Faction ULP Democratic Union of Fellbarr

Origins

When the TACW fell apart in 349AE, The planet Felbarr was one of the few nations capable of resisting the power of the Taurean Confederacy’s as it quickly established its control over many of the former TACW worlds. Felbarr became the center of a coalition of worlds determined to resist annexation by the Confederacy. In time this alliance grew into the political entity known today as the Democratic Union of Felbarr. The DUF has had an adversarial relationship with the Taurean Confederacy, having fought several wars with the predatory nation in the past. Today, the DUF and TC stand together as allies in the ULP. However, years of mutual distrust have led to many political and military disputes between both governments, much to the irritation of the League’s security apparatuses.

Political Structure

The DUF operates with a very similar political structure to that of the league, namely that it uses senate-style proceedings to determine laws and is governed by a President who serves 5-year terms. However, the similarities end there. The DUF has no combined armed forces, but rather empowers each world to provide for its own defense forces. Though this was a measure meant to prevent the rampant military despotism present in the Taurean Confederacy, the result has rendered the DUF to be one of the weakest military powers in the Alliance (despite its immense size and wealth). While some would note that this policy is entirely at odds with the DUF’s need for security and protection against the Confederacy, both the ruling parties as well as much of the citizen body are fiercely protective of the individual rights of each of the Felbarr’s nation-states. The irony of the arrangement is that the military power of the DUF is deeply tied to the economic success of only a few worlds (Felbarr, Worcast, Heimdal, Callisto, Aethea, and Prognar). In the past, these worlds have provided a lion’s share of the armed forces for the protection of the DUF, but it would be safe to say that the DUF relies on its alliance with the ULP to protect and insulate it from the predations of the Taurean Confederacy.

Social Climate

The DUF is has very few truly industrialized worlds. As a result is a largely agrarian society. Interplanetary travel for recreation is limited as many Union citizens are, for the most part, farmers and merchants who spend much of their lives tending to their land. The worlds most important to the DUF are; Felbarr, Worcast, Heimdal, Callisto, and Athea each of which serve as bulk-collection and distribution points for goods shipped from the rest the Union bound for the worlds of the ULP and beyond. This has inspired the popular phrase “The hands of Felbarr feed the universe”.