Arkadianate

"This isn’t a concentration camp, Kerra. It’s civilization. An enlightened community, which will welcome your refugees."

- Arkadia during a conversation with Kerra

The Arkadianate was a Sith state that was located in the Grumani sector during the Republic Dark Age and the Second Sith Civil War. It was led by the Sith Lord Arkadia Calimondra and the frozen planet Syned served as its capital. The Arkadianate had borders with the Dyarchy, a Sith state that was ruled by Arkadia's siblings, Dromika and Quillan, and in c. 1,032 BBY, Calimondra's forces annexed the Dyarchy.

Politics and society
The Arkadianate was an autocratic dictatorship dominated by its titular leader Arkadia Calimondra, a Sith warlord during the Republic Dark Age. Its name reflected a naming convention within the Sith territories in Grumani sector of placing the suffixes "-ate" or "nate" after the Sith Lord's name. The Arkadianate was governed according to Arkadia's personal philosophy of continually rotating her subjects through different jobs. In one case, the Herglic mother Seese had worked in at least five different occupations including teaching, algae-processing, metallic reclamation, as a tactical officer on Arkadia's flagship New Crucible, and a tour guide on Calimondretta.

Arkadia herself would often personally reassign her subjects at short notice with no means of appealing this decision. She justified this policy on the rationale that it instilled flexibility and versatility among her subjects by providing them with experience in different lines of work. In reality, it was designed to prevent the emergence of any potential domestic threats to her rule since it kept even her most skilled subordinates perpetually preoccupied with new assignments. While the fate of Arkadinate citizens who failed to fulfill their duties is not explicitly stated, the Jedi Knight Kerra Holt speculated that they were imprisoned and executed.

In terms of territory, the Arkadianate was an interstellar state that was located in the Grumani sector. Two of its known constituent territories were the frozen planet of Syned and Byllura, which was annexed from the former Dyarchy in 1,032 BBY. The Arkadianate's capital was the city of Calimondretta, an underground city on Syned. While the Arkadianate was not as powerful as larger Sith states like the Daimanate and the Odionate, it still possessed substantial military assets including long, crystalline warships and starfighters. The Arkadianate military fleet was known to have participated in the annexation of the Dyarchy and an allied invasion of the Odionate.

Unlike other Sith Lords who neglected the social welfare of their subjects, the Arkadianate invested substantially in providing extensive social services like education, food, and even clothing. It had a series of schools known as Promisoriums, which were open to diverse species and also boasted extensive dining facilities. From young, citizens were trained to contribute to the state. Arkadia's progressive social policies contrasted with those of her Sith cousins in the Calimondra family. Other Sith Lords like Daiman exploited children as forced laborers while Odion had all the children in his realm imprisoned in a series of planet-sized orphanages known as cloisters.

The Arkadianate was also able to import large stocks of food to feed its population. In line with her personal philosophy, Arkadia also implemented a policy of making her subjects wear bright clothing alledgely under the pretext of helping them become more "noticeable and memorable" individuals. Unlike its neighbors, the Arkadianate did not openly use violence to coerce its subjects into working. Despite these positive qualities, the Arkadianate had some unsavoury aspects. Lord Arkadia had her enemies imprisoned in the Impound where they were subjected to torture and execution by being exposed to the nerve toxin Chagras's Blood.

As with the other Sith Lords in the Grumani sector, Arkadia sought to expand her interstellar fiefdom and become the ruler of the entire universe. To support her military ambitions, Arkadia invested substantial resources into colonizing the icy planet Syned in order to gain access to Synedian algae. While Synedian algae was a good source of energy, it could also be processed into the nerve toxin Chagras's Blood. This toxin was capable of killing various sentient beings within minutes. Arkadia intended to deploy this biological weapon as part of a planned expansionist blitz in 1,032 BBY. However, the Siege of Calimondretta damaged the chemical plants producing Synedian algae.

Behind the scenes
The Arkadianate first appeared in John Jackson Miller's stand-alone novel Knight Errant, which was first released on January 22, 2011. According to Miller, its society was based on real-world corporate models described in Bryan Burrough's book Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco. Burrough's book included a case study where one executive developed a habit of routinely switching employees to different jobs in order to prevent the emergence of rival power bases within the company.

Appearances

 * Knight Errant
 * Star Wars: Knight Errant 6: Deluge, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Knight Errant 15: Escape, Part 5