[Anargo subsector] Civilised world Tryphon - New and improved!

[CELS]

Well, I had to rewrite the Tryphon SR. It was just appalling, even by my standards, and I have a bad conscience whenever I criticize someone elses SR and then read some of my early work afterwards. In fact, all of my early SRs are as poorly written as they are short, so I guess I will have to rewrite them all in time - very much despite myself.

Meanwhile, here is Tryphon. New and improved, bursting with country fresh flavour. And hopefully more in sync with the Anargo subsector as Kage envisioned it, rather than being the extremely religious world I had originally created.

Feedback is very welcome. Don't pull any punches.


STANDARD REPRESENTATION - Tryphon

Aquina

20/21/14. M1V.

Aquina I - Tryphon

C8459AE-C S Hi 903 IM 48M

Planet name: Tryphon
World class: Civilised world
Population: 9,280,000,000
Tech level: C (High Imperial technology)
Tithe Grade: Exactis Tertius
Aestimare: C5

Orbital distance: 0.2 AU
Equatorial diameter: 13,100 km
Gravity: 0.92 g
Orbital period: 48 days
Length of day: 19.3 hours
Atmosphere: Thin, High Oxygen
Surface atmospheric pressure: 0.6
Surface temperature: 22.2 degrees celsius
Hydrosphere: 54%
Life forms: Native complex microscopic life. Terraforming in temperate regions.
Moons: 0

Planet description
While it is one of the youngest worlds in the Anargo subsector, ironically, Tryphon has not changed significantly over the past three millennia. It is a stagnant, conservative colony, still torn by conflicts that have long since ended elsewhere in the sector. Still, the young world seems harmonious at a glance. The great majority of the Tryphonians attempt to live their lives in peace, enduring periods of crisis with stoic faith. It is this stoicism that has made Tryphon a prosperous world despite its history of conflicts, now providing the Anargo subsector with a steady flow of both agricultural and industrial goods.

Tryphon itself is a beautiful terraformed world, closely resembling ancient Terra itself except for a few notable exceptions. Due to a lower temperature, the planets ice caps stretch across a third of the world’s surface, covering both land and ocean. Even around the equator, snow is known to fall in winter, whilst summers are temperate and rarely too hot for comfort. The local flora and fauna is mostly composed of Terran species or ancient gene-engineered derivatives of Terra, such as the white eagle and polar equine. The local evergreen climbing plant genus Aetates is especially prominent, covering any bare surface such as rocks, open ground or building walls with great speed and contributing greatly to the lushness of Tryphonian landscapes.

Government
Tryphon has a seemingly standard government in the form of a dictatorship with certain roles such as economic and social security delegated to democratic institutions. The position of system governor and Imperial Commander is normally passed down hereditarily from the ruler to eldest child upon voluntary retirement or death. The present ruler, Lord Horatio Davidian, is the fourth governor in the Davidian Dynasty. At one hundred and sixteen years old, having undergone considerable rejuvenation processes, the Lord Davidian is known for his love and dedication to art and science. While criticized for neglecting poverty, religious conflicts and the fragmentation of Tryphonian society, the Lord Davidian enjoys great popularity in the middle and high classes due to his ample funding of public education, cultural funding and scholarship programs. In recent years, the Lord Davidian has made extraneous efforts to increase his popularity, to the point where his huge investments have posed a serious threat to Tryphon’s ability to reach the tithe level set by the Adeptus Administratum. Observers in the media have commented that the Lord Davidian acts as desperately as if he had a blade to his throat, a clear reference to the mercurial agents known as the Magistrates.

The Magistrates are the self-declared masters of the Tryphonian Court, Tryphon’s judicial branch. There are seven Magistrates making up the Court of Magistrates, Tryphon’s supreme court. The history of this court stretches back to the bloody Apostate Wars, when the reign of the Anargan-Dorvastorian theocracy was coming to an end. The Lord Vegrellian, then ruler of Tryphon, was a devoted member of this theocracy, doing nothing without the approval of his masters. As the popularity of the Dorvastorian Cardinal Ximenez plummeted, the Lord Vegrellian received great criticism for both his global and interstellar politics. Tryphon suffered from rising animosity, threatening to escalate into global war – a situation that would only earn the wrath of Cardinal Ximenez and Frateris Templars in turn. In a desperate effort to avoid disaster, five anonymous female judges of the Tryphonian high courts gained access to the Lord Vegrellian’s palace. Wearing judicial robes and porcelain masks, the five judges entered the private chambers of their governor and executed him without warning. The following day, public broadcasts were made by the five anonymous judges announcing the death of the Lord Vegrellian and the succession by his nephew. The Tryphonian population rejoiced and although conservative factions questioned the authority of these so-called Magistrates, the Tryphonian Court was monolithic in its support of its new rulers.

For millennia, the Magistrates have endured as a mysterious sisterhood, its members exclusively female as a matter of tradition dating back to the first Court of Magistrates. While the first five Magistrates began a rebellion out of their own volition, their replacements in following years have been selected by the Court of Magistrates itself. To ensure that their identity remained unknown, the candidates are almost always young and promising judges of the Tryphonian court who can easily disappear from public life without questions being asked. Very occasionally, retired judges or even prominent active judges have been recruited into the Court of Magistrates, leading secret lives away from the public eye.

The Court of Magistrates has maintained its popularity since its inception, maturing from a secret rebellious movement in defiance of the Anargan-Dorvastorian theocracy to an officially recognised and honoured part of the Tryphonian government, proving over time to be a tremendous asset to the Tryphonian people to abolish tyranny and ensure a line of capable rulers. In truth however, the motives of the Magistrates have always been far from altruistic. Unknown even to the investigators of the Adeptus Arbites, the Magistrates have always been the agents of the great Shinaren Guild of Toshanden. Having invested heavily in Tryphonian industry during the Apostate Wars, the Shinaren Guild watched with dismay as Tryphon was about to be torn apart by civil war and sanctions from the Frateris Templars. In an effort to establish stability and secure their investments, the Shinaren Guild used its considerable resources to find or create loyal agents in the Tryphonian courts in order to initiate their desperate ploy. For millennia, the sponsorship of the Shinaren Guild has remained a well kept secret, paid for in blood whenever Imperial investigators have wandered too close to the truth.

Since the end of the Apostate Wars, the governors of Tryphon have thus been unknowing servants of the Shinaren Guild. To ensure stability and ideal conditions for the economy of the Shinaren Guild, incompetent governors are visited by the masked Magistrates, providing a swift and silent execution before inserting a more popular and thus profitable successor. In year 470.M41, as the Lord Davidian struggles to maintain his popularity and the stability of his people, he knows that failure will be rewarded only by the visit of the masked sisterhood, the true rulers of Tryphon.

Religion
Religion has been the primary source of unrest and animosity on Tryphon since the Apostate Wars. While the conflict between the old faith and the teachings of Sebastian Thor has been settled on most worlds in the Anargo sector, Tryphon is still torn by religious disagreement. In the question of religion, the Tryphonian people are divided into three primary groups of which the supporters of the mainstream Imperial church and the Dorvastorian Cardinal form the smallest by far.

Ironically, the orthodox faith going back to the early Age of the Imperium, before the rise and fall of the traitor Lord Vandire, retains its popularity on Tryphon. Many teachings by the elsewhere revered Sebastian Thor are rejected by Tryphonian devotees, leading to a vulnerable relationship between Tryphon and Cardinal world Dorvastor, but also the secular movements that are increasingly prevalent in the Anargo subsector itself. Thus, Tryphon remains in many ways the last bastion of the old orthodox faith and the Anargan-Dorvastorian theocracy in the Anargo sector. Although the militant philosophies of the Old Faith are not manifest on Tryphon, whereby religious leaders were seen as the rightful leaders of Imperial armies and fleets, other principles, such as the extreme authority and privileges of the clergy, are still maintained. According to the Old Faith on Tryphon, the clergy are chosen by the Emperor, speaking his will and gaining enlightenment as a result of their initiation into the church. Whereas Sebastian Thor argued that the Ecclesiarchal clergy should take heed and not presume to know the will of the Emperor without thorough reflection and divination rituals, the Old Faith argues the unique bond between its priests and the God-Emperor. As such, the priests of the Old Faith are not simply seen as preachers educated in the Word of the Emperor, but instead serve as speakers on behalf of the God-Emperor himself, their command indistinguishable from his divine will.

In direct opposition to both the Old Faith and the more popular teachings of the Adeptus Ministorum, the movement known as Holstism professes the equality of men and accepts a more mundane view of the Emperor and the Ecclesiarchy. While many holstians do believe in the divinity of the Emperor, the teachings of Johan Holst, after whom the movement was known, argue that the Emperor should be regarded as a supremely wise and powerful individual rather than an omnipotent god to whom Mankind should pray for assistance. Johan Holst did not clarify whether or not he himself believed in the divinity of the Emperor, though scholars have argued that he was probably an atheist yet did not admit it for fear of being persecuted. It is further theorised that Holst acquired most of his ideas from the philosophies of the Adeptus Astartes, with whom he served during his time as an officer in Battlefleet Anargo.

As on many other colonies in the Anargo subsector, the Ecclesiarchy maintains a relatively weak position on Tryphon. Due to the fragmentation of the Tryphonian people, the vast cathedrals and shrines of the Imperial church are visited only by a minority of citizens, many of whom are offworld pilgrims. The great size and splendor of these edifices seems only to accentuate the lack of faithful visitors. The Orders of the Adepta Sororitas remain notably absent from the Tryphonian public as their belief in the teachings of Sebastian Thor is diametrically opposed with the Old Faith of Tryphon.

Society and Law
The religious disagreement on Tryphon is a source of great conflict amongst its citizens worldwide. Violent outbursts between devotees of the Old Faith and the so-called holstians are commonplace and have been so since the end of the Apostate Wars. Occasionally, the level of animosity will climax to the point of riots, acts of terrorism and trade boycotts, but such conflicts rarely pose a serious problem on a global scale. Over millennia of conflicts, this constant battle has become a part of everyday life. In schools, workplaces, law enforcement agencies and even healthcare institutions, groups will form based on religious standpoints. To distance one self from the three major factions is to be an exile and so most citizens will pursue the solidarity of belonging to the Old Faith, Holstism or the Imperial Church.

The distribution of wealth on Tryphon is closely related to the question of religion, as the majority of the working class belong to the Old Faith, whereas the middle and upper classes are divided evenly between holstians and loyal members of the Imperial church. Due to the high degree of social security and welfare programs, the distribution of wealth is considerably more even on Tryphon than many other Imperial worlds, however. Given the prosperity of Tryphon as a whole, poverty is a relatively small problem and general living conditions are amongst the highest in the Anargo subsector. Collective services within transportation, healthcare and entertainment are widely used on Tryphon and while a typical Tryphonian home will often lack luxuries such as private baths, cooking equipment or entertainment systems, this is compensated by the extensive services of the community.

As a consequence of the societal separation in religious matters, the importance of family is very great on Tryphon. Being loyal to the family is the most important of unwritten laws and acts such as divorce, adultery or refusing to share wealth within the family are thus extremely taboo. In many regions, minority families will found themselves with few or no allies and thus being true to one’s own blood and heritage is paramount. Concordantly, this perceived importance of ethnicity has served to reinforce and maintain the fragmentation and animosity within Tryphonian society for millennia.
Paradoxically, while Tryphon is amongst the youngest major colonies in the Anargo subsector, the fact that its population is greatly concerned with heritage and history have led to a large degree of conservatism in all aspects Tryphonian society. Amongst the fruits of such conservatism is the perfection of classical art on Tryphon, as the ideals from the early Imperium in literature, music and other artwork have barely changed since the end of the Apostate Wars. The beautiful cities of Tryphon exemplify this love for the classical ideals by being remarkably uniform in architecture and structure. Unfortunately, the disadvantages of such conservatism are equally numerous; the lack of adaptation in Tryphonian society, the perpetuation of flawed politics and ignorant traditions and the fear of change, to name but a few. Naturally, this high degree of conservatism is only reinforced by the Court of Magistrates, which eagerly seeks to secure stability as long as it profits its patrons in the Shinaren Guild.

The law level on Tryphon does not diverge significantly from the standard of civilised worlds in the Anargo subsector. While there is a low tolerance for crime and a relatively high level of government control, the belief in rehabilitation is relatively prominent on Tryphon compared to other Imperial worlds. Death sentences, servitordom and other harsh methods of punishment are quite rare, reserved only for the most dangerous criminals, whereas lifetime sentences in prison colonies and prisoner work forces are far more common. Because of the Tryphonian belief in rehabilitation and the principle that criminals can earn redemption through service to the Imperium, Tryphon is one of the sector’s most significant contributors to prison colonies and indentured work forces for the Adeptus Administratum and Imperial Navy.

Technology
- For the most part a high level of technology, as Tryphon is part of the industrialised ‘spine of Anargo’. A fragile relationship with the Adeptus Mechanicus has previously had a detrimental effect on Tryphonian high technology industries and education, but this has been improved upon in recent centuries, due to the successful diplomatic efforts between Tryphon and Anargo Secundus.
- Fear or distrust of servitors and machine spirits. More so than the rest of the Imperium, the society on Tryphon fears non-human intelligence. This stems from the anti-Mechanicus propaganda in the Apostate Wars, which, due to the conservative nature of Tryphonian society, has somehow endured.
- Tryphon known for its environmental technology, having developed recycling technology commonly used by hiveworlds. Much of this environmental technology comes from the large chemical industry, of which the Shinaren Guild controls a significant portion.

Trade and Tithes
- Tryphon has considerable natural resources and a high level of prosperity and welfare, thus being given the highest tithe grade for civilised worlds. In recent decades, Tryphon has had difficulties meeting the tithes set by the Administratum, due to a number of large scale investments set in motion by the Davidian dynasty.
- Tryphon contributes with large amounts of chemical products, processing raw materials extracted from the gas giants and mining moons elsewhere in the system.
- While exporting a large amount of various industrial goods of standard imperial technology level, Tryphon does import a large amount of high imperial grade weapons and communication technology, from the Anargo subsector and beyond. Many believe that Tryphon should develop its industries in these areas through public funding, but negotiations with the Lord Davidian have been fruitless.

[CELS]

Physiology
Tryphonians are typically characterised by a significant lack of pigmentation, inherited from the original settlers from the Segmentum Solar in the early Age of Imperium. Blonde or red hair is common, as is a pale or pink skin complexion. Due to the lack of pigmentation, Tryphonians cannot be exposed to much sunlight before suffering sunburn and many worlds in the Anargo sector with especially strong sunlight and high solar radiation are all but uninhabitable for Tryphonians.

The thin atmosphere of Tryphon leads to another significant physiological change in the population, forcing the inhabitants to develop an improved ability to take in oxygen. For offworlders, the thin atmosphere of Tryphon will often result in a lack of energy and greater need for sleep, whilst Tryphonians travelling to other worlds may experience a surplus of energy and above average conditioning, although younger Tryphonians will quickly adapt to more standard atmospheres.

Psychology
The constant conflicts between citizens of Tryphon have fashioned Tryphonians into a stoic people. Few Tryphonians reach adulthood without seeing friends or family attacked and even murdered due to differences of religion. Only a minority of Tryphonians will actually go as far as committing criminal acts against citizens of rival factions however, and the majority of citizens are content to live out their lives in peace, doing what they can to avoid bringing strife to their family.

Due to their conservative culture and the widely spread mistrust towards outsiders, the Tryphonians are often characterised as paranoid and skeptical, slow to trust strangers and reluctant to speak about themselves. Once a solid relationship with others has been established however, the Tryphonians are fiercely loyal, especially towards family and family-in-law.

Language and Dialect
- Very distinct dialect on Tryphon, reconstructed by Tryphonian linguists in M36 based on the older Tryphonian language, which was closer to Old Gothic. The local dialect, termed Tryphonian Gothic or simply Tryphonian, is not easily understood by offworlders, though educated Tryphonians will often master the more universal form of Low Gothic.
- There are considerable differences in both grammar and vocabulary between Terran Low Gothic and the Tryphonian dialect. For instance, the question “What do you say about the weather, friend” would be translated to “What saythee on the weather, soule”. The sentence “Welcome to my home” would translate to “Good met to mayhome”.

Planetary Defense Force
The Tryphonian PDF is a proud military organisation with rich and honoured traditions. Its organisation is in many ways quite dissimilar from that of the more elite Imperial Guard, being structured to make use of a vast militia instead of professional soldiers. Military service is mandatory for both genders on Tryphon and all physically and mentally capable citizens are obligated to undergo one year of military training every ten years of their life from the age of sixteen until the age of fifty-six. The only citizens exempt from this obligation are those working within healthcare, although pregnant women and mothers are allowed to postpone their training until their child is old enough to be placed in the care of others. Especially wealthy citizens and prominent government may pay the planetary defence force to shorten their traning period considerably or be allowed to abstain from participating.

Although only a minority of Tryphonian citizens are professional soldiers and officers, the regular military training required by the population ensures a large standing army in the event of global invasion. While young citizens may be called to serve the militia in events of unrest and large scale armed conflicts, it is very rare indeed for citizens over fourty years of age to be ordered to take up arms.

Naturally, there are several advantages and disadvantages connected with the Tryphonian PDF militia system. Beyond the sheer number of soldiers in the event of global war, one advantage is the relative high faith in military operations amongst the population and the high amount of respect towards the government’s military decisions and the active soldiers who carry them out. As most Tryphonian citizens consider themselves soldiers of the planetary defence force, rebellion and crimes against the global government are extremely rare. In the event of civil wars, the global procedures of capturing and interrogating prisoners of war are widely honoured.

The Tryphonian PDF has been criticised for its overreliance on militiamen, which may be a considerable liability in scenarios where Tryphonian forces are required to cooperate with Imperial forces such as the Imperial Guard. Because of the low quality of Tryphonian soldiers compared to the professional soldiers employed on other worlds, many offworld commanders consider Tryphonian militiamen useful only as reserves, garrisons and cannon fodder, refusing to trust them with more important tasks. In addition, Imperial Guard regiments recruited from Tryphon have historically proved somewhat ineffective, due to the enormous transition from being a mere militiaman to a professional Guardsman.

Despite the questionable quality of its soldiers, the Tryphonian PDF has met the demands of the Adeptus Administratum, in no small part due to the high quality of its imported arms. Tryphon benefits from a well funded orbital defence system, aerial defences, aquatic naval forces and ground forces, whose majority of weapons are purchased from offworld industries in the Anargo and Archaios subsectors.

History
- One of the youngest Imperial colonies in the Anargo subsector, colonized long after the Great Crusade. During the Age of Technology and Age of Strife, the Aquina system, then named the Isvik system by its inhabitants, had no contact with other human colonies in the Anargo region. When the Imperial forces arrived in the Esquiline Quadrant, there were no records of the Isvik colony and the initial surveys failed to discover the relatively small human colony on Isvik by long range scans.
- Attempts to properly map the unpopulated systems surrounding the Anargo subsector were made shortly before the Kolst Campaign, also known as the Great Xenos War in Anargo, but the Isvik colony avoided detection a second time due to warp storms. A second long range scan was made and the conclusion was that if there was life in the uncharted system, it was certainly not developed enough to be a major threat to the Imperium. As the Kolst Campaign begun, the Isvik system was forgotten.
- The human colony on Isvik Prime was finally discovered in M34, more than three thousand years after Imperial forces arrived in the Esquiline Quadrant. Its native population resisted annexation by the Imperium, but was swiftly conquered. Isvik Prime was renamed Tryphon as part of an Imperial effort to replace the local culture with Imperial culture. The Isvik system was renamed the Aquina system.
- While the pre-Imperial Tryphon had a somewhat lower technology-level than the Imperium, especially after the technologies deemed heretical by the Adeptus Mechanicus had been eradicated, the Imperium quickly discovered the great resources contained within the Aquina system and set in motion a mass colonization while looking for organisations that might be willing to invest in the promising new worlds. First and foremost among these organizations was the wealthy Shinaren Guild.

Author's note: Obviously, the SR isn't quite finished yet

[Malika]

MALIKA TIME!!!  *makes some fancy Power Ranger like move*

Well, I had to rewrite the Tryphon SR. It was just appalling, even by my standards, and I have a bad conscience whenever I criticize someone elses SR and then read some of my early work afterwards. In fact, all of my early SRs are as poorly written as they are short, so I guess I will have to rewrite them all in time - very much despite myself.

I really need to re-write Quechit and Sicitta as well, but I think that might be a better thing to do once we are looking at the Meksum subsector since we can then link these worlds up more together.

Government

I loved that little bit with the Magistrates! It actually comes in as a surprise, I mean I was reading the part and then these Magistrates come in, I simply assumed it was some sort of historical anecdote and then *BAM*, Toshanden is involved and they are some sort of shadow government! The fact that this thing is more purely an economic thing instead of ideological is a great change from some of the other stuff we've been seeing throughout the sector which seems to be a political struggle between the Ecclessiarchy and the Adeptus Mechanicus or the subsectors themselves and so on.

The present ruler, Lord Horatio Davidian

Why am I getting that Davidian cult vibe? You know those guys that got burnt to death at Waco? 

When reading through the Society and Law part you seem to sort of contradict yourself, on one hand Davidian is unpopular because he is neglecting poverty (when reading it like that one would assume that poverty is a big problem of Tryphon) while on the other hand Tryphon is one of the more prosperous worlds where wealth is relatively fairly divided. So which one is it?

Technology

I like the whole idea of a difficult relationship between them and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Perhaps it has even gone that far that Tryphon was forced to develop it's own technology, basically becoming independent from the Adeptus Mechanicus. This of course would have worsened the relations between Tryphon and the Adeptus Mechanicus, however with the coming of Anargo Secundus as a Forge World this had to change because the Adeptus Mechanicus needed to trade with Tryphon. Perhaps some sort of "mutual respect" started to grow, or at least some sort of sense that they are "equal partners" in their trading. Normally the relations between worlds and the Adeptus Mechanicus are one in which the Adeptus Mechanicus is in a far superior position due to the fact that they control most of the technology.

Planetary Defense Force

I liked the whole both gender militia idea, for some reason it kind of reminded be of the military service in Israel. This of course would come in very handy when on the defensive (such as defending your own planet) but be a disadvantage when being sent out on campaigns on other worlds (as you have already written).

[CELS]

MALIKA TIME!!!  *makes some fancy Power Ranger like move*

When you said this, I was preparing for an onslaught of criticism and verbal ass kicking

I really need to re-write Quechit and Sicitta as well, but I think that might be a better thing to do once we are looking at the Meksum subsector since we can then link these worlds up more together.

Sounds good to me! Which reminds me, I should probably post at least a first draft of the SRs for Meksum and Dorvastor since they're rather influential worlds we know very little about. I've already got some ideas for Meksum. For instance, I don't think we have any plutocracies in the Anargo sector. Would be kind of interesting.

I loved that little bit with the Magistrates! It actually comes in as a surprise, I mean I was reading the part and then these Magistrates come in, I simply assumed it was some sort of historical anecdote and then *BAM*, Toshanden is involved and they are some sort of shadow government! The fact that this thing is more purely an economic thing instead of ideological is a great change from some of the other stuff we've been seeing throughout the sector which seems to be a political struggle between the Ecclessiarchy and the Adeptus Mechanicus or the subsectors themselves and so on.

Glad you liked them. This whole rewrite started with the ideas for the Magistrates, actually. I just got the idea out of nowhere and figured it was a kind of government we didn't have already in the Anargo sector.

Why am I getting that Davidian cult vibe? You know those guys that got burnt to death at Waco? 

Well remembered. The name was taken from the song Davidian by the metal band Machine Head. While the song was not originally related to the thing at Waco, according to the band, they did change the lyrics a bit as a reference. Or so Wikipedia says.

When reading through the Society and Law part you seem to sort of contradict yourself, on one hand Davidian is unpopular because he is neglecting poverty (when reading it like that one would assume that poverty is a big problem of Tryphon) while on the other hand Tryphon is one of the more prosperous worlds where wealth is relatively fairly divided. So which one is it?

Ah, you're right. Two ideas that didn't quite mix together very well. I should clarify it a bit. While poverty isn't a big problem on Tryphon, the working class could still feel neglected by the ruler. It's the same in Norway, almost, as the general living conditions are very high, but there are still considerable problems within healthcare and education. The middle and upper classes can get by these problems by simply going to private hospitals and private schools, but the working class is left waiting for the government to sort it out.
I will try to make this more clear.

I like the whole idea of a difficult relationship between them and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Perhaps it has even gone that far that Tryphon was forced to develop it's own technology, basically becoming independent from the Adeptus Mechanicus. This of course would have worsened the relations between Tryphon and the Adeptus Mechanicus, however with the coming of Anargo Secundus as a Forge World this had to change because the Adeptus Mechanicus needed to trade with Tryphon. Perhaps some sort of "mutual respect" started to grow, or at least some sort of sense that they are "equal partners" in their trading. Normally the relations between worlds and the Adeptus Mechanicus are one in which the Adeptus Mechanicus is in a far superior position due to the fact that they control most of the technology.

Yes, this was exactly my idea, thereby creating a situation where Tryphon would grow closer to Anargo Secundus, whereas in the last version there was far more tension. Though as you say, the "equality" would allow Tryphon to stand its ground instead of just bending over to receive the Mechanicus gifts.

I liked the whole both gender militia idea, for some reason it kind of reminded be of the military service in Israel. This of course would come in very handy when on the defensive (such as defending your own planet) but be a disadvantage when being sent out on campaigns on other worlds (as you have already written).

Well done, Israel was in fact my inspiration for this. However, I've come to realise that I'll probably need to adjust the system a bit. If an adult spends one year in ten in the military, that means ten percent of the adult population will be in the military at all times, which is a rather high percentage. Instead, I think maybe only the people without higher education would be called in for continued military service. Hmmn....