*Shall Not Perish* 2

Gentlesophonts:

Steven M Bonneville [email removed] writes:

> (That may be how Trin got hit...
> a fleet attacked and one got through in the confusion.  Since Trin is
> so deep in the Regency, I wonder if it got any other places on the way.)

Hey, wait a minute!  That couldn't have happened because there's no way
Norris could have hid what happened to these `other' planets, right?  ;^)

> We know who the sector dukes in the Regency were in the late 1120s.
>
> SPINWARD MARCHES: Duchess Elane Shankarr Muudashir of Mora

Okay, how influential is Duchess Elane?  Can anyone identify the dukes
`under' her?  Did I get the subsectors right: Regina, Vilis, Lanth,
Rhylanor, Lunion, Mora, Glisten and Trin's Veil?  Does Norris still
hold the Duchy of Regina or does Seldrian (or someone else, Branj?)?

> DENEB:  Duke Aleksandr Lagaashinga of Deneb

So in TNE it's still Duke Aleksandr or else his descendant.  What are the
subsector duke positions in Deneb?  Are there some `dukes-in-exile' for
subsectors overrun by the Vargr or Virus?  Such folks would make great
candidates for the House of Nobles.

> TROJAN REACH:  Duchess Sharik Arcadia of Gazulin

Yes, I remember her now.  Did *TD* mention her rank?  That would give
some indication of her age.  Again, either she or her descendant ought
to still be around.  Again, what duchies existed in Troy?  How many are
now just `duchies-in-exile'?

> REFT:  Irrelevant.  The capital of Reft is at Cyril/Moibin

Good point.  Won't the Duke/Duchess of Vestus be of greater precedence
than your average duke?

The question remains: where do these sector dukes and all the subsector
dukes fit into the Regency power structure?  Did Norris bring all his
courtiers from Regina with him to Mora when he became Archduke (like
Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton) or did he take advantage of the existing
court structure at the sector capital at Mora?  While the sector court
at Troy might have been minimal, the Deneb sector court under Duke
Aleksandr ought to have been on the same order as that at Mora, right?

I think we're beginning to see that the whole idea of the Regency and
of any `democratization' in the Regency rests upon much more than just
Norris.

> Part of the reason is because of how large the Duke
> of Regina loomed over the area during the 5FW back in the days
> of Classic Traveller.

Hmmm, for a `simple naval intelligence officer with no intentions of
ruling' Norris seems to have developed an interesting pattern of enhancing
his own importance.  (And before anyone starts claiming I'm heading some
anti-Norris effort let me say for the record that I really like the guy.
I just don't see him as `simple' or merely `benevolent' at all.  He's the
sort or politician *extraordinaire* that would put Machiavelli, Richelieu,
Larry Atwater, and James Carville to shame!)

> Doubtless the Regency has developed some sort of workaround as part
> of the First Regent job, for now.

Another good point.  An Archduke can't establish new peers but a Regent
might establish all sorts of `governors' and other administrators to help
him carry out his duties.  (Don't these sorts of figures appear in the
`future history' side bars in TNE?)  [FACT ALERT: I don't have TNE!]
Might this be some of the source of the `democracy' in the Regency?
How will the traditional peerage react to such a move?

I'm *really* enjoying this!

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA