Government in the GOIO

[Indreams]

The forum seems to be missing a thread on Government. As a political science nerd, I couldn't resist a thread on that.

So, how are the factions governed?

It's clear that the Anglean Republic has a representative government of some form (Republic is in the name.)
I'd assume that the Yesha Empire has some form of an emperor and central government.
The Fjord Baronies, I imagine, would have a hereditary oligarchy.

Other factions are unclear on how they are governed.

It'd be interesting to imagine how these factions would be governed, if they are not governed at all.

Thank you for reading, 

[DrTentacles]

I think it's more likely the Fjord baronies have a parliamentary monarchy-they definitely have a King. So basically a hereditary oligarchy, but more structured. Like England, if you surgically removed the House of Commons.

I've always viewed Yesha as much like Imperial China, with the addition of a caste system. An Emperor, yes, but also a vast bureaucracy, with civil service tests to determine your role, and possibly secure advancement. It would be hard/impossible to move outside of your assigned caste, though you could advance within it.

Anglea might have a sort of tribal moot-the tribes elect a head, and the head represents them within the Althing.

The Mercentile guild, on the other hand, is interesting. I keep going back to Venice for a model for their government, with a Doge/Prince that is chosen among various great corporation-houses.


Chalcodon is kinda a blank

[Indreams]

I'd think the mercantile guild as an alliance of machiavellian states. Despotic, opportunistic, distrusting states held together under profit. Similar to medieval Italy.

And Chaladon, I haven't got a clue. They seem to have some sort of a Utopian community.

I like your idea of the Yesha being similar to Han China. That would make them a strong, powerful "empire"

I know Anglea is viking-like, but I'd like to imagine a republican state safe in the northern mountains, little more organized than tribal-elections.

[Jub Jub]

The Order of Chaladon is hard to discern due to the lack of lore on them.

While the world was swept away by war, famine, plague—the dust of death slowly settling its fine red mist on the parched earth—the Island of Chaladon remained isolated from the devastation.  A Chaladonian could look in one direction to see bright white sands and clear blue waters, then look in the other direction to be met with the smells of ripe fruit and green pastures.  Their fertile land led the Chaladonians to become experts in modern thought and bio-chemical sciences.  After tilling the fields, an old farmer may retire to his workshop to concoct a new fertilizer for his fields to triple its yield.  Before tending to her chores, a girl may work out the kinks of a new hydro-pneumatic system to operate simple machinery.  Life was perfect.

Then word spread that they could teach outsiders how to grow enough crops to feed families for months and with enough to store for winter.  Indeed, the Order could teach others how to turn desolate lands into fertile farms, but they knew it would come at a cost.  The Chaladonians are isolationists by choice, they understood that the world became the way it is because of man being in disunion with the earth.  To burden the land to feed the many will only ensure the death of all their children once the soil sprouts its last seed.

The Chaladonian’s freedom to pursue knowledge is only because they understood what the world could give them—effort is put into the soil and the gift of survival is received.  Take too much, and the gift of death is also earned.

Death balances the scales.

But from this (and only this) I would wager that Chaladon has a strong, centralized, facist-type government, where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Based on their lore description, it doesn't actually say it, but it gives several very subtle hints that Chaladonians purposefully cull the population to make sure that they always have plentiful food:

While the world was swept away by war, famine, plague—the dust of death slowly settling its fine red mist on the parched earth—the Island of Chaladon remained isolated from the devastation.  A Chaladonian could look in one direction to see bright white sands and clear blue waters, then look in the other direction to be met with the smells of ripe fruit and green pastures.  Their fertile land led the Chaladonians to become experts in modern thought and bio-chemical sciences.  After tilling the fields, an old farmer may retire to his workshop to concoct a new fertilizer for his fields to triple its yield.  Before tending to her chores, a girl may work out the kinks of a new hydro-pneumatic system to operate simple machinery.  Life was perfect.

Then word spread that they could teach outsiders how to grow enough crops to feed families for months and with enough to store for winter.  Indeed, the Order could teach others how to turn desolate lands into fertile farms, but they knew it would come at a cost.  The Chaladonians are isolationists by choice, they understood that the world became the way it is because of man being in disunion with the earth.  To burden the land to feed the many will only ensure the death of all their children once the soil sprouts its last seed.

The Chaladonian’s freedom to pursue knowledge is only because they understood what the world could give them—effort is put into the soil and the gift of survival is received.  Take too much, and the gift of death is also earned.

Death balances the scales.

Assuming this is true, and Chaladonians do keep manual control over their population, I'd also imagine them to have rules on who would or would die, or be able to have children. Sickly or weak infants would probably be abandoned, anyone causing problems within society would be executed, and the old or handicapped would be euthanized. I see all of this lending itself very strongly to a Facist-ish type government, which historically wouldn't be too far off, as GoI's time line begins (again according to lore) somewhere near the 1945 (assuming WWI --> WWII never ended). This is when "The Third Way" was becoming massively popular in Europe, so I can very easily see this type of government being represented within the game as Chaladon.   

[Indreams]

Up till now, I have thought of the Order as the good guys. (Well, it is the "Order")

Well, if they are like society in The Brave New World and We, I don't think I like them anymore.

But how would the Order maintain control over a agricultural population?

The Order is primarily agricultural, which would suggest a decentralized population. I am not convinced that a strong, fascist, central government can maintain control over the Chaladon.

The alternative that I can think of is that the Order's citizens are ideological to the point of religion. But religion was never mentioned in the World of Icarus, so... does anybody have a good explanation?

[HamsterIV]

For all we know Chaladon could be ruled by a vast thinking machine that was created prior to the cataclysm that turned much of the the world to ash. Perhaps this thinking machine controlled a network of skybound vessels. A Skynet if you will. It recognized the feuding nations would one day destroy the entire planet and decided it would give the process a kickstart. All the while preserving an isolated island that housed its central core.

Sadly this machine miscalculated the durability of its physical systems and after a few decades was in sore need of maintenance. It tricked a small population of refugees that washed up on its shores into thinking it was a god and used their agile human fingers to clean and maintain its internal systems. The Skynet used its advanced knowledge of human psychology and agriculture to cultivate its people and its island into a garden of Eden.

Ultimately all Chaledonians are slaves to a homicidal machine god. They do not understand the technology which they serve, but accept its control because it has allowed them to lead lives of abundance. Without the influence of their mechanical overmind they are a weak people only suitable for enslavement and pillaging.

Sincerely Yours,

The Angelean Propaganda Ministry

[DrTentacles]

It's unlikely there's a true "Good Guy" faction. The Chalcedonians have a "utopian" society...but beyond the obvious cultish isolationism/"screw the rest of the world, I've got mine," they seem pretty heavy on the authoritarian scale.

[Indreams]

Can whatever Hamster said be canon? 

Yea, I'm pretty sure the "Good Guy" faction will be up to the player to decide.

We haven't mentioned the Arashi league yet.

They are described as

The small tribal families, warbands, and rag tag groups are fiercely independent

So, some sort of loose confederation? Or like the pirates in the Pirates of the Caribbean, held together by a vague code of conduct?

[DrTentacles]

Something like the Aiel from Wheel of Time, or Fremen from Dune. Full of infighting, with greater allegiance for tribe than nation, but ready to turn on outsiders like a next of wasps the moment they're poked. Maybe an emergency tribe council, or a once-a-year festival where they all gather at neutral ground to trade, but no formal national government.

[HamsterIV]

Have you ever wondered how the Angeleans could survive in their vast arctic tundra? They say they harness thermal energy from within the earth, but that is a lie. No human could stand the noxious gasses and extreme temperature differences.

Any child knows all human life needs food grown in the light of the sun to provide the nutrients for good health. Yet the sun rarely shines on the Angelea's domain. I posit to you that the Angeleans aren't really human, but a race of Lizard people from the center of the earth. Our two races lived in blissful ignorance of one another until pre cataclysm man kind's greed for fossil fuel caused them to drill too deep.

Any records of mankind's contact with the lizard people have been lost but reputable schollars believe a cast of these Lizard people carry the Chamelion's color shifting ability. They no doubt  used it to infiltrate pre cataclysm human society with the intention of turning man on his fellow man. Ultimately this precipitated the great war that nearly destroyed this planet's fragile eco system. Were it not for the guidance of Chaladon's founding fathers and the lizard people's inherent fear of great bodies of water this planet would have been overrun by a scourge of lizard people.

Do not trust the Angelean's promise of shelter and meaningful labor in their underground cities, the lizard people look upon humanity as a food stock and nothing more. That is right, your friends, family, and neighbors who were taken in Angelean raids now rest comfortably inside the bellies of those forked tongued fiends.

Next time you see one of those lumbering brutes wrapped in their furs and armor look closely for scales and reptilian eyes. Then you will know the truth, Angeleans are not to be trusted.

Respectfully,
 
The Chaledon Ministry for Truth.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Yesha has 3 branches of government but it is similar to Anglea in that it is a republic format. At least, it was awhile back. I know Muse has done a lot more detail on Yesha than the others. But I've noticed small changes over time. Heck at one point there was a reference to the Baronies refining for Yesha, but then that changed.

[DrTentacles]

So it's a republic called an empire, with hints at a a caste system. Curious.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

So it's a republic called an empire, with hints at a a caste system. Curious.

Yeah, I originally thought it was more Imperial but then I had to check into it for the VN and nope, its a republic. I would imagine that it is more Sith Empire and less Old Republic. But instead of just an Emperor ruling, you have the 3 branches. The Consuls hold that supreme power and preside over a senate type setup.

Baronies I imagine as more feudal. There is a king but he's more of a symbol and the Barons more or less run the show. Which would give rise to a great amount of cloak and dagger.

The Guild, I kinda imagine as having sort of a Mafia/Merchant King system. It is ran by families/etc. In a way, not terribly different than Arashi's tribal system, cept they are asses who would sell their own mother to make a profit.

Chaladon I could see having minimal government. Loose state or province system. Possibly some likeness to the Baronies except with no king or major ruler over their heads. More free society that has their paradise and doesn't really care about the rest of the world as much. Gryphos has a nice quote that fits them in the VN. Basically there is a scene where the protagonist's dad is discussing the other nations and the general idea about Chaladon he puts across is,"Maybe… maybe they don’t want to eat at the restaurant, but they do want to know what’s on the menu, and what others are ordering.” Kinda like window shoppers when it comes to the other nations.

[Tyre]

We haven't mentioned the Arashi league yet.

They are described as

The small tribal families, warbands, and rag tag groups are fiercely independent

So, some sort of loose confederation? Or like the pirates in the Pirates of the Caribbean, held together by a vague code of conduct?

I think that sentence is referring to a past League, where borders were being drawn, pacts signed, etc within the desert.

I'm guessing that the League is a commonwealth-alliance mix similar to the real world CIS, but with them sharing a common currency, military, and language. Plus, given that the desert is just western Europe turned sideways and it's called the "Arashi League", I'm gambling that Muse is basing the League off of the League of Nations, which was (or what Wilson wanted to be) similar to a commonwealth.

[Jason McMorgan]

Anglean Republic are a scattered number of villages that have a governing official with advisors, however they are all united under a singular ruler of the entire republic and gather to meet at certain times. Despite their barbaric actions of raiding, slavery, and piracy, they are actually quite organized (which is kinda necessary when living in such a harsh environment and a reliance on piracy and thievery.)

Yeshan  Empire is your basic classical Asian style government, however unlike ancient China and Japan, the Empire is run by a council of Eunuchs who are the intellectual and philosophical elite.

The Arashi League, if I remember correct, don't have a central leader, and are similar to the Angleans that they are a cluster of villages with their own leaders but are not always allies with each other.