Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Travellers (Semi-Open RP between Tara and Catrin)

“I see. Still, it's hard to imagine such a huge civilization existing under a central administration, or at least not drifting apart too much culturally and law-wise.” Catrin tried shrugging only to find that she was sitting on her tail. “But owning planets or systems? How does that work? Is it purely symbolic? And when you mention Counts, Barons and Dukes, are you referring to hereditary positions?” She breathed in to ask some more things, but something got in her nose and she sneezed loudly. She covered her nose and mouth immediately to quiet down a couple of more sneezes, and hoped it hadn't disturbed Tara.

"it is easier than you would think." Thyr said, "Jumpgate technology allowed us to travel from one end of our territory to the other in weeks and months, rather than the year-round trip conventional FTL would have forced on us, and it speeds up FTL communications even quicker; a signal takes only an hour to traverse a Jumpgate. This speed of travel and communication kept the cultural drift to a minimum, the rapid response of the Royal fleet and the just rule of the King retained law and order. As for the system ownership; mining stations, habitats, estates on planets, all can be privately owned, but all such private assets lie within the jurisdiction of the planetary or system governments; the Thousand Nobles of the Lesser Court. Groups of planets and systems are in turn administered by the Seven Hundred Lord and Ladies of the Greater Court, and finally the entire Kingdom is split into five administrative regions, under the control of the Six Great Houses of the Kingdom, though the central Heartlands Region, technically under the direct rule of the Royal House of Tynian, is generally held in the stewardship of the Great House of Amaar. All of these positions, from the Lesser Nobles who rule individual planets and systems, to the Great Lords who rule over entire regions, are hereditary, however the Throne holds power to strip a noble house of its status and seize its holdings, placing them under the direct authority of the Crown, these holdings can then be given to another house, or granted to a family that has served the Crown well, ennobling them. This way, corrupt or ineffective leaders can be removed and more effective and just ones put in their place."

Thyr grinned, "And where the iron hand of the Crown and the might of the Fleet cannot sway a wayward lord, then a visit from the Hand and Claw quickly silences rebellion and dissent. It is a system that has worked for tens of thousands of years, it has been modified, reformed and altered over the years, and it can sometimes be labyrinthine and arcane, but the kingdom remains and endures, longer than other social system or government in recent galactic history. Where others fall to corruption, war and rebellion, Terelian stands at a remove, perhaps it is not the best system or the least corruptible, but it is a system that works and the only one they've ever had."

Catrin listened to Thyr's explanation and nodded at the end. “Fascinating. And nearly unbelievable. A tribal society of cats,” she chuckled. “Or rather based on family lineage. Hm. I suppose it's mainly stable because of the longevity of the king. The fact that his assassins have been active for so long doesn't hurt either. Very interesting. Well, whatever works. Thank you,” she said with a nod before going back to the screen and looking up more information about the particulars of the Terelain system of government. She'll probably stay there until Tara's hangover passes.

Thyr assumed a pained expression, "Please Catrin! The Terelains haven't structured their society by anything so crude as a tribal system for over thirty two thousand years! The present system is an Absolute Feudal Monarchy, benevolent dictatorship I believe is a slightly less flattering term. Territories and continents are owned by the extremely minor nobility, planets and lesser systems owned by the slightly less minor noble houses, groups of systems are ruled by greater noble houses and entire administrative regions owned by the Five Great Noble Houses under the Royal House. Of course there are holdings by private interests, guilds and wealthy merchants or peasants, but in the end everything ties in quite neatly to the system. It is a web of alliances, blood-ties, tradition and obligations, favours and intrigues and a rich history. To call it a mere tribal system is... well, just plain insulting. It is, after all, the oldest and most enduring socio-political and economic system extant in the galaxy today."

Catrin waved her hand dismissively. “I admit I used the term 'tribal' loosely, but you have to admit aristocracy works similarly to tribes in terms of mixing and mingling. Difficult to get in, difficult to get out and a lot of hereditary rights are involved. Sure, it's possible to gain a higher standing, but not particularly probable, hmm? Partially nonsensical traditions will probably be involved, too. Unchanging timelessness is something found almost exclusively in tribes, after all. I didn't mean the level of development, just the level of social linking and ties, and the glass ceilings people of various abilities reach for no good reason apart from being born in the wrong family. Cats, on the other hand, tend to be very individualistic and I doubt they'd accept a hierarchical arrangement other than based on each individual's current power. Hence my comment. I never meant to offend you.”

Thyr smiled and chuckled, "Cats do tend to be quite individualistic, I agree, but they also tend to hunt and live in groups; the lions of Terra, for instance, live in groups known as Prides. As for there being a glass ceiling for the able... that is not quite accurate. Those of exceptional ability are quite quickly noticed. The Council of Elders often tests children of their aptitude in a variety of skills, those who are exceptionally gifted are given special training and education, it has been known fr the gifted children of mere peasants to rise two or three social tiers above, and for their children to rise higher still. There was one notable case where the son of a sculptor managed, through the sheer beauty of his art, to become so wealthy and powerful he was ennobled as a minor noble, three generations later and his House became the most powerful of the Minor Houses of the Lesser Court." He chuckled again, "And it is precisely because felines have an independent nature that the King and the Archdukes and archduchesses must be so strong, otherwise people would stop doing what they're supposed to do and do whatever suits them."

Catrin 'shrugged'. “Two or three social tiers above is a glass ceiling, at least for the individual. Also, I find the notion of people doing what they're supposed to do for an endless amount of time extraordinarily depressing.”

"Maybe, but it prevents anarchy and society from collapsing. Maybe the system's a bit too rigid, and some say Terelian is sinking into stagnation because of it, but it is what has preserved the Terelain people and their culture for tens of thousands of years, and I doubt it'll change any time soon... unless a Gods-blighted Reformist takes the Lion Throne. By the time one of that lot is done, we'll be a republic paralyses by indecision, squabbling and the ten-thousand-year lifespans of the Terelains themselves. Terelains live a long time, and they are patient - too patient sometimes. They don't hurry often, and they take a long time to decide anything if its left up to them." Thyr shook his head, "The day the Kingdom ends will be the day the Younger Races finally end up surpassing the Terelains, and it'll only be a generation or two later until the Saiv invade and we're done for."

Catrin chuckled. “How do you know if you don't try it? Incredible, the amount of things Terelains aren't willing to try, but somehow believe that they're making the best decision, without having any evidence for it. Sticking to things that have always worked is a very tribal quality, you know. Anyway, I never said it was bad. Everyone develops in their own speed, after all, and if they want tens of thousands of years of stagnation instead of... well, excitement, so be it. I'm not even surprised, given their attitude to death.” Catrin nearly shuddered when she recalled it.

"The Terelains have had bad experiences with other social systems." Thyr said, "They've seen how other systems work. The Cerendiel of ancient Aerin had a republic; semi-autonomous city-states. Their civilisation was the fist to fall to the Great Cataclysm, and even before then there had been intermittent civil wars and secessionist states. The Unbound Ikari wet the full way and had nomadic floating cities, entirely self-sufficient and independent of the others. They very rarely cooperated with each other and they were the second nation to fall. There're only two or three Unbound Ikari ruins left on all Aerin, and those are mostly big craters." Thyr sighed, "The list goes on. The Elder Races tried a good mix of socio-political systems. The only ones still around are the Dragons, possibly the Fae and the Terelains. The Dragons have been declining for thousands of years and are near extinction, the Fae vanished into their jungles and we're still not sure if they're still there or not. The Cerendiel city Ci-Cereuien survived the Cataclysm using an immense temporal displacement spell; they basically froze their city in time until it was over, but when they finally came out again and realised none of their magitech worked anymore their society promptly imploded and they went extinct again."

Catrin smiled. “Cute. Hm... maybe I'll go and see other alternatives play out when I'm done here. Terelains without a philosophy that would lead them to conquer death, how interesting would that be?” She paused for a moment to think and then she smirked. “Very interesting would be my guess. How about Terelains who wouldn't be the most advanced race? Sounds like fun, too. Being able to travel to alternative universes has its advantages, you know,” she said with a wink. "There's no need to try defending the system, really. I was just pointing out the obvious, not saying they should ditch it."

Thyr rolled his eyes, "Interesting perhaps, but I still prefer my universe, thanks..." He shuddered in mock horror, "By Terel! Imagine Terelains who actually got on with the Gillorians! I'd never have been created." He frowned, "Actually, the closest universe to this one would probably be the one were the ultra-conservative elements of our society won the arguments after the Second Great War, and the Terelains turned into omnicidal tyrants annihilating all sapient species they encountered. Thank the Gods that never happened."

Catrin grinned. “It doesn't matter which one is the closest, I can pick – or create, if you believe that theory – one with anything I want.. Including the omnicidal tyrant version, although I don't quite see why I'd need to go there.”

"I wouldn't recommend it." Thy said dryly, "If the Children of the Elders had had their way, the Terelains would have used the Grand Fleet to annihilate the fledgling Senate Races. They could have done it to; at that stage only a handful of the oldest, the Sutehk, the Saiv, the Xin'Ta'Faxi and the Shinobi had gained interstellar capabilities, and the others were in varying stages of planetary and system-wide civilisation. Compared to the full might of the Fourth Kingdom at its height they were, quite frankly, nothing at all. Hell, we probably could have sent a single wing of the Grand Fleet to the Xin'Ta'Faxi Imperium and turned Xi'Teleath to ash in about a week, and finish off its extrasolar colonies in two."

Catrin nodded. “That doesn't sound very interesting.” She smiled. “I still may take one of the other options, though. Oh, and by the way, a quite similar copy of yours, and Tara's, probably exists in a number of those universes – wouldn't it be interesting to meet another you?”

"Two Thyrs? Oh, we'd be insufferable." He sad with a laugh, "And I think the two Taras would just try and study each other to find out what the differences are between their universes' cultures." He smirked, "We'd cause the universe to implode from sheer boredom."

Catrin burst into laughter “... You know, that sounds rather peaceful and unthreatening. I'm nearly sure the universe would survive. And how is this universe's Tara doing, by the way?” she asked playfully.

"Suffering silently under her blankets." Thyr informed her with a slight smile, "My bio-scanners indicate that her alcohol levels are down forty-three percent and falling, but it'll still take a while for her to recover. She drank quite a bit last night and she isn't exactly used to it." He laughed, "I doubt she'll be drinking for a few days."

“Well, certainly not if you took her order to remove all alcoholic beverages from the food processor's memory seriously,” she said with a smirk. “I think I'll just do through the database while she's suffering.” She paused for a moment. “You could make her an anti-hangover drink, if such things exist for Terelains. They're quite traditional, too.”

"An easy enough thing to make, given present medical technology." Thyr admitted, but then he gave her a wicked gin, "But where would the fun be in that?" He gave Catrin a wink and then smiled, "Well, I think I'll leave you to your studying, just shout for me if you require anything." With that, the hologram flickered and vanished.