Government, Military, and Nobility

Ministries and Other Organizations

Ministry of Innovation

Little is known about the inner workings and of the Ministry of Innovation, except that in the modern Imperium it has taken a bit more of an active role in its affairs than it has in the past, chiefly around the regulation and introduction of new Imperial technology, and that it usually stays out of public Imperial politics. It maintains modest repair facilities for more advanced technology and an official office just outside the limits of Amarone, and the isle of Magh is considered to be under the Minister’s control where many secret research projects and facilities are rumored to be located. It also has ties to and largely funds what passes for Imperial academia along with the Ministry of Niceties, the former mostly dealing with the sciences and the latter dealing with other subjects, with frequent jurisdictional cooperation or conflict depending on the moods of the Ministers if the fields overlap. It is rare to see the Ministry’s employees in public except on research expeditions or enticing beasts to “volunteer” for various studies, with the most notable regular deployment being the steam engineers on more modernized Imperial naval vessels in conjunction with the Ministry of War.

The Current Minister of Innovation is Duke Talinn Ryalor

Ministry of Peace and War

The Ministry of War is dedicated to the defense of the Imperium and its waters, and upon the request of the glorious Empress, going out and bringing barbarian lands under her control. It oversees the operation of the Imperial Army, Navy, and other subdepartments of the Imperial military such as the Marines. It also is responsible for the two battalions of elite, heavy infantry Stoatorian Guard dedicated to personal security of the Empress and the Minister of War in that order, equipped with the finest arms, armor, and artillery in the Imperium and capable of dealing with even the most dangerous opponents the world has to offer. It maintains a main office in Bully Harbor in the Trenches, where many Imperial military personnel live, and an auxiliary office on the outskirts of Amarone for when the Empress seeks advice on military matters.

The Current Minister of War is

Ministry of Misanthropy

The Ministry of Misanthropy runs its offices in the The Mysterious Building on 59th Street on the outskirts of Bully Harbor, and is rumored to have many more covert safehouses, black sites, smaller information-gathering offices in the Imperium and beyond. It is run by the Minister of Misanthropy, internally known as “The Director”, but beyond that not much is publicly known either about its activities or its members except to the highest ranking Imperial officials and the Empress herself except the rumor that a group of shadowy creatures only known as the “Director’s Beasts” follow his or her every order. If one was such an important beast as to be informed as to the activities of the Ministry, one would find that it serves as both the foreign intelligence arm of the Imperium as well as its internal secret police, and that these days it closely cooperates with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Innovation on various projects. Its members also have, in the course of their official assigned duties, legal immunity and priority in the apprehension of subjects over all other ministries, much to the chagrin and frustration of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Niceties often leading to them frequently clashing over jurisdictional issues. This conflict is, some scholars quietly debate among themselves, deliberately designed by the Empress to keep the Minister of Misanthropy busy enough to prevent them from attempting to take the throne, as has happened on many previous occasions.

The Current Minister of Misanthropy is Duchess Dusk Rainblade

Ministry of Niceties

The Ministry of Niceties, Culture, Arts, Information, and Welfare also known as the MinoNice- runs the Imperium's museums, colleges, libraries, Opera House, as well as its newspaper, The Saturday Evening Smelt, National Archives, and a limited welfare system for orphans, the insane, and those who cannot work and is generally seen to both safeguard and keep sacred the Imperium’s values, which officially have never changed since its inception and never will change since they have been promulgated by the Emperors and now Empress herself, the only thing changing is their interpretation over time, which under the current Empress have reached their true “correct” form. It is run by the Minister of Niceties, who maintains a civilian workforce and a small but highly elite, educated, and honorable personal force known as the Unsmudgables, rumored to be on average as skilled as your average Stoatorian Guardsmen, who are said to brook no injustice and regularly carry out works of both vigilantism and charity. This often puts the Ministry in a whirlwind of cooperation and conflict with the Ministry of Misanthropy in particular, as they are needed to both disseminate “truthful information” by order of the Empress, but frequently have their operatives come into conflict over vastly different values and approaches on how to carry out their duties.

The Current Minister of Niceties is

Ministry of Commerce

The MinoComm, or Ministry of Commerce, Finance, Trade, and Business is located in the Hrumvet Hooper Building, a large and beautiful edifice that's 10% offices, 30% presses, and 70% vaults. It is often said that the majority of the MinoComm's employees cannot count, but there is very little proof of this. This Ministry deals with tax collection, imports, exports, private businesses, and the stock market. In the past, it squabbled with the Ministry of Misanthropy over income from illicit ventures, which both laid claim to, but in the modern era the Ministry of Commerce seems to have won that battle after agreeing that a certain undisclosed percentage of such will be directed towards Misanthropy’s operations in exchange for having the sole right to collect all taxes across legal, gray, and illicit enterprises. It farms out tax collection duties to beasts who are deemed to be upstanding Imperial citizens beyond reproach, who are then allowed to keep a portion of the proceeds for themselves so long as the agreed upon amount reaches the Imperial Treasury*. This has led to them contracting with the Furotazzi “family”, a diverse network of beasts whose interests largely mirror the MinoComm’s own with a paw in every pie so to speak, and it is said that many members of the former Kreehold mercenary company have joined up with this organization to serve as security and enforcers.

*With the understanding being to be able to take as much as possible without instigating a revolt.

The current Minister of Commerce is

Ministry of Justice

As the Imperium has expanded and reformed in recent years, so too has its needs, the former ad-hoc nature of local law enforcement, courts, and prisons being reformed and centralized under the new Ministry of Justice, also known as the MinoJus, whose primary enforcement arm are the Fogey Police Force, which has been nationalized and can now be found throughout the Imperium. Although the Empress still promulgates the law by decree, the Minister of Justice is generally allowed to interpret it when it is not clear, and often serves to advise her on the practicalities and nuances of law creation. He or she is also responsible for maintaining domestic order in the vast majority of situations, freeing up resources for the other ministries to carry out their missions. The Ministry of Justice is usually seen to work in conjunction with the Ministry of Niceties, often turning a blind eye to the actions of the Unsmudgables, and often finds itself in conflict with the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Misanthropy and sometimes both at the same time over issues of jurisdiction and law.

The current Minister of Justice is.

Military Forces

The Imperial Navy

Motto "Si desidemur, depressi summus!"

-If we sink, we're sunk!

The heart of the Imperium's power and under the command of the Minister of War, the Navy is where the vast majority of the Imperium's budget goes. From protecting traders to raiding barbarians to defending against the encroachment of other powers, she is the pride of the Empress. Many beasts, new and Imperium-born, join the navy for the unparalleled opportunity, adventure, and copious amounts of cheap alcohol. The approximate current size of the Navy is around thirty dedicated proper “ships-of-the-line” ranging from the grand first rate to the modest fourth rate, along with numerous lesser ships such as frigates, sloops, and coastal defense gunboats along with all the crew necessary to run them . Also under its command are the Imperial Marines at approximately around fifty per dedicated warship or three proper battalions (1,500 beasts), regular infantry equipped much like the Imperial Army who are used for a variety of roles from protecting its officers both on and off the ship to even fielding a small amount of light cannon on shore expeditions. In terms of overall personnel, including the marines, it is estimated to be roughly three times the size of the Imperial Army.

The Imperial Army

The Imperial Army, though not the main military force of the Imperium, has been important in the Imperium's history, playing an important role in more extended shore campaigns that the Navy cannot carry out by itself and defending the territories of the empire from pirates, raiders, and other attackers, typically in forts and garrisons. They are equipped with crossbows, swords, and polearms, with cheaper partial plate and leather armor as opposed to the fully armored Stoatorian Guard. It is comprised of approximately eight battalions not including the two battalions of the Stoatorian Guard, each battalion consisting of approximately five companies of 100 beasts each who may deploy either as infantry or as a dedicated artillery company as the situation requires, the latter having five proper mobile cannons each with up to 25 cannons per battalion if deployed in an artillery role.

The Army’s typical deployment is as follows:

Two battalions of Stoatorian Guard in Amarone to protect the Empress and deploy as needed on Vulpinsula, one battalion in Bully Harbor, one in Maquistry Cape, and one in Tully Shore for a total of 2,500 beasts on Vulpsinsula proper.

One battalion in East Tookumberry for a total of 500 beasts.

One split battalion of one company on Resolution, one at Wultie Lagoon, one at Alton Bay, and two on Magh, for a total of 500 beasts.

One battalion stationed at Pricklee Point to protect it and its surroundings, working in conjunction with the company at Alton Bay to secure the coastal road linking the two settlements, for a total of 500 beasts.

Two battalions stationed at Westisle, one in Peltarra/Storm’s Peak and one mobile battalion to protect against raiders from the Land of Ice and Snow and Fyadorian pirates, for a total of 1,000 beasts.

Although not included in the official Imperial Army, House Ryalor per its agreement with the Empress is allowed to keep one battalion organized along similar lines to protect its interests in the Imperium under the command of its Duke or Duchess. It is usually split up into companies to maintain a presence and reinforce their holdings at Storm’s Peak, Magh, and the Ryalorian Castle at the north end of Bully Harbor, but from time to time is assembled into a full battalion for training purposes or garrison duty when major threats arise. It is comprised of 500 foxes.

In total, the Imperium has a standing army of around 5,500 beasts spread across its wide domain.

Nobility

The Imperium, like most countries in the world, has its share of nobility, but in the years following the Imperial Civil War which decimated their wealth and holdings their powers and rights have been greatly curtailed by the Empress in what has been decried by some, before their unfortunate habit of falling out of windows which has seen much of the aristocracy developing a paranoid phobia of ever going above the first floor in any building, as a move towards unprecedented absolutism. The present aristocracy can be divided into both proper nobility who own their own significant land and estates and the gentry who hold small holdings or are unlanded, although both are bound tightly to the Empress through different mechanisms.

The vast majority of the “proper” landed nobility are “invited” to spend much of their time in or directly around Amarone “protected” by the Stoatorian Guard with their estates “managed” by her officials and are afforded gracious “allowances” to fund their lifestyles and interests without having to concern themselves with such dreadfully boring things like governance, politics, and economics, though occasionally they may be allowed to, under the watchful eye of the Guard, visit their various vacation homes and retreats in Tully Shore and other locations. A very small number of particularly trusted beasts of this class may be assigned high offices in the Imperium and allowed to participate in its internal politics, subject to her will, although such might be counted on one, perhaps two, paws.

The gentry, on the other hand, are bound to the Empress by owing most of their salary and their position to her favor, and may over time through loyalty and service rise to the highest positions in the Imperium, and if they serve well there, may well advance into the nobility proper as openings seem to tend to appear whenever that occurs. They can be found in the ranks of the military, in commerce, in important educational and scientific circles, and other positions of note. Competition between members of the gentry are notoriously fierce and although formally banned by the Empress, many duels nonetheless occur to uphold honor or to remove a rival from a coveted position.