'Imperial Culture' (non-canonista)

[Whitestreak]

Nicely done, Jason.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Whitestreak

Nicely done, Jason.

Thank. I guess you got it.

[jason taylor]

Transplant Cuisines:

When Sophants took to the stars they took the foods from home with them. Often of course they would not take locally leaving the option of adapting growing them artificially (by such means as terraforming, hydroponics, or gengineering), or exporting them from the planet of origin. The last option is often so prohibitive that it is something that only the rich and powerful can afford.

Food as always is a cultural symbol and is taken seriously. For instance Maple has taken in a lot of places. Naturally it is impractical to depend on a product which will not profit for decades. So syrup is divided into modified, natural, and Terran (among other more technical divisions), the later of which has the best price and comes from ancient orchards in what used to be New England and Canada. Natural comes from trees who were planted without genetic engineering and sometimes the details of their pedigrees are as closely examined as that of racing animals. Modified is quite common, common enough to make into affordable liquor which the natural format is less often because of the loss of material in the process.

Some of the records of preparation methods are retained in detail so the cooking methods are little different. Some styles though require ingredients with a specialized ecology (like Revived New England, and Revived New Orleans styles). This often needs a Terraforming project though the above two styles are popular enough that Terraformers will incorporate it, in fact making a contract to modify plans will often cut the expense.

Aslan have brought their favorite herd and game animals from their homeworld and products of these are often tasty to humaniti as well. Sylean cooking has high honor, and is an ancient tradition among them. Caledonians are less esteemed because the tradition they base some of their cultural dishes is underestimated. Some things were transplanted almost whole from Ancient Terra however.

Transplant dishes are well known part of the Known Universe and any people with a populous diaspora is likely to have brought contributions.

[jason taylor]

Labyrinth:

This is a tome about strategy from the peculiar perspective of a moderately powerful crime boss. The writer is unidentified of course but he claims to have been counselor to the ruler of a syndicate that specialized in the laundering of the spoils from Corsairs. Equally unidentified is the name of his master although he is identified as being Vargr in decent.

The book uses the vehicle of an allegorical Starport symbolically named Labyrinth during the time of the Imperial Civil Wars. Here it traces the various powers in the town legal and less so. It gives in the course technical descriptions for spycraft, clandestine contracts (including the negotiation of paid assassination), and day to day techniques for smuggling. As well as the techniques of law enforcement groups. It also tells of high-level relations between factions. Finally it deals with urban warfare from the perspective of a time when the author's master had, so he sad, formed a resistance group out of civic patriotism when a pretender to the Imperial throne had invaded the city.

Labyrinth is a classic of strategy and is said to be required study in training by the SPA inspectorate.

[jason taylor]

Fictive Kinship:

Aside from the basic relationships of genetics and marriage many peoples have officially recognized forms of relationships. Like all relations among sophants all contain parts emotionalism and ritual and are often romanticized. But most have a practical aspect. Many of these relationships can and often do overlap.

Blood Siblings: This is a declared non-sexual alliance between two or more previously unrelated parties. It usually involves an oath marked by such rituals as the famous Terran "mixing of blood", the drinking of shared libations, exchange of sacred objects etc. It is commonly found among those of precarious lifestyles who desire an ally. Thus they will include agreements to care for dependents in the event of disaster, exchange of passwords to bank accounts, deposit boxes, or websites. Among those who commonly surf the datanet it often includes a duty to inform the contacts of the other in the event of death or incapacity.

Tentmates, bunkmates, kitmates, etc: This is simply those who happen to have quarters in the same facility in naval or military forces, or in the merchant or scout services. The services exchanged can include sharing storage space and disposing of effects in the event of death (traditionally by auction or by sharing out among the remainder of the group). In some military organizations, "Tent" and "kit" are used in preference to "Squad" and "Fireteam, section, file, etc" respectively.

Guilds, Fellowship, Club, etc. This has been called blood siblinghood on a large scale and often shares some of it's rituals. However such organizations are institutional. Some do no more than provide recreational facilities, but others provide, political lobbying, advertising, education and other such services. These groups are prominent in the Principality of Caledonia.

Patronage: An alliance between a more powerful and a less powerful personage.

Fostering: This is often a provisional means of looking after orphans. But it is often a kind of apprenticeship, as well as a means of sealing a political favors

Adoption: the distinction between this and fosterage can be dubious. Among the Aceri (see above) the distinction is a change in the lineage. Previous parents are always remembered and stored in dataholders unless they are unknown or sentenced to Damnatio Memoriae (part of the penalty for those guilty of sexual assault). Adoption is often used for pragmatic reasons, such as a convenient compromise between democracy and aristocracy by "plugging in" an elected heir to a lineage. This can be taken so far as to add fictive years when convenient (for instance an elected clan heir is granted enough years to make him "older" than other children of a previous Capo Albergho (chief).

[jason taylor]

Land Bonds:

A form of Bill of Exchange issued in several nations. Before contact with Aslan these existed but were like any other similar document containing a right to claim commodities, stock options, etc.

They grew in popularity with the influx of Aslan and several states use them for such tasks as paying warriors. It is common for an Aslan to put these in a safety deposit box awaiting the end of a tour of duty and provisions are made by "armsmens guild" type organizations for such.

Some bonds are a claim on an actual landhold while others are on an abstract number of acres, the former naturally being more valued. Bonds issued different states are valued according to how conscientious they are in paying such promises, which in any case is by Aslan standards a very important part of the collective honor of a polity whether Human or Aslan. Indeed one reason why Aslan have been so loyal to the Darrien Confederation despite it's cultural strangeness from their point of view is their scrupulous honor of payment to soldiers.