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Old 10-14-2011, 10:12 AM   #5
jason taylor
 
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Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: 'Imperial Culture' (non-canonista)

Quote:
Originally Posted by combatmedic View Post
Religion-

The Sylean, or Imperial, Church has sent missionaries to many worlds. Joining it is not required for everyone who attains high rank, but it certainly helps smooth one's passage up the line. Some worlds are controlled by the Church. Most military chaplains are part of the Imperial Church.

There are cook-chaplains, a la Jason Taylor's set up, for Vilani troops. There are also informally recognized NCO 'chaplains' for other traditions.

The Imperium neither guarantees nor restricts the religious liberty to the people of worlds under Imperial protection. Such matters are the purview of the member states, not the Imperial authorities.

Various forms of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, etc may be found throughout the Third Imperium. Syncretic religions, Vilani religions, and other traditions are part of the mix. The Imperial Church is the highest profile religion, but hardly the only faith.


Fashion-

Imperial Court fashions are widely copied on many other worlds. It's quite common to find wealthy people in the further reaches of the Imperium wearing outdated Sylean fashions. Then again, some worlds don't follow such trends. The Imperium is diverse. Many ordinary folks barely have any contact with elite, cosmopolitan, Sylean influenced culture.

Language-

Galanglic is the language of the government and the military. Many people speak something else as their native tongue. People from backwater worlds may speak little or no Galangic.
As the setting of my heroes is in a client Pocket Empire outside the Imperium I am separating cultures.
Imperial(refers primarily to the Imperial nobility, secondarily to Travellers who have little or no pariochial ties, like soldiers, bureaucrats, merchants, etc):
Religion:
Their is no official institutionalized Imperial religion IMTU. CoH Imperial Nobles, however has some elements that would make it demi-religious; indeed it could hardly not after all this time. Most Religions common in Terra at the time of the ISW are reasonably known at the time of the Imperium though some have become minorities and others have sprouted new sects and other sects have disappeared. Confucianism is popular among the Imperial Nobility as is Classical Stoicism because both of those fit well with CoH Nobles. A number of nobles are Stellerists as well. Maar Zon is a minority faith but looked on as "colorful". Interestingly Sikhism has gained in popularity among the frontier nobility because of it's warlike tendencies and some Imperial Aslan have converted to Skhism and become enthusiastic followers.
Falarthan(the country of the heroes with several scattered planets on each of which they are one of several Balkanized powere-therefore I refer to Falartha as a nation or as a tribal federation rather then a planet):
Religion: Primarily Christianity. Judaiism secondary. Maar Zon has a presence. As do various Vilani beliefs. There are a few Sikh clans as well, most of these are highly active in government service, including the regular military. There is little religious strife as such though theology is a perfectly valid subject in philosophical debate and this is one of the favored national sports. Clerics are organized into orders which espouse a particular doctrine. Traditionally a congregation choosing a particular cleric is choosing his order's doctrine as it's official doctrine but that does not preclude guests from visiting. Shipboard and military medics tend to conduct religious services in the absence of an official chaplain, including shipboard marriages when such take place(one small fashion among the rich is to take one jump away from home just to have a shipboard marriage); the famed Order of St Luke's trains large numbers of medical professionals for this. The topmost grade have to pledge celibacy, renunciation of clan ties, and renunciation of the use of force except in protection of those under their charge(I.E. Their shipmates etc). Many are not prepared for these especially the second vow, which is why a lot of fully qualified doctors are not top members of the Order of St Luke's.

Fashion:
Imperial: Tends to the appeal of "retroness" like most imperial cultures. High-class Vilani clothing is popular, as is the Victorian era of Ancient Terra. Both masculine and feminine clothing tend to emphasize "grandeur" as a theme. Silks and brocades and the like are popular.
Falarthan: Emphasizes "heroic" rather then "grand" as theme. Standard female clothing is a "pragmatic" which is a knee-length dress with a bottom half that can be unbuttoned in half and each half rebuttoned around the leg to form ad-hoc breeches. Male clothing includes fairly ordinary looking trousers and shirt. Decoration is applied directly onto clothing in the female and with males it is applied onto tools or weapons worn at the belt. In both cases these are usually perfectly functional; it is the custom to buy them plain and decorate them slowly, often with heraldry, caligraphy, decorated datachips and other devices containing information of personal import to the wearer. Some variations of this are claimed to act as charms in peril. Formal wear goes along a similar theme and usually each clan and guild has it's own attire both formal and informal. Like Imperial's they like a retro theme. Some clans have an unusually baroque attire and others advertise their "Spartanness". On the whole though, clothing that is suspected of being too grand is disliked. The High Chief for instance has no set of regalia as such and usually wears a uniform similar to an eighteenth century naval officer on formal occasions. Someone with Heraldry skill can tell a Falarthan's clan, guild, city, ancestry and kin, religion, philosophy and political beliefs by examining his clothes.

Language:
Imperial: Galangic with both a High form for the mighty and a Low form as a tradespeak.
Falarthan: Same, but with local variations. Most Falarthans can understand Imperial Ganglic well enough.

Art
Imperial: Byzantine style mosaics are popular, as are stage productions of famous plays. Music tends to include what Ancient Terrans would have called "Classical". Vilani Musical styles are also popular.
Falarthan: Computer art is popular. As is decorative heraldry to be applied to clothing, tools and weapons. One common variety is a sort of cryptic heraldry which contains messages within messages within messages like a Russian doll. This is usually done with the use of electronics. Oral storytelling is popular as are works that are "guildstamped"(given a trademark)by the Bardic Guild thus telling that it is high quality. Some works have been guildstamped merely for their historical importance and would not pass if written at the time. Low class tales tend to take the form of short stories. Guildstamped tales are often elaborate sagas and epics often crossreferenced within themselves and with other epics in a wiki like format. Falarthan epics often deal with themes like travel, frontier life, migration and the like. They are more descriptive then many examples of the kind, and sometimes include such things as loving descriptions of machinery. Borrowing from other cultures is quite common. Aslan sagas are popular, as are pre-starflight Terran ones. It is not unknown to find a Falarthan who is reasonably familiar with
a number of ninteenth and twentieth century works in various media. Various kinds of music are liked. Terran Classical is appreciated, but folk ballads have a large following. Terran "Country" is also appreciated. There are several other musical traditions, some native, some borrowed. Bagpipes are often favored as an instrument and bagpipe music is often played on various occasions like Departure day(the setting out of trade ventures) and Homecoming(the return).
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Last edited by jason taylor; 10-14-2011 at 11:21 AM.
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