Since Dragon Cat is doing it, I might as well post some of the ideas I have. Here is what I came up with for the Finmark Ascendancy so far. This will be roughly 1/4th of the finished history sections. It's a first draft, so any form of critic will be appreciated. Enjoy!
Faction History
The Finmark Ascendancy was the last major nation to break free from the Lyran Commonwealth. If it weren't for the actions of Harold Orsted and the writings of Dora Nema, the Finmark might have stayed in the Commonwealth or collapsed into just another region of independent planets, ready to be exploited by surrounding powers and pirates. The events, that led to the foundation of the Finmark Ascendancy started in 2835 with a book.
The preachings of Dora Nema
The woman only known as Dora Nema is the central figure of modern day Finmark culture. Dora Nema's history up to 2835 is a mystery. Nothing is known about her past, her family, not even her real name is known. On March 17th 2835 she stepped into history, with her book, “Struggleâ€, already written. Until her forty years later, she never changed a single word of the book and some have questioned her authorship. Her only comment was, that she had written it by herself in the wilderness of Custozza, as an Anti-Philosophy to end all philosophy, to explain the history of humanity and to end all disputes on ethics. Her writing was simple but captivating, her message clear: Life is struggle. Every living thing must struggle to exist or perish, a radical oversimplification of evolutionary theory. Human life, however, is not mere struggle, human life is war. War is to struggle, as farming is to grazing. War is organized, war means risking all. An animal, that looses a fight, can retreat, claim a new territory. Humans however, cannot retreat. Humans can only triumph or perish. Until one of these ends is reached, human life will be war. Every cultural or social norm that tries to end or reign in war is just a farce, a lie humanity tells itself, that will never hold up. Even if two nations are at “peaceâ€, they fight this endless war. They fight the war within, government against dissidents, political parties against each other, rich against poor; but they also fight each other: economical, cultural or through secret agencies.
Dora Nema praises all historicals tyrants and conquerors: Alexander, Ghenghis Khan, Napoleon, Hitler, Amaris; she admires their dedication to war, their brutal rule. Yet, she condemns them. All of them, so Dora Nema, failed, because they didn't fully embrace war. They all fought to have peace. They destroyed, so they could rebuild in their own image. If you want to win the war, you must never long for peace; neither within nor without.
Dora Nema entered the cultural and political stage of Finmark during one of the darkest times in human history. Amaris' coup had not only brought an end to the tyranny of the Star League, but also destroyed his own nation. During the last sixty years, Finmark had been conquered twice: first by the SLDF, then by the LCAF. With the decline of civilization during the Succession Wars, order broke down. The newly conquered periphery was of little importance to Tharkad and soon became a haven for pirates. With no major force to protect them, the people of the former Rim World Republic suffered under the pirates or turned to a live of piracy themselves. Raids, terror and the general decline of civilization were omnipresent and many saw this as the end times promised by every religion.
Dora Nema's “Struggle†rang true to the people of Finmark. Life WAS war, there was no doubt about that. Soon enough, former soldiers and radicals flogged to Dora Nema and made “Struggle†their new holy scripture. They embraced war with all it's consequences, because they wanted to embrace life.
