Dirtying up the Third Imperium
Feb. 13th, 2010 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreOne of my major complaints about the Third Imperium is it reads like a children's history book. Loyal nobles work cheerfully for the betterment of all, the Navy patrols and fights with no hint of political ambition, worlds as far apart as the US is from Saudi Arabia in terms of culture peacefully co-exist. It's pretty much bilge. Where's the greed and ambition? where's Baron Edmund Blackadder, scheming to gain the ducal seat from under the nose of the current inbred moron who holds it? With a little creative re-writing, we can make the Imperium a far more interesting, and adventure worthy place.
I'm going to start with the Civil War (604-622) My first question is why would a series of admirals even think they could seize the throne? We need to examine the Imperium at the time. In this pre-Xboat era, the frontiers were years away. News traveled slowly. Local nobles were far more powerful in terms of decision making and lack of supervision. A good parallel would be the Holy Roman Empire; the nobles acknowledged the Emperor, but the "Imperial Navy" was mostly locally controlled. Which brings me to the second point. The Navy served the same function the Catholic Church did to Terran nobility. It was a separate power structure that was the destination for second sons who could have commission bought for them (Daddy built the Navy, Sonny enters as a Commander. Y'all got a problem with that, soon-to-be-ex-Admiral? Didn't think so.) Since they were raised for this role, the majority of them did a good job. They're main job was to spread the family influence. Duke Arthur may be the de jure ruler of the subsector, but if the family of the Baron of Fred's World has permeated the navy command ranks, the Duke has a real problem.
The Imperium was not a nation, it was a true feudal state. Family and the rule of man was more important than the rule of law.
This is why Plankwell was an idiot. He may well have been a military genius, but he didn't have the backing of the Core nobles. So once he bumped off Jaqueline I, his days were numbered. Since Jaqueline lacked a legitimate heir, the scramble was on. Every noble family with a large enough support base went for the throne. Since all these admirals were also powerful nobles, they were, in a way, legitimate contenders. However, the act of seizing the throne tended to force alliances of convenience between the other claimants to get rid of the immediate threat. Assassinations, covert sabotage ops, smuggling endangered nobles, the chaos of war covering other opportunities, and has anyone seen the Crown Jewels recently? The Civil War should be a rich playing environment!
Oh, and since I love a good conspiracy theory, Jaqueline I re-intergrated Terra into the Imperium in 588. Was her assassination paid for by Terran separatists hoping to create a Civil War that would allow a resurgent Rule of Man? Now there's a fun mystery campaign for you to run.
But now Arbellatra Khatami Alkhalikoi. Born 587, and by 615 was Grand Admiral of the Marches. At the age of 28! The daughter of the Duke of Rhylanor was either a prodigy or had her commission purchased, or both. After defeating the Outworld Coalition in 620, she marches to the Core and defeats Gustus at the Second Battle of Zhimaway. Wait, in less than two years, she gathers her fleet, moves from the central Spinward Marches to the Core, gathers enough intelligence to make a strategic plan, and fights a decisive battle? At the time, most of her warships would have been Jump-3. Here's what I think happened, and it makes for some great campaign ideas.
The Vilani had been watching the Civil War with some alarm. The destabilization and chaos was threatening to grow, and Vargr raiders were getting bolder as more assets were moved to the Core for reinforcements. Knowing the Solomani purist nobility would never accept a Vilani noble on the Iridium Throne, they contacted a friendly noble family asking for a young, experienced battle commander to take the throne as a Regent. After a decent interval, that Regent would be crowned. In exchange, the Vilani provided the fleet and up-todate intelligence. Arbellatra was taken off the battlefield in late 618, whisked to Vilani space, and given time to train up her fleet before moving in.
There was one final codicil to the agreement. Arbellatra or her heir would marry a Vilani noble to break the Solomani domination of the court.
I'm certain that more than anything else, quiet diplomacy did as much to end the Civil War as the Second Battle of Zhimaway. Political reality and the promises of rewards probably got numerous families to agree to the end of hostilities. Enough noble families had down enough to warrant being stripped of their titles, and that alone created the opportunities for newly-enthusiastic supporters of the Regency to move up the social ladder.
"But Doug!" I hear you ask "Didn't the Regency conduct a thorough search for legitimate Zhunastu or Lentuli heirs?" Why yes they did. Exhaustive. Sort of the way the NKVD searched for relatives of the Romanovs. I'm quite certain that Arbellatra's Naval Intelligence agents (also provided by those helpful Vilani) made sure that anyone with even the slightest claim to the throne caught a bad cold, walked around the horses, committed suicide, or just ceased to exist, both physically and in any official record. Records stores on several worlds suffered unfortunate fires or malfunctions in the sprinkler systems.
The wild card in this is Cleon II. He left the Core, after all, and wandered the frontier. Who knows if he left any intanct lines by the 620s?
So, there you go. a much dirtier view of the Civil War and the Regency. Brimming with adventure and campaign possibilities. Comments?
I'm going to start with the Civil War (604-622) My first question is why would a series of admirals even think they could seize the throne? We need to examine the Imperium at the time. In this pre-Xboat era, the frontiers were years away. News traveled slowly. Local nobles were far more powerful in terms of decision making and lack of supervision. A good parallel would be the Holy Roman Empire; the nobles acknowledged the Emperor, but the "Imperial Navy" was mostly locally controlled. Which brings me to the second point. The Navy served the same function the Catholic Church did to Terran nobility. It was a separate power structure that was the destination for second sons who could have commission bought for them (Daddy built the Navy, Sonny enters as a Commander. Y'all got a problem with that, soon-to-be-ex-Admiral? Didn't think so.) Since they were raised for this role, the majority of them did a good job. They're main job was to spread the family influence. Duke Arthur may be the de jure ruler of the subsector, but if the family of the Baron of Fred's World has permeated the navy command ranks, the Duke has a real problem.
The Imperium was not a nation, it was a true feudal state. Family and the rule of man was more important than the rule of law.
This is why Plankwell was an idiot. He may well have been a military genius, but he didn't have the backing of the Core nobles. So once he bumped off Jaqueline I, his days were numbered. Since Jaqueline lacked a legitimate heir, the scramble was on. Every noble family with a large enough support base went for the throne. Since all these admirals were also powerful nobles, they were, in a way, legitimate contenders. However, the act of seizing the throne tended to force alliances of convenience between the other claimants to get rid of the immediate threat. Assassinations, covert sabotage ops, smuggling endangered nobles, the chaos of war covering other opportunities, and has anyone seen the Crown Jewels recently? The Civil War should be a rich playing environment!
Oh, and since I love a good conspiracy theory, Jaqueline I re-intergrated Terra into the Imperium in 588. Was her assassination paid for by Terran separatists hoping to create a Civil War that would allow a resurgent Rule of Man? Now there's a fun mystery campaign for you to run.
But now Arbellatra Khatami Alkhalikoi. Born 587, and by 615 was Grand Admiral of the Marches. At the age of 28! The daughter of the Duke of Rhylanor was either a prodigy or had her commission purchased, or both. After defeating the Outworld Coalition in 620, she marches to the Core and defeats Gustus at the Second Battle of Zhimaway. Wait, in less than two years, she gathers her fleet, moves from the central Spinward Marches to the Core, gathers enough intelligence to make a strategic plan, and fights a decisive battle? At the time, most of her warships would have been Jump-3. Here's what I think happened, and it makes for some great campaign ideas.
The Vilani had been watching the Civil War with some alarm. The destabilization and chaos was threatening to grow, and Vargr raiders were getting bolder as more assets were moved to the Core for reinforcements. Knowing the Solomani purist nobility would never accept a Vilani noble on the Iridium Throne, they contacted a friendly noble family asking for a young, experienced battle commander to take the throne as a Regent. After a decent interval, that Regent would be crowned. In exchange, the Vilani provided the fleet and up-todate intelligence. Arbellatra was taken off the battlefield in late 618, whisked to Vilani space, and given time to train up her fleet before moving in.
There was one final codicil to the agreement. Arbellatra or her heir would marry a Vilani noble to break the Solomani domination of the court.
I'm certain that more than anything else, quiet diplomacy did as much to end the Civil War as the Second Battle of Zhimaway. Political reality and the promises of rewards probably got numerous families to agree to the end of hostilities. Enough noble families had down enough to warrant being stripped of their titles, and that alone created the opportunities for newly-enthusiastic supporters of the Regency to move up the social ladder.
"But Doug!" I hear you ask "Didn't the Regency conduct a thorough search for legitimate Zhunastu or Lentuli heirs?" Why yes they did. Exhaustive. Sort of the way the NKVD searched for relatives of the Romanovs. I'm quite certain that Arbellatra's Naval Intelligence agents (also provided by those helpful Vilani) made sure that anyone with even the slightest claim to the throne caught a bad cold, walked around the horses, committed suicide, or just ceased to exist, both physically and in any official record. Records stores on several worlds suffered unfortunate fires or malfunctions in the sprinkler systems.
The wild card in this is Cleon II. He left the Core, after all, and wandered the frontier. Who knows if he left any intanct lines by the 620s?
So, there you go. a much dirtier view of the Civil War and the Regency. Brimming with adventure and campaign possibilities. Comments?
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Date: 14 Feb 2010 18:42 (UTC)As to eyesight (and age), that's what I was told by one of the SJG managers, speaking as a representative of the company on the company forums (Pyramid newsgroups).
Pyramid is produced in colour — clearly some customers prefer it.
Anyway, I told SJG my preferences, and the reasons for them. If they choose to do something different that is their prerogative — Steve's business, after all — but as long as they produce products I don't like* they have lost me as a customer. Like I said, they have decided that it's not worth catering to my market segment.
*Or cost more than I'm willing to pay: they charge the same for B&W as for colour, yet B&W is cheaper to produce…