The Gystlian Leasehold is composed of countless independent familial bands known as Loinken which themselves swear service to larger collaborative groups called Fealken. The largest Fealken number in the tens of millions of members although they will likely never be together in even a 50th of such numbers. Whilst the smallest number can be dozens of members, little more than 2 families sworn into mutual cooperation. From their members Fealken Elect a Gyorick, a honorific derived from a poorly remembered hero on Wracked Gystlia, that is afforded executive powers. The Gyorick’s only role is to make decisions out of choices that are presented to them by constituents of the Fealken. Any member of the Fealken may petition the collective, if the collective agrees on a course of action then Gyorick’s input is generally minimal however if there is division amongst the Fealken the Gyorick and the Gyorick alone decides the course of action. They generally carefully consider the will of the Fealken and the advice of the wisest amongst them, though tension and even conflict are not uncommon.
Gystlian law is a combination of traditional precedent, reasoned debate and religious imperative. It is not uncommon for a collective to retain specialized archivists to collect, collate, record and recollect rulings of contemporary and historical Gyorick’s. Whilst skilled orators are highly prized in Gystlian society for their ability to sway and steer the political will of the people. While the old faith is still practiced among most Fealken many have integrated the storian faith as well, Oracles are never far from gyorick’s acting as spiritual advisors and status symbols. this mixture invites a great degree of variance in governance and Fealken as a result differ tremendously from one another. One consequence of this is that individual Loinken will move to Fealken that hold similar values. Groups of Gystlians are constantly evolving, gaining and losing members and adapting to the circumstances they find themselves in. tyrannical, wreckless or ineffectual Gyorick’s quickly find themselves abandoned and once this occurs them and their loinken will likely be shunned, making near impossible for them to join or integrate into other Gystlian communities.
Gystlia itself is a non-viable world nominally within the venti sphere, its population are confined to immense fortress habitats and are known for their hostility to off-worlders. Conflict tore Gystlia apart following the scattering wide spread use of atomic and biological weapons has rendered the surface uninhabitable say for the scarce knots of legacy biological weapon forms that prey on the hardiest remaining flora and fauna and breed like vermin in the warren like ruined cities or blasted scrubland wastes. In the old faith Gystlia itself is personified and deified, the collapse was attributed to her wrath descending on the proud and foolish Gystlian’s. Those that survived on world created the fortress habitats and viewed themselves as being favored. The stellar remnants were compelled to nomadic existences by the Fortressed Gystlians as means of contributing to mother Gystlia and proving their worth.
Over time the stellar Gystlians adapted and even began to prosper as miners, agriculturalists, artisans and traders whilst the Fotressed populations became more insular, zealous and importunate. This began the period of successive religious and civil conflicts that disrupted much of the emerging societal structure. A grand unifying peace was declared by the survivors only when strangers began arriving in the system speaking strangely and colonizing planets and lagrange points with habitats far more advanced than any known technology. Divided, the stellar and fortressed Gystlians were swept away with ease by the indifferent weapons of the strangers. Together though they attained some small victories and more importantly scavenged hulks of the invaders. The fortressed artisans learnt much from the technologies procured by the stellar raiders and all Gyoricks convened an unprecedented war council. Gurnica and Torhgo Silverhand were elected as raid leaders and devised a campaign to expel and subjugate the strangers. The fleets ran hit and run campaigns strafing the strangers orbital assets at significant fractions of the speed of light. Interdiction or pursuit of the Gystlians was impossible as the sheer speed outstripped any physical capacity to accelerate. When the strangers mobilized more sizeable bombardment fleets to atomise the fortress habitats the Gystlians sprung their trap.
The strangers committed significant numbers of their forces to guard their bombarding elements, their numbers were so great and they hard arrayed an aegis of point defense and countermeasures so dense that even the high speed assaults that had worked so well would be ineffectual. Nevertheless Gurnica’s strike group appeared undaunted, committing foolishly to staggered waves from multiple directions. The first waves were handled easily, not even surviving long enough to fire their weapons, in truth the high speed debris from their shattered hulks was more threatening. Or it would have been if the strangers were not able to easily avoid the flotsam with lazy evasive burns. Gurnica’s attempts were seen as inconsequential to the strangers, they continued their bombardment, scouring habitat after habitat. Bayonne, the oldest and holiest of habitats was next but first the Gystlian remnant was making its last charge. Like the others attempts they fail to fire a single shot before being destroyed, but unlike the other attempts they would exact heavy casualties on the stranger’s. With each wave the stranger’s had tightened their formations, so much so they could barely burn without risk of engulfing each other in their drive plumes. When several Gystlian O’neil cylinder and a number haulers laden with minerals were detonated by Torgo Silverhand’s miners in high orbit the trap had well truly shut. The stranger’s that stayed were shredded by the highspeed wreckage of the ships they had just destroyed whilst those that fled tried to escape through an even denser field of debris. Only 2 vessels escaped and they immediately surrendered to Gurnica, during their captivity an exchange of language and information was achieved. The strangers were little more than prospectors, not even from one distinct group or people. The gystlian’s discovered the cluster and that they were one of the least powerful people in it in the same breath.
The victory the Gystlians won over the prospectors was sobering, these civilians had almost conquered them wholesale. The lives lost were only overshadowed by the Collision cascade set in motion by Gurnica and Torgo’s plan. All the wreckage and debris never came down, it stayed up there shredding anything in low orbit, worse the debris made more debris each time a ship station or satellite was pulverized. This debris made more debris and so this runaway effect made transit to the Gystlian surface almost impossible and incredibly dangerous. The fortressed populations were safe but it would be 60 years before a Fortressed Gystlian completed a safe transit to orbit. In that time much changed, even communication between the planetary and orbital populations was scarce, hampered by interference in the collision cloud and the high attrition of communication satellites. Gurnica and Torgo soon after their victory had clashed over the remaining orbital habitats Torgo Prevailed and exiled Gurnica and her followers to the wider cluster, his reign as a overlord was short lived however. Torgo was succeeded by evermore diminutive brutal warlords and corsairs that cut their teeth preying on communities throughout the cluster. These petty Gyroricks were easy targets for the resurgent fortressed Gystlians, who made use of Armounauts and their newly formed alliance Gurnica’s descendents. For the first time in their history their was one unified Gystlian hierarchy, the reformation codified the rule of this new order, from day forth the Gystlian Leasehold would rule.
Under the new system the vast majority of Gystlian’s would be forced to live nomadic lifestyles throughout the cluster. Only Gyorick’s their Loinken and thralls were now permitted to live in the fortress habitats for they are viewed as being worthy of mother Gystlia. Even then only while a Gyorick lived would his loinken be permitted to reside in the fortresses. upon their death a Gyorick’s thralls would be put death and their family would be returned to their Fealken off world. The only permanent residents are the seer caste of the old faith, that were sourced from children that were born on Gystlia, they would act as custodians and defenders of the fortresses. Its unclear how the gystlian seers are nominated but they are always fortress born, their Synod rules the Gystlian Leasehold and is served directly by the most powerful Fealken. The Gystlian Synod reward faithful Gyoricks that expand the leaseholds domain with weapons, war galleys and thralls which the Gyoricks in turn use too seize more tributes for the Synod.
Today Gystlians hire Armounauts as often as they become them, they are driven raiders and little deters them from a prize once they have set their sites. They are fiercely independent and will only serve for as long as it suits them. Their religion and customs often compels them to ritualistic combat rites amongst themselves but rarely afford outsiders such honors. Gystlian wargalleys are incredibly dangerous craft made by the fortress artisans on the homeworld. They can be recognized visually by the great etched reliefs carefully maintained on their hulls, however if you are able to see this you are within their weapon range. Gystlians are found throughout the cluster but are very prominent in the frontier, their raiders will often accept tribute to avoid a fight unless of course their targets are or have GELF present among them. Gystlians hunt GELF for sport and should be considered highly dangerous by genetically variant people.