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Feudal Stars


Steve

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"He can't have both powers!  It's impossible!"

 

Rare mutants such as this could become the subject of intrigue between the guilds as each tries to lure him away from the other, or kidnap him outright.  Or better yet, he could serve as a spy for one guild while serving in another...

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Or you just say, "It's political." The two guilds try to recruit the dual-function psionic, 'cause it's a way to cut into the other side's monopoly and aggrandize themselves.

 

Likewise, there will be ad-hoc accomodations for a noble who develops psionic talents, based on the relative power and interests of the noble's family and the two guilds' local branches.

 

One of the features that distinguishes such a quasi-feudal system is that it's a government of men, not of laws. Absolute rules matter less than negotiation between influential individuals. (Which is often true in Modern Real Life too, but in a feudal or traditional society, people might not bother to pretend it's otherwise.) Keeping up the appearance of tradition matters too, but that too is merely another interest to balance rather than an absolute law.

 

Dean Shomshak

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People are raising good points about multiple psionic talents and the treatment of nobility.

 

In the case of a psionic noble, only children would probably have an out, depending on the political strength of the family in question. An only son I could see having the strongest case, an only daughter less so and even weaker cases for the younger children who would not inherit.

 

In the latter case, going Into one of the guilds might be a step up, something like how younger sons would enter the priesthood in the Middle Ages.

 

Someone having both gifts would be such a rarity that perhaps it hasn't happened yet. A PC could be the first.

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A noble family might even *want* to have a relative in one of the Guilds, as a way to gain influence and sweetheart deals. Like you say, just like noble families and the Catholic Church. Hey, if Junior plays his cards well, he might end up running the Guild the way the Borgias held the papacy. Or at least Junior might run the local Guild franchise, to the grea benefit of his family.

 

Which reminds me, have you given any thoughts to the religions or ideologies of the Feudal Stars?

 

Dean Shomshak

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I have given some thought to the matter. In keeping with the feudal theme, an homage to the Catholic Church seems to be the default (looking at Fading Suns and Warhammer 40K). However, it could be interesting if a form of Buddhism or Hinduim is the main religion, but those two religions aren't very centralized and dogmatic from what little I know of them.

 

My other option is to initiate fusion using several different religions and see what I can make of the mix. Such a fusion could explode in my face or produce something like the Jedi Order.

 

I'd like a centralized religion of some kind, since priests and nuns make for interesting antagonists and friendly NPCs if done right. One of my most memorable NPCs from SpaceMaster was Cardinal Synn of the Dia Khovaria (that game's version of the Catholic Church). He was like a Catholic Dark Jedi.

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I have given some thought to the matter. In keeping with the feudal theme, an homage to the Catholic Church seems to be the default (looking at Fading Suns and Warhammer 40K). However, it could be interesting if a form of Buddhism or Hinduim is the main religion, but those two religions aren't very centralized and dogmatic from what little I know of them.

 

My other option is to initiate fusion using several different religions and see what I can make of the mix. Such a fusion could explode in my face or produce something like the Jedi Order.

 

I'd like a centralized religion of some kind, since priests and nuns make for interesting antagonists and friendly NPCs if done right. One of my most memorable NPCs from SpaceMaster was Cardinal Synn of the Dia Khovaria (that game's version of the Catholic Church). He was like a Catholic Dark Jedi.

 

 

Take a look at some of today's "prank" religions, like Discordianism, Pastafarianism, Bokononism, or the Church of Sub-Genius. Then mash it up with a so-called "real" religion and see what happens....

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" how should I parcel it among Dukedoms, Baronies, etc? Divide it into cubes of a certain number of light-years on a side maybe?"
That aint how feudalism works.  Every noble house got it's territories by a combination of war victories, payment for services rendered to a higher-up (possibly military, possibly not), marriage, threats, bribes, court cases, treachery, legitimate purchases and sucking up to the king.  That leads to some VERY messy borders.   

 

So take for instance the House of Astropedestria (abbrev. HOAP).  It was originally founded by Ekul Astropedestria, a commoner (and rumored bastard*) who was awarded the poor, low-tech forest world of Nivay in direct royal vassalage for bravery and skill in the battle of the same name by King .  Ekul married the third daughter, Aiel, of the very poor and powerless House of Olos (abbrev. HOO).  The dowry was only a small moon with a barely profitable mining colony.  Even with the dowry the HOAP could field an "escorted cruiser"** and about a thousand Arms***.  

 

During the Second Onirroc Revolt the HOO's leige lord Nalurl the Irate (of the House of Lelak abbrev. HOL) was unable to protect them, and much of their territory was taken by rebel nobles.  Eluk and his sons (and to some extent even his daughters, the Astropestrian line seems to breed lethal ladies) took back the planets of Nolyc, Remoob, Kubrats. and Susagep.  Their relatives decided to give some of it to them in gratitude (and because the Eluk's forces controlled it anyway and would be hard to dislodge if they wanted to keep it).  Nalurl, wasn't pleased about this because the HOAP wasn't one of his vassals and so the money and feudal obligations would pass from him to the King Rimisah. Eluk refused to become Nalurl's vassal for these planets as he thought that his negligence had lost these systems in the first place.  Nalurl was a Grand Duke, owning over 100 systems and with forces of several Dreadnought fleets**** he was incensed that an upstart common-born with such a pitiful forces wouldn't give him everything he wanted.   Only the intervention of the King calmed everybody down enough for Eluk to accept a compromise. Nolyc and Remoob were held by Eluk as vassal of the King, while he would hold Kubrats and Susagep he would hold as a vassal of the King.   This was fine for the first 3 years of the revolt when the King tried to strip the HOL of all it's possessions spinward of the Terranova for cowardice at the Battle of Notpyrk.  This was a colossal blunder that sent Nalurl into the arms of the Rebels.  

 

By this time the Eluk no longer directly held any of these systems (except Nivay), they were all held by his vassals.  Nolyc was given to to his first son Selin, and his wife's cousin by marriage Nehpad  on their wedding day.  Remoob  was given to the third son of Lord Reisarf (Sir Kiderf) in return for providing some of the ships and Arms necessary to protect the new planets and satisfy Ekul's feudal obligations.  The king had "suggested" that he accept Eocsirb, the brother of his consort Resalg for lord of Kubrats.  Ekul hated the idea but given he was on bad terms with a powerful lord and might need help against him or the Rebels accepted it.  Susagep had been given to a former rebel Nitram who deserted the Onirroc cause at an opportune time, tipping a crucial battle in Eluk's favor. 

 

So HOAP had feudal obligations to back Lord Nalurl with the forces of Nolyc and Remoob while opposing them with the forces of Kubrats, Susagep and Nivay.  His wife's family were all vassals of Lord Nalurl except her cousin and daughter in law Nehpad who was Eluk's vassal by her marriage to his son.   Nitram hearing a summary of this information is said to asked "When you figure out who I have to shoot, message me.".   

 

Nalurl solved the problem, sort of, by sending into the HOO's territory that were far too powerful for the HOAP to take on, even if they were united.  These forces however were ordered to hold territory, not advance.  Lord Nalurl could barely hold the territory of the HOO if the Royal forces made a concerted push.  Attacking HOAP planets would drain forces and force the King to reinforce them or abandon a vassal to an impossible situation.  To ensure that the forces the HOAP held as his vassal didn't betray him he sent them as far away as possible.  Specifically to the Nero front, where Rebels were threatening to cut supply lines to the capital.  Both Selin and Kiderf distinguished themselves throughout the remainder of the war, despite feeling that their lord didn't trust them.  By the rebels and the King came to terms they had taken 2 minor systems (Caligula and Claudius), 3 planets in 3 disputed systems and valueless rock somewhere near Anteres.  According to the terms of the treaty Lord Nalurl was allowed to keep any territory he held at the time of the signing.  He allowed Selin and Kiderf, to choose which of the minor systems they wanted to keep while trading the planets and the rock for territory he had lost elsewhere.  This territory was far from any other territory held by the HOAP and Selin's brothers would, at times refer to him as "their distant relative" because he spent so much time on Claudius.

 

Meanwhile the Loyalist side of the family did well from the war too, although not for the same reasons.  While no HOAP admiral or general was ever incompetent they were nowhere near as successful on the battlefront as the family Rebels. Lig and Leon, Ekul's other sons had some success but found that their ships were constantly needing more repairs and supplies than they expected, preventing any exploitation of their victories.  Eocsirb located the problem, whole damaged assemblies were being taken out of battle-damaged ships and replaced for quick turnaround.  These assemblies were taken apart and the parts sold as new to the fleets of the less powerful lords.  Some of thelords had realised this, butkept quiet as those who profited by the false labeling were powerful and connected.  Eocsirb gambled that his sister was even more connected and pushed for more and more investigation.  It wasn't long before he received several challenges to duels from professional deulists, "offended" by some question tangentially related to them.   This would have been fatal, if Lig and Leon hadn't challenged the challengers and won handily.  

 

Eocsirb spread the rumor that Lig or Leon would kill anyone who dueled him, except for people of higher rank than Viscount.  People believed this as they knew the HOAP was on shaky ground politically and couldn't risk killing powerful nobles.  He then practiced with the Blaster day and night, while allowing people to believe he was practicing with the energy sword.  Three very corrupt Earls were conned into doing their own dirty work for once.  

 

Eocsirb specified that they fight on a certain asteroid with high and unstable magnetic fields, using his granddad's old deuling blasters.  Directly before the deul told the Earls that these blasters did NOT compensate for magnetic fields, and the shots would curve.  He knew how to compensate for this as had studied the effect of magnetic fields on uncompensated blasters for years.  He had told them the date, the place and the weapon a day beforehand, so they couldn't complain about unfair conditions.  The Earls agreed to cooperate with his investigation, pay him a handsome sum for merely grazing them for honor's sake and grant the HOAP 2 systems close to Nivay.  

 

That turned the tide of the investigation and nobles who were connected to the corrupt trade started rolling on their superiors, bribing Eocsirb to ignore their crimes or simply threw their former comrades to the wolves and pretended ignorance.  Some tried to resist the tide but the combination of angry minor lords who had lost battles and friends to this treason, the influence of Resalg with the King, solid investigation by Eocsirb and Lady Zor (Ekul's daughter), the backbiting that came as everyone tried to roll on everyone else, and opportunistic score settling in the King's inner circle doomed most of the criminal conspiracy.  In return for exposing so many criminals (and for not ever implying the King got a cut*****).  Eocsirb was given a further 2 systems located coreward from Nivay  (one of which, Julius was in rebel hands, it has not ever been in the possesion of the Eocsirb, his descendants or the HOAP) and  confirmed his possession of the 2 system extracted from the deuling earls.  Lig and Leon were able to return to the battlefield and actually win useful victories, although by this stage they were not strategically significant, as war was negotiated to an end.  In return for saving his life when he was originally challenged by the professional duelists Eocsirb gave them each one of the planets.  This was a bit of a rash decision as it meant that, in the event that they inherited their father's title, they would be his liege lord and his vassal.  As it was he was their father's vassal and their lord.  This would only have gotten more confusing if he'd married Lady Zor as he appeared to be aiming for at one stage.  

 

At the end of the revolt the HOAP had 10 systems.  One was directly controlled by Ekul, 2 each held by Selin and Kiderf, 4 by Eocsirb but 2 of those were in turn held from him by Lig and Leon and one by Nitram.  The revolt had been good to the House.  However the territory it controlled was long and thin, with some systems completely disconnected and held in vassalage to 2 lords, who didn't get on.  This would complicate the history of the House for generations to come.  The fact that so much of their territory was held by one vassal affected the House's status and politics for some years.  Particularly when Resalg's son was claimed to be the Emporer's true heir some decades later.   The legal (and at time military) struggles of Eocsirb and his descendants to claim Julius continued for over a century and contributed to the Third Onirroc Revolt. After the Divni invasion 40 years later Caligula and Claudius were both lost to the Divni empire then regained by the forces of another noble house who made the HOAP swear fealty to it to regain those systems.  So the house had 3 liege lords for different territories. They swore that was the last time, and since then any time they have been asked to swear fealty for a territory they've paid money instead and held it as a vassal of the King.   

 

* Don't say that in front of a male of the Astropedian line, they tend to be very good with the energy sword.  Come to think of it don't say it in front of a FEMALE of the Astropedian line.  They're trained by the same teachers. 

** An escorted cruiser is a cruiser accompanied by 2 destroyers, 1 squadron of anti-capital-ship fighters and 1 squadron of anti-fighter fighters as well as tenders.

*** An Arm is a large humanoid vehicle accompanied by, 2 light artillery pieces, 3 light tanks and about 100 troops.  It is a standard unit of military strength in the Nearrift Sector.  

**** A Dreadnought escorted by 4 Battleships each escorted by 4 cruisers, each escorted as detailed above.  

*****  He probably did not know of the crimes, but he was bribed to get the original supply contract.

PS Sorry for all the terrible names. 

You have my permission to use this history, in part or whole, as you like, no rights reserved.  

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That's pretty awesome.

 

I've now abandoned the idea of neatly parceled sections of space, but it was a holdover from my time playing Traveller.

 

With gravity wells (shoals) providing limits on travel speed, I've started looking at how stars near to each other would provide barricades of sorts. Clusters of stars with terraformed worlds are almost fortresses, since the heaviest lines of defense can be set up at the edge of their common gravity shoal. Once a fleet gets past that, it will have to fight system-by-system at a speed of a light-year per day travel, unable to hide as a fleet can do so outside such shoals by going deeper into the Sea of Dirac.

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FTL travel makes use of what I am currently calling the "Minovsky Drive" to allow entry into the Sea of Dirac, an immaterial dimension located next to ours. In the Sea of Dirac are deeps and shallows, and many star systems sit on shoals in the Sea. The deeper one goes, the faster one can travel, but it requires a Navigator to go below the uppermost layer (which allows travel at about 1-2 Parsecs per week and can be navigated electronically without too much risk).

 

Going deeper into the Sea multiplies that base speed, but it is frighteningly easy to become lost in its depths and never reemerge back into normal space. A Navigator uses a form of Bump of Direction to know where they are within the Sea of Dirac and can go for up to a week without sleep using special meditative techniques and chemical assistance.

 

My current notion is thst shoals are formed by two or more star systems within a few light-years of each other.

 

The Sea of Dirac is also populated by strange forms of life, but such things stay down in its lower-most depths. There are also whispers in the darkness, even near the surface.

 

If having two or more star systems within a few light-years of each other means close to the core there will be more shoals.  Could there be other dangers near the core?   Perhaps where several shoals are close together?

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Feudalism, real historic feudalism that is, wasn't just a political system. It was a socioeconomic system. Nobility were essentially those who held land and power, while burghers, traders, tradesmen and other professionals constituted the equivalent of a middle class, and the majority of the populace were peasants who worked the land owned by the noblemen in exchange for the "right" to build a home and sell some of what they grew(pre-industrial Europe was heavily agrarian) for their own sustenance. The Church essentially existed to comfort the peasantry with the promise of a better life after this one, and to reinforce the socioeconomic hierarchy as part of the "divine right of kings" and the "chain of being".

 

So, if you're translating that to a sci-fi setting, a few key questions:

1. What do 90% of the populace do, exactly? These are the peasants or serfs that the lords rule over. How do they benefit from this arrangement? Do peasant revolts happen? How do the nobility keep them in line or pacified?

2. Are the professional guilds the equivalent of the middle class? Is this a possible way for a peasant to move up, if for example one shows psionic talent?

3. In the real feudal era, there were a number of "wild cards"--lords with power enough to challenge the king; mercenary armies; popes and cardinals with not just spiritual but temporal power; and "merchant princes" who held power rivaling the nobility. What are the equivalent powers to this in such a setting?

4. How powerful is organized religion, or the equivalent thereto? If you want a truly horrifying fictional religion, try combining Objectivism and Scientology!

5. How does one become a member of the nobility? Military service? A bribe paid to a high level aristocrat?

6. How does the King rule? Is there something equivalent to the Magna Carta, Parliament, a Roman style Senate, etc.? Do the Guilds get a say?

7. If there's no FTL communication, perhaps there's the equivalent of a "Pony Express"--a fast hyperdrive vessel that conveys messages(and VIPs) between systems.

 

Sounds like fun, though!

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If having two or more star systems within a few light-years of each other means close to the core there will be more shoals.  Could there be other dangers near the core?   Perhaps where several shoals are close together?

The core is not as well explored due to the slow travel speeds. It's essentially one large shoal area with a maximum speed of about 1 LY/day. Rebel groups, barbarians, heretics and other breakaway groups of humanity dwell there. Some of them are quite deep in the core stars, hundreds of light-years from the edge of the shoal.

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So how much control does the Empire have?  Is it like the "warring states" period in Japan where great lords continually fought each other and ignored the emperor?  Or is disobeying the central state rare, with just the occasional rebellion.

I'm leaning towards having a weak Emperor at this point or possibly a Council of Lords acting as regents for a child emperor.

 

Some Dukes and lesser lords are more bullying and warlike than others. Some are focused on trade, leading to some being quite wealthy.

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Feudalism, real historic feudalism that is, wasn't just a political system. It was a socioeconomic system. Nobility were essentially those who held land and power, while burghers, traders, tradesmen and other professionals constituted the equivalent of a middle class, and the majority of the populace were peasants who worked the land owned by the noblemen in exchange for the "right" to build a home and sell some of what they grew(pre-industrial Europe was heavily agrarian) for their own sustenance. The Church essentially existed to comfort the peasantry with the promise of a better life after this one, and to reinforce the socioeconomic hierarchy as part of the "divine right of kings" and the "chain of being".So, if you're translating that to a sci-fi setting, a few key questions:1. What do 90% of the populace do, exactly? These are the peasants or serfs that the lords rule over. How do they benefit from this arrangement? Do peasant revolts happen? How do the nobility keep them in line or pacified?2. Are the professional guilds the equivalent of the middle class? Is this a possible way for a peasant to move up, if for example one shows psionic talent?3. In the real feudal era, there were a number of "wild cards"--lords with power enough to challenge the king; mercenary armies; popes and cardinals with not just spiritual but temporal power; and "merchant princes" who held power rivaling the nobility. What are the equivalent powers to this in such a setting?4. How powerful is organized religion, or the equivalent thereto? If you want a truly horrifying fictional religion, try combining Objectivism and Scientology!5. How does one become a member of the nobility? Military service? A bribe paid to a high level aristocrat?6. How does the King rule? Is there something equivalent to the Magna Carta, Parliament, a Roman style Senate, etc.? Do the Guilds get a say?7. If there's no FTL communication, perhaps there's the equivalent of a "Pony Express"--a fast hyperdrive vessel that conveys messages(and VIPs) between systems.Sounds like fun, though!

I'm still working out the future history of the setting, but my current notion is that a Dark Age settled over the galaxy, causing a regression into feudalism. Peasants and serfs have more medical care and technology available to them, but it varies with the location. What seems to make a serf is more the inability to travel, so having some higher tech around would not seem to hinder that feel. While there is technology, it is maintained by rote in most places. Science has stalled and learning is reserved for the wealthy and powerful. A serf might know how to fix a powered rototiller, but not the science behind it.

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The members of the Guilds maintain a higher standard of living than peasants and serfs, so they are a large portion of the middle class, along with merchant clans and successful individuals. Membership is a way out of poverty, so psionic ability is valued for that in getting into the Communications and Navigation Guilds.

 

FTL communication is done two ways: starcasting (interstellar telepathy) and fast courier ships acting as a sort of Pony Express (like Traveller). Starcasting is used mainly for shorter messages and is coded in different ways to try and prevent interception. Fleet movements are coordinated this way, as well as reports from picket ships that an attack is happening on a system or cluster of systems.

 

The Council of Lords is more like a parliamentary system than anything else, perhaps with one Duke acting as a form of Shogun, although I have not thought out the politics.

 

The Church (working title) is somewhat like the one from Fading Suns right now in my head, and it wields some political power. If someone can read well, they can join the priesthood. Perhaps they also compete with the guilds for psionic-capable people. An arm of the Church could then be like the Jedi Knights.

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Another possibility would be a time period I am calling the Succession Wars. The Emperor is dead, but his children are squabbling over who will ascend to the Galactic Throne. The Emperor had a harem, but the Empress was barren or the designated heir died, leading to a question of succession.

 

The galaxy is divided into enormous Principalities, each of them overseeing vassals who are loyal(?) to their Prince/Princess. I could do this with as few as three heirs to maybe as many as a dozen or so.

 

The Church and Guilds remain officially neutral in the conflict, allowing them to play the heirs against each other.

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Another possibility would be a time period I am calling the Succession Wars. The Emperor is dead, but his children are squabbling over who will ascend to the Galactic Throne. The Emperor had a harem, but the Empress was barren or the designated heir died, leading to a question of succession.

 

The galaxy is divided into enormous Principalities, each of them overseeing vassals who are loyal(?) to their Prince/Princess. I could do this with as few as three heirs to maybe as many as a dozen or so.

 

The Church and Guilds remain officially neutral in the conflict, allowing them to play the heirs against each other.

 

Individual churchmen and Guild members of course, could play any number of angles.  Of course their higher-ups certainly didn't encourage or condone their activities.  Hey cathedrals don't fund themselves. 

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