Princess of the Void Supplemental - The Coterie

Hello, folks!

In the interest of codifying and expanding the world of PotV as we proceed into Volume IV, I thought I should release a public-facing version of the way in which the Empire is structured. This is a broad overview of the way in which the nobility works; as Sykora mentions there are a ton of edge cases.

For those viewing this in the public posting, please be aware that there are heavy spoilers for future volumes in the comments section.

The Empress commands everyone.

Below her are approximately threescore Princesses. Every Princess commands multiple worlds, acting as the arbiter of their governesses' disputes and petitions. The trade, commerce, and travel of the Empire is within their purview.

• About a dozen Princesses Palatine rule the Imperial Core worlds. This used to be a much more prestigious and important title in previous Imperial regimes, when they were sole confidants to the Empress; Zithra XIX has significantly widened her circle and now Princesses Palatine’s influence outside of the worlds they govern has diluted.

• About a dozen Princesses Margrave are the highest-ranking generals in the Empress’s army. Like Void Princesses, they each command a ZKZ. The Princesses Margrave are sometimes dispatched to the frontier in order to combat rebellions or break difficult annexations.

• About a dozen Princesses (no title) who are mostly just figureheads, and often don't even have the command over space that the suffixed or prefixed Princesses have. Ostensibly, they are the potential heirs of the Empress. She has shown little interest in this actually being true. There used to be a lot more of them in previous regimes; Zithra has a much lower tolerance for idle Princesses.

• About a score of Void Princesses. Each commands a ZKZ and a slice of the Frontier which they are charged with ever-further settling, expanding, and protecting. The number of Void Princesses under Zithra has doubled, intensifying the competition between them.

Princesses can issue orders to any of the coterie and, in theory, answer only to the Empress and are her direct will. They have the power to elevate or revoke noble titles, though this is a rare and scrutinized act.

A check on Princesses is the act of protestation, where the Baronesses of a planet can majority-vote to secede to a different Princess—a process that must be ratified by the Empress’s clerks. In the case of Void Princesses like Sykora, they are often content to act as a rubber stamp.

Below the Princesses are the Coterie.

• Marquesses are the most powerful, and often have the resources to set up businesses or concerns that can cover entire sectors, or even hop between them. A marquess can often trace their family directly to a Princess. There are roughly a score of Marquesses per sector.

• Countesses are one rung down. It is much more difficult for a Countess to run multiplanetary businesses; the exorbitant exo funds required for such an endeavor become difficult to afford at this level. There are roughly a hundred Countesses per sector.

Marquesses and Countesses can lobby for their children to be made Viscountesses. This is one of the few ways for a new noble line to be created besides direct elevation by a Princess.

• Viscountesses are often the second daughters, etc, of Countesses and Marquesses. A viscountess is often in direct assistance to a Marquess or Countess. They are considered viable for elevation by a Princess to Countess or Marquess. There’s a handful of Viscountesses per Countess.

• Baronesses are the lowest rung you can get while retaining some real and exercisable power. Their barony is tied to clans, which are Taiikari governing bodies within planets themselves. Baronesses often work closely with their planet’s Governess. It is rare for a Baroness to advance above single-planet level. There are roughly a score of baronesses per planet.

• Ladies are a ceremonial title granted to the children of nobility who are not named viscountesses or heiresses. They have what power their families give them and no more. There are countless Ladies.

Additional title considerations:

• Governesses are a category that can be applied to any of the Coterie, which supersedes the original title. A governess is the leader of a planet, who answers to her Baronesses below and her Princess above. For Marquesses or Princesses, this is a step down, and for Countesses it’s kind of a step sideways. Everyone below Countess is quite hungry for a Governesship.

• Palatine and Margrave are titles that apply below Princess as well. Palatines sit upon the Palatine Court (which theoretically has the Empress’s ear). Margraves have commands in the Imperial Navy.

• Heiresses are noted with an in-waiting addition. A noblewoman can have one in-waiting heir; the rest of their children are lords or ladies, unless a different noblewoman designates them as an heiress, or a Princess elevates them.

Examples:

Paxea is a Marquess of the Black Pike sector. She's a successful shipping magnate whose business involves importing exotic crops from other planets outside the sector. She inherited her title and business from her mother. She and Thror have no offspring and have not named an heiress.

Wenzai is the Countess of Korak, a region of Ptolek. She's a particularly ambitious and successful Countess, having beat out a half dozen siblings as the Countess-in-Waiting. Her holdings are strong enough that she is capable of a multiplanetary condenser fleet business. Her daughter Mava is her Countess-in-waiting. Her daughter Ana is a Lady; Orlo is a Lord. Once they grow up, they can lobby to be made Viscountesses.

Garuna is a Governess who was once a Lady on Ptolek, a relative of a Baroness. She earned her title by playing the game with the baronesses who run the exo clans on Ptolek, who lobbied hard for her to be given the Governess title.

Reka is a Marquess on Tamion. She has Tamion’s Governess cowed and in her pocket, and is responsible for most of the planet’s foundryside shipping.

The life of a Commoner.

Commoners face the following restrictions:

• They cannot hold Imperial Credits. This is the currency of the Imperial Core and one of the only ones that can be spent anywhere. Commoners instead hold credits specific to the planet upon which they live, which are subject to a galaxy-wide web of conversion rates designed to keep them stationary on a planet (or direct them to worlds the Empire desires additional population on).

• They cannot own property, beyond the home that every married couple is provided, without the express written permission of a Baroness or higher acting as a guarantor (and they cannot transfer that property once owned).

• They can't own interplanetary craft or purchase exo, and (with certain codified exceptions for ceremonial uses) can't own weapons.