TROS in the Hammer:Setting Political

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The major political groupings in the area the game takes place in are (written in a stream of consciousness manner at the moment):

The People

Agricultural/Hunter gatherer society, loosely based on Native American culture but with elements of other cultures (Maori, Medieval Japan, and probably some others). This society has strong matriarchal and patriarchal threads; there is woman's society and men's society, with their own traditions and even languages. Women's knowledge has to do with shamanism, cooking, herbalism, etc. Men's knowledge has to do with hunting, technology, building, warfare, etc. The People do not differentiate shamanic practices from other mundane skills (although the game mechanics do). The People are divided at the highest level by tribes; large groups that have their own dialect, specific traditions, and geographical home area. Within tribes there are clans; groups of families that are related to some ancestral figure. Oaths are very important to the People, and are the glue that keeps society running properly. Oath-breaking is just about the worst crime imaginable. The People once were much better organized, with a tribal federation/league/union and a joint tribal council (like a Jerga in Afghanistan) as a decision making body. But the Empire 1's conquest about 400 years ago destroyed this organization, as some tribes allied with Empire 1 and others opposed it. I think it would be REALLY cool if the religion of the People were something similar to a shamanistic version of Christianity, maybe along the lines of Voodoo or some of the Korean pentecostal churches. The spirits could even be considered "angels" or similar. One note; the People's lands are very rich in metals, and mining has been one of their occupations for a long time.

The Niarch Trade Authority

The Niarch Trade Authority is primarily a mercantile empire. It views all human beings in one of three categories; members, employees or property. Any human who does not fit into these categories is either a) not been hired yet, b) not been taken as property yet, or c) so useless as to not be worth the trouble.

The Niarch Trade Authority (or the Authority in short form) works like this: they notice that some nearby region has a bunch of unclaimed property (in the form of people, forests, farms, etc.); unclaimed by any member, that is, but thats all that matters, right? This region is then deemed eligible for "development". The Chairman-Dictator (sort of an elected emperor) then charters a Company for that region (sort of like the Hudson Bay Company, or the Dutch East India Company). That Company, along with a number of Banners (named for the flags they wear on their bodies, sort of like crosses between Roman legions and Crusader military orders, the primary professional troops of the Authority), moves into the area. The Banners pretty much kill anyone who tries to stop them, while the Company hires some people who seem worth hiring, enslaves more, stakes claims on behalf of various commissions, corporations, agencies, and bureaus of the Authority (it has an incredibly byzantine government and power structure) and sets things up so resources (wood, food, ores, slaves) will continue to be sent back to the center of things (Niarch). Then, most of the Banners go away, leaving some garrisons and local employee troops under Banner officers in charge of security.

The Authority could literally care less what the local culture/religion/etc. is; the locals can do whatever the heck they want as long as when the tribute caravan arrives, the quota is met. The local Directors of the Company play one local faction off against another to keep them all at each others throats, selectively rewarding one faction and punishing another, and keep the tributes flowing.

Membership in the Authority is roughly the equivalent of citizenship in the Roman Empire; a member can travel fairly freely and can expect assistance from any Authority representatives he or she meets when travelling abroad. Decadent society, highly stratified in a caste-like structure, with late medieval/early rennaissance level technology.

Think Byzantine Empire crossed with the British Empire in India and Africa.

One unique feature of this society is that all of its Members wear masks (ala the Granbretanian Empire in Moorcock's Hawkmoon novels) and not wearing a mask is considered vulgar in the extreme (a person without a mask would be as obvious as a woman walking topless in a shopping mall). Non-members (such as employees and slaves) are also expected to wear masks when dealing with Members.

It is a largish empire, but currently in decline, as it begins to focus inwards on its own internal squabbles. The People are on the western periphery of Authority. The local Company in control of the area the game will start in is the Circle Lakes Development Company.

The Chuyong Quicksilver Legion

The Chuyong Quicksilver Legion is portion of a much larger entity, the Chuyong Confederacy. In turn, the Chuyong Confederacy is part of a large pseudo-empire called the Pastorate.

Until about 300 years ago, the steppes, grasslands and deserts to the south and west of the People were controlled by relatively unorganized nomadic tribesmen, all culturally related to each other by a common language and ancestry but independent. This hodgepodge of people were known collectively as the Chuyong.

About 300 years ago one of these tribes converted almost en masse to a new religion that was moving in from the west. This religion was the known as the Knowledge, and its leader was a figure called the Pastor, living far off on the edge of the Obsidian Plains. The Pastor's disciples had converted many, and the nations that came to follow the Knowledge began to be known as the Pastorate. With newly found purpose (and the assistance of other nations of the Pastorate), this tribe began organizing and integrating the Chuyong into a larger entity, the Confederacy, a process that took about 150 years to complete.

Being nomadic by nature, the Chuyong do not have a government organized by geographical boundaries. Instead, the Chuyong tribes have all been incorporated into several legions, named after the metals associated with the cardinal directions in Chuyong folklore; the Iron Legion (North), the Copper Legion (West), the Tin Legion (South), and the Quicksilver Legion (East). Additionally, the Golden Legion occupies the central portion of Chuyong lands, and is directly commanded by the supreme leader of the Chuyong Confederacy, the Sage General.

Think Mongol Hordes crossed with Teutonic Knights, with some other cultures thrown in (Berber tribes, Australian Aborigines, etc.). They have strong religious motivations. The Chuyong Quicksilver Legion is directly opposed to Niarch Trade Authority, and it is likely that a major war will be fought soon.

Political questions

There will probably be more factions, but that is enough for now. The People seem to have three options:

• Stay tributary to Empire 1, and keep your culture pretty much intact, at the cost of being subservient.
• Side with Empire 2, probably gaining free status as a partner with Empire 2, at the cost of major changes to their culture through the influence of Empire 2's religion.
• Try to go it alone, with the biggest payoff (complete freedom) and the biggest risk (complete extinction at the hands of one or both Empires).

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