I'm writing some background lore for a Space Marine Chapter. They're the product of the Consecrators Chapter founding a Successor on a Feudal World. Where I'm getting stuck is how exactly a Feudal World would be introduced to the Imperium? Especially if they're being reserved as an Astartes recruiting world.
Would a Chapter simply analyze the local social structure and integrate themselves? Orchestrate a takeover of the local government? Do they call in the Imperium at large and let the Ecclesiarchy/Administratum handle the process?
I've read what Feudal Worlds look like once they've joined the Imperium (little technological upgrades, distant Planetary Governor, limited IG recruitment etc...) But what is the process of getting there?
Or should I simply do it as I want and chalk it up to the parent Chapter's own style of compliance?
Vassal1: Hey, you've heard? We have a new lord of Storm's End. Lord Gendry Baratheon.
Vassal2: Isn't that the one that used to get porked by Ser Loras?
Vassal1: No you moron! That was Renly Baratheon.
Vassal2: Oh. My bad. You do have to admit they both have kind of of the same ring to it. So, why are we pledging allegiance to this guy again?
Vassal1: You didn't hear? Remember our beloved queen who napalmed the capital and was queen for about 7 nanoseconds? She legitimized it during one of those nanoseconds.
Vassal2: I'm confused. Lady Napalm had no claim to the throne, yet her decrees are valid because she Nagasakied the city and gave a speech? She wasn't even crowned!
Vassal1: Bobby B had no claim either. Yet we take his ruling as valid. He seized the throne. That counts as well.
Vassal2: Did she now? Seize the throne? Did anyone ever saw her actually sitting on it? For what I've heard, all she seized was a puddle of molten iron and a city in ruins. Her ruling period was so brief that if you had the wet shits and locked yourself in your house to poop to your heart's content for a couple of days, you missed it. And we're bowing to this new Gendry guy now because?.....
Vassal1: I don't know.... the council of Elrond seems to be ok with it?
Vassal2: EyeRoll.gif
I'm trying to come up with an interesting setting for a low fantasy RPG. Thing is, I'm more of a sci-fi guy and I don't really like stories of kings and dukes. I am way more inspired by stories of city states or ancient politics (Greece/Rome)
I was just curious about your take on how feudality came to be in Europe, what laid to it, and what other path history could have taken. I want my stories to feature a wide array of political beliefs, so the history of this world should make a setting favorable to it. Like, what if ancient philosophy lead directly to Enlightment, without going through middle age ?
tl;dr : SF fan try to come up with an interesting medieval/low fantasy world
It's often said that in feudal Japan the farmers were of a higher class than the artisans and the merchants. What did they actually mean? Was it mostly theoretical, a matter of abstract social esteem, or would a typical farmer actually enjoy a better quality of life than a typical artist or merchant?
I am a massive fan of Ancient and Medieval history whether it's Greece, Rome, Europe, and Egypt which also includes Asia such as China and Japan... But even though I am definitely on board with the idea of Assassin's Creed being set in Japan some day, but there is a few things that puzzles me over the years when I hear people clamoring for a Japanese-themed AC game for (insert reasons) and here is a few that grinds my gear quite a bit that I want to personally address...
1- The Setting : Whenever I see people requesting for a setting in a Assassin's Creed game, of course Feudal Japan will always show up on their wishlist, but what period and century in Japanese history are we talking about here?... Each time I ask them why does this setting appeal to them, they always say "Because playing an Assassin during this time period rising up to try and assassinate a corrupt shogun sounds SOOO cool!"--- Honestly this is sooo cliched and unoriginal reason as to why a Japanese-themed AC game would work I'm sorry cause we'd be walking right into fantasy territory at this point especially since there isn't any events like this that occured in Japanese history... But you know what time periods in Japanese history would be perfect backdrop for a Assassin vs Templars conflict in Japan though that would ooze with originality and creativity if done right that gives people what they want, but yet maintain historical accuracies and dives into interesting moral dilemmas? this setting:
Sengoku Period (1560-1638) : This a period in Japanese history that was full of brutality, war, and conflict, but this was also a time of cultural phenomena for Japan because they had experienced a new style of culture, clothing, food, language, and other goods etc they had never seen before from trading with the Europeans which allows for an opportunity for some Assassins and Templars from Europe to travel over in hopes of getting some Japanese to adopt their philosophies. As a result, you have the option to explore the moral grey areas behind some of Japan's fascinating historical figures around this time like Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Date Masamune, Sanada Yukimura, Uesugi Kenshin, and Takeda Shingen who all had their own vision and ideals as to how they wish to bring an end to all war and conflict in Japan, which is admirable, but are willing to do some horrible things in order to get there. And we also have other major players in this time who were foreign
... keep reading on reddit β‘How did the historians of Feudal Europe square their political system with that of the ancient Romans and Greeks? I would say that it is not too much a generalization to say that modern writers tend to treat the progress from despotism to democracy as a positive change, almost a logical conclusion as a civilization becomes more advanced. Many of the histories of ancient Rome i.e. Livy, Plutarch, and Appian treat the Republican period of Rome as a high water mark for their civilizationβs political system. Did the Monarchies of pre-enlightenment Europe feel that their political systems were backward compared to the example set by the Roman Republic and the Greek democracies or did they view those civilizations as failed experiments? Full disclosure I do not know to what degree European writers knew about these ancient cultures or when the histories were discovered.
EDIT Europeans not European's
He is struggling a lot and before the entire town basically dog pilled him, he cheerfully told us how the town was full of evil and the voices said that our sins must be purged by sword and flame. He had a pretty crazy look in his eyes. Is he possessed by a demon? Do we even tell our Lord about this or get a priest? Do we just toss him in a river and pretend we have no idea what what happened to him?
"I'm on antidepressants."
He's going in for surgery at 3:30pm Pacific. All your positive thoughts and prayers are appreciated.
Edit: Thank you all for the kind words and omg for the gold! He's out of surgery and looks to be recovering nicely. All your well wishes helped cheer him and his parents up.
And what are the advantages/disadvantages of either?
I'm not absolutely certain of my facts, but I rather fancy it's Shakespeare- or, if not, it's some equally brainy lad- who says that it's always just when a chappie is feeling particularly top-hole, and more than usually braced with things in general that Fate sneaks up behind him with a bit of lead piping. There's no doubt the man's right. It's absolutely that way with me. Take, for instance, the fairly rummy matter of Lady Malvern and her son Wilmot. A moment before they turned up, I was just thinking how thoroughly all right everything was.
I've been struggling to make sense of the Klingon Empire lately and how a feudal society could maintain a space faring military way of life. Throughout TNG and DS9, there are often examples of the Klingon High council, showing us that their society is ordered with great houses on the council who in turn have subordinate houses like any feudal society. They also speak of "lands" that various houses have (or have taken away in case of the House of Mogh).
Where I am struggling to make sense is the immense cost of a starship, even a small bird of prey and how many millions of targs you would need to sell to afford one. Any house capable of fielding even one B'rel class bird of prey would need to have truly substantial wealth (or a significant line of credit). This leads me to wonder if there isn't some centralizing construction/procurement of Klingon warships that are then handed out/assigned to the various houses based on their favor with the Chancellor, as well as some houses with enough wealth to supply their own.
This thinking led me down a path of trying to look up any feudal societies from Earth history to see if any of them were ever capable of fielding significant navies. It seems like the high capital costs of building ships requires a strong, centralized government to commission said ships which feels difficult to square with the feudal society that's presented.
Thoughts?
