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Landskraed Realm

Page history last edited by Ardent 11 years, 1 month ago

Landskraed Realm

 


 

 

The Landskraed is an ancient dynastic empire, spreading across many systems. They are one of the oldest original political entities in the Prime Collective and definitely the largest. Their politics are easily translated into Terran understanding and as such the Landskraed have lengthy economic and political dealings with various Terran powers outside the influence of the Collective.

 


 

Politics

 

The Landskraed Realm is the official name of the combined Lanskraed systems. They are ruled by the Landskraed Assembly, made up of hundreds of representatives. Every House has at least one seat; these seats are doled out in a complicated manner that governs a House’s economic, military, political and cultural abilities and rankings. Politics inside are ruthless and cutthroat as Houses constantly seek more power within the Assembly. Seats are gained and lost due to the massive, silent struggle across the Realm.

 

The Lanskraed Realm oversees one of the largest territories in Known Space. Only the combined space of Covenant Earth rivals it. Even though the Realm is overseeing one of the most potentially powerful empires, the decentralization of the Landskraed assembly prevents them from harnessing a truly powerful entity. Unity of the Realm under a central banner is virtually impossible, as too many factions and fractured family lines remain. Cultural Xenologists have labed the Landskraed as an extremely loose confederation model, more of a collection of many kingdoms then any real political consolidation.

 

The Landskraed Houses are a primarily feudal affair. A ruling House Family governs dynastically the various systems that a House controls, usually with the titles of Greatlords and Lords. Governors and other nobles maintain the House Family’s control over their lands, assigning citizens land and basic jobs. It’s a highly stratified society, with a vast under- and middle-class. Diplomacy and societal positioning is employed by all, even the underclass.

 

There are three Great Houses in the Assembly. These Houses have hundreds of seats and wield incredible amounts of power. The entire House Majors and Minors combine together to balance the power of the three Great Houses. The three Great Houses are House Pierias, House Manaan and House Amoriith. Together these Houses field impressive military and economic capabilities, backed up by considerable political power. Each rules star systems numbering in the thirties and forties.

 

The House Majors are smaller Houses compared to the Great Houses but are still powerful entities in their own right. Containing the economic abilities of a megacorporation, the House Majors have entrenched dynastic family lines and ancient ruling status. House Majors wield some military abilities, along with many seats. House Majors are constantly in a ballet for power, with each House attempting shift the balance of power their way. There are over twenty House Majors.

 

Obtaining the status of House Major grants certain economic benefits and the ability to expand to more systems. The most beneficial status of a House Major is the blessed stability that dynastic family lines strive for. Usurping a House Major is difficult and often will be quickly stopped by other House Majors. They do not want to see any major shifts in dynastic family lines, for it can happen to one House; it can happen to another… House Majors typical run a little more then a dozen star systems.

 

House Minors are the most unstable and squabbling Houses. These are small family lines that are easily usurped or displaced. All House Minors are small factions, attempting to assimilate other House Minors to obtain the status as a real, true House Major dynastic bloodline. Small brush wars are constantly fought by the House Minors and political squabbling is vicious and much more predatorily. The other Houses pay little heed to the actions of the House Minors and simply wait for one powerful House to emerge and claim the title as a true House of the Realm. Most House Minors own one or two star systems.

 

The Landskraed Realm contains the biggest collection of military might in the Prime under one, albeit highly disjointed, banner. All other Collective entities combined serve as a balance to the Landskraed might. The Landskraed Realm is considered one of the Prime’s stellarpower. However, some argue that the Landskraed Realm does not pose a real ‘stellarpower’ as they are too disjointed to take combined actions. Instead, some exopolitical scientists claim that the Realm should be treated on a per House basis. This would view the Realm as a much weaker political and military power, with the Great Houses each forming a very weak stellarpower.

 

Arkalo 

 

Society

 

Everything in the Realm has been going the way it has for hundreds of years. Deep set cultural standards are heavily entrenched, even to the point of being called ‘stagnate’. Landskraed does not adopt hasty methods or new ways of thinking; they are staunchly engrained in their own way of life. Young people are expected to find their way in life and be respectful of society. The Landskraed see no reason to change anything and will view anyone with radical thinking or actions that break the norm with contempt and hostility.

 

The Landskraed culture is one that has, surprisingly enough to many xenobiologists, adopted the ancestralism movement. Many Terran art and cultural influences can be seen throughout the Realm. Several Terran religions have slowly spread throughout a few systems, most notably Islam and Christianity. While the Landskraed do not adopt the awe of humans that some of the Prime have, they do maintain a healthy respect for Earth. Many Landskraed have traveled there to walk among the forests and deserts. Some of the most popular locations for the Landskraed to visit are the Sahara and Gobi desert. While the ancestralism influences have taken hold over a hundred years or so, this adoption of the movement into a stagnating culture is rather surprising.

 

Landskraed are indifferent to all other species, including humans; their adoption of ancestralism notwithstanding. They tend to think little of other species, including those in the Prime. While diplomacy is not lacking between the Realm and other governments, the Landskraed simply like to deal with their own people whenever possible. It is not xenophobia per se but more of a mild isolationism mentality. A Landskraed can be utterly polite and welcoming to another being but will not go out of their way to make friends. They view True Aliens as something to shun and avoid the Tavian as much as possible.

 

Economy

 

Free market is a foreign concept in the Realm; all commercial and economic factors are controlled by the Houses. Each House fits a certain niche, be it technological, cultural, economical or military. One House may be a banking House while another may provide cultural training and still another could primarily focus on space exploration. This allows these Houses to perform some kind of service and work themselves into the complex economical system of the Landskraed. Great Houses may be massive conglomerates while smaller House Minors might focus on a very specialized facet.

 

The Landskraed are capable of incredible diplomatic procedures and have a talent for remembering complex customs and traditions. Due to these reasons, Landskraed make excellent negotiators and traders. However, thankfully for the megacorporations and chaebols, Landskraed rarely engage in large commercial ventures outside the Realm, sticking to small import/export businesses. Several megacorporations have tried to make inroads into the Realm with no success. Many view the Landskraed as the last harbor against influences by the megacorporations and chaebols. If a radical Landskraed does end up working for a megacorporation, they usually quickly propel themselves up the corporate ladder.

 

Technological innovation in the Landskraed tends to be very stagnant. Only a few of the more radical House Minors engage in large-scale technological concepts such as cybernetics. However, all worlds of the Realm contain local cyberspheres and are connected to the Uninet. While the people of the Realm are one of the few Prime races to be able to engage in the Hive, those of the Landskraed tend to avoid it due to its unpredictability and lack of control. Genetic engineering in the Landskraed is common, much more so then cybernetics or wetware. Several of the House Majors are prime geneticists and a large black market exists to work on citizens of foreign governments who frown on genetic engineering. Most genetic traits are subtle, as the Landskraed frown heavily on radical departures from their physical forms.

 

Phyisology

 

The beings of the Landskraed look humanoid, with dark bronze skin and eye colors ranging from gray to violet purple. Those of the Great Houses or House Major may possess subtle physical characteristics, such as slightly different skin tones or nose features. All females of the Landskraed have either black or brown hair, often very long. The males are totally hairless, usually wearing turbans or scarves on their heads. All Landskraed have a high heat tolerance, due to their forebears from ancestral Earth arriving on a desert world. Many get cold during space travel, causing Landskraed ships to be too hot and dry for most humans.

 

Fate Aspects

 

Born Liar: the Landskraed have a reputation for playing fast and loose with the truth to achieve their goals. 


Can't Chill Out: their desert world heritage makes Landskraed well-suited to arid and hot climates, and ill-suited to wet and cold ones. 

 

d20 Stats

 

Home Planet: Arkalo

Size: Medium.

Ability Modifiers: +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength

Base Speed: 30 feet

Cunning Negotiators: The Landskraed are brilliant negotiators, using age-old methods of political dealings and trickery. They can quickly change someone’s position on a subject. All people of Landskraed gain +4 when making a roll to affect another character’s attitude.

Easily Chilled: The far-flung Landskraed hail from Arkalo, a desert planet, and as such do well in hot, dry environments. In cold planets or cold environments (such as an un-heated ship), they suffer -4 to their Fortitude Saves due to being thoroughly chilled.

Bonus Feat (Attentive): Landskraed pay close attention to details and intricate workings, observing customs and traditions to best learn how to counter someone’s proposal. Their meticulous study of details nets them the Attentive feat free.

 

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