The Space Empire of Man is not what it used to be. For one thing it used to be enough to just say "The Empire" for people to know what you meant. It's not anymore, even though the Byrozian Empire is also populated by humen, as is the Khagari Commonwelath. And all states of note (even the Paxi Empire with the unpronounceable name) are in space.
For another there isn't really an Emperor. The Empire is actually ruled by a council of nobles who hold regency until the 'turmoil' has ended and the next emperor is elected. This has been going on for over a century (metric century. Probably over 2 centuries Kadka standard). It's not recommended to try and call it a republic though (even a 'noble' one), as that word has been somewhat tainted ever since Democratic Rebellion Of The Public Interest.
For a third there has never been this less worlds, food, iron or dependable men since The Empire was founded. Or less space travel. These days most people live out their lives within a 100 verzt (56 metric miles) of where they were born.
You were thus eager to sign up when the Imperial Scouting Service started recruiting personnel for it's new ship in your city.You can create a character or just give suggestions (as most of the time the action will be in a group).
Name: Your name.
Description: What the character looks like.
Skills: Strength and weaknesses
Society in The Empire is divided into 4 classes:
The Nobles are the hereditary backbone of the Imperial military. While more and more of them actually prefer to join the bureaucracy or dodge government service altogether. A player character can be a low ranked noble (so not the local king, but rather some knight's son) who either got discharged from military duty (why?), or, quite the opposite, sent by the local commanders to join the ship (why?)
The Freemen are the mainstay of the Empire, most of them are farmers or craftsmen of the Allowed Trades (blacksmiths, millers, tractor mechanics and the like), though some join the Terran Church, which claims not to discriminate based on birth. A player character is likely to be one of the city freemen- as spaceships have great need of qualified crewmen and it wouldn't do to hire a lot of torgs- both because of high salaries and for more political reasons.
The Torgs are the merchants and intelligentsia of The Empire, they work with high technology (forbidden to Freemen outside the Terran Church) and, if rumor is to be believed, were behind the Democratic Rebellion. While the Imperial Fleet would like nothing more than to staff a ship entirely with nobles and serfs (the way Imperial Guard does it's own forces), it remains true that at least a small number of torgs are needed to maintain a ship in running order.
The Serfs are the peasants of The Empire and owe allegiance and сorvee to one of the local lords (to claify: the nobles among you don't get to have one). Most of them farm, though in times of war they are usually the first called to service. While a number of them will be on the ship their low social status makes them a bad fit for a player character. But feel free to pick one.
Known Places
The capital world of The Empire. Home to the ancient city of Beta Prime, where the Imperial Palace is located.
Come to think of it, it's not really a 'known place'. You only know that that's where the Noble Council is, and that how it's year and day are exactly equal to the metric year and day (which, in turn is 10 metric hours). And, of course, all the usual rumors about how the streets of Beta Prime are paved with gold and everyone knows an alien.
Home, sweet home.
Kadka is an agrarian world, famous (so you're told) for it's high quality wheat and for being the birthplace of Emperor Kallecto (founder, unsurprisingly, of the kallectian dynasty). It's year is 253 metric days , and it's day is 19 metric hours.
Author
Topic: Ticket to the skies (suggestion game) (Read 1078 times)