Musura Federation
The Musura Federation is an elective monarchy tied greatly to The Seer Collective, and its followers. The head of the government, the Pashidah, is elected from both the Guilds, the Seerist Oracles, and governors that are mostly elected from the Federal peoples in the Terminus Systems. Those that are selected to become the Pashidah must undergo rigorous Psionic testing, and a arduous journey on Zooma's World known as the Spiral.
The Musura federation is the second largest population within the entire known galaxy, and the power they wield can be incredible. They are the most culturally diverse governmental entity in the entire galaxy. The Federation is entirely made up of the space occupied by the Guilds, but also enterprise systems who helped establish the Musuran Charter. The Musurans pride themselves on their multi-ethnic backgrounds, and regularly export their culture to the rest of the galaxy. However, getting the Federation to act out of anything other than inward direct self-interest is difficult, and often times they are reactioinary when it comes to global politics. While they view the Colonial Empire as the biggest threat currently, the upper-class of the federation is also incredibly worried about the growing spread of Union ideas and political theory.
Their closest ties are with the Republican Remnant, as its the closest government to Musuran political idealogies. Within both governments, there is a heavy hand of politics played by the wealthy private ownership classes, and the liberal intelligensia. They work in tandem with the more fascist elements shared between their respective polities, while subverting socialist movements are begining to unite in solidarity with one another. In both governments, spreading the message of the Union of Socialist Systems is seen as threatening, and make efforts to socially engineer a growing push away from both the Union, but also the Colonial Earth Empire, who they claim as a fascist entity.
The Musura Federation is named for the Musura merchant traders that regularly traded between the Zlathan territories before the Silence. It grew steadily in size, mostly through peaceful means, occasionally through military conquest from its neighbors.
Currently, the Federation operates as a powerful influence in the Mid Rim and the Outer Rim. Their influence is so great that the Colonial Earth Empire is careful when negotiating with the Federation. While the two are not opposed, they are far from allies. The Musura Federation has been accused of regulalry funding the likes of the Pacifica Liberation Front and working with the Zym Cartel, destabilizing the mid rim away from Imperial hegemony. However, they have also in recent years began operating against the Ungratefuls. Many in the PLF have viewed this cynically, stating that the Federation only cares about their cause as far as it is a destablizing force, and does not truly wish to see a fully successful and free Pacifica.
The Guilds
The Musura Federation is primarily run by a handful of guilds that each control different spheres of influence under the Federation. Most guilds started as a specialized economic power, however generations of wealth accumulation and political maneuvering has spread the power and influence of the various guilds to encompass more than their speciality. However, this has also meant that the creation of new guilds is non-existent, as they are usually bought out or suppressed by the increasingly decadent powers. The largest guilds are;- Spicer Guild: Started around the cultivation and growing of Spice , and then quickly expanded into Isotope-10 mining. They also encompass a wide range of psionic research and cultivation. However, most of these are investments that give the Spicers the edge among the Guild politics. The coffers are filled by the Spicers' Agri-Industries. The baskets of the Spicers feed the Federation, and it has made them incredibly wealthy. The Spicers run the Grand Conservatory in conjunction with the Seerists on Artedis.
- Enginseer Guild: Revolves around the creation and maintenance of the interstellar shipping in the Musura Federation. They also have unique control over a handful of the Interstellar Gates that exist in Federation space. Many of the Enginseers spend most their lives above ships and on orbital stations. They also make up a significant chunk of the Federal Naval Forces.
- Scribe Guild: The scribe Guild has a stranglehold on the bureaucracy of the Musura Federation, and handles to monumental task of organizing and maintaining the structures that keep the Federation and organized force. While many view the scribes as stuffy academics, the power structures understand that the Scribes as the glue that holds the federation together.
- Solar Guild: The Solar Guild began with heavy investments into the energy industries of the Musura Federation, and then brought in mining and world breaking into their perview through a series of hostile takeovers. They now represent a wide portfolio of resource extraction operations, key to keeping the Federal systems alive.
Structure
The Musura Federation operates as a loose collection of royal merchant guilds unified in their shared Zlathan cultural heritage and ties to The Seer Collective. They allied themselves along the Musuran Line, a Golden Road that traversed the Terminus and Pacifican systems. The systems get equal representation, and contribute to a shared federal government. The royal merchant guilds within the government are paired with Seerist Augurs and preists.
The second branch is the Divination Council, made up of the Seerist Augurs who are put into power by either election or appointment by the already existing Augurs. These are always powerful psionic Seerists, who undergo an intensive ritualistic selection process. They go through years of trials, under the tutelage of various different mentors, meant to teach them about the intricate internal politics of the Federation. Oftentimes, they strike their own bargains with the guilds, and while the guilds loathe the position of the Augurs, they know better than to try and challenge their authority. Not only do the ignoble citizenery look to the Augurs as "their" representation in the Federal Government, but their direct ties to the Seerist religious beliefs means there is a fervor to defend the Augurs' power.
Most of the day-to-day is handled by by the ignoble house, while the vast majority of military and executive power is vested into the hands of the Guild Council.
The Councils
The Musurans operate under a federal constitution, under which organizes the Federation into two primary branches of government. The most powerful is the Guild Council, organized and maintained by the royal merchant guilds. This Council elects a Czar, who serves as the supreme executive. This Czar is mostly a figurehead, who serves at the pleasure of whatever guild powerbase got them appointed.Court Systems
The court of law is determined in three different systems of courts. The first is the highest level, and most heavy handed, the Federal Courts. These courts are made up of a series of locally elected representatives, who then choose among their own to move up to the higher courts. The next two courts are relatively "equal" in power, but used for different cases. The Trade Courts are organized primarily by the guilds, and meant to solve disputes between the two. The Augur Courts are made up of Seerist priests who try to use their understanding of the paths of time to serve justice.Assets
While the Musura federation does not have the same size of military apparatus of the Imperial Navy, or the specialized fighters of the Vanguard Revolutionary Forces, the forces they do have are by no means ineffective. Military forces are collected under the Federal Government, and is a slow moving bureaucratic system, split between the two different branches of government. The Guild Council is responsible for maintaining, funding, and training the Musuran Banner Companies. These companies are highly diversified, and when they are not being used by the Federal Military, they are deployed as security assets (in a non-policing manner) for the guilds, or even as mercenary forces abroad. The companies are primarily made up of members of the Merchant Guild and highly paid ignoble forces.
The Federal Forces are organized into wide-spread system based militias, who are usually only called in defensive wars, or in rare-times of great social unrest and upheaval within the Federation. The Federal Forces also make up the bulk of policing units within Federal Space.
Together, they robust defensive force, that regularly makes gains in the Mid Rim against Imperial expansion, and protects its merchant fleets from regular piracy coming from Wild Space. They have their own set of specialized chassis, with designs purchased from both Smith-Shimano Corpo and Interplanetary Shipping - Northstar, and some they've developed on their own. They even are rurmored to have a mech designed inspired by HORUS.
The Musuran Merchant Navy is the largest in the Orion Arm, and is authorized to be armed for their own protection. These merchant navies, regularly fight back against the pirates in the Terminus systems, making it one of the most dangerous, but profitable sectors to engage in piracy in. Privateers are regularly given legalized protection in Musura for targeting rival merchants. Musuran Privateers regularly find themselves hunting down Zym Cartel runners, and taking Imperial ships for ransom during times of escalating aggressive political blustering from both sides.
These privateers have grown in number in recent years, and have begun to strike mutual alliances with banner company captains, forming an extremely dangerous combination of military capability and civilian celebrity status. Recently, the banner captains and privateers have begun to challenge the power of the guilds, chaffing under the weight of bueracracy for a growing martial class that seeks a more hawkish approach.
The Federations economy is massive, rivaling the Union and Empire in its productive capacity. They deal regularly in consumer goods, professional white collar service industry, and highly specialized medical equipment. The culture of the Federation is also one of the most influential in the world, regularly drawing on not only their Zlathan heritage, but welcoming influences from the eclectic society they have built. The multi-cultural melting pot that is the Federation is a great boon as well, allowing the Musurans to blend the ideas and benefits of all manner of galactic peoples.
Foreign Relations
The Musura Federation represents the third influence of great power within the Orion Arm. Because of their size, slow moving government, and bloated distribution of power and influence, the federation has never taken a definitive position towards either the Union of Socialist Systems or the Colonial Earth Empire. Instead, the guilds forge their own paths, opening trade up to all of the Orion Arm.
The closest allies to the Federation are is the Republican Remnant, who try to tote the line of a "gentle" capitalism, and hide behind the facade of free and open markets and free and open democracy. However, in practice the Federation has a habit of supporting far-right nationalist movements, like those in Arcadia. The guilds have a cautious relationship with the Zym Cartel, though they are probably the most ideologically similar.
Type
Geopolitical, State
Capital
Government System
Monarchy, Elective
Power Structure
Federation
Economic System
Market economy
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
