The Zenith System consists of two star and eight planets shared amongst three factions.

Factions

• The Zenith Dynasty: A constitutional Monarchy under Queen Carmen, the country is run democratically at the local level, but is a monarchy at the top level. It allows for a lot of regional autonomy, though not too much. The planets are still required to follow laws of the high court, but are left to govern themselves with little intervention from the royal court and high congress, in the exception of war or extraordinary emergency.





• The Xolan Republic: A meritocracy which lifts science to the highest esteem. They make celebrities of philosophers and innovators but politics are heated and technology is are usually slow to be implemented. Bureaucracy is high on Xolas, lax on Augustine. The government works by electing experts on issues who vote in a global congress with regions being relatively autonomous.





• The Halcyon Confederacy: Broke away from Zenith for not recognizing tradition strictly enough, they are distrustful of people applying science to magic. They are highly ritualistic and tribal. Land is seen as sacred and conquest is seen as a great crime, though only within the sphere of influence of the confederacy. The planets have three representatives to agree on larger actions, but the three planets rarely collaborate. There are a total of six nations, all relatively independent states completely run on their own.

Planets

• Zenith

  
  

  • Pellus: The crown city of the Zenith Dynasty, most of the land is somehow cultivated into urban or farm land. There are immensely popular ranches or wineries to escape city life, however. One continent (a small one) is covered in naturalist gardens and villas.

  
  
  

  • Aprios: The Zenith Dynasty's bread basket, food grows easily on this planet. Huge herds of "Bylong" were found here, which are essentially insect cows but highly nutritious, delicious, and satisfying. No one on the planet goes hungry and to be gluttonous is just life for the planet.

  
  
  

  • Gallith: Rich in minerals, this world has no atmosphere. Most people live on its moon (Gaul) instead. The planet is nearly molten and constantly storming. Still, the resources gained here are worth the risk of traveling the surface..

  
  



• Xolan

  
  

  • XolasA bureaucratic world by necessity, Xolas is covered in universities, labs, and holo engineering facilities. It is orbited by space-borne manufacturing plants that are 100% automated. This is the capital of the Xolan Republic, named for the Xolas Mountain Range.

  
  
  

  • Augustine: Destroyed by reckless experimentation, much of Augustine is a scorched hell hole. The rest, through miraculous terraforming, is farmland. The people are considered backwater by the people of Xolas, and much of the planet is still involved in terraforming.

  
  



• Halcyon

  
  

  • Vex: Home to two fairly average nations, Vex has only two continents. One has plenty of cultivatable land, but little iron, gas, or other resources. The other has plenty of resources but little cultivatable land. While the two nations are constantly bickering, war never breaks out for fear of being deprived what the other nation has.

    
    

  • Panuul: Panuul rotates at an incredibly slow speed, often taking almost a week to complete one day. This planet has only one nation due to the fact it requires massive roving farms that trek around the planet fast enough to keep themselves on a twenty-four hour day. Farmers are the upper class, living in these giant roving behemoths. The rest of the population spends its time in the dark much of the year, and the light the rest. There are rumors a shadow temple also roams around the planet, but where the farms try to stay in the light, the shadow temple is trying to stay in darkness.
    

  • Maltus: Maltus is by far the best off of the three confederacy planets. It has about eight continents, with two being too cold to occupy and one being essentially just a collection of large islands. On the largest landmass, the nation of Malt sits on a bed of gold and oil making it one of the most politically, economically, and martially powerful nations in the confederacy. The other two nations have turned into production centers trying to keep up but Malt continues to outclass them.
    
    
    

    Schools of Magic

    
    These are the schools on magic that encompass how people are supposed to go about using their magic, ideas on what magic is, and the ethical uses of magic.
    
    
    
    1. Aura School: Heavily favored by the Zenith Dynasty, this school teaches that people have sort of magical energy around them in the form of auras. To cast spells, one has to pull from that aura or add to it from the surrounding area. One has a resting aura (the aura they have naturally) and an active aura, as magic users should be able to change back and forth as necessary.
       
       The Aura School describes five types of aura:
       
       
       
       • Light: These have propensity towards light bending and revealing magics such as True Sight.
       
       
       • Blue: These have propensity towards social magics such as telepathy and healing
       
       
       • Green: These have propensity towards telekinesis due to their understanding about the world around them.
       
       
       • Red: These have propensity towards magics used in anger or passion.
       
       
       • Dark: These have propensity towards concealing things or magic meant to cause fear.
       
       
       
       
       Of course having an aura doesn't prevent you from using certain magic, it just enhances spells if your aura matches the spell type.
       
    
    
    2. Physiology-Lens School: This school of magic essentially teaches that people are merely a conduit through which magic flows and to better cast magic, one should undergo changes in their form. They practice becoming gaseous, liquify themselves, even convert parts of themselves to plasma trying to find combinations that result in superior spell casting.
       
       The predecessor to this school actually is the reason for furries in universe, having believed that they could strengthen their connection to nature by becoming animals for long periods of time. Then, in animal form, they gave birth to children. It ultimately didn't help.
       
       This school is not well-loved anywhere, but most just leave its practitioners alone.
    
    
    3. Ritual School: This combines all the traditional ideas on magic down into one school, creating a catchall for people who like to yell magic words when casting, medicine men, and other types of what would normally be considered "outdated" magic. It is mocked and derided amongst the Xolan Republic and allowed but regarded as a lower school in the Zenith Dynasty. It is the primary school of thought in the Halcyon Confederacy, however.
    
    
    4. Scientific School: This school is outlawed in the confederacy, but taught to children in the Xolan Republic. It teaches that the reasons for magic are physical and scientific. Practitioners attempt to study magic through a scientific lens crafting hypothesis and creating bigger and better tools and methods for casting spells. Despite many boasts from the members of this school, there has not been much evidence for it being more effective than any other school.
    
    
    5. Lao-Dei (School of Harmony): This school teaches that magical skill will rise as one takes care of the mind and body. Practitioners study meditation, do exercises, and are keenly interested in martial arts. The Lao-Dei master is often a loner who wanders from place to place doing odd jobs in order to survive. They are devoted to experiencing as much of creation as the possibly can. It is said the founder cried every night, remembering the knowledge that no matter how hard they all train, it is unlikely any will experience the entire universe.
       
       Lao-Dei is permitted in the Halcyon Confederacy, but looked down on. Most have a grudging respect for it in the Xolan Republic. And the Zenith Dynasty publicly celebrates everyone considered to have mastered the art.
    
    
    6. School of the VoidThis school teaches that magic comes from an infinite number of other dimensions passing slowly through ours and that any changes to our world are merely swapping things out from a different reality. Practitioners seek to probe the "Void" and often study space, believing that there are places where other universes are visible.
       
       Once celebrated by the Xolan Republic, it is now mocked as it was unable to stand up to scientific scrutiny. The Zenith Dynasty does not officially recognize it yet. And the Halcyon Confederacy simply lumps it in with the school of Scientific Application.