Creative Exercise: The Sovereign Dominion of Eyros

[Sarellion]

The Senate is still 3:1 in favour of Half-Orcs (though I'm not sure why the gnomes are in)

besides the Senators half-orcs probably make up the bulk of Ambassadors, Senate/Imperial and Diplomatic Aides de camp, Clerks, Judges and Military Officers. Then of course there are all the jobs that need doing in the House Estates - castellans, chancellors, city mayors, overseers etc etc etc.
Then there are the idle rich, scholars, artistes and adventurers

I'm sure that the second generation half-orcs of the population are quite busy

How big are the Houses that they can produce so many first generation half-orcs? You need over 210 half-orcs every generation who are suitable for the job every generation, without attrition from many courses. Then there is the question what happens to the half-orcs who are eligible for being emperor. It is said that they are pretty expendable but I am not sure what´s the exact meaning.

And given the fact that humans and orcs from every generation can obviously enter the senate of course, why should there be an exception for half-orcs?

I think it would create a lot of resentment in the upper echelons and these from guys who otherwise command armies and are in important positions, I don´t think that this would work for long, especially as lower races are permitted to enter the houses and even engage in marriages.

 

[Rystil Arden]

How big are the Houses that they can produce so many first generation half-orcs? You need over 210 half-orcs every generation who are suitable for the job every generation, without attrition from many courses. Then there is the question what happens to the half-orcs who are eligible for being emperor. It is said that they are pretty expendable but I am not sure what´s the exact meaning.

And given the fact that humans and orcs from every generation can obviously enter the senate of course, why should there be an exception for half-orcs?

I think it would create a lot of resentment in the upper echelons and these from guys who otherwise command armies and are in important positions, I don´t think that this would work for long, especially as lower races are permitted to enter the houses and even engage in marriages.

Here's why:

What Pillar are they associated with? The half-orcs are by necessity dual-Pillar. The Senate is balanced to give each Pillar exactly equal say. So if my father was Dal-Malarn Ny-Vajar and my mommy was Dal-Mulcibe Ny-Zhal, what Pillar do I represent? Who will sponsor me? I'm just a minor nobility member, not important enough to rank in the Senate because I belong to no specific Pillar and neither does anyone in my nuclear family (unlike first gens who have both parents as members).

Edit: As for the "other races" point, Malarn lets non-humans enter for life, but their children do not stay as Malarn, and they can't become Senators. Kiron lets half-elven children become Pillar members, but they can't become Senators

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

The Senate is still 3:1 in favour of Half-Orcs (though I'm not sure why the gnomes are in)

Token representation , one Senator per province. For example, the Gnomish Senator from Aenajadin would be an attaché to the Pillar Kiron contingent. I wanted to reinforce the idea that while Gnomes don't have the status of Orcs and Humans, they are held in higher regard than Elves and Dwarves.

 

[Sarellion]

Other races: I meant that some members of other races are on the same social rank as the second generations half-orcs.

I see your point about the problem with dual pillar. We could let the half-orc decide to pledge fealty to one side of his familytree or the parents agree upon precdence of heritage. As the names indicate mother and father we could also trace lineage using gender. I would say that tracing lineage by mother would make sense, as the true mother of a baby is always known.

I hope you see my problem with half-orcs sinking in the social ladder. I mean all parents want their children to inherit their fortunes or do better than themselves. So we have people in positions of power who know that their line will sink as it will be further removed from the pillars. We could leave it like this, but should realize that this will be a situation which the half-orcs will probably resent. Their ancestors were bred to be emperors and they are seemingly cast away by their former families and could be still of noble blood only. I see the next civil war on the horizon.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Other races: I meant that some members of other races are on the same social rank as the second generations half-orcs.

I see your point about the problem with dual pillar. We could let the half-orc decide to pledge fealty to one side of his familytree or the parents agree upon precdence of heritage. As the names indicate mother and father we could also trace lineage using gender. I would say that tracing lineage by mother would make sense, as the true mother of a baby is always known.

I hope you see my problem with half-orcs sinking in the social ladder. I mean all parents want their children to inherit their fortunes or do better than themselves. So we have people in positions of power who know that their line will sink as it will be further removed from the pillars. We could leave it like this, but should realize that this will be a situation which the half-orcs will probably resent. Their ancestors were bred to be emperors and they are seemingly cast away by their former families and could be still of noble blood only. I see the next civil war on the horizon.

all parents want their children to inherit their fortunes or do better than themselves.

This is a generalisation built upon certain real-world assumptions, and modern Western assumptions based on 12th-century Catholic reforms at that. Some societies don't place so much of an emphasis on the inheritance and prominence of children, in fact even early-Christian Ireland distributed land to all male relatives of the deceased (uncles, nephews, cousins, illegitimate children, etc), not just natural-born children.

The tiny minority of fringe half-orcs who do adopt this belief join the barbarians.

Edit: If we must get into real-world analogies to explain this, consider the role of the bastard son of a ruler in early Europe. Most just went about their business, keeping the minor aristocratic positions given to them by their parents (as in the children of famous philanderer Charles II), but some, considered "evil" like Shakespeare's Edmund of King Lear, did get upset that they would get nothing, and created schemes to gain power.

 

[Sarellion]

I thought that Eyros with his elabrate core family and pillar family names, a society where racial purity and lineages are important would place emphasis on inheritance and children, lineages and so on.

I think it makes no sense to debate this further, it would just fill up the thread and people would complain.

 

[Khorod]

Maloria? Are you sure? 'Cause Mallorea sounds more like armies of darkness than a library to me.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Maloria? Are you sure? 'Cause Mallorea sounds more like armies of darkness than a library to me.

Yeah, that and it sounds like the name Mallory when you say it aloud.

 

[Arkhandus]

Contribution:
House Taljik has only a tenuous claim to a legendary ancestor compared to the other Pillars. In this case, they are descendant of the second marriage of Talya, the wife of the martyr Garryx, who died resisting the call of the Twelve against the orcs (House Garren descended from Garryx). Although most histories claim that Talya was mind-controlled like many other orcs and it was she who betrayed Garryx to his enemies, thus earning the position of favoured concubine to the new orc leader under the Twelve, Garryx's brother Kalzan, some of the more creative scholars hired by House Taljik claim that Talya fought to protect Garryx along with Kalzan, and that Talya and Kalzan escaped and worked to free the orcs afterwards.

Contribution:
Eyrian half-orcs of second generation birth or later fill many of the lesser aristocratic roles in the bureaucracy of Eyros, and fill up a fair number of the lesser military officer positions. First-generation half-orcs who don't gain the throne instead fill many of the upper-echelon positions in the Legions and the aristocracy, some becoming magistrates, prefects, consuls, chancellors, or provincial governers, others becoming centurions, legates, and magnates. First-generation half-orcs are also frequent ambassadors and household managers. Other half-orcs are unfortunately incapable of receiving much inheritance, and many seek fortune or glory for themselves by training in the Claws of the Dragon style and competing in the tournaments, while others seek answers through the philosophy of the Dragon's Way. However, the best avenue for second-generation half-orcs and their descendants is to join the clergy of the Draconic Legacy or the Children of the Dawn, though a few find their way instead to the Animus cult. Many half-orcs cannot, as the clergy can only take in so many, and instead become adventurers, or join the half-orc barbarians outside of Eyros' society to join their cast-off kindred.

 

[Sarellion]

And Malonia sounds a lot like melonia, the city of melons to me.

I thought that it should be spoken slowly.

I change it, seems that some people don´t like it.

Hope you like the new one.