Prologue: Dizyntk racial details

The government of the Dizyntk Grand Imperium is basically a feudal one. The Empress' word is law and it is she that makes most of the laws that the average dizyntk citizen lives by. There are exceptions here and there however. The Queens of the Second and Third Star Clusters can, and do, make laws of their own regarding their areas of authority, i.e. the four planets they both control. The only restriction being that they cannot contradict any Imperial laws.

Each planet in the Imperium has two Duchesses that are assigned to rule over it in the name of the Empress. Dizyn, Ishalitk and Ostrantk (capital of the Third Cluster) are the exceptions. They are ruled directly by the Empress and the Queens of the Second and Third Clusters respectively, although all three do have one Ducal House whose Duchess helps the monarch in question run the planet. Also, the six colony systems which are not fully part of the Imperium yet have only one Duchess assigned to each of them for the time being. These colony worlds are also subject only to Imperial law and no others. At least until they formally join whichever Star Cluster they will eventually become a part of.

These Duchesses of the main worlds are each assigned half of their planet to rule over. This division is made mostly along geographical lines; the intent being to cause as little division of contiguous land masses as possible. This means that sometimes the division is an east/west hemisphere one and other times a north/south one. Much like the Queens and their respective Clusters, these Duchesses can make laws regarding their hemisphere. Again, these laws cannot contradict Imperial law in any way. They also cannot be in conflict with any Royal laws issued by the Queen of the Star Cluster the planet in question happens to be in.

The only area in which neither the Queens nor any of the Duchesses may make laws is in regards to the Orders of the Temple of the Goddess. The Temple is considered sacrosanct and only the Empress herself may make any laws regarding it. There is a very good reason behind this and that is the fact that the Temple is the judiciary for the Imperium. The Temple can order the arrest and trial of any dizyntk, even a Queen or Duchess. Theoretically, they can even try the Empress. The common citizens can even protest laws they consider unfair through the Orders. The Temple will make these complaints known to whichever level of government the law in question came from although they usually take no sides in the matter. That being said, widespread complaints have, in the past, caused the Temple to actively lobby in favor of a law's repeal on behalf of the populace. Considering the influence of the Orders, this has usually produced favorable results.

It should be noted here that while male dizyntk can hold titles such as Duke, Prince, Count and Baron, these are only ever used for lower ranking members of an existing Imperial, Royal or Noble House. Queen Kiasyphia's brother, for example, is a Duke. No male may hold a title that would put him in charge of a House as Dizyntk culture is strictly matriarchal. As another example, Michael and Feyalisa's son, Kalenderen, will never be in line to inherit the Sapphire Throne. He probably will be given a title such as Count or Duke after he comes of age to reflect the fact that he is Feyalisa's son and therefore a blood member of Royal House Zerleen. Dizyntk rules of succession can be a bit complicated because of this.

As an example, let us assume that Ariarisha were to die after her mother ascended to the Throne but before she herself had any female offspring. Unless Feyalisa were to have another daughter, the line of succession would pass to the next female child of Feyalisa's mating group, if there was one. In this case that would be Velakari's daughter, Asinalani. This would cause the Royal House of the Second Star Cluster to shift from the Zerleen line to Velakari's family, Yiskun, as soon as Asinalani ascended the Throne. This shift of Royal lineage nearly happened anyway. When Feyalisa was presumed dead with her mother and her mother's mating group, Liracalia's daughter, Admiral Zelatira, became the heir apparent to the Throne. If Feyalisa had not been found, or if she had been found after Kiasyphia's death, then Zelatira would have become Queen and the Royal House would have become House Tilikant. Truth be told, Zelatira was quite happy serving as an officer with the fleet and never really wanted the crown. She was somewhat uneasy at the prospect of becoming Queen. While she would have accepted the responsibility if duty demanded, she was greatly relieved that Feyalisa's safe return meant she did not have to.

As all dizyntk family names are passed through the female parent, you can understand why the daughters of any given Royal or Noble House are strongly encouraged to have at least one daughter of their own, preferably more.

Below the Duchesses are the various Contessas and Baronesses. They control varying amounts of land, if indeed they have any at all, and are not actually beholden to the Duchesses on whose planet they reside. While Duchesses and the two Queens may recommend the creation of a Baronial or Comital House, only the Empress may actually bring one into being. She may also abolish them. Thus all these lower Noble Houses owe their allegiances directly to the Empress. Usually, however, the Empress does request that any Baronial or Comital House she creates give their allegiance to her through a specific Ducal or Royal House; though this is not always the case.

All Noble Houses maintain some military forces. The amount depends both on the level of nobility in question and the heritage of the specific House. The Empress commands the largest set of forces by far, naturally. Between the two of them, the Queens of the two Star Clusters command half as many forces as the Empress. The various Ducal Houses vary widely but, as a general rule, are only allowed to possess enough military power to effectively defend their terrestrial and in-system possessions. Not that is too difficult for a Duchess to amass larger forces in secret if she is of a mind to do so.

Baronial and Comital Houses generally are not allowed to maintain anything even resembling large numbers of troops. Those they do have are closer to paramilitary forces than actual soldiers in both training and equipment. They are used mainly as bodyguards to protect the members of the House in question, although they can be used as a backup for local police units if so needed. The exceptions to this are those Noble Houses, like Virathea's, which have traditionally been considered Warrior Houses. These Houses must have been considered such from no later than the Dizyntk's first interstellar flight, some 300 cyankas ago, to be allowed to be called a Warrior House today and thus be exempt from the normal rules regulating the other Baronial and Comital Houses in regards to possessing military forces.

These Warrior Houses are the core of Dizyntk military strength. Almost two-thirds of the officers in the planetary and space forces of all Dizyntk military formations, Imperial, Royal and Ducal are from the various Warrior Houses. Even among the enlisted personnel, forty percent of all soldiers in the Imperium come from a Warrior House. Altogether, only about one Noble House in thirty is considered a Warrior House. Their importance to the defense of the Imperium can thus be seen to far outweigh their numbers. Because of this, Warrior Houses are allowed to maintain military forces and training facilities that rival those of a Ducal House, even if they themselves are only a Baronial one. As of this time, no Warrior House has ever been elevated to any level higher than Comital and very few of them are even of that level. It is felt that any higher standing would give a Warrior House far too much power and influence. None of the Warrior Houses has disputed this view.

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