Radiant Zenith

Radiant Zenith (Zhalajodeen) is a political, economic and cultural hub world within the Covenant Sphere, located in the Siakar Expanse's Chikri-Merkaa Strand. It is currently the capital world of the post-Covenant group known as the Chikri-Merkaa Conflux. Housing multiple cities such as the capital of Terpen and encircled by an expansive belt of orbital habitats and stations known as the Ring of Radiance, it has survived the Great Schism as one of several centers of power and commerce within the Siakar Expanse, and continues to exert political and economic influence as far as the crossing regions of the Human Sphere.

History
Radiant Zenith was first established by the Covenant in the 16th Age of Doubt, roughly twelve hundred years ago, as a trading and military outpost to facilitate the development of the Siakar Expanse, then a relative backwater, into a true Covenant province. Its brightness has somewhat waned in the recent centuries as outward expansion slowed at Siakar, but it remains a moderately important center of culture and political power in its interstellar neighborhood. Even now, Terpen is among the seven largest urban centers in the Siakar Expanse, two of which are located in the Chikri-Merkaa Strand.

Radiant Zenith was originally founded in the most efficient confluence of slipspace channels and interstellar jump points in its interstellar neighborhood, with future expansion and concerns both strategic and commercial in mind. While an already existing outpost-world, Glorious Proclamation, was located fairly nearby, its location was not as advantageous in regards to the slipspace lanes considered strategically important at the time. It was the location of the Chikri system as an advantageous crossroads that gave the Station of Auspicious Confluence, the "trade capital" of the orbiting Ring of Radiance and later the seat of the Chikri-Merkaa Conflux government, its name.

Another key system in that great network was to be Merkaa and its main world Jai Shua, which was in the later centuries devastated by civil war, and it would be some time before the trading outpost of Haar Nappar, several light-years coreward, would rise in its stead. In those times the sliplanes were slightly different from those used today, for what would become the nearby Jaht Desolation as a result of the conflicts of the First Discordance at Siakar, was then a still-growing collection of colonies, as were other systems beyond; and the flows of commerce were abundant, only to be altered by the various wars and calamities that met the region; there were great worlds just beyond the Chikri-Merkaa Strand which are now but a memory. Wars and further colonization have altered the balance and landscape of the region and in the recent post-Schism years, Zenith has lost its status as the Strand's primary trade port to the Haar Nappar Freehold with the connection to the human sphere changing the traffic flows more to the direction of the Jjaibii Shroud nebula.

The most prominent of Radiant Zenith's initial settlers were a mix of traders, artisans, builders and warriors as well as anything in between, and mainly hailed from worlds within the Spinward Median. The world's initial settlement was part of a Ministerial initiative to form a strong basis for security and prosperity in the Siakar Expanse. This included the settlement of trusted and well-established Sangheili populations in the crossroads of major sliplanes by way of providing strong incentives - resources, power, wealth - for clans who took up the offer. This was a particularly popular way for budding cadet branches and other lesser nobles to expand their influence and fame by breaking free of the shadow of greater houses and making a name for themselves in the untamed peripheries. While lower-caste species could simply be forcibly relocated by Ministerial decree, it was often seen as preferable to offer them incentives as well - whether real or illusory. While it was also nearly a given that the serfs and laborers bound to Sangheili houses traveled with their masters, additional labor was usually required for the large-scale construction and infrastructure projects in newly-settled regions.

Most of the initial labor force for Zenith and other worlds of the Strand consisted of scores of Unggoy as well as Yanme'e and Mgalekgolo colonies bound to the most prominent Sangheili clans. In addition to hives established on Radiant Zenith and other colonies in the region, entire worlds were eventually dedicated for the Yanme'e and Mgalekgolo to supply the needs of the Chikri-Merkaa Strand and beyond. The Kig-Yar, who were relative newcomers to the Covenant at the time having been part of the hegemony for only a century, would come soon after as well, though at first out of their own initiative and only later by Ministerial edicts as they became more established within the Covenant's social order. Over time, the Kig-Yar would also become quite involved with the matters of the Strand and nearby regions, particularly where commerce and industry were concerned, and became instrumental in the local economy.

Society and demographics
In its early centuries, Zenith was more militarized than it is today, serving as a local fortress world and waystation for further-flung colonization, though the military aspect of the world would gradually diminish as the different worlds began to specialize in different trades, with the Aachse and Shik systems in the neighboring Firmament's Apex becoming the focal military centers of the region. As with most other key Covenant worlds settled by Sangheili, Zenith would retain a significant military presence such as it was integrated to the local clan structure, but with the surrounding frontier largely tamed, it was no longer the primary reason for the world's existence nor what it became most known for. Zenith's state as a haven of philosophy and high culture was mostly incidental, and stemmed from the world's general prosperity, the progressive trader mindset, and the many new ideas flowing through the region. As a result, the world has become known for its great statesmen, orators, philosophers and artists, and the Zenithers - in a generalized sense - are the most open to new ideas among the Strand's Sangheili populations.

Radiant Zenith has a population of 8.9 billion, with several tens of millions more living in its orbital communities. The population makeup represents a kind of microcosm of Covenant society as many such hub worlds do; most of Zenith's population is made up by Unggoy and Yanme'e laborers, while the Sangheili that comprise the higher classes make up only about one-fourth of the total population. There are Kig-Yar settlements planetside, but most of them dwell within the Ring of Radiance and across the greater Chikri system.

Government and politics
The main governing body of Radiant Zenith and the Chikri system is known as the Zenith Lordship, based out of Terpen and comprising the ruling city-state of Vernam and their several dozen vassal-states and provinces, including orbital ports run by Kig-Yar, Unggoy freeholders as well as clans on off-world colonies within the Chikri system. The Zenith Lordship is the greatest and most influential government in the entire Chikri-Merkaa Strand, with its claim to nearly two dozen barren systems in addition to the vassals under its rule (many of which include colonies originally settled by Zenith's earlier inhabitants). While not the original settlers of Zenither, the current ruling house of Vernam is very old, rising to prominence on the Moons of Tar Chatta of the Qerkossian Shore all the way back in the Covenant's first millennium. Clan Vernam has strong historical ties to the ruling families of the nearby colony of Amaranthine Resplendence, whereas their connections (cultural or political) to Glorious Proclamation, the oldest world in the Strand, have never been quite as strong, and there is even animosity and envy among some of Glorious Proclamation's inhabitants toward what they see as newcomers who are yet more wealthy and powerful than they.

Zenith's governance follows a pattern found on some Sangheili worlds where instead of one longstanding ruling house or an altogether free electoral process, the current archkaidon comes from a relatively fixed set of "Great Houses", of which there are currently five. There have historically been as many as eight and as few as two, but these like many other things were shaped greatly by the ebb and flow of history. The Vernam clan were not among the original settlers of the world, though during their stay they have by and large won the support of the old houses with their deeds. The Great Houses of the Lordship constantly vie for control, but their affairs are for the most part civil on the surface, exempting the occasional political assassination. The Lesser Houses of the Lordship do also have some decision-making power, and are technically able to call a vote of no confidence in the head clan if they perceive their interests have not been looked after, though this requires a majority decision and the process may not always be seamless- or bloodless. It is the balance of power divided amongst several houses, rather than one alone, that has prevented the formation of an excessive juxtaposition between the lesser and greater houses; additionally, clans can pass from one category to another depending on their achievements or shame.

The current Lord of Radiant Zenith is Archkaidon Ilen 'Vernam, who governs Terpen, Radiant Zenith and its off-world provinces out of the Gnomon. The Archkaidon is fairly young, having assumed the position after his predecessor, his father Okka 'Vernam, was killed in the Devastation of Joyous Exultation, but he is usually wise enough to listen to the counsel of his Elders, Oracle Masters as well as High Speaker Sossak Kar 'Usoi where his own lack of experience fails him—as well as to ignore them when their old ways hold them back in this new age. His youth may have been an advantage in the post-Schism world, however, as those more set in their ways may not have been able to adapt to the new order as smoothly as he has.

For now, Radiant Zenith and its surroundings have remained relatively stable as the Chikri-Merkaa Conflux is located far from the focal point of the ongoing ex-Covenant civil wars and remains economically robust for its size. However, the long-term effects of the surrounding unrest and cultural upheaval on the region have yet to be determined. Militarily, the CMC remains a very small player compared to major warlords, and partly due to their location and alliances with several other comparable groups they are fortunate enough to have experienced no large-scale fighting, aside from a number of battles on the other worlds of the Conflux.

As one of the regional hub worlds of the Siakar Expanse, Radiant Zenith is equipped with a grand wavecaster and linked to the imperial communications network.

Geography and locations
A fairly young world, Radiant Zenith maintains considerable volcanic activity in large regions of the planet. Zenith's polar regions are fairly expansive, and the main centers of habitation are mostly concentrated on a temperate band encircling the equator.

Planetary locations

 * Terpen - Known of old as the "Jewel-City" and widely regarded as one of the most notable cities in the Siakar Expanse, particularly in terms of cultural exports.
 * Naras Oasis - One of the other key port cities on Zenith, built in an oasis of one of the planet's expansive crater-deserts. It was once home to the great Naras Palace and its hanging gardens, which still stand; yet it has been greatly reduced from its one-time splendor as its former owner-family, once governors of that entire region and one of the Great Houses, lost their status in a local power struggle.
 * Canyon-city of Ghuura - Built on the cliffsides of the expansive canyon system on the midlands of the Koris-inme river valley and under the ground in great networks, its architects were those who originally gave shape to the city-disks that lie in the outskirts of Terpen. The river Koris-inme connects the canyon system to the Lower Seas of Zenith and thus the trade flowing all the way from Terpen and other major cities.
 * Ennas Forest - a great forest with a number of smaller settlements and keeps.

Upon Zenith's lakes and seas, vast platform-colonies of algae and fungal farmers have sprang up post-war, with the influx of migrants from elsewhere in the Covenant sphere increasing the need for foodstuffs production, while the continued unrest has underlined the need for self-sufficiency.

Ring of Radiance
The Ring of Radiance is the collective name for the orbital structures encircling Radiant Zenith. It is not a single connected structure, but rather a vast collection of habitats, ports and other space stations arranged in carefully-regulated orbits. The Ring houses numerous merchant clans and concerns, mainly those of Sangheili, Kig-Yar and Unggoy; most of Radiant Zenith's merchant population resides aboard the ring due to the ease of access it provides for space-bound commerce. There are several sky-lifts transiting directly from the planet's surface to stations in the ring, along with sub-stations suspended high in the atmosphere. Some components of the Zenither orbital defense network, comprising several semi-mobile stations and ships, are also regarded as elements of the ring.

The Ring has had some disagreements with its parent world in the past, and its political status in relation to the planet changed considerably in early civil conflicts between the orbital and planetary aristocracies.