humans connected to souls can prove their souls’ worthiness. Those who live lives pleasing to god prove the worthiness of their guiding soul.

Enslavement of the un-souled

The connection between a human and a soul can be broken. The “normal” way for this to happen is for the human’s flesh to become so damaged or degraded with age that it can no longer be properly controlled by the soul. This is death, and now-disconnected soul will either be judged, or attached to a new body if further proof of its worthiness is required.

However, it is possible to break the connection between a flesh body and a soul without destroying the body. They body will continue to operate normally – it will still be alive – but with no more soul influencing it, it will be operating only based on base material desires.

Without a soul guiding it, a human body is considered to be nothing more than an organic machine, no different from any other machine or animal. This is what would be considered a Nabu–Zariin “slave”: a human body that was formerly connected to a soul, but is now mere flesh.

As for how it is determined that a body is no longer connected to a soul, in theory that is decided by one of the Emperors. As agents of God, their ruling can never be wrong. In practice, the decision is usually made by government officials or religious leaders, according to the Emperor’s laws and decrees. Their decision can be fallible, though there has never been a case where an unjust or incorrect ruling of slavery has been “undone”. (Indeed, whenever that has happened, the only consequence has been that the official who made the bad ruling is themselves enslaved as well… which perhaps comes as little comfort to the unjustly enslaved.)

As “mere flesh”, “organic machines”, or “animals”, slaves have no rights whatsoever, neither legal nor moral. They can be kept as mere property, and there are no limits or restrictions on what their owners can do to them, up to and including outright killing them. There are some vague and loose limits suggested by the faith – being a “good” master demonstrates that you are a good person, which implies you have a good soul, which is what you are supposed to be proving with your life. However, the faith just as often undermines any suggestion of kindness, by suggesting that a decent person should not tolerate any corruption or unworthiness… which implies it is a “good” master’s duty to be extremely strict with their slaves, or even to destroy “unworthy” slaves.

Thus, the Nabu–Zariin religion says nothing in particular about how people may treat slaves, leaving it up to the individual. This results in some cases of unspeakable cruelty, but more generally a utilitarian disdain, where slaves are simply used in whatever way is most efficient or practical for the user (regardless of what that means for the slave).

The service of slaves

As for how the slaves themselves should behave, there is a very interesting quirk in the Nabu–Zariin faith. The religion is very clear that when a soul interacts with a flesh body, it leaves an “impression” on that body, often compared to leaving fingerprints in clay. Even after the soul is disconnected, its “fingerprints” remain, and still have an influence on the body. That means that even when a body is no longer being controlled by a soul, the soul can still be judged by its behaviour.

Which means that even if you are told that you are now a mere lump of flesh no longer being touched by a soul, you still have an obligation to behave “to please God”. Your mind is still an echo of your soul, and if you act poorly, that means your soul was unworthy all along… which means eternal and unspeakable torment awaits. If you continue to act in service of God, to please him, even while treated as an animal, then that means your soul was always worthy.

And because God is just, when passing down that final judgment on the soul, he will copy all of the memories of the body even after it was disconnected, so the soul knows why it is being judged as it is. You cannot be sure if “you” are just the empty flesh husk that will soon face oblivion regardless of your goodness… or the memories being replayed in the soul about to face the eternal consequences of your behaviour. To be safe, and avoid possible eternal damnation, you have to continue to serve to please God.

This is why slaves cannot simply refuse to serve, rebel against their owners, or kill themselves to escape cruelty. Even though they may be soulless lumps of flesh, they must still act as if they are their (former) souls. They cannot know whether they are flesh making decisions now, or souls reliving decisions they are about to be judged by. Their owners, however, viewing from the outside, obviously can.

Scholars have noted how insidious this aspect of Nabu–Zariin theology is. It requires slaves to be obedient and well-behaved, while absolving their masters of any moral or practical responsibilities. It was carefully crafted for the purpose of creating a viable enslavement theology, that ensures obedient slaves while not limiting how they can be used.

History

Soukal Nabu was a wealthy aristocrat in the mid-2000s, who amassed an enormous fortune profiteering from the violence of World War ⅠⅠⅠ. Nabu had a fundamentalist religious ideology, and believed the war was God’s divine punishment on humanity for its various excesses and moral failings. During the height of the war, he organized a commune and gathered thousands of hand-picked followers, most of them young, attractive women desperately fleeing the holocaust. Nabu believed that the war would end with the “cleansing” of humanity from the Earth, except for the chosen few in his commune.

When the war did not end with humanity’s extinction, Nabu’s position became increasingly extreme and messianic. He began to claim that God was actually speaking to him, and directing him to take action to create the new, pure world himself. He tried several times to reignite hostilities by provoking former combatants, but no one had much interest in continuing the war any further. Frustrated, Nabu sealed off his commune, and effectively cut himself and his followers off from the rest of humanity.

After the invention of warp drive and First Contact, Nabu changed his religious rhetoric radically. He decided that the Earth could not be saved after all, and that the Vulcans were the harbingers of the Devil. The only solution for the faithful was to leave the “den of snakes”, and seek out the true promised land. The key to doing so was the warp drive.

Nabu and his followers spent the next five years and all of Nabu’s considerable fortune building a pair of warp-capable colony ships. Each ship was capable of supporting five thousand people for almost a hundred years – albeit not in luxury conditions – and travelling at warp factor 1.3. Both ships were launched simultaneously in 2069.

The pilgrimage and the splitting of the flock

The journey of the two ships was largely uneventful for the first thirty years, as life on the colony ships was mostly just a struggle to survive in extremely cramped conditions, with limited supplies. But thirty-two years into the journey Soukal Nabu died suddenly. (According to rumour, he died of a heart attack while in bed with over twenty concubines, most of whom were a quarter his age.)

Unfortunately, Nabu had never named an heir, and he had over three hundred confirmed offspring, and many, many more suspected. Numerous claimants arose on both ships, and there was a spree of mysterious deaths that were rumoured to be assassinations. Ultimately, a young man calling himself Yoran Nabu rose to prominence, claiming that Soukal Nabu had favoured him, and that he, too, was hearing messages from God. Through a series of public political machinations (and, many suspect, many more underhanded actions), Yoran Nabu seemed almost assured to take up the mantle of spiritual leader.

However, on the other ship, another man was rising to power. His name was Kellim Zariim, and while he did not have any claim of being one of Soukal Nabu’s (numerous) sons, he nevertheless enjoyed considerable support from religious hardliners.

Zariim accused Yoran Nabu of being a “playboy”, and of caring more about wealth, power, wine, and women than about the true faith. He pointed to dozens of well-known stories of Yoran Nabu’s indiscretions and shenanigans, and declared that there was no way Yoran Nabu could be God’s chosen agent. Yoran Nabu, in turn, called Kellim Zariim a mere opportunistic pretender, and repeatedly mocked his lack of blood relation to the founder.

The population of both ships quickly aligned themselves with the opposing factions, and after a few violent altercations, both leaders agreed to disagree. A large part of the reasoning was that there simply weren’t enough resources to support any kind of conflict. The original target of their journey was a pair of stars just over 3 light years apart, both with worlds that appeared to be habitable, under the logic that if one turned out not to be, there was still a good chance that the other would be suitable. Now the two sides each agreed that they would separate, and each go to a different star. If one turned out to be uninhabitable, then that would be a sign from God that they were not the chosen ones.

The arrival and the war

Both ships arrived at their designated worlds thirty-five years later. Both worlds turned out to be inhabitable, both dry, hot desert worlds. The followers of Nabu and the followers of Zariin both set about setting up their respective colonies.

During the last thirty-five years of the journey, relations between the two ships had only gotten worse. Tensions got still worse when the first weak subspace communications started being received from Earth, informing the colonists about the social progress made back on Earth, the formation of a united Earth government, and the breaking of the warp 2 barrier. This fostered a growing fear that the decadence they had spent almost seventy years escaping might be once again upon them in a few short decades. There was a growing sense on both Nabu ⅠⅠⅠ and Zariin Ⅴ that before they could face that threat, first they would have to deal with the heretics in their own back yard.

Relations between the two worlds finally collapsed in 2152, following news that Earth had launched a warp 5 vessel. War was declared, and the two fledgling colonies started pouring resources into building fleets of military vessels.

Unfortunately, neither side was particularly ready to wage any kind of war. There were only two small skirmishes in the seven month war, neither of which had any serious casualties. In fact, the only ships lost by both sides were lost due to catastrophic malfunctions, due to the ships’ hastily-constructed natures.

The war ended in 2153, after news of seven million people killed in an alien attack back on Earth. Both Nabu ⅠⅠⅠ and Zariin Ⅴ decided there were far greater threats out there than Earth and its decadence, and the only way to survive them was to join forces, and unite.

Founding of the Empire

A while new theology was written to justify the existence of two spiritual leaders, on two worlds. The Nabu and Zariin systems united as the Nabu–Zariin Empire, ruled by two Emperors each with his own domain. The Iron Emperor would rule Nabu ⅠⅠⅠ, while the Stone Emperor would rule Zariin Ⅴ. Both Emperors would be directly under God himself, and both would act as God’s agents in their own domains.

The unification was a resounding success, and both Nabu ⅠⅠⅠ and Zariin Ⅴ saw huge economic and cultural booms over the next few years. Trade between the two worlds sparked new industries and opportunities, and the first outposts in other systems were founded – most of them mining outposts at first. During this period, the official religion was solidified into its final form, and slavery was codified. In the early years, slavery was mostly used as a justification to create vast, cheap work forces, and breeding populations to fuel explosive growth.

In 2156, Nabu–Zariin officially announced its existence to Earth – the first time it sent a message outside of Nabu ⅠⅠⅠ or Zariin Ⅴ (though it had been listening to messages sent by Earth and other worlds for a number of years). The occasion was the outbreak of the Earth–Romulan War. Upon learning that Earth was at war, Nabu–Zariin sent their own declaration of war to Earth, claiming allegiance with the Romulans. The Romulans, for their part, never even acknowledged the existence of the tiny empire, and Nabu–Zariin never actually took part in any of the action during the war.

Technically, since Nabu–Zariin declared war on Earth and never signed a treaty, they are still at war with Earth. And since Earth joined the United Federation of Planets, that means Nabu–Zariin has technically been at war with the Federation since its inception. In reality, there have never actually been any outright hostilities between Nabu–Zariin and Earth, or any other world in the Federation. But Nabu–Zariin continues to position itself as an enemy of Earth and the Federation, repeatedly claiming allegiance with Earth’s enemies, most of whom care nothing about the little empire, except that it remains a thorn in Earth’s side.