It was 400 Atheni-Standard Years ago when the Ignatio Event collapsed the Golden Road and two other major subspace arteries, plunging the galaxy-spanning, human-dominated Arcturus Imperium into two centuries of chaos and civil war. In many systems, oppressed xenos and undercaste humans erupted in rebellion against their now-isolated imperial sector governments, while in others Imperial governors and admirals turned into warlords and bandit-kings, carving fiefdoms out of whatever territory they were strong enough to seize and hold.

In ASY 3,320, Emperor Fashti XVIII was murdered on his throne by his successor, who ruled for all of three days before the Imperial Palace on Atheni II was bombarded from orbit by a rival claimant and all semblance of Imperial authority ended for good.

The Galactic Dark Ages had begun.

It is now ASY 3,576.

Along a once-minor subspace stream known in Imperial times as the Old Way lies the populous Agamenos Sector, in which peace has been maintained over the centuries under the neofeudal tutelage of the Grand Dukes of the ancient and august House of Kesselbrood. Declaring itself the sole heir of Imperial authority, the Grand Duchy of Agamenos and its loosely governed vassal-planets have weathered techno-barbarian invasions, pirate incursions, and internal rebellion over the long years of galactic chaos. In that time it has endured, even prospered. The Grand Duchy's decentralized, feudal holdings boast a truly massive population of humans and xenos and a wild profusion of local governments. The Ducal military controls a large and well maintained remnant of the Imperial fleet- massive ships of the line lovingly maintained through the centuries. Planetary governments, republican free cities, human noble houses and trade guilds have over time placed important legal checks on the autocratic power of the Grand Duke, checks delineated in the Agamenos Constitution. The many alien minorities of the sector have slowly gained liberties of their own, recently winning the right to representatives in the Sector Diet and protection under Ducal law, though their status as second class subjects remains clear. The culture and political life of the Duchy is diverse and rich, if inefficient, chaotic and marked by incredible inequalities of wealth and political power.

All is not well. The Grand Duchy has always been more of a confederation of states loyal to a dynasty than a unified polity, and the seams in its governing structure are beginning to tear. The current Grand Duke, His Magnificent Effulgence Adamantious von Kesselbrood XI, is an enfeebled madman, governed by his ministers. Worse still, he is childless and a succession crisis looms.

As human noble houses scheme after the Ducal throne, seperatists movements abound among both monohumanist militants incensed at the relaxation of Imperial Caste and race laws, and dissatisfied aliens, many of whom chafe at subjection to human rule. 

Meanwhile, in the deep reaches of space, a new chieftain is on the rise among the techno-barbarians, uniting the Hordes and their Corsair Fleets...and his gaze wanders towards the rich planets of the Grand Duchy.
________________________________________
Hello and welcome!

This RP is a bit of an experiment, a combination between traditional space-nation RPs and character rps. Participants are invited to create subfactions of all kinds within the Grand Duchy that will participate in some way in a massive interstellar conflict known as, unsurprisingly, the War of the Seven Suns. 

Players will be free to create characters and factions of all types [u]within[/u] the Grand Duchy- human great houses which rule over entire planets, semi-autonomous republics, trading guilds of enormous influence, mercenary companies, naval fleets and army groups, xenos vassal kingdoms, mafias, monohumanist fronts, socialist guerillas, etc. Characters can be scheming aristocrats, drug lords, transhuman fanatics, aliens...whatever you can think of. One of the main goals of this RP is to build up a compelling, original setting- the Grand Duchy of Agamenos- in which subsequent rps and subplots can unfold. In other words, one of the main foci of this RP will be [b][u]collaborative[/u] worldbuilding,[/b] so that the stories we develop will do so in a richly detailed world designed by more players than just the GM.

As such, details in the Grand Duchy's governing structure, the number and type of planets under its control, the diversity of sentient and nonsentient aliens, and the types of technology available will all be decided by the group of rpers. One of the main sources of inspiration for this RP is Europe right before WWI, when the old Imperial dynasties clung to power in a time of deep changes. Other influences include 40K, Gormenghast, Game of Thrones, and the original Dune.

Hope you're interested! I look forward to writing with you.

The RP's Chatzy can be found here: [url=http://us19.chatzy.com/84641144168446]Chatzy[/url]

[b][u]Important Information:[/b][/u]

All established lore can found at our wiki: [url=http://war-of-seven-suns.wikia.com/wiki/War_of_Seven_Suns_Wiki]Wiki[/url] 

(PPad until wiki is set up: [url=http://piratepad.net/UhWwEwo4yL]link[/url])

[hider=Star Systems and Space Travel in the Grand Duchy]

Means of FTL travel in the Grand Duchy are quite varied, depending on the technological sophistication of the ship in question. However, there [u]exists no FTL travel options faster[/u] than those provided by jumpships capable of ferrying large numbers of ships along the gravity wave junctions that are centered on the central solar system of the Grand Duchy: the Throne System.

Gravity wave junctions connect Throne to the six other Systems of the Grand Duchy, allowing for extremely fast travel between systems. The average travel time by gravity wave jump between Throne and its nearest connected system, the Valeya System, is two days. Travel time between Throne and it’s farthest connected system, Septon, is usually two to five weeks.

Grav-wave travel functions like this. A group of 100-1,000 ships contract with a jumpship (which can be owned by governments, the Navy, corporations, and private captains) and assemble in formation alongside the ship at the edge of the system. When the jumpship makes its jump along the grav-wave, it drags its accompanying ships with it. All grav-junctions lead to Throne, so travel between two systems will always require a lay-over in Throne.

Again, other FTL tech is allowed, but all must be significantly slower than gravity wave jumps.

The Systems of the Grand Duchy are:

1. Throne System (capital system of the Duchy)
Factions: House Threulard, House Grindehook, House Kesselbrood

2.	Aurica System
-	Connecting Gravity Wave Junction: the Golden Passage
Factions: House Asryaa

3.	Bur-Hina System
-	Connecting Terminal: The Blue Way
Factions: House Regius, House Boendil, the Doldrums

4.	Valeya System (closest to Throne)
-	Connecting Terminal: the Silken Path

5.	Antoviya System (known by some as New Sovereignty)
- Connecting Terminal: The Burning Trail
Factions: the RWU

6.	The Celestine System [b](full)[/b]
-	Connecting Terminal: Hrathar Pass
Factions: House Wander, House Mandelbaum, the Ralirim

7.	The Septonian System
- Connecting Terminal: The Septon Road
Factions: the Opal Convectorate

Details on each system can be found here: LINK
[/hider]

[b]Important Characters and Institutions of the Grand Duchy[/b]

[hider=The Grand Duke]
His Magnificent Effulgence Adamantious von Kesselbrood XVIII, the Empyrean One, Warden of the Seven Paths and Sole True Imperator of the Stars. By right of birth Grand Duke of Agamenos, and Lord of Cathedra. 

Once a strong, reforming leader who worked closely with many like-minded nobles to centralize power in the Grand Duchy, regularize the procedures and rights of the Sector Diet, and strengthen the navy, the Grand Duke has become- thanks to an overly aggressive regime of biological and neurological augmentation meant to prolong his life indefinitely while exponentially increasing his cognitive capacity- a senile, feebleminded figure, obsessed with old books and ancient arcana, and totally disinterested in and unable to fulfill the heavy burdens of his office. [/hider]

[hider=The Regent]
Her Undisputed Excellency Katarine Valacious Pauline Hildegaard von Grindéhook, first of her name, Ducal Regent, by right of birth Countess of all Odros and Margravine of Garyth-on-Valyrius, lawfully elected Protector of the Realm.

The head of perhaps the most powerful Great House in the entire Grand Duchy, Countess von Grindéhook collaborated closely with the Grand Duke in his early years and increasingly shouldered the burdens of leadership as his mental abilities continued their steady decline. She was elected Ducal Regent by the Sector Diet fifteen years ago in a contentious and acrimonious election, and was named Protector of the Realm after leading the defense of the Bur Hina System against a major barbarian incursion eleven years before the present day. Honorable and proud, she is a skilled naval commander and strategist and has fine political instincts, but her military mind and bearing gives her a tendency towards heavy handedness. She commands the loyalty of the powerful Ducal Navy and of the Ducal Intelligence Ministry, which operates interior espionage and secret police activity across the seven systems. While she is respected by many and feared by some, the Countess is loved by few. Many reformers and radicals see her as a conservative autocrat, while reactionaries are suspicious of her reformist tendencies and of the power she has concentrated in her own hands.[/hider]

[hider=The Sector Diet]
The Grand Duchy’s legislative assembly, which houses representatives from the ruling governments of all Seven Systems. [/hider]

[hider=His Magnificence the Duke’s Navy ] 
The sole centralized military force commanded directly by the Grand Duchy rather than its vassal states, the Ducal Navy is a large and well preserved remnant of the old Imperial Fleet. While Great Houses and Vassal states are permitted their own (often quite large) fleets for the purposes of defense and private war, none wield the powerful, ancient, Imperial-era ship designs of Naval cruisers and capital ships, the secrets of which are jealously guarded by the Navy, which likewise holds the only means of reconstructing and repairing these models. 

The Navy’s principle tasks are responding to barbarian incursions, collecting taxes from recalcitrant vassals and putting down serious rebellions. While potent, the Navy is over-extended in its defense of the Seven Systems, and the preciousness of its ancient ships means it must husband its resources with extreme caution. The Navy operates principally out of the Throne and Celestine Systems, and is dominated by Great Houses Grindéhook and Mandelbaum, and their sworn lesser Houses.[/hider]

[hider=Ducal Intelligence Ministry]
The internal espionage and black-operations organization of the Grand Duke, it reports directly to the Regent.[/hider]

[b]Factions and Characters[/b]

[hider=Accepted Factions]
[/hider]

[hider=Accepted Characters]
[/hider]

For those interested in creating factions and characters, templates can be found below:

[hider=Nation Sheet Template]
Faction Name: 
Faction leader(s): 
System(s): (note- please check on the details of the system you wish to occupy before naming)
Planet(s)/Territories: (btwn 1-5 planets/holdings, five being on the very high side)
Faction Desc:
History: 
Government type:
Military Capabilities: (ships in faction fleets must be under 3k, though I will allow exceptions. The Ducal Navy has substantially more powerful ship designs than House or faction fleets. As for ground forces, the Duchy relies on its subfactions to provide for their own defense, so no hard limits here. The Rule of Cool and the Rule of Godmodding obtain)
Relations with Other Factions: 
[/hider]

[hider=Character Sheet Template]
Character Sheets can be done in any format you like, so long as a substantial IC sample post is included. Bios/histories are optional.[/hider]