Style Guide: The Feudal Cultures

[Last Order]

THE FEUDAL CULTURES OVERVIEW Feudal worlds are a noteworthy subtype of Imperial world where the population has a distinct culture, belief, and political system that deviates from the Imperial norm and reflects a more feudalistic nature found in Terra's history. These worlds are often, but not always, associated with a low technology level, in which they've never achieved industrialization, but have at least gotten beyond the iron age. These worlds feature, rather unequivocally, societies structured around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor. In essence, those who have land provide that land, and possibly other features like military protection and legal governance, in exchange for the service and labor of those who live on that land. In the Corinthean system there are two worlds that operate under feudalist structures: Tiryn and Corinthe. Despite being within the same system, these two planets have taken radically different paths in their society and technology, but are still feudal at their cultural core. This style guide is designed to give insight into these two prominent culture types within the Corinthean system so that they can be accurately represented by all members, or at least more coherently.  CORINTHEAN FUEDALISM HOUSE MORA AND THEIR VASSALS Corinthe is, in part, an imperial knight world. It is a planet ruled by an ancient dynasty from the earliest days of mankind's dominion in space, and from that ruling dynasty stems the feudalist nature of Corinthe. Everything, or at least, everything not under the control of the Adeptus Mechanicus, belongs directly to the high monarch. The more ambitious could possibly put together a case to say that the land now occupied by the Mechanicus is merely leased, and thus, still owned by the High Monarch, but few are bold enough to try their hand at that argument except behind closed doors and among close friends. The land of Corinthe, particularly the massive hive cities, is under the governance of the high monarch, but to control and maintain such a vast territory would be impossible for one person, thus they resort to the basic precepts found in feudalism. The high monarch owns the land, but has, over time, established vassals called barons, men and women who have pledged their fealty to the high monarch's dynasty. Aside from everlasting loyalty, the barons were saddled with certain obligations as conditions of their vassalage. In exchange, they have been granted territories and various holdings. They are expected to govern these territories, ensure production quotas are met, tithes are extracted wholly and in a timely manner, and when the cause calls for it, the barons gather under the high monarch's banner and march to war.  The Great House Mora House Mora has held dominion over Corinthe for many millennia, and prior to the great crusade, they were the sole rulers of the planet. However, the fading knowledge and skill needed to repair and maintain, much less build, their knights meant that House Mora was faced with rapidly dwindling power and a host of problems associated with it. To solve their worsening problem, House Mora entered entered into a partnership with the Adeptus Mechanicus. In exchange for the services of trained sacristans, the Adeptus Mechanicus would be given several regions of Corinthe to build the facilities necessary to manufacture new knights and to maintain them. Of course, over time, House Mora made more concessions and the the Adeptus Mechanicus took more and more, eventually resulting in the mighty ecumenopolis Corinthe is today. The agreement between these two powers may not have directly favored House Mora in the long run, as the Adeptus Mechanicus now has just as much, or perhaps even more, influence and control over the planet than House Mora does, but that balance shifts back to favor House Mora when the scope of the situation is expanded. For a long time, House Mora only controlled Corinthe. Even the other worlds within the system were in contention and unclaimed by the powerful warriors because they lacked the means to travel effectively. The knights had always been intended to defend Corinthe, not expand beyond it's atmosphere. However, as the Adeptus Mechanicus settled in, they were able to provide House Mora with what they needed to expand their influence: void ships.  With ships able to transport their knights beyond Corinthe, House Mora began expanding their influence, and quickly brought the rest of the system under heel. It was not long after that they begin looking towards the rest of the sub-sector, and then beyond. Their partnership helped House Mora gain a level of independence that let them expand and crusade at their pleasure, rather than relying upon the Imperium's fleets to collect them and ship their knights to some distant part of the galaxy to fight with little benefit to House Mora. As Corinthe's position in the Imperium solidified and they established themselves as a minor power, House Mora was given the honor of lordship over the entire sector. Even at the dawn of the Era Indomitus, House Mora held tightly to that power they had culminated over the years, but their High Monarch, Thaddeus Mora, faces a new challenge. Corinthe is cut off from the rest of the Imperium and left to face a multitude of enemies on her own. The Barons of Corinthe Corinthe's massive and sprawling hive cities are governed by local lords who oversee numerous districts and zones within the hives. Many of these barons and their households were established as vassals to House Mora thousands of years ago, with some dating back to The Forging, or the Golden Age of the Imperium.  Some have risen, only to fall out of favor, be overtaken by rivals, or wiped out in warfare, but whenever one baron falls, another is soon to take their place. That is the way of Corinthe. There is no household that cannot be replaced, and no baron too important that they cannot be undone. However, for those who are staunchly loyal and fulfill their duties there is honor and prosperity aplenty. All baronial households have their seat of power. These manors, palaces, fortresses or other domiciles tend to be designed to their family's proclivities or specialties, but they all serve an important and easily overlooked role. They are a vault for the most important thing each household maintains, and contrary to expectations, it is not their knights, but their family genealogies.  A baron wields considerable political influence, possesses great social clout, and commands a number of imperial knights in battle, but this all becomes meaningless without their genealogy. Everything a baron is stems from their family's oath of vassalage to House Mora, and these genealogies keep precise and extensive records of who is beholden to that oath, and thus can reap the benefits.  Without their genealogy, a baron could lose everything. This is doubly true when going to war. Each loss must be replaced, and that replacement is found through the family's records. If there are no records, a replacement cannot be found, the line of inheritance cannot be verified, and the ties to the oath of vassalage comes into question. To ensure the validity, sanctity, and protection of their genealogies, the barons - even House Mora - keep close relationships with the Order of the Key, an Orders Famulous of the Adepta Sororitas.  These records are kept safe, often well-protected within their family fortresses alongside the vaults housing their knights and armigers where few are allowed to tread.  Those who can walk the hallowed gene-vaults is limited to just the baron, their closest blood-relatives, and the members of the Order of the Key. The similarly restricted Sanctuaries where the knights are kept and maintained see few beyond the Sacristans of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the noble family members who pilot the mighty imperial knights, and their bondsmen who march to war at their side in the lesser armigers. These sanctuaries vary in size, with the average baron having only a small handful of knights at their disposal. The most powerful of baronial households have upward of a dozen, while the lesser barons may have only one or two. Each baron will expand their retinues with armigers, the lightest class of knights, which are piloted by lesser family members, elevated household guards, or other noteworthy underlings. These individuals, known as bondsman, may have a lesser status than the knight pilots, but are still valued members of the baron's house. They will accompany the knights into battle, often in pairs with a single knight or operating in smaller groups on their own where they use their exceptional mobility to disrupt enemy lines. A baron and their house is not all about war, though. They must also govern, and the way each baron approaches that task can vary wildly. A baron's fief generally does not have an arbites presence, and instead relies upon the baron who serves as judge and their household guard serve as keepers of the peace. Most barons, however, have a tendency to relieve their personal guard from that duty and elevate enforcers from their peasantry to deal with it for them. These swathes of enforcers stalk the streets of the hives and are rarely better than gangs of thugs and often the only difference is their slightly better equipment and their tabards in the household's colors. Generally resented, occasionally feared, and almost universally viewed with contempt, these enforcers become the private armies of the barons, and many have gotten complacent in the past only to be surprised when their lord drags them off to war. TIRYNESE FEUDALISM SUB-HEADER Amet facilisis magna etiam tempor orci eu. Enim eu turpis egestas pretium aenean pharetra magna ac. At in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. Nec nam aliquam sem et tortor consequat id. Consequat nisl vel pretium lectus quam id leo in vitae. Urna molestie at elementum eu facilisis. Massa tincidunt dui ut ornare lectus sit amet est. Sodales ut eu sem integer vitae justo eget. Vestibulum sed arcu non odio. Orci nulla pellentesque dignissim enim sit. Donec enim diam vulputate ut pharetra. Aenean vel elit scelerisque mauris. Risus in hendrerit gravida rutrum quisque non tellus. Luctus accumsan tortor posuere ac ut consequat semper viverra nam. Pretium vulputate sapien nec sagittis aliquam malesuada bibendum arcu. 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