Xai'athus

"The term 'Xai'athus' was a name coined by our Lord Xanus in 5000 BXU. It continues to serve as our homeland's great name and title, and shall serve in such a capacity for as long as we live."

- Excerpt from the Encyclopædia Xyonica

Xai'athus, alternatively known as Xai Space, is the region of the galaxy controlled and influenced directly by the Xai. It was the anicent name of the Xai homeland on their homeworld of Xyon, though later grew to become the alternative name of the Xai Ascendancy. The original name of all lands inhabited by the Xai since their creation in 5000 BXU, Xai'athus became the spiritual name grant to the Ascendancy upon the request of Manawaki the Great, unifier of the Xai race. The name is often by the Xai as the proper name of the Ascendancy, and is also commonly used when at church sermons or in official government documents referencing to the Ascendancy. Xai'athus encompasses a total of fifty-seven worlds spread across more than thirty star systems.

Origins
"We've been using that name since before even I was born."

- Manawaki the Great

The origins of the name come from the Xai diety, Xanus, using ancient Xai language to name the home of the Xai. Xai'athus translates as "Lands of the Xai" in Old Xai, a dead language mid-way through the Dark Ages of Xyon (4751–2320 BXU). While most other words and references from the language died out, Xai'athus remained in use by the Xai until their discovery of space travel, upon which the word was marginally replaced by the Xai Ascendancy as the name used to refer to Xai domains now spread across known space shortly upon the formation of an interstellar empire. However, as time passed, the name slowly crept back into the common vocabulary of the Xai and its politicians, as well as the languages of the races they were enslaving in their conquest of neighboring star systems.

Today, the name has become the catch-all term when referring to the Xai government, the space either controlled or directly influenced by the Xai, and the worlds that have been settled by the Xai close to or far from the core regions of Xai control. On worlds that have come to fear the Xai and their might, the name Xai'athus envokes terror, as the Xai are never far from the area that has heard the word uttered. Screaming "Xai'athus! Xai'athus!" has long since become a word of warning to settlements and planets at war with the Xai, though shouting it in crowded places without cause has become a punishable crime on many worlds free of Xai domination.

Trivia

 * Xai'athus was the original name of the Xai Ascendancy until the author changed the name to something more tolerable. It serves as the unofficial name of the Ascendancy for the sake of the name's importance in the decade-long development of the lore for the Xai.
 * Xai'athus was was originally suppose to be the Xai holy world until the author opted to make it the empire name. However, this was scrapped in favor of the Xai Ascendancy.