The major divisions of the
Inner Sphere are defined by the five
Successor States (feudal nation-states that once composed a UN-like body called the
Star League), each ruled by one of the Great Houses. They are:
Federated Suns
Ruled by: House Davion
Government: Constitutional Aristocracy (Western European feudal stylings)
Dominant Language(s): English (official), French, German
Dominant Religion(s): Christianity (Interfaith Church), Buddhism, Judaism
Lyran Commonwealth
Ruled by: House Steiner
Government: Constitutional Monarchy (with German feudal stylings)
Dominant Language(s): English and German (official), Scottish Gaelic, Italian, French
Dominant Religion(s): Christian (Protestant), Judaism, Muslim
Draconis Combine
Ruled by: House Kurita
Government: Military Dictatorship (with Japanese feudal stylings)
Dominant Language(s): Japanese (official), Arabic, English
Dominant Religion(s): Shinto (official), Buddhism, Islam
Capellan Confederation
Ruled by: House Liao
Government: Dictatorship (with Chinese feudal stylings)
Dominant Language(s): Chinese (Mandarin, official), Chinese (Cantonese), Russian, English, Hindi
Dominant Religion(s): Buddhism, Taoism, Hindu
Free Worlds League
Ruled by: House Marik
Basis: multicultural, with strong European, American and Indian influences
Government: Representative Democracy (mixture of regional and federal authorities with great autonomy for its component regions)
At this point in the timeline (late 3040s), the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth are united (by the marriage of their respective rulers, Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner) into one state called the
Federated Commonwealth.
Other Inner Sphere powers include the
Free Rasalhague Republic (between the Lyran side of the FedCom and the Combine), the
St. Ives Compact (between the FedSuns side of the FedCom and the Confederation),
ComStar (the organization that controls the interstellar comunications network and located on Terra/Earth, at the center of the Inner Sphere), and the
Periphery Realms (located at the edges of the inner Sphere).
The Clans are the descendants of the self-exiled bulk (~80%) of the original Star League's military who left (with much of their advanced military equipment) for deep space following the collapse of the Star League government. There are a number of Clans, with each organized into a very rigid military caste system (the castes are Warrior, Technician, Scientist, Merchant, and Laborer; the outlaws/rebels/undesirables form an unofficial "Bandit Caste"), and having been lead by the Russian-descended general
Alexandr Kerensky (named after
a real-world historical figure) and his son
Nicholas Kerensky (who actually founded the Clans as the society we know today), their speech is mostly English with a mixture of radio-shorthand-friendly terms ("aff" for "affirmative"/"yes", "neg" for "negative"/"no", and such), shortenings of common words/phrases ("ristar" for "rising star", "powless" for "powerless", and such; of interest is the fact that Clansmen generally frown on the use of contractions, despite the use of such shorthand) and the Kerenskys' native Russian (the name of the Clan capital world, Strana Mechty, is actually Russian for "Land of Dreams").
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So, the short version:
- Federated Suns/House Davion: essentially the British Empire, with additional French overtones
- Lyran Commonwealth/House Steiner: essentially the Holy Roman Empire, with heavy German overtones
- Draconis Combine/House Kurita: essentially early Showa Era (roundabout WWI/WWII) Japan, with a smattering of other cultures (mainly Arabic) represented
- Capellan Confederation/House Liao: essentially Qing Dynasty Era China, with a smattering of other cultures (mainly Russian and Scottish) represented
- Free Worlds League/House Marik: essentially the Ottoman Empire, with some Indian and American overtones
- Free Rasalhague Republic: essentially the Swedish Empire, with some American overtones
To expand on the second-to-last paragraph: I would say that the FRR represents Scandinavia and northern Europe, St. Ives represents either Taiwan or Hong Kong (depending on if one views the FedSuns with a more American slant, or a more British slant), the Periphery Realms collectively represent the "
Developing World", and ComStar is essentially a combination of the Illuminati, the Vatican, and phone companies, and the postal services.
To expand on the last paragraph: I would say that the Clans
collectively represent the "great conquering hordes" of the past (e.g. the Mongols under Genghis Khan, the Macedonians under Alexander III, the Romans during the expansion of the Roman Empire, and so on), while each Clan
individually represents a separate society - the Ghost Bears are generally thought to be Scandinavian (like the FRR, with whom they later merged), the Smoke Jaguars are thought to represent (stereotypes of) the warrior tribes of Africa's past (most notably the Zulu Kingdom), the Nova Cats are thought to have been modeled on (stereotypes of) Native American societies, and so on.
Your thoughts?
Edited by Strum Wealh, 13 August 2012 - 08:31 PM.
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KnowBuddy, on 08 August 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:
Kudos for joining the FRR, which I agree are the true underdogs. I just love purple, and Marik's relative honor compared to the other Houses (as well as the reasons mentioned above.)
