An Empire of Ideals
01 May 2022Iridium Nova
This galaxy is big enough that someone with enough time, money, and power can realize their greatest dreams, if only for a while.Long ago, a man whose original name has been lost to history had a dream of a place where life was simpler, more secure, and more fair than anywhere else. His ideas were strange, and he found few who would follow him, but those few would become the pillars of a new society, one totally unlike anything else that existed at it's time. They quit their jobs, left their families, and changed their names, following this man beyond the frontier, to establish a new nation, independent and free.
This nation was the Shadowstar Imperium, named for it's first emperor, the man who had led them to these promised lands. His name was Argon Shadowstar. The name was based on a long forgotten cultural tradition that had influenced him in his early years, but with his own spin on it. It was intended to separate them from the civilizations they came from, to show that they were a new people, and not tethered to the trappings of obsolete societies. They had a lot of ideas, but the problem with having a lot of ideas is that most of them are bad ideas and you have a lot of them - which leads to rough times.
The early years of the Imperium were difficult. Ideas clashed and visions were compromised. While everyone basically wanted the same thing, reality tempered each person's opinion of how to achieve it in different ways. Oftentimes, those opinions did not agree. But eventually, things worked out one way or another and the society of the Shadowstar Imperium began to take shape. This was enough to attract colonists from elsewhere in human space to make the long and dangerous trip to start a new life under a different flag.
At it's height, the Imperium was basically a meritocracy. Social standing and progress was based on merit; deeds and accomplishments of note. While money certainly had it's role in the capitalistic society, merit was the true determining factor in someone's value. Each individual in the society could give one merit point to another individual. No-one could give a single person more than one point, but they could give points to as many people as they wished. Even the whole population if they wanted - and there were some who did. This led to a philosophy which some adopted whereby they'd give everyone in the society a merit point and then if anyone did something to irk them, they'd take it away. All of this was done electronically and required a rather significant portion of the government's data handling capacity, but it was manageable. The Hall of Merit was an immense building in the capital which was essentially a gigantic server tower. It was one of the most secure buildings in the entire empire and it's data security was notoriously sophisticated. I'm not aware of anyone ever managing to hack it, but it was a long time ago. I suppose in democratic societies, similar things are done for voting, but this was really something to behold. I only ever saw the place once.
As an outsider, I could not give any merits to anyone, at least not until I officially joined later on. Interestingly, the society would allow one to give a merit to outsiders. In fact, it was possible to give merits to anyone or anything, even if it was not known to the system. One merely had to create a custom merit file describing the thing to be merited. There was a limit to this, obviously, but it led to some odd social trends and popular culture customs. Among the more notable examples were fictional characters, memes, and leaders of other nations. I received quite a few myself once I started doing mercenary work for them, and that was good for business since it made it easy to advertise and get contracts. It also eventually drew the attention of the Noble Houses and even the Emperor himself.
The society tended to be rather pro-war, but not in the conquering sense. Being located as far out as they were, they were a constant target of hostile factions like pirates, so it's understandable that a kind of warrior society would emerge out of necessity. They arranged their social order around the Shadowstar Warrior Code. This was basically a set of rules intended to keep conflict fair and moral. The code resembled elements of the Old Earth tenants of Chivalry and Bushido. A core principle of the culture was the idea that anyone, no matter how low, could rise up to become the greatest of society, through acts of valor, honor, and glory. It created a culture of questing heroes, errant knights, and bold adventurers. I fit in perfectly. Outsiders were welcome in the society if they performed great deeds in line with the Warrior Code, and invited to join. I joined after my first major campaign, where I fought on the front lines of their war against a large mercenary group which was working for a conglomerate of pirate bands operating out of the area. They'd been terrorizing independent colonies nearby and the Imperium stepped in to bring order and security to the region. These were some of my best battles, and I found the flowery language used by the noble knights charming and helped to bring a sense of justice and order to the chaos of war. Though, looking back now it seemed kinda silly and a bit whimsical, but I suppose it did keep spirits up and helped with morale.
It was a feudal society, with the Shadowstar dynasty at the top, and the other Noble Houses essentially acting as vassals. The Great Houses were founded by the original members of Argon Shadowstar's party when they came to colonize these stars. Argon himself was 96 by the time I started working with the Imperium, but he didn't look a day over 20. That wasn't quite as common back then as it is now. Back then, we didn't have the progenitor cells we have today. There were other life-extending technologies but they were harder to get ahold of. Most of the noble patriarchs and matriarchs were similar ages. The Houses didn't just consist of relations to the founding families, but also contained a large number of non-related individuals who had come to join the Imperium after it was established. Custom allowed and even encouraged the adoption of meritous individuals into established houses. Oftentimes, a great hero would receive multiple offers from different houses after achieving notable deeds, and the houses would often compete to adopt heroes. This was a way for a skilled person to earn nobility. Of course, there were also commoners; individuals without nobility, who made up the majority of the population. However, these commoners weren't necessarily considered lesser like in most feudal societies, just unproven. There was a lot of competition among commoners to rise up and earn one's nobility. In a few rare cases, prominent commoners refused all of the houses' offers and established their own houses. They were recognized as nobles, but none of these houses ever became large or successful enough to compete with the Great Houses.
There was no state religion, and a number of belief systems were present among the Imperium. The most prominent one among the Royal Family and the Great Houses was Shadowstar's own take on Universalism; basically a belief that the universe itself is divine and that nature is an aspect of the divine universe. I've never been a particularly religious person, but of all the ones I've heard of, that one made the most sense. There were bits of it which were based in logic and stuff like thermodynamics. I'm sure it'd be real interesting for theologians to discuss, but that ain't me. I did kinda like the part about consciousness being energy and therefore eternal, and that when we die, our energy gets released and goes on a crazy adventure through the universe. Too bad we don't keep our memories.
But anyway, during the years I spent among them, I fought many battles and completed many quests. I received invitations from almost every house, including all the Great Houses, but I could never decide. One day, thanks to my fame, I found myself on an operation involving Argon Shadowstar himself, and at the end of it, I had managed to subdue Lord Rafe Windsong, who had led his house to betray the Imperium and rebel. They had first been implicated in an attempt to sabotage the Hall of Merit, and punitive actions against them had eventually driven them to sedition. In recognition for my deeds, Shadowstar awarded me with an Heroic Name and the Order of the Shooting Star, the highest award ever granted to an outsider, and he offered to adopt me into his house himself. This was rarely done - House Shadowstar was by far the smallest of the Great Houses, which seemed strange for the ruling house, but it also contained the greatest heroes in the realm, and each was eligible for succession. Of course, I accepted. There was no greater house than that, and it was then that I considered my old family.
I wondered what my parents would think of all this. With the campaign finally over and my services no longer needed for now, I decided to return to Fomalhaut and spend some time with my parents. But fate had other plans, and that part is in my biography. Afterward, I did some research. It seems that after I left, there was further dissention among the Great Houses over the fact that Emperor Shadowstar had not chosen an heir. Some began plotting against the crown, cooking up coups of their own. Others attempted to convince Shadowstar to pick their own heir. Succession Law in the Shadowstar Imperium was a form of elective primogeniture. The emperor can appoint a primary heir, and at the time of succession, the two most meritous heirs become candidates for election. If neither one is the primary heir, then it becomes a three-way election, with the primary heir competing against the two most meritous heirs. It is also possible for any other individual to become a third (or fourth) candidate if they have achieved more than twice the most meritous candidate's number of merits. This can only happen once per election and is decided at the start of the election.
Eventually, the election was won by Radon Whitestar, who renounced his adoption into House Shadowstar upon his election, and established the House of Whitestar to rule the Imperium. He was a popular and meritous hero but this move divided the Imperium. Many saw his actions as disrespectful, dishonorable, and selfish. Others joined with him, attracted by his charisma and the possiblity to curry favor and titles. Within 30 years, the Imperium had torn itself apart. The Great Houses either fell or broke off, the lesser houses were either destroyed, assimilated into other societies, or went independent. The commoners who didn't die in the ensuing wars scattered across the frontier, or established minor factions of their own. Pirates took advantage and occupied parts of the Imperium, other parts simply reverted to local governments. With no legitimate heir, the Shadowstar dynasty disappeared. Argon did have children but none of them ever achieved enough merit in the Imperium, ironically. There appear to be some descendants of the dynasty, but many of them renounced the Shadowstar name and assimilated into other societies. I do still encounter a Shadowstar from time to time, but to them, it's ancient history, totally irrelevant to their current life.
Funny how time can grind even the greatest achievements into dust.