Who the Monarchy IsThe Monarchy tends to whiplash in terms of relative power. For much of the Monarchy's history - especially after it absorbed the elements of Sino-Civ and the Indus-Fomalhaut civilization that it did - it was one of the strongest of the meta-empires, with a powerful economy and a highly skilled and competent military. However, the bioconservative shift left the Monarchy practically isolated and harmed its economic growth; combined with a disastrous foreign policy and monetary policy, the Monarchy quickly degraded in strength. That appears to be changing under Queen Charlotte. Structurally, the Monarchy is a federated collection of princedoms, dukedoms, and kingdoms that all send elector princes to the Alandricht Electoral College after the monarch dies, where they elect a new monarch from the Pavonis Royal Family, a family that has legitimate claims to both the British and Japanese royal thrones. While the monarch must be from that royal family, they don't have to be the direct successor (i.e,, the next male child or the oldest sibling) - the electoral college can elect whoever they please.
Monarchy IdealsThe Monarchy is a bizarre beast of a government. Like the Imperium, the Monarchy doesn't reach forward for government ideas; instead, it seeks to justify its government with a sort of historical traditional. This means that historians are a powerful force within the Monarchy, since they control the flow of information. The Monarchy tends to be broken up into three cultural spheres, which is important because each of the cultural spheres operates slightly differently. The core sphere is largely feudalistic in its organization, with houses and royals and aristocrats and a legal system that varies depending on one's social status; the law does not expect the same out of a Status 0 person that it does a Status 1 and so won't enforce the laws equally. That said, Status 0 people are functionally serfs and locked to the land that they work, often with advanced tools that serfs never had. The other two spheres are the Indus-Fomalhaut Sphere and the external sphere, both of which are less feudalistic and promote everything from constitutional monarchies to constitutional republics, which are possible given the loose nature of the Monarchy, blending features of both a confederation and federation.
Monarchy StructureThe structure of the Monarchy is feudal in nature, although just how feudal depends on where one is; in the Tendal-Abercrombie Bloc, it is very feudal, and social responsibility is stressed. In the Indus-Fomalhaut Bloc, it is a bit looser in structure, allowing slightly more social mobility, while in the Exogenous Bloc, anything can go.
Social Status is important in the Monarchy and it's indistinguishable from Rank; the higher one's rank, the greater the position in the society, although individuals are born in their rank. The highest rank are the Elector Princes, who gather after the death of each Monarchy to vote for a new one. These princes also make up the Imperial Diet, which, in theory, places checks on disagreements between the princes that the Monarchy can't handle because they're doing something else. |
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Bioconservatism and the MonarchyThe relationship that the Monarchy has with bioconservatism is a rocky one; it hasn't always been bioconservative, and it often finds itself at odds with other bioconservative powers, like the Hatira Theocracy or the Orion Umma. The Monarchy tends to take a light touch towards some technologies that other Bioconservative groups reject entirely, and the Monarchy's tolerance for some technoprogressive polities - in particular, the Cyra Republic - ends up raising a lot of hackles. However, the movement as a whole still listens to the Monarchy when it talks, and many seek the guidance of the Monarchy on such policies, even the Monarchy has several less-than-bioconservative policies grandfathered into its practices. It should be noted that the Monarchy's bioconservatism is not an extension of it's natural conservative support for hierarchy; if anything, hierarchy is easier to create using genetic engineering (and this is one of the arguments against Monarchical bioconservatism in the Monarchy itself). |
Monarchy History
The history of the Monarchy begins with the EurAsian-Cygnus fleet. This fleet would eventually split at 61 Cygnus following the destruction of the flagship; while many considered the Zov Tigra to be the flag ship of the fleet, the branch that broke off disagreed. They also disagreed on policies such as mind uploading, more advanced AIs, and related technologies; this disagreement was terminal and fracture was inevitable. While the remainder of the fleet would go on to break off and become Nariac and the Imperium, the part that would become known as the EurAsian-Pavonis Fleet would go on to become the Monarchy.
The early days of the Monarchy were overshadowed by its close connection with Shangtao. Shangtao dominated much of what is recognized as the lower Monarchy, and its influence is still strong on Alandricht to this day (understandable, given the two systems are a simple wormhole throat apart). As a result, the first capital of the political entity that would later become the Pavonis Monarchy was actually focused on the planet Carthage; it quickly shifted to Quinten in the Abercrombie system, however, and it was here that several crises gave rise to Monarchy. The Monarchy has a strong claim to the Japanese Throne and the British Crown; the chief administrator aboard the Cornwallis was related to the Royal Family of Britain, and his wife the royal family of Japan. While neither would be eligible under conventional inheritance rules, the situation involving massive gaps of space and time was deemed to be "unconventional" and so many accepted his claim to the throne. King Desmond I became the first King of the Monarchy, ruling from Quinten. This was the age of Monarchies; during this time, Bluefall and Hudson were also monarchies, and several monarchies had emerged across the sphere, including Shangtao (which remained an Imperial State but eventually transitioned to a constitutional monarchy). However, where those other monarchies would end, the one in the Pavonish Monarchy would continue. Arguments over inheritance and splitting land eventually lead to the complex land system that exists today, with the Electoral College emerging sometime before the Ascension Crisis.
The Ascension Crisis was when the Monarchy expanded to include Alandricht, its present capital, because Shangtao had fallen on hard times and was crumbling under the weight of the swarms. This was also when the Monarchy was at the peak of its power, since the bioconservative stance allowed it to escape mostly unharmed by the technological apocalypse raging around it. This good fortune rune wouldn't last; King Desmond IV Alexander, the great-grandson of the original King Desmond, would hardly be a competent leader. The Monarchy suffered under his mismanagement, first during the Meikko War and later during the Verge War. Perhaps the greatest mismanagement came after all that, and after the Battle of Storm, when Desmond IV Alexander attempted to institute a gold-backed currency; the Imperium synthesized massive amounts of gold and used that to collapse the price of gold on the open market, destroying their currency and humiliating the Monarchy; it almost fragmented the Monarchy completely, but Desmond IV Alexander's daughter, Queen Katrina I Ekaterina, managed to hold the Monarchy together after he advocated.
Queen Katrina would continue to run the Monarchy for several decades, slowly working it to recovery, until she was killed in a terrorist attack. The Electoral College voted her niece, Charlotte I Elizabeth, to the throne, and Charlotte's first action was to crack down on the Autonomist Alliance and kick the Verge Consortium in the teeth, demonstrating she was not a young naïf waiting to be taken advantage of. This indirectly lead to the Verge Consortium civil war, and now Charlotte is eying what next she can inject the Monarchy into, now that it's both resurgent and stronger than ever before.
The early days of the Monarchy were overshadowed by its close connection with Shangtao. Shangtao dominated much of what is recognized as the lower Monarchy, and its influence is still strong on Alandricht to this day (understandable, given the two systems are a simple wormhole throat apart). As a result, the first capital of the political entity that would later become the Pavonis Monarchy was actually focused on the planet Carthage; it quickly shifted to Quinten in the Abercrombie system, however, and it was here that several crises gave rise to Monarchy. The Monarchy has a strong claim to the Japanese Throne and the British Crown; the chief administrator aboard the Cornwallis was related to the Royal Family of Britain, and his wife the royal family of Japan. While neither would be eligible under conventional inheritance rules, the situation involving massive gaps of space and time was deemed to be "unconventional" and so many accepted his claim to the throne. King Desmond I became the first King of the Monarchy, ruling from Quinten. This was the age of Monarchies; during this time, Bluefall and Hudson were also monarchies, and several monarchies had emerged across the sphere, including Shangtao (which remained an Imperial State but eventually transitioned to a constitutional monarchy). However, where those other monarchies would end, the one in the Pavonish Monarchy would continue. Arguments over inheritance and splitting land eventually lead to the complex land system that exists today, with the Electoral College emerging sometime before the Ascension Crisis.
The Ascension Crisis was when the Monarchy expanded to include Alandricht, its present capital, because Shangtao had fallen on hard times and was crumbling under the weight of the swarms. This was also when the Monarchy was at the peak of its power, since the bioconservative stance allowed it to escape mostly unharmed by the technological apocalypse raging around it. This good fortune rune wouldn't last; King Desmond IV Alexander, the great-grandson of the original King Desmond, would hardly be a competent leader. The Monarchy suffered under his mismanagement, first during the Meikko War and later during the Verge War. Perhaps the greatest mismanagement came after all that, and after the Battle of Storm, when Desmond IV Alexander attempted to institute a gold-backed currency; the Imperium synthesized massive amounts of gold and used that to collapse the price of gold on the open market, destroying their currency and humiliating the Monarchy; it almost fragmented the Monarchy completely, but Desmond IV Alexander's daughter, Queen Katrina I Ekaterina, managed to hold the Monarchy together after he advocated.
Queen Katrina would continue to run the Monarchy for several decades, slowly working it to recovery, until she was killed in a terrorist attack. The Electoral College voted her niece, Charlotte I Elizabeth, to the throne, and Charlotte's first action was to crack down on the Autonomist Alliance and kick the Verge Consortium in the teeth, demonstrating she was not a young naïf waiting to be taken advantage of. This indirectly lead to the Verge Consortium civil war, and now Charlotte is eying what next she can inject the Monarchy into, now that it's both resurgent and stronger than ever before.
Monarchy CUlture
Given that the Monarchy is an empire, it should be no surprise to learn that it has numerous cultures and ideologies under its belt. The Monarchy pretty neatly falls into the three sphere model, echoing the model used in the Regency, with each new sphere representing a later acquisition by the Monarchy. The inner sphere is called the Alandricht-Quinten Sphere and represents "core" Monarchy culture. The next sphere is the Indus Sphere, which is an extension of the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization, while the last sphere is the exogenous sphere, and includes all the other polities that didn't fall into one of the above two. As always, is doesn't fit in every case, but it does fit much better than some other models do.
Monarchy SociologyAs noted above, the Monarchy tends to follow neo-manorialism as a philosophy; this philosophy often results in a weird type of post-scarcity communitarianism, but with a very clear hierarchical nature assigned to it, since the manor lord owns and keeps up the public-access fabricators and owns all the IP produced by the population, and in exchange, awards the population access to available IP. This would suggest that the Monarchy is a Reputation-based society - and to some extent, it is - but when operating inside of the major cities, where Guild Socialism seems to be the dominant ideology, money is necessary. These manors also use money when interacting with one another, so it isn't entirely reputation-based.
Ontologically, the Monarchy is textbook ontologically conservative; digital realities are not given any sort of primacy at all, and neither are the digital beings that occupy them (again, with some exceptions not withstanding). |
Translatio ImperiiUnderstanding the concept of translatio Imperii is important to understanding the Monarchy. Every nation seeks to justify its own existence, and while most nations of the 21st century justified existence with "I have the bigger army," most meta-empires justify their existence with "I have the larger sphere of influence." However, the Monarchy is the outlier on this front; rather than rely on soft power or military power, the Monarchy takes the most conservative path imaginable and relies instead on tradition. This is translatio imperii - the transition of power from one deserving state to another, where "deserving state" is determined by the fact that said state survived for as long as it did and influenced everything it did. Thus, the right to power passes from the Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire, then the Chalcedonian Empire, then to the British Empire, and finally, to the Pavonis Monarchy. This path of power can be traced back to the beginning and acts as a justification for the national existence that goes beyond "I have the bigger military". It also opens the door to some truly interesting and esoteric concepts that both the Traditional Catholic Church and Orange Catholic Church work to try and crush. This impacts how peasants and serfs understand the monarchy as well, since it's used as justification for the neo-manorial system. |
Monarchy CUlture and Memes
The Monarchy is well understood to be a patchwork of different states and polities, with modern historians reaching all the way back to the Holy Roman Empire as a means to try and explain the structure. This means that the Monarchy doesn't have much in the way of a unified culture to begin with (as the three spheres will indicate), but even in the chaotic patchwork of cultures, certain memes and ideologies bubble to the top.
Ephemeralism
Type: Architectural/Artistic Movement
Ephemeralism is an artistic and architectural movement that promotes the ephemeral natural of the real world through applications of negative space, hinting at the absence. Swirl patterns, gentle guiding walkway, coils, and other things that can include a great deal of negative space are all features of ephemeralism, and the emphasis is often placed on the lines that create the negative space. In terms of architecture, this means that spiral walkways, spiral doorways, large hallways, vast windows, and the like are all common features, all reminders of the emptiness and nothingness that emerge from the ephemeral nature of reality.
Imperial Classicism
Type: Fashion/Architectural Style
Imperial Classicism (and it's closely related style, Prosperism) seeks to return to the "old days," blending cultural traditions from the 1800s to produce an elaborate style of dress and Baroque neo-Classical architectural style that many in the upper rings of the Monarchy consider to be a symbol of wealth and power. This type of dress often includes corsets, gloves, cartwheel hats, waist coats, shoes, and the like depending on the sex, while the architectural elements favor large columns, elaborate side structures, and the like. It's often contrasted against Strengism, which frowns upon all the "elegance" as wasteful and unproductive.
Imperial Historicism
Type: Histriographic Movement
Imperial Historicism is superficially similar to the Imperium's New Mythicism history, except it downplays the role of mythical figures in history. It isn't just a retreat of Great Man History, although it's that too; rather, it looks at history along two axes: how mythical figures ruled and lived and how the power was transferred and justified along those lines. The historicism is popular in many universities and institutions that are responsible for keeping histories and genealogies, and is shaping history. According to Imperial Historicism, the shift from monarchies and empires to nation-states was the result of a loss of great mythical leaders, and it was only with the discovery of mythical leaders and their proper management and the proper secession to power that monarchies became possible again. Interestingly, while one might think the God AIs would be excellent entities to include in this, Imperial Historicism tends to overlook the God AIs, regarding their reign as a mistake.
Indus and Sino-Civ Revivalism
Type: Social Movement
Currently just a social movement, but the Monarchy is the heart of Indus and Sino-Civ Revivalism; an inevitability, perhaps, given the Monarchy contains much of the original Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization and the head of Sino-Civ, Shangtao, is right next door (speaking in terms of wormholes). It shares this meme with the Borealis Technocracy, who also contains parts of the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization. Sino-Civ, interestingly enough, is having a larger influence (likely because Sino-Civ is a constitutional monarchy itself), which means that sino-civ dress (or variants of it that are adapted to the more conservative Monarchy tastes) and culture are finding their way into parts of the Monarchy, especially parts that used to be components of the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization, creating a weird paradigm where the two are merging into one.
Neo-Manorialism
Type: Economic Ideology/Political Ideology/Social Organization
Neo-Manorialism is an emerging idea that's combining post-scarcity communitarianism with feudalism. At its core, the principles of post-scarcity communitarianism remains the same, but rather than the community owning the intellectual property, the manor lord who owns the land that the community is on owns the intellectual property that the community creates, and in exchange for giving the manor lord the ability to sell it to the greater Monarchy, the manor lord agrees to keep up the fabricators and provide the public-access fabricators with new IP and to provide the materials, often through the serfs or automated labor that collects the resources in the field. Neo-Manorialism is quickly proving to be popular with some elements of the Monarchy, displacing the current neo-feudalism model (where the population works to create IP that is handed off to the lord, who collects the IP and hands it of to his lord and so forth, with everyone exchanging IP rights and raw materials downward through a convoluted and confusing model), and may serve to supplement the distributionism that the Monarchy uses to protect itself from a revolution among the freemen class.
Strengism
Type: Architectural Style/Fashion/Art Movement/Aesthetic
Strengism is a philosophy that suggests that the human experience needs to be restrained through strict, almost self-denial levels of self control. Strengism promotes architectural that is very austere, very utilitarian, and very uncompromising, with comfort and worries about comfort a distant second. Streng clothing looks almost like pseudo-Victorian clothing but it's made out of uncomfortable and harsh fabrics that make them deeply unpleasant to wear, with stiff collars, restrictive waistcoats and corsets, and uncompromising, starched dresses and pant legs. As an art movement, it promotes the rejection of flourish and a strict representation of reality, while Strengism, with its emphasis on austerity and unpleasantness, when applied to food culture produces traditional English cuisine: bland and tasteless, but extra unpleasant. Strengism also promotes self control, and frowns upon certain sexual behaviors, promoting sex only for the purpose of reproduction and nothing more.
Ephemeralism
Type: Architectural/Artistic Movement
Ephemeralism is an artistic and architectural movement that promotes the ephemeral natural of the real world through applications of negative space, hinting at the absence. Swirl patterns, gentle guiding walkway, coils, and other things that can include a great deal of negative space are all features of ephemeralism, and the emphasis is often placed on the lines that create the negative space. In terms of architecture, this means that spiral walkways, spiral doorways, large hallways, vast windows, and the like are all common features, all reminders of the emptiness and nothingness that emerge from the ephemeral nature of reality.
Imperial Classicism
Type: Fashion/Architectural Style
Imperial Classicism (and it's closely related style, Prosperism) seeks to return to the "old days," blending cultural traditions from the 1800s to produce an elaborate style of dress and Baroque neo-Classical architectural style that many in the upper rings of the Monarchy consider to be a symbol of wealth and power. This type of dress often includes corsets, gloves, cartwheel hats, waist coats, shoes, and the like depending on the sex, while the architectural elements favor large columns, elaborate side structures, and the like. It's often contrasted against Strengism, which frowns upon all the "elegance" as wasteful and unproductive.
Imperial Historicism
Type: Histriographic Movement
Imperial Historicism is superficially similar to the Imperium's New Mythicism history, except it downplays the role of mythical figures in history. It isn't just a retreat of Great Man History, although it's that too; rather, it looks at history along two axes: how mythical figures ruled and lived and how the power was transferred and justified along those lines. The historicism is popular in many universities and institutions that are responsible for keeping histories and genealogies, and is shaping history. According to Imperial Historicism, the shift from monarchies and empires to nation-states was the result of a loss of great mythical leaders, and it was only with the discovery of mythical leaders and their proper management and the proper secession to power that monarchies became possible again. Interestingly, while one might think the God AIs would be excellent entities to include in this, Imperial Historicism tends to overlook the God AIs, regarding their reign as a mistake.
Indus and Sino-Civ Revivalism
Type: Social Movement
Currently just a social movement, but the Monarchy is the heart of Indus and Sino-Civ Revivalism; an inevitability, perhaps, given the Monarchy contains much of the original Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization and the head of Sino-Civ, Shangtao, is right next door (speaking in terms of wormholes). It shares this meme with the Borealis Technocracy, who also contains parts of the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization. Sino-Civ, interestingly enough, is having a larger influence (likely because Sino-Civ is a constitutional monarchy itself), which means that sino-civ dress (or variants of it that are adapted to the more conservative Monarchy tastes) and culture are finding their way into parts of the Monarchy, especially parts that used to be components of the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization, creating a weird paradigm where the two are merging into one.
Neo-Manorialism
Type: Economic Ideology/Political Ideology/Social Organization
Neo-Manorialism is an emerging idea that's combining post-scarcity communitarianism with feudalism. At its core, the principles of post-scarcity communitarianism remains the same, but rather than the community owning the intellectual property, the manor lord who owns the land that the community is on owns the intellectual property that the community creates, and in exchange for giving the manor lord the ability to sell it to the greater Monarchy, the manor lord agrees to keep up the fabricators and provide the public-access fabricators with new IP and to provide the materials, often through the serfs or automated labor that collects the resources in the field. Neo-Manorialism is quickly proving to be popular with some elements of the Monarchy, displacing the current neo-feudalism model (where the population works to create IP that is handed off to the lord, who collects the IP and hands it of to his lord and so forth, with everyone exchanging IP rights and raw materials downward through a convoluted and confusing model), and may serve to supplement the distributionism that the Monarchy uses to protect itself from a revolution among the freemen class.
Strengism
Type: Architectural Style/Fashion/Art Movement/Aesthetic
Strengism is a philosophy that suggests that the human experience needs to be restrained through strict, almost self-denial levels of self control. Strengism promotes architectural that is very austere, very utilitarian, and very uncompromising, with comfort and worries about comfort a distant second. Streng clothing looks almost like pseudo-Victorian clothing but it's made out of uncomfortable and harsh fabrics that make them deeply unpleasant to wear, with stiff collars, restrictive waistcoats and corsets, and uncompromising, starched dresses and pant legs. As an art movement, it promotes the rejection of flourish and a strict representation of reality, while Strengism, with its emphasis on austerity and unpleasantness, when applied to food culture produces traditional English cuisine: bland and tasteless, but extra unpleasant. Strengism also promotes self control, and frowns upon certain sexual behaviors, promoting sex only for the purpose of reproduction and nothing more.
Cultural Familiarity in the Monarchy
The Monarchy has three very clear, very different cultural blocs: the Alaundrict-Quinten Bloc, the Indus-Fomalhaut Bloc, and the Exogenous Bloc. This doesn't mean that Cultural Familiarity (Monarchy) doesn't work - it does - but it does result in steeper penalties given the cultural milieu of the Monarchy. Those words within the Alaundrict-Quinten Bloc default to one another at -1, and to Cultural Familiarity (Monarchy) at -1 as well, given they tend to be the core of the Monarchy - so Cultural Familiarity (Alaundricht) defaults to Cultural Familiarity (Monarchy) at -1, and to Cultural Familiarity (Quinten) at -1. Those worlds within the Indus-Fomalhaut Bloc similarly default to one another at a -1 - so Cultural Familiarity (Demeter) and Cultural Familiarity (Talamis) default to one another at -1 - but they default to Cultural Familiarity (Monarchy) at -2. Meanwhile, Exogenous bloc cultures don't default to anyone at anything other than a -3, unless it's Cyra, which defaults to Cultural Familiarity (Monarchy) at -2. In all of the above cases, each Cultural Familiarity costs 1 point.
Monarchical Republicanism?While the Monarchy is openly opposed to any form of republicanism on paper (a consequence of translatio imperii; republican states and democratic states are illegitimate because they don't have their power transferred from one monarch or leader to another), the Free States get a great deal of latitude in terms of their government, as do the Free Cities. All they have to do is send an Elector Prince to the Electoral College when the time comes; among Free States and the Free Territories, that position doesn't even have to be hereditary. What this does is create a weird situation where many of the subunits of the Monarchy are actually some degree of republican; whether they be a constitutional monarchy or, in the most extreme cases, a purely democratic republic. This also creates a weird situation where in some of these subunits, the population votes on who the Elector Count is going to be, and the Elector Count then goes and votes on who the Monarch is going to be. This odd situation only exists outside of the Imperial Estates and Imperial States, however; within those legal entities, a wholly different and equally confusing set of laws reigns. |
Monarchy Territories and Estates
Keeping track of all the subdivisions of the Monarchy is a fool's errand. There are new ones created every few months or so when someone new is recognized with a non-landed title within the Imperial Estates. However, they generally fall into four broad categories that are worthy of note: The Imperial Estates, the Imperial States, the Free States, and the Free Cities/Territories. Each of these has a different set of laws that govern them within the confines of the Monarchy's legal system.
Imperial Estates are estates that are seen directly by members of the Monarchy's family, extended family, and those who were granted lower titles based on deeds done in service for the Monarchy. There are 19 major Imperial Estates that have remained relatively consistent, but there are actually hundreds of minor ones, and those 19 major ones subdivide into smaller territories overseen by certain types of landed titles. Landed titles include Archduke, Grand Prince, Crown Prince, Duke, and Sovereign Prince (in practice, Elector Counts or Elector Princes come from the Archduke or Grand Prince titles). Any one of these could give out a non-landed title; this is a misnomer since it comes with land attached to it, but it doesn't count since such individuals have to count on their title granter for representation in the Imperial Diet, since the title granter technically owns the land they granted to that individual's family. Hence the nomenclature. Non-landed titles include Marquis, Baron, Baronet, and Chevalier, the latter being a non-landed title granted to any member of the Monarchy military that impresses the landed title-granter, while the Marquis title is associated with the head of guilds in a particular region or even hypercorp/megacorp CEOs (several megacorporations are as actually classed as Imperial Estates). Imperial estates have representation in the Diet.
Imperial States are major states that were purchased largely from the Indus-Fomalhaut civilization. Since they were inherited with a state-like governing structure, they were allowed to keep it, and many of their attendant legal systems, which results in the Imperial States having very different legal systems from the Imperial Estates. Imperial States, like Imperial Estates, have representation in the Imperial Diet, and all are some type of Constitutional Monarchy where the monarch holds real power of state, with parliamentary systems who nominate the Elector Prince or Elector Count. Since they have representation in the Imperial Diet, they are required to be constitutional monarchies by law regardless what their original government system was.
Free States are those that were generally subsumed during the Spinward Expansion or the Alandricht Purchase. These states have a great deal of latitude on how to rule themselves, and they are required to send elector counts, but they do not have representation in the Imperial Diet and thus, have no say in the ongoing legal matters of the Monarchy proper. The same is true for Free Territories and Free Cities, which are often small territories or urban areas that are run like Free States.
Below are all the major entities in the Monarchy, organized according to type and what cultural sphere they belong too, as well as what they're best known for (see below for more information on cultural spheres in the Monarchy).
Imperial Estates are estates that are seen directly by members of the Monarchy's family, extended family, and those who were granted lower titles based on deeds done in service for the Monarchy. There are 19 major Imperial Estates that have remained relatively consistent, but there are actually hundreds of minor ones, and those 19 major ones subdivide into smaller territories overseen by certain types of landed titles. Landed titles include Archduke, Grand Prince, Crown Prince, Duke, and Sovereign Prince (in practice, Elector Counts or Elector Princes come from the Archduke or Grand Prince titles). Any one of these could give out a non-landed title; this is a misnomer since it comes with land attached to it, but it doesn't count since such individuals have to count on their title granter for representation in the Imperial Diet, since the title granter technically owns the land they granted to that individual's family. Hence the nomenclature. Non-landed titles include Marquis, Baron, Baronet, and Chevalier, the latter being a non-landed title granted to any member of the Monarchy military that impresses the landed title-granter, while the Marquis title is associated with the head of guilds in a particular region or even hypercorp/megacorp CEOs (several megacorporations are as actually classed as Imperial Estates). Imperial estates have representation in the Diet.
Imperial States are major states that were purchased largely from the Indus-Fomalhaut civilization. Since they were inherited with a state-like governing structure, they were allowed to keep it, and many of their attendant legal systems, which results in the Imperial States having very different legal systems from the Imperial Estates. Imperial States, like Imperial Estates, have representation in the Imperial Diet, and all are some type of Constitutional Monarchy where the monarch holds real power of state, with parliamentary systems who nominate the Elector Prince or Elector Count. Since they have representation in the Imperial Diet, they are required to be constitutional monarchies by law regardless what their original government system was.
Free States are those that were generally subsumed during the Spinward Expansion or the Alandricht Purchase. These states have a great deal of latitude on how to rule themselves, and they are required to send elector counts, but they do not have representation in the Imperial Diet and thus, have no say in the ongoing legal matters of the Monarchy proper. The same is true for Free Territories and Free Cities, which are often small territories or urban areas that are run like Free States.
Below are all the major entities in the Monarchy, organized according to type and what cultural sphere they belong too, as well as what they're best known for (see below for more information on cultural spheres in the Monarchy).
Kingdom of Alandricht
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Mountbatten-Hito) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: Being the capital of the Monarchy, its biodiverse homeworld Free State of Arided
Type: Free State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: its ongoing terraforming operation Free State of Britannia
Type: Free State (Oligarchic Republic) Cultural Sphere: Exogenous Best known for: The Avatar genotype and joint rule by Urgill and Chelsea Principality of Castell
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by House of Arenburg-Morissay) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: Ongoing research into the extinct Lucan aliens Free State of Cyra
Type: Free State (Democratic Republic) Cultural Sphere: Exogenous Best known for: Its radical pro-republican and pro-democracy stances Principality of Gyronny
Type: Imperial State (Constitutional Monarchy/House of Montbarry) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten/Exogenous Best known for: Being the home of the Neo-Zoroastrian Movement Free State of Leonia
Type: Free State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Exogenous Best known for: Its unique shapeshifting population Duchy of Manaan
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Abarelli) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten/Exogenous Best known for: being the most developed water world in the Monarchy Kingdom of Neo-Nyendi
Type: Free State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Exogenous Best known for: Attempting to revive the Mali Empire culturally Duchy of Providence
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Leway) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: It's highly militarized culture Kingdom of Quinten
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Mountbatten-Abarelli) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: Being the "second capital" of the Monarchy Free State of Talamis
Type: Free State (Constitutional Republic) Cultural Sphere: Indus-Fomalhaut Best known for: Being a synthworld modeled after Ancient Greece Principality of Taxis
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Foreham) Cultural sphere: Alandricht-Quinten/Exogenous Best known for: Being home to the Taxians, an alien species. Duchy of Urgill
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Seythall) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: Its joint rule over Britannia with Chelsea. Free State of Wu-Bao
Type: Free State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten/Exogenous Best known for: Its strong "Sino-culture" influences and ties to Shangtao |
Principality of Arenberg
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Arenberg) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten/Exogenous Best known for: Being one of the few places to find the Spacer culture Kingdom of Barcelona
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Mountbatten-Hito) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: Being the "third capital" of the Monarchy Kingdom of Carthage
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Mountbatten-Hito) Cultural Sphere: Alandrict-Quinten Best known for: Being the seat of the Monarchy military intelligence Imperial State of Chelsea
Type: Imperial State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten/Exogenous Best known for: Its joint rule over Britannia with Urgill Imperial State of Demeter
Type: Imperial State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Indus-Fomalhaut Best known for: Its queens, who are clones of previous queens Imperial State of Kelpo-Quitalos
Type: Imperial State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Exogenous Best known for: Having 90% of its population be royal family members Principality of Lusatia
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Lamrice) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: Using gavelkind land tenure mechanisms Principality of Mantua
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Caulbow) Cultural sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: It's clan-based social structure and high-gravity genotype Kingdom of New Noyons
Type: Free State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten/Indus-Fomalhaut Best known for: It's unusual blend of Monarchy and Indus cultures. Principality of Pyrrha
Type: Imperial State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Indus-Fomalhaut Best known for: Its majority Anata and Samajha populations Duchy of Sidon
Type: Free State (Constitutional Monarchy) Cultural Sphere: Indus-Fomalhaut Best known for: It's unique Sidonian "Umbral" genotype Duchy of Tanis
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the House of Foreham-Brownell) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten Best known for: The extinct alien civilization that lived on Tanis. Principality of Tyre
Type: Imperial Estate (ruled over by the "House" of Santille) Cultural Sphere: Alandricht-Quinten/Exogenous Best known for: Being ruled over by monarchical AGIs and cybershells. Free City of Utica
Type: Free City (Constitutional Republic) Cultural Sphere: Exogenous Best known for: It's complex guild socialism structure Why on earth would I have any interest in him? His house is a lower house and to suggest that I might even have a passing fancy is practically an insult. Did you know - not only is he a boorish, drunkard oaf who has more interest in chasing the skirts of the maids than he does running an estate, but did you know that he ran for the office of prince twice? And he failed twice. Both times; he lost by double digit margins, so naturally his father had to create a non-landed marquis title for him, especially after four of the scullery maids accused him of rape and assault. And he isn't the only man like that. All of these upper class men are no-name, no-talent men whose only saving grace is that they have fathers who are some sort of minor title that can materialize a non-landed grant for an entitled son in a desperate bid to keep him out of trouble. |
Kingdom of Alandricht
Current Events: Alandrict is currently in the process of modernizing; the planet consists mostly of meta-villages that ruled over by feudal landed nobles, but Queen Charlotte has expressed an interest in constructing a handful of independent cities that are ruled over by the Queen and the House of Mountbatten-Hito directly, which may upset the status quo of the world and unbalance the feudal order. Kingdom of Barcelona
Current Events: The recent construction of Highcastle and it's attendant defense network has some wondering of the Monarchy is going to relocate from Alandricht to Barcelona, although Queen Charlotte insists this isn't true. Highcastle is one of the most modern defense networks in the Monarchy, and is rumored to make use of LAIs and highly advanced expert systems, as well as fusion power networks. Principality of Castell
Current Events: Castell remains focused on the ongoing exploration into the Lucan aliens, as well as their culture and their history. Meanwhile, several royal charters have been granted to a handful of socialist guilds to try to expand the farm networks around the major meta-villages that form the heart of the Principality, with the goal of increasing food production. Imperial State of Demeter
Current Events: Demeter is ground-zero for the Indus revival movement, which some in the Monarchy have suggested might post a long term threat to the stability of the government. The Queens are sympathetic but they haven't come out in total favor, noting that while the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization was very power, revival isn't necessarily practical. Some within the government disagree. Free State of Leonia
Current Events: Leonia's odd native genotype is becoming the subject of fascination among those who study such genotypes, and this is causing a lot of unwanted attention to the otherwise reclusive free state, and while there's no law that protects the genotype, a number of individuals have been moving for one, to avoid exploitation. Principality of Mantua
Current Events: Mantua is once again locked in a violent conflict between the four clans as they battle out to see which clan will become the one that provide the next Prince of Mantua, following the death of the last one. This infighting has gotten Mantua banned from a number of lists until it is solved, which will likely happen within the next fear years once one clan gets a clear victory over the others. Duchy of Providence
Current Events: The Highcastle security expansion in Phoenicia has see the Duchy looking for ways to expand their particular influence on the Monarchy military as well, with the Duchy of Providence and the Providence Royal Militia Company outfighting their stations with stronger defensive equipment in the event of a war with the Imperium, or some other power (and to flex the Duchy's muscle). Duchy of Sidon
Current Events: the Duchy is one of the few former parts of the Indus Fomalhaut civilization that hasn't experienced a push for rebirth, and the Duke of Sidon is currently pushing back against the meme (and again the perceived power grab by the Prince of Pyrrha). It, along with Talamis, form the core of the so-called "Anti-Rebirth" bloc, which is devoted to Monarchy stability and long term success. Principality of Taxis
Current Events: Taxis is currently home to a push between preservationist nobles and nobles who want to uplift the alien taxians that call the planet home. Currently, the Prince is sympathetic to the preservationist nobles, invoking something similar to the Star Trek Prime Director, or promoting non-interference, as the best way forward. However, a growing number of nobles are arguing otherwise. Free City of Utica
Current Events: The complex web of alliances within the city has once again boiled over into street conflict between the various guilds, although the community leadership is used to those sort of violence and so ongoing attempts to expand the habitat are being undertaken despite these violent attacks and counterattacks by the various guilds. It's likely this will pass soon. |
Principality of Arenberg
Current Events: Arenberg is in the process of expanding its holdings through the rest of the Arenberg asteroid, a costly project that several of the socialist guilds within the principality have taken on the cost of. Meanwhile, the Prince of Arenberg and the duchess of Gyronny are preparing to celebrate a potential marriage between the house of Arenberg and the House of Montbarry, strenghtening the alliance. Free State of Britannia
Current Events: The widespread adoption of the Avatar genotype has Gentannica, the company that markets it, eying a potential upgrade. Meanwhile, the scars of the past war between Urgill and Chelsea over who controls the planet and the population are still very visible, but new contracts and treaties have served to reinforce the idea that war is truly behind the three powers. Imperial State of Chelsea
Current Events: Chelsea has recently cemented its relationship with Urgill with a statement confirming the joint-rule over Britannia between the two. Meanwhile, the Arean world has started renovating several of its major cities, and is in the process of trying to boost its economy after the centuries of war it was locked in with Urgill over control of Britannia and the surrounding system. Principality of Gyronny
Current Events: The Duchess of Gyronny is set to marry the Prince of Arenberg, which would further strength ties, both economic and social, between the two habitats. Some within the Monarchy are also worried it might move Gyronny, and House Montbarry away from the Alandricht-Quinten Bloc and deeper into the Exogenous bloc, since Arenberg is best known for its spacer populations. Principality of Lusatia
Current Events: Lusatia is recently recoverin from a particularly violent spat of infighting over the ownership of land tenure, which has resulted in a process similar to Gavelkind being adopted to avoid anymore future fight. There is also talk about investing more heavily in local infrastructure as well, in the wake of the infighting. Kingdom of Neo-Nyendi
Current Events: The Kingdom continues to growth its large wealth, mostly through trade with Shangtao, and seeks to expand its influence in the Monarchy by exerting economic influence over its smaller nations. The Kingdom is also deeply interested in the Mali ancestor simulation, and has been attempting to gain access (or perhaps even control) over that simulation for some time. Principality of Pyrrha
Current Events: As a former part of the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization, the Principality has seen the rapid spread of the Indus-Fomalhaut rebirth meme. The Principality is likely using this meme to spread its influence over the other former IF states and territories, although the leadership of the Principality don't particularly appear to support it, or if they do, they support a watered down version. Free State of Talamis
Current Events: The Talamis synthworld has recently united many of the opposing city-states under a single government, and like the Duchy of Sidon, has little patience for further division within the Monarchy as a result of this tenuous allegiance. It, along with the Duchy of Sidon, have formed the core of the "Anti-Rebirth" bloc. It has also started outreach programs to the Aeterna synthworld, as well. Principality of Tyre
Current Events: Tyre is highly unstable by most Monarchy standards. Santille isn't formally recognized and Tyre isn't formally a member, and so there's a growing struggle between those who want to keep cybershells and those who promote cybercores. The Prince has recently survived another assassination attempt (the fifth; he failed to survive the first three) and the situation is growing less and less stable. Free State of Wu-Bao
Current Events: in the wake of the Indus-Fomalhaut rebirth movements, the Free State has attempted to tighten its relationships with the various other members of Sino-Culture, including Shangtao, in a move that has some within the Monarchy concerned. Wu-Bao insists that it will remain loyal to the Monarchy, but it feels that cultural ties are every bit as important as political loyalties. |
Free State of Arided
Current Events: The ongoing terraforming operation of its Mars-like environment has entered into the first stage, with the socialist guilds that underpin the Free State working alongside TerraGenesis. Arided has also recently made overtures to join the Verge Terraforming Lobby, one of the largest lobbies overseen by Bluefall. However, they still receive pushback from a staunch preservationist movement. Kingdom of Carthage
Current Events: Like Barcelona, it's terrestrial moon, Carthage has benefited from the completion of the Highcastle Defense Network. Similarly, several new orbital habitats are in the works, all of them owned by the Royal Arms Company, which is one of the largest military tech producers in the Monarchy (and is one of the few companies with a royal charter that is traded on the VEX). Free State of Cyra
Current Events: Cyra is in the process of undergoing a number of renovations; a huge amount of money was given the Free State by Queen Charlotte and the rest of the Monarchy, likely as an attempt to persuade them away from anarchist sympathies given the importance of the habitat to trade within and around the Alandricht system, and how close it is to the capital. Imperial State of Kelpo-Quitalos
Current Events: The Imperial State of Kelpo-Quitalos has recently introduced one of the first reputation networks within the Monarchy, with the aim of attempting to institute a new type of secession and transference of land rites based on how much one does for the state and the royal family as a whole. This new model will likely be the eventual model for any widespread model the Monarchy adopts. Duchy of Manaan
Current Events: Manaan has recently launched an expedition to try and map the ocean floor of their water world, which is a large bathypelagic ocean world. The hope is that eventually they'll have a detailed map of where all the oceanic vents and openings are, so they can begin to build structures to take advantage of the geothermal activity. Kingdom of Neo-Noyons
Current Events: The Kingdom is currently experiencing the twin pulls of loyalty to the Monarchy with the Indus-Fomalhaut Civilization rebirth meme, with many in the leadership happy to keep it in the Monarchy while a growing number of citizens, disenfranchised with the Monarchy and its failings, are pushing to try and get the Kingdom to be ground zero for the Indus-Fomalhaut rebirth. Kingdom of Quinten
Current Events: Quinten's major urban areas have experienced fast growth over the last few years and many of them are struggling to keep up, while the rich and elite continue to live behind gated communities. This sort of inequality which is seen as normal in the Monarchy is quickly turning toxic on the Monarchy's second capital, likely as a result of the Traditional Catholic Church trying to undermine the Oranges. Duchy of Tanis
Current Events: Research into the aliens species that lived on Tanis consumes much of the Duchy's efforts and time, and explains why the Dutchy has recently consolidated and move away from the feudal model, much to the frustration of various land-holding nobles who no longer have people to command. The Duke is all consumed by the exploration project, however, and so does not care or isn't aware. Duchy of Urgill
Current Events: Urgill has recently confirmed that it plans to share joint ownership over the Free State of Britannia with the Imperial State of Chelsea after several years of conflict and war over control of the Free State, before it was granted pseudo-independence. The situation remains complex and unstable, although Charlotte has made it her goal to try and bring peace to this particular region, and she appears to be succeeding. |