Gentlesophonts:
Been thinking about the portrayal of the Sword Worlders in the official
campaign material. Let's look a little closer at the "Contact" article
on the Sword Worlders from *JTAS* #18.
On the status of women:
"Sword Worlds society is militaristic and male-dominated, women having a
much more subordinate position than in the Imperium."
Sounds bad, right? Here's the specifics:
"Almost without exception, men fill important public offices, business
positions, and high military commands. While women are not legally or
culturally prohibited from any occupation, any woman in a `male' profession
is expected to exhibit male rather than female behavior (at least in public).
The reverse, however, is not true. Men may never exhibit female behaviors
(in public at least) without losing face."
Sounds more like the US today, or at least in 1970.
On the instability of Sword Worlds governments and interworld rivalry
let's look at the historical timeline:
- -189 First interstellar government, the Sacnoth (or First) Dominate, formed.
- -102 First Dominate falls in First War of Rebellion, various individual
and multiworld governments exist.
104 Triple Dominion formed
217 Triple Dominion falls, again various smaller governments prevail.
604 Second Dominate formed after First Frontier War.
698 Gram Coalition overthrows Second Dominate
788 Trilateral Alliance replaces Gram Coalition after loss in Darrian War.
848 Trilateral Alliance falls, replaced by Gram government four years
later.
1110 Border Worlds break-off after Imperial occupation following the
Fifth Frontier War.
Thus, we have six governments ruling for over 700 years over a period
of nearly 1300 years (not counting the Border Worlds). Prior to the
current government (c1110) at Gram each Sword Worlds government lasted
an average of approximately 90 years - three generations, which is pretty
good for a feudal system. The most recent government had existed for
over 260 years by 1110! The interregnum between the current government
and the previous one was only four years. There was virtually no
interregnum in the two government changes prior to the last one which
means the Sword Worlds have had a single interstellar government, albeit
with changes in the seat of government, almost continuously since the
Second Dominate was formed in 604 - over half a millenia and nearly half
the life of the Third Imperium!
Imperial propaganda: "a battle for the hearts and minds" indeed!
Happy Travelling,
David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA