Difference between revisions of "The Aveyrone Empire"

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==Emperors and Empresses of Aveyrone==
 
==Emperors and Empresses of Aveyrone==
  
 +
* Wolf - [[Marl Kizer]], r. 2247 - ??
 
* Ox - [[Idaia Storms]], r. 2234 - 2247
 
* Ox - [[Idaia Storms]], r. 2234 - 2247
 
* Lizard - [[Tristane Dizon]], r. 2196 - 2234
 
* Lizard - [[Tristane Dizon]], r. 2196 - 2234

Revision as of 13:20, 18 September 2008

The Empire is a large and diverse entity, and Diablotin encapsulates that diversity on a smaller scale. Merchants and bankers, beggars and thieves, knights and priests, all rub shoulders (and sometimes more intimate body parts) on a regular basis. That said, a short summary of some of the beliefs of the populace will be helpful, as long as you bear in mind that not all people are the same, and this is not an exhaustive list.

Government Structure

  • Emperor
  • Inner Council
    • Lord Chancellor
    • Lord Chamberlain
    • Lord Treasurer
    • Warlord
    • Patriarch
    • Secretary of State
    • Chief Sorcerer
  • Outer Council
    • all of the above
    • Lord Marshal of the Sacred Order of the Spoke
    • Lord Admiral
    • Master of Ceremonies
    • Lord Butler
    • Lords/Ladies of the Privy Chamber (6)
    • Master of Horse
    • Lord Steward
    • Captains of the Guard
    • Reverend Fathers/Mothers
  • Great Council
    • all of the above and all bearers of noble title

Titles and their holders (as of 2247)

  • Adrius Armitage, Lord Chancellor - head of the civil service and judiciary (appoints judges, distributes titles, diplomacy, information management, heads the Great Council when it is in session)
  • Leoncienne Silveira, Lady Chamberlain - head of the palace (appoints and manages palace staff, dispenses room and board to all inhabitants of the palace, manages state occasions)
  • Nestor Dryden, Lord Treasurer - in charge of all financial matters (taxation, tariffs, trade duties, salaries, expenditures, allowances)
  • Giliane Lail, Warlord - head of the military
  • Patriarch Morlan - head of the church
  • Claudine Bazan, Secretary of State - in charge of the Emperor's correspondence, decrees, and announcements
  • Lyra Hartzell, Chief Sorceress - oversees all magical matters
  • Butler Belden, Lord Marshal of the Sacred Order of the Spoke - head of paladins
  • Lord Admiral of the Fleet - head of navy, shipping
  • Mistress of Ceremonies - responsible for all pageantry, balls, and entertainments
  • Lord Butler - in charge of food and drink for the palace
  • Ladies of the Privy Chamber - help the Emperor with her personal toiletries and grooming, and accompany her much of the time
  • Master of Horse - in charge of transportation, stables, hunting, Emperor's security when she travels
  • Lord Steward - head of the servants of the palace, in charge of their supplies
  • Captains of the Guard: Trimmon Belden (Rhenea), Adam Kolbe (Pearl City), Vallis Brock (Place d'Iena), Hyacinthe Laverty (The Castalia), Cornelia Nash (The Grand), Amea Tavares (The Pavillion), Deveral Harnage (Imperial City)
  • Reverend Fathers/Mothers: Esmena vak Andras (Bear), Janina Kauzlarich (Lizard), Mayne Ridderkerk (Ox), Nestor Savelle (Wolf), Theron Conemaugh (Owl), Dainian Swiger (Cat), Velten du Champe (Rat)
  • Corwen Storms, Head of the Castalia

The Arch

The Arch is an ancient magical construct of unknown origin, which has existed since prior to the conquest of Saraknyal. It was formerly housed deep within the Imperial complex, where few people ever saw it. Candidates for the throne of the Empire, nominated by the Great Council, passed beneath it, and it was believed to select the one most fitting for the position. The unsuccessful candidates were often left mentally unstable or physically fragile, and some did not survive the process.

Ultimately the entity within the Arch proved malign in its intent, deliberately selecting rulers who would not live long in order to hasten its next 'feeding'.

The Arch was paralleled by a similar but inverted structure located beneath the Black Down. It was its move from its position atop the Down, and the binding of the Rat god within, which caused the fall of House Rat and many other subsequent problems. Its restoration to its proper place resolved at least some of those problems, but may have caused others. Only time will tell...

Diablotin

Law Enforcement

There is no police force in Diablotin, except for the Imperial Guards. The responsibilities of the guards are extensive, and can range from guarding the person of the Emperor to defending the city from invasion to arresting cutpurses. There is a hierarchy to the guards: at the very top is the Warlord, who is in charge of all military activities of the Empire. Next are the six Captains, each of whom commands a force of some 600 guards. Finally there are sixty Lieutenants, who each supervise sixty guards. New guards are generally put on the worst assignments - patrolling Pearl City or (even worse) the Shambles, for example. This has two benefits: it weeds out the incompetent and those who don't really want to be there, and it provides on-the-job training for more prestigious assignments. Guards in such situations are expected to patrol in groups of six members - it discourages slacking and corruption, and provides a certain measure of safety (at least in theory).

More recently, the Companions of Silence (aka the Hush) have begun to take charge in certain aspects of law enforcement. A mysterious and shady organization who are said to have members from all echelons of society, even the very highest. Rather than being directly involved in crime themselves, the Companions of Silence control and direct some of the lesser criminal gangs to keep them in order - in effect, "policing" the underworld.

Crime

There is a thriving criminal underworld in Diablotin. There is no formal thieves' guild; instead there are many diverse criminal syndicates operating sometimes with and sometimes against each other. Despite the best efforts of the guards, the numerous gangs and even more numerous lone criminals never seem to disappear - more often, they simply relocate to another part of the city. The guards are thus expected to focus their attention on murderers, career thieves, and violent offenders (rapists, arsonists, etc.), rather than the minor criminals such as beggars, prostitutes, and pickpockets. A guard who observes a minor crime in process would generally correct the situation, but would rarely actually arrest the offender. Diablotin's large prison, the Creux, is perpetually overfull, and is reserved for serious criminals only by informal tradition. The justice system is generally slow and ponderous, and prone to corruption.

Love, Sex, and Gender

Men and women are considered more or less equal in the Empire. Women are warriors, leaders, and rulers only slightly less often than men in most regions. Except among the upper nobility, marriages are not arranged by families, but are freely contracted between consenting adults of the same House. Young people are considered adults at the age of fifteen, and can marry after that point. Premarital sex is frequent, but is generally not a topic for polite conversation. Divorces are readily available (for a fee) in cases of abuse, bigamy, and impotence. Divorces on grounds of mutual incompatibility are more difficult (read: expensive), but are still possible, leaving both partners free to remarry. Some birth control is available, but its effectiveness is dubious. Abortions are available, and are encouraged in cases of inter-House pregnancy. They are not always safe and sanitary, but are sometimes preferable to the alternatives. Homosexuality is tolerated by some, criticized by others.

Religion

The faith of the Empire is the Way of the Wheel. It is an ancient belief system whose origins are lost in the mists of time. There are six deities, who are equated with the six Houses: the Bear, the Lizard, the Ox, the Wolf, the Owl, and the Cat. There are constellations with these names, which slowly rotate about a central point in the sky. Theologians take this as a symbol of the one greater, nameless God who rules over the rest, or perhaps is composed of the rest, but such matters are not the concern of ordinary people, who simply venerate the Six in their own right. The Way of the Wheel is a fairly philosophical religion. Its followers believe in reincarnation, and hold that each person is reborn six times, in order for them to experience as many aspects of life as they can. After six lifetimes, the soul is evaluated by the Six, who judge it based on how far is has progressed. If it is found worthy, it journeys to the Centre, the home of the One God. Otherwise, it is consigned to the Void, an endless emptiness, black and cold. So how are you supposed to get to the Centre? By being a good person, certainly, but also by learning and experiencing new things, as you strive to gain wisdom. There are various holy texts that followers of the Way of the Wheel read for wisdom and meditation, including The Blade of Reason, Six Paths to the Centre, and the Almas Genara, the oldest and most esoteric volume.

In actual practice, many inhabitants of Diablotin have little time or respect for religion, except as a convenient source of swear-words, and consider themselves to have done their duty if they make a yearly donation to the church. In the countryside, people are generally more backwards, and actually believe in this sort of thing, but a bit of time in the city often cures them.

The Church

The priesthood is open to both males and females, and clerics may marry - however, they are forbidden from taking the throne of the Empire. At the time of their consecration (after a period of six years of study), they must choose to which God they wish to devote themselves. This does not mean that they will cease to respect the others, but that they will serve one foremost. From that point, they will dress in robes of the colour of their Order (Bear: dark green, Lizard: light blue, Ox: dark brown, Wolf: silver, Owl: purple, Cat: red). Most people choose the God associated with their own House, but there are exceptions to this rule. The six priesthoods, or Orders, are not separate religions, and the duties of priests overlap considerably - all varieties can perform religious services, such as weddings, funerals, and ordinary worship. Ordinary services are held once a week, on the day that is not devoted to any one of the Six (or to all of them, depending on who you ask). The hierarchy of the priesthood shows the way in which the Orders are separate, but unified. Each church is served by at least one priest who is called Brother or Sister, of any Order, and possibly several, if it is large enough. The Empire is divided into Havens, each comprised of a few dozen churches. Each Haven is headed by a Reverend Brother/Sister, who is selected from among the priests of that area to lead them. Above this level, each Order is headed by a Reverend Father/Mother, who is in charge of all priests of their Order for the entire Empire. Finally, the entire church is headed by a single Patriarch/Matriarch. This person is chosen from the Reverend Fathers and Mothers. Like the title of Emperor passes from House to House, the title of Patriarch or Matriarch passes from Order to Order. When he or she assumes the title, however, the Patriarch or Matriarch is no longer part of one Order, but of all and none. To represent this transition, he or she wears a white robe, banded at the hem and cuffs with the colours of the six orders. He or she normally holds the title until death. The church's military arm is the Order of the Spoke.

Miscellania

  • Literacy is fairly high, around 60% (with most illiterate people being from the lower social classes).
  • Technology in the Empire is at the level of roughly the real-world year 1750: firearms have become more common, though more traditional weapons are still employed. Printed material has come down in price, to the point where several regular broadsheet newspapers are now published in Diablotin.
  • There are other nations outside the borders of the Empire, but they are generally considered savage, barbarian lands by city-dwellers.
  • Sanitary conditions in Diablotin are generally sub-standard, especially in the less reputable districts. There are old sewer systems in some parts, but these are only minimally functional. However, in the newer neighbourhoods of the Grand and the Pavillion, conditions are improving.
  • The current date in the Aveyrone Empire is 2247 A.F. (After the Founders). Most people, however, think in terms of reigns rather than decades. Thus, if asked what year it was, most people would say that it was the 14th year of the reign of Empress Idaia. The year has 366 days. There are twelve months of 30 days each, and six days left over at the end of each year as holidays. Each week has 7 days. There are four seasons, as in the real world, although the climate of Diablotin is closer to that of western Europe than Canada.
  • Magic and the supernatural are a part of life for the Empire, though not an everyday sight for most people. Monsters, ghosts, miracles and curses are known to exist, but are not so ordinary that no one cares anymore.

Map of the Aveyrone Empire

aveyrone-smallB.jpg

  • Brown: mountains Light green: forest Dark green: swamp/marsh Yellow: desert
1. Selvagens 2. Taftan 3. Blackhope 4. Cloudveil 5. Breese 6. Norumbega 7. Caphareus 8. Woodbine 9. Cap Irus 10. Mearim
11. Foxwood 12. Kholm 13. Geserich 14. Typhayne 15. Demavand 16. Rufisque 17. Ventana 18. D'Olonne 19. La Roche-sur-Yon 20. Gentilly
21. Ransart 22. Epinal 23. Baudissin 24. Des Sables 25. Marignane 26. Friaul 27. Montfaucon 28. Auraria 29. Marinthia 30. Aethalia
31. Iles Furneaux 32. Lucentum 33. Mericourt 34. Algau 35. Urmia 36. Colwyn Bay 37. Combermere 38. Creve Coeur 39. Sarande 40. Brissarthe
41. Carn Eige 42. Calydon 43. Trois Pistoles 44. Malstrom 45. Wray 46. Korytsa 47. Tyros 48. Psyra 49. Teruel 50. Daruvar
51. Greywatch 52. Coindelière 53. Romershoven 54. Lapis 55. Margraten 56. Siguenza 57. Corcyra
A. Jura B. Greenforge C. Gouge D. Béziers E. Alarches

An Early Account of the Empire's Foundation

... Tho his sister stained her hands even to the elbows in the blood of those who came before, The Patriarch drew apart and within, seeking to come to his own victory. After long hours, he spoke to the people, the followers, and to those of the great Houses, and he said We will take this land and wash it clean, we will bring upon it an age of peace and an age of glory. And he led his sister, weary and faint from battle, to the Arch on the island, and he passed her through it, as was the ancient custom, to shew that she was truly born to wear the crown. And the madness did not fall upon her, and the people were much relieved.

And The Patriarch gave thanks to the Six and the Centre for that mercy. He decreed that the old island, being stained with the sin of those who came before, should no longer be a place of glory, but a place of remembrance. And he took the Arch and brought it to the south, over the water to a hill, where he planted it. And he spoke to the people, the followers, and to those of the great Houses, and he said Here is the stone where we will build our new Empire, and here is the sign we have long sought. And he held his staff high, and from a clear sky, the old island was struck by lightning and blackened, and the dark river itself rose from its bed and flowed there no more, but made of the hill a new island... '

Emperors and Empresses of Aveyrone

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