M E A T B A G
The Thyrsian Hierarchy.
It’s been an idea that’s been years in the making, and while I’ve poured much of my online life into crafting this faction’s origins, I wanted to make a public interest thread to see about garnering fresh blood from folks outside of my social circle.
So, “What’s this faction about?” Is usually the first question I get asked. The answer, while simple, is an unholy fusion of several IRL and IC governance styles, blended with ideas cherry-picked from many science fiction universes. Ideally, it’s an authoritarian neo-feudalistic meritocracy, where every writer and character has a chance to add their own flavour to our faction’s ever-growing narrative. Through the many years, I’ve been on Chaos, I’ve noticed that niche factions never last very long due to their “box-like” mentality, which people view or believe in stifling their creativity. I’ve also seen that several Majors have fleshed out their faction’s lore with whatever they could get their hands on to draw someone’s interest, only to find themselves labelled as ill-fitting additions by others outside of the faction.
With the Hierarchy, however, my goal is to flesh out the Thyrsian lore to rival the world-building seen with the significant aspects of the Star Wars Mythos. Why some may ask? Well, so that’s when you - a prospective member - felt like joining the Hierarchy, everything you could imagine and bring to the table can easily be added into the mix. As the Hierarchy was the inevitable evolution of the Golden Company, we’ve strived to maintain our thematic unity - which is basically a somewhat similar colour scheme and the faction’s symbol.
Everything else doesn’t have to be uniform, and I think that speaks to the Faction’s IC and OOC adaptability.
And I genuinely do mean everything else.
Want to write a band of pirates operating in our space? Do it up - we’ll have an organization set up to help combat the “threat” your merry band poses to our shipping lanes! Want to make a Warband of Sun Guard with their own quirks, and such? By all means - the armour they wear is totally aesthetically versatile and draws on the Sun Guard’s history of recruits from across the Galaxy. Don’t feel like making a brand new character, but want to participate all the same? We’ve got a lucrative Freelancer program, due to our “Sellsword” origins. We also offer countless opportunities to give new life to old(er) characters in any or all branches of our lovely little faction.
These are just a few examples of what’s possible now since we’re a minor faction. Now, with that, there’s the lingering question - will this mindset stay in place if and when you go Major?
Oh, heck yeah. I’m presently working on a “template” and “guidelines” for folks to make their own Noble Houses, Planetary Governments, and etc. My idea here is that the Hierarchy would act as the “King” within this Stellar Kingdom, where each world pays tribute in the form of flesh, credits, materials, etc. All of which would garner the Realm’s protection. In the end, however, this Stellar Kingdom mostly leaves systems alone to govern themselves how they see fit, so long as they pay their “membership fee.” Now, that’s a rough idea that’s subject to change once we work our way to that point, but the core mindset of being a creative sandbox is crucial to how I’d like to operate.
That ideal mentioned above will bleed into how I’d like to run dominions and the odd faction staff-driven faction thread. People’s ideas will often and inevitably conflict, and every planet “claimed” has the possibility of bringing these different sub-factions together. Usually, that means they’ll fight for control of resources or territory, or embark on nefarious plots of subterfuge and political betrayal. While some factions may shy away from internal conflict in favour of presenting a unified front, I find it would flavour our narrative in exciting ways with a sense of political and nationalistic realism - unbound by the shackles of religion and legacy. To sweeten the pot, I’m also working on an internal system that’ll keep track of and determine what constitutes a “major sub-faction” beneath the Hierarchy’s umbrella. The basic idea here would be that the more time and effort you put into dominions - the more benefits you’ll get, and the same could be said on the lore and world-building front as well.
Meaning that you could feasibly have your own fiefdom represented on our own “in-house” map that you and your friends have built. Possibly, even having enough influence to direct our faction’s expansion efforts - or political presence on the site’s map as well.
Naturally, as I’ll be making this a discussion thread, I’d be more than willing to answer questions here. I shall also leave a link to my faction’s discord, where you’d be welcomed to ask me questions there, view our creative process, or simply entertain yourself with the periodic moments of randomness.
Thanks for your time, and looking forward to what this drums up.
~ Khonsu Amon.