The Vanthric Haimarchy Organization in Ethnis | World Anvil

The Vanthric Haimarchy

The Haimarchy is not a government, it is a philosophy. It is the ability to take a sober look at the past and the present and plan for the future. This is why it has grown so far and lived for so long without crumbling.

We are not without power struggles, but we have developed a method for having them without undermining the foundation of our Banner.

We are not without adversity, but we are prepared to fight it. We will overcome from it and we will grow from its lessons.

While the other Banners are busy hoping for a better tomorrow, we are busy creating it.

— Sovereign Sigsalus

The Haimarchy is the oldest banner. It has had many names over many iterations, but is the same Banner of houses founded thousands of years ago after the final death of Kyzan.

They are proud, but it is an earned pride. They were first to discover Metaphysics, first to have a Sovereign, first to reach space, first to have an planetary, interplanetary, and galactic empire, first to terraform a planet, first to manipulate the gene code, first to make an entirely new Sophont... and so forth, ad nauseum through history. Their accomplishments are many, their people competent, their military powerful. Even their failures are the greatest history has seen, from the Sazashi Revolution to the internal schism which culminated in the House of Sorrows.

Core Philosophy

Lineage

The Haimarchy has held onto it's power using the same hierarchical government that has been in place for millennia. Experience and lessons flows down the family tree, and each new member is destined to operate off the same foundation that their ancestors built. With such a heavy focus on family, there are no more revolutions of leadership, only evolutions.

Perfection

No one is immune to hardship, the Verin know this as well as any other Sophont. They have seen their people ground to nothing, and then from the ashes rise to a new power. Conveniences are not worth unintended consequences, and the Verin will only take on new aspects when they have ensured that they know the ins and outs of its entirety.

History

The Haimarchy began with the death of the tyrannical first Sovereign, Kyzan. Fearful that granting the power to another person would result in a new reign of tyranny, the Azukenda decided to organize some failsafes and rewrite the Edict of Purity, the rules by which Kyzan had claimed to govern.

The accords they wrote were designed to last for thousands of years. There have been many amendments since then, clauses and entire sections added in the wake of disasters and mistakes. Over time their feudal structure has solidified into a pyramid, and the branches of government have developed to assure representation of the people and a proper balance of power.

The history of the Haimarchy is full of dark times, often the result of their hubris. They founded an empire which spanned the breadth of their home world, and it collapsed. They built new Sophont, the Sazashi, to do their bidding, and the Sazashi took over their home world. They made a super material for building without considering the long-term ramifications, and when it corrupted it plunged the world into a time of disease and dark meta which threatened to drive them and the Sazashi extinct.

They have a new home now, and many worlds. Their armies can tear mountains from their moorings and blot the sun from the sky. If it weren't for their methodical pace they might rule the stars—but if you ask them it's that pace which ensures that they will anyway.

Government

The Haimarchy is a carefully structured feudalistic dynasty with built-in rituals, standards, and laws to maintain and encourage peace and collaboration among its dynastically-ruled planets.

One of these measures is Tiers of Governance, which entrusts control and legislation of a region to the owners and inhabitants of that region, to an extent. Another measure is the Triumvirate of Powers, which breaks up the responsibilities of the Tiers of Governance so that multiple interests are protected and that it's harder for one interest to get marginalized, become antagonistic, and rebel.

Even with these safeguards, politics are often a parade of feuds and alliances which play out in silver tongues and gilded gears spinning out over tens, hundreds, thousands of years.

The Triumvirate of Power

    The Primont

    The Primont are representatives of every recognized Sophont living within the Haimarchy. At each Tier of Governance there are approximately 100 members of the Primont, with a ratio reflecting the demographics of their Tier.

    It is their role to represent the unique interests or needs of their Sophont, to help ensure that no race is being edged out but also to make sure that the needs of the many are met foremost. They vote on laws and motions, then work with the reigning Azukenda at their level of government on how to enact those laws and motions.

    The Haimokenda

    The Haimokenda represents the families of the Haimarchy. The eldest family member of sound mind of every family serves as its Azukenda, and meets up with Azukenda at their Tier. If there are too many representatives at a level they are further subdivided.

    The Azukenda of each level vote which Azukenda govern over them and are eligible to represent them at the next level up, and those Azukenda generate additional votes for themselves by committing or having a certain amount of available military, resource, or manpower for the other Tiers.

    It is their role to represent the interests of landowners and legislation. They vote on laws and motions, and then work with the reigning Azukenda at their tier on how to enact those laws and motions.

    The Sovereign

    The Sovereign serves as a spiritual, cultural, and metaphysical guide of the Haimarchy, and typically spends his time designing new cultural and technological innovations, updates, or repairs to keep the Haimarchy moving forward with a unified spirit. In order for any changes to be made which affect government Banner level, he must be consulted and convinced.

The Tiers of Governance

All shall preside only over their own. You have no command over what you do not own, nor right to presume to understand how to govern it more than its owner.

— Tenant of Verin Law of Governance

The Tiers odelineate the borders of power and control for the Triumvirate at that Tier. People at that Tier may only govern at that tier, and may only request upwards or downwards, not order. The Tiers of Governance, and what powers they grant, are listed from smallest to largest.

Summary

Heads of Faction

Sovereign Sigsalus
The Banner Primont
The Banner Haimokenda

Sophont Diversity

Human 5%
Sazashi 17%
Verin 75%
Other 3%
Primary Languages
Aeai 80%
Saza 15%
Other 5%
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Demonym
Haimarchists
Related Professions
Controlled Territories
Manufactured Items
Organization Vehicles
Notable Members

History

For more info on each event, read the timeline at the bottom of the article.

Faction Relations

Sorted from most favored to least
The Apple of Hedonism
It is sad how you try to blind yourselves to the truths of the world, to blind yourself on gleaming gold and sedate yourself on drugs. Someday you will awake and find yourself wondering what it all meant, and you will realize how much time you have wasted. Your notion at making a game of things is a clever approach to life, but it's cleverness untempered by wisdom or foresight, and you will lose yourself to the play.
The Jupiter Syndicate
You are very organized, but you do not know why you are organized, and so it is structure lending to madness rather than structure lending towards preparation. You exist in a state of self-contradiction, ever stumbling over your own feet, looking to the stars when you can hardly keep your stance.
 
The Church of The Somnolent
There's so much anger to you, so much fear. You want to prove yourself and you are willing to burn down the universe if that's what it takes. We fear you a little, and for good reason. When all comes to an end we may be at odds, and will have to fight.
 
The ValuSelu Pact
In a sense, you are our child and our mentor. We learned a lot from you, some of it good, most of it bad. Of all the Banners you worry us the least, even if you hate us the most—we see you looking to the distant future, and thinking. Now if you would just stop squabbling and bullying others... we've taken that route, trust us that it ends in tears.
 
The Federation of Free Planets
Dangerously naive. Your stance of collecting as many artefacts as possible is a worrisome one, and as often as not it feels like your approach to collecting worlds is more sinister than helpful. We have to keep an eye on you.
 
House of Sorrows
You don't want peace, you want chaos. You don't want love, you want pain. There is no method to your madness, only antithesis to the Wheel and a loathing for sanctity. You, before all others, must be destroyed.

RPG Content

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Values

Mastery comes with patience and repetition.
Mettle only counts when it is tested.
There is always work to do.
Laziness is death.
 

Tribes

Common Haimarchy upbringings

Of the Family

You are a member of the guiding class of the Haimarchy. Your name comes with esteem, clout, and power, as well as no small measure of danger. The bigger the name the bigger the target, not only outside of the Haimarchy but inside of it as well. Some will look to you to lead, some will seek to topple all you accomplish. Verin only.  

Of the House

You organize and maintain affairs , you are used to serving as an intermediary force between those who labor and those who lead, and are probably accustomed to doing a little of each. This role has made you a great team leader, someone who can lead by example and inspire those before you to  

Of the Field

For all of your life you have been provided, so long as you provide in turn. You are not used to having to decide, but to act. Asking you to lead would be a mistake, but within your given role you are effective, diligent, and masterful

Law

Law Enforcement

Tiered Police

The Haimarchy operates a police force at each level of holding. These police organizations are seperated from military personnel, and are operated from the Waysystem holding downwards. Family members from the ruling Haimokenda's family can assign family members to operate the highest level of the police force. They can then create divisions of enforcement for each level below them.

This division creation ends at the Metro district level, where you have a final police precinct. These differing teirs often have reflecting equipment, so a Metro level police force may not be well-equipped compared to the Waysystem force.

Enforcement

Criminals are capable of being arrested at any level of the police system. Petty theifs can be arrested by the Waysystem police if caught by the wayhall, and mass murders can be brought down by local Metro police if they can manage it.

While the enforcement of the Law can be done at any level, the sentencing has to happen at the level they are accused at. This allows for crimes to be prosecuted properly. The local police know how to punish petty crimes, but massive transgressions are handled by those higher up.

Runaway Criminals

Convicts who manage to escape Haimarchy space are subject to bounties set by top transgressing tier of government. The enforcement personnel will not chase fugitives into other Banners space, knowing what diplomatic dangers it can cause. Instead it lets banner-agnositic hunters attempt to bring criminals back in their stead.

It is rare that the Haimarchy will issue a dead or alive bounty, preferring those who commit crimes to stand before their teir of governance rather than just condemning a corpse.

Military

Assets

Technology

The military technologies of the Verin are a mixture of orga and meta tech. There are two forks of the technology used in the military. There is the non-autonomous division. The non-autonomous divison employs the actual sophonts, equipping them with various raiments for enabling massive battlefield controlling spells. These Sophonts are often held on the back line, acting as support. They are last to be risked on a front-line defense or assault.

The other division is the autonomus division, which consists entirely of produced golem warriors. These created beings of meta and orga are sent to the front lines first.

Prized Units

The Haimarchy shy away from weapons which constitute existential threats. They know first hand the consequences of such technology, and do not wish to inflict such horrors on the universe. In its stead, the Haimarchy instead produce platoons of warriors with specially trained Gestalt Soluma, Leviathan, and Behemoths. These massive constructs are battlefield dominators, giant organic and meta powered beings piloted by the specially trained platoons. They can come in any configuration for any environmentl: land, water, air, or even space.

Strategy

The Verin Haimarchy has an active duty military of career knights and ships as well as a much larger, decentralized military reserve managed by the Azukenda of their governance tier.

Whenever a conflict needs to be settled, the Azukenda hail down the pyramid (and up, depending on severity), and call to action a military force of reserves. Because of the rigorous training which all knights undergo, and the outfitting they are given, this allows the Verin to react to most threats with power local bands. The tradeoff to this is that they may be slower to act in larger battle theaters.

Economy

The Haimarchy's Economy is an affair controlled like any other, within the family. Corporations have little say in the matters of export and import, instead the tiers of governance get to elect what stays within the Haimarchy and what is able to be traded away. While this may stifle some of the trade that is more lucrative, it also means the Haimarchy does not run short of supplies when other Banners are buying up goods.

Corporations running within the Haimarchy are also regulated to a point which many other Banners would find constricting, risk-taking is not encouraged and creating new products which could be dangerous is a matter of which the Haimarchy will punish.

Resource

Haimarchy holds several planets that are rich in organic and meta supplies, but they do lack many commodities that they have to trade for. Their shortage of Platinum almost lead them into a war with the resource-rich planet of Perduro.

This event spurred the formation of the Federation of Free Planets. Instead of holding themselves hostage to the resources needed to dominate Mecha technology, they instead pushed themselves even further towards Meta and Orga.

Trade

The Haimarchy's caution with industry has kept them incident free, but it has not bode well for non-necessary trade. Routes need to be approved by the tiers of governance, and any trade ship not bearing a current trade route number is prone to being searched and hassled until they leave Haimarchy space. What trade does occur is subject to inspection by Law Enforcement at a moments notice.

Though the Haimarchy does bring technologies such as the Golem to the table, these autonomous units sell well to the other banners. They compete directly with the Mecha robotics market, and do well for Banners with little mecha tendencies.

Culture

Identity

An Ancient People

At the very heart of Verin culture is Verin age, in multiple senses.

The first sense is of their individual ages; Verin tend to be very long lived, and so while they develop physically within about 30 years, they perceive life and development on a much larger scale, and do not consider a Verin to be mentally mature until they are nearly 100 years of age. This changes their expectations on themselves and their offspring, and tends to make them think hundreds or thousands of years ahead to consider the ramifications of choices they may.

The first sense is of their societal age. The Haimarchy is the oldest known civilization in the universe, and just as it blazed the trail in many schools of science, metascience, and culture it also made many mistakes. They regard the other Banners, and other people, through the lens of those mistakes, which tends to make them look arrogant and controlling to others when they comment on what people should do.

The Weight of A Name

Verin culture puts family first and foremost, and view families as the smallest unit of governance. Their culture is not a highly individualistic one, instead it values someone's ability to contribute directly to the whole and further the name of that whole rather than to stand out. A family may last as long as the Haimarchy itself, and a fair few have.

This puts great importance on the role of the Azukenda. A head of family may reign for hundreds, even thousands of years, arranging marriages, brokering deals with other families, and helping to decide for a child what education they will get.


Comments

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Aug 28, 2018 06:22 by Vince Napolitano

I enjoy the complexity and multi-tier nature of the governmental structure, it feels very real, yet unique. I also appreciate the idea of a society so rooted in philosophy that it seems to have become the philosophy itself. One thing that I'm dying to know is whether or not such a complex and layered system is susceptible to corruption, be it internal or external?

Aug 28, 2018 17:32 by Ademal

Corruption is always a factor in any system, though their philosophies and the numerous layers of checks and balances make it very hard to get much traction in that regard. Politicians also have limited rights in many regards, and are prone to getting their minds read for corruption before being allowed to move upwards.   Leading is seen servitude more than power.   Great question, I'll have to integrate it into the article!

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Aug 28, 2018 06:45

Hot diggity, this was nuts. It seems I say this with every article I read, but it is stunning and very well laid out (probably because I struggle to get bold? to work). I digress.   To be perfectly honest, I had to read through this 3 times to fully comprehend the system of governance they use. It is super complex, which i think fits super well with long lived and philosophical species like theirs. They can afford to have the complexity and seeming slowdown. I love the "At Their Best" and "At Their Worst" sections, as well as their relationships with other banned (Federation of Free Planets, for the win!). A ton of though went into this, and it reflects masterfully. I think you really captured the whole "We been there, done that, and learned from it" thing they got going on.   Some things I noticed while reading through. "from the Sazashi Revolution to schism which later lead to the House of Sorrows." This sentence has Sazashi Revolution and House of Sorrows, in bold and red, but there is no link or tooltip. It was also a bit confusing to read, did the Sazashi Revolution schism? or is it something else? In the Government section, under politics, the first paragraph seems to end abruptly as well. In the same area, second paragraph, "interest to get sidelines, become antagonistic, and rebel." Under the list of Governance tiers, the Estate section reads, "Unless the estate has more than 5000 residents, an estate does not have Primont or Haimokenda and is owned the family Azukenda." owned by? Under the same section, Banner, "Primont and Haimokenda may vote on change on any aspect of society," The second Law Enforcement dot, "Law Enforcement must extradite criminals to to correct Tier of Governance" Under Technology, the Gestalt Soluma, Leviathan, and Behemoths are also bold and red, but do not have a link or tooltip. Under Culture, An Ancient People, "and tends to make them thing hundreds or thousands of years ahead to consider the ramifications of choices they may." Second paragraph, "which tends to make them look arrogant and controlling to others when that comment on what people should do." Under Being in the Haimarchy, At Their Best, 'You look towards the future, not just tomorrow but a hundred years for now, a thousand.' I hope me pointing these out is okay, I am not the author and don't know for sure, but I figure it is okay to check. At the least they might help (I hope!)

Aug 28, 2018 06:46

Welp, I attempted to space that bottom crap out, but it stuffed it back together. Sorry :(

Aug 28, 2018 17:35 by Ademal

No worries man, I appreciate it :)   I haven't responded yet because it's a big comment and I want to give it proper attention, but thank you for leaving such awesome commentary on articles! I've seen you here and there and am always impressed.

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Aug 28, 2018 18:30 by Ademal

It was absolutely fine to point that all out! I appreciate it. I'm really glad you liked it! Is there anything you think needs more fleshing out or were left asking?  

Feedback Response

  • to the internal schism
  • Leftover sentence ended abruptly in Politics P1
  • to get marginalized, become antagonistic, and rebel.
  • is owned by the family Azukenda.
  • may vote to change any aspect of society
  • and tends to make them think hundreds
  • when they comment on what people should do
  • to the correct Tier of Governance
  • but a hundred years from now, a thousand
Under Technology, the Gestalt Soluma, Leviathan, and Behemoths are also bold and red, but do not have a link or tooltip.
The bold red but no tooltip means there will be an article there but there isn't one yet. :D. If you type something like @Leviathan(technology) then for everyone else it will appear like Leviathan but for you, the author, it will be a link that, when clocked, takes you to a blank technology template for leviathans. You can do this with most article types. :D

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Aug 28, 2018 19:34

Take your time! I tend to get enthusiastic while reading a lot of this stuff, and get "hooked" so to say, so I tend to almost ramble when I comment XD, thank you for the kind words though!   As far as your question about fleshing out or asking questions (this is probably due to my limited diction) but it might be useful to have definitions for some of these words. I had to google Sophont to figure out what it was. And the area about the Primont mentions the Azukenda, but it isn't "defined" until the next section about the Haimokenda. My blind eyes didn't see it, so I scoured the side bar and even the homepage to figure out what it was, then found it once I gave up and kept reading XD. Aside from that, I am interested in seeing the Soluma, Leviathan and Behemoths, everything about this universe is epic!   Also, I hate that even your comment replies are gorgeous... one day :(

Aug 28, 2018 21:57 by Ademal

One day may be sooner than later, since we've got guides for that!   Good idea, I really need to get better about defining words the first time they appear on any article, especially since these are some of the first articles people will read.  

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Aug 28, 2018 17:18

Very clean layout and comprehensive narrative. I especially enjoyed the Overview, Values, Tribes and Faction Relationships (*cough cough*, Somnolent >•>). The government structure reminds me of the shogunate system and the Verin as a whole is reminiscent of Japanese culture (i.e. the impotance placed on values such as honor and family). I am curious, was this intentional and also were there any other cultures or government systems you drew inspiration from?

Aug 28, 2018 17:29 by Ademal

Japanese and Eastern Culture (including some Middle Eastern elements, though they're overshadowed by the rest and not really covered here) played a heavy influence. I wanted a culture that sort of stands at extreme odds with the values we tend to take for granted as Americans without doing so in an antagonistic way.   Something I haven't covered in here yet that I should is that they even have something resembling filial piety, in that their culture has an intersection of gender and social values which combine to create a system of something in the ballpark of 28 "genders" and there is a hole tapestry of expected treatment of interaction not only to each gender, but from each gender to each gender induvidially.

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Aug 29, 2018 06:44

"Even their failures are the greatest history has seen"   I really like that. It's a really nice, flavorful quote. :)   "The Haimarchy is a carefully structured feudalistic dynasty with built-in rituals, standards, and laws to maintain and encourage peace and collaboration among its dynastically-ruled planets."   I would love to know more about that. Maybe have a small collage of standards, like the japanese mons (which are awesomely designed, so good use for inspiration).   I'm *really* digging the fact that what would in most setting be the big bad empire has it's foundation in not wanting another Tyrant. Kind of Rome-y, in a way, but really awesome.   Since they are a feudal empire, essentially, are there ever time where this works against them in big battles or campaigns? Like feuding houses refusing to muster forces at each others defenses, etc? I know they're probably not supposed to do that, but that's never stopped anyone (just ask anyone who's played CK2 :D ). You mention that it makes them slower in larger theaters and it just sound like a wonderfully ripe pile of plots waiting to happen :)   Do their checks ever fail? Have there ever been a sophont that has become marginalized?   "The Haimarchy is the oldest known civilization in the universe, and just as it blazed the trail in many schools of science, metascience, and culture it also made many mistakes."   Feels like there should be some sort of divide between culture and it. Or maybe chop the sentence in two and reword it slightly?   Do they have gender roles? I remember Kyzan had those (screw that guy, what a jerk), but maybe they've moved past it by now?   "we've taken that route, trust us that it ends in tears."   It might read better as two sentences. I'm not sure. I like it but I wish it had some more sting on the end to really sort of solidify the Verin's "we've been around a few times" grouchy veteran "been there done that" mentality. :D   Overall, freakin' awesome stuff! :)


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