Arden Star Empire

The Arden Star Empire is a cluster of 300 solar systems with 233 settled planets. It was previously part of the M'KHaren empire, but broke off during the Mage Wars and no longer shares a boarder. Arden is also an early member of the Alliance and considered a very prosperous state. While a sovereign nation, it is often regarded as part of Joint Space.

Capitol

The imperial Capitol is Arden Song, a prosperous world with many ancient buildings. The National Museum houses a collection of artifacts known as "The Arsenal of Freedom", which is quite valuable.

Government

Officially, Arden is a Constitutional Monarchy, with a direct, popular vote system of governance. There is no one highest office, the government is ruled by a parliament of which various members take turns heading, rotating on a basis of every three days whilst government is in session. The Emperor holds no direct political power, but is responsible for opening and closing parliament, and wields certain powers "for the people". For example, the Emperor is allowed to suspend parliament, and may also force it's members to work without pay if the citizens feel they are doing a poor job.

While Arden's royal family will typically claim it's lineage back to that of the M'KHaren Empire, in truth no single line held the thrown for longer than three centuries before the dawn of the Second Age, when the head of the then-ruling house brought in the Crimson Blade mercenaries to act as a stabilizing force. Since then, the line has been broken several times when a sitting empire died without a formal heir, and various forced vied for their own empire. By the mid Ages#The Fifth Age|Fifth Age]], the royal court had established a system which tracked the next heir out to over a thousand places, thus ensuring a proper emperor was always available.

Actual Leadership

True power in Arden belongs primarily to the Great Houses, which collectively own around ninety percent of the economy and seventy percent of available land; including all major corporations. Every citizen on Arden is a member of at least one House, with purity of the bloodline a major factor in one's political and economic station. On Arden the term "Roughian" refers to an individual who belongs to many different houses and has a very dilute bloodline. Loyalty to one's house is considered paramount, so roughians who ave not proven their loyalty to a house make up the lowest members of society.

Each house has a Patriarch(or Matriarch, in many cases) who effectively controls the house and it's resources, and through those resources, controls it's members. Members of a specific house are expected to vote a in accordance with the Patriarch's wishes. All members of parliment either directly control a house, or controlled by one.

Arden is in fact very unusual economy, insofar as effectively no one makes a living wage. It is impossible to emigrate to the empire, because available jobs do not pay enough to support one's self. Arden's own people instead earn most of their money through a "House Benefit" paid to them according to their station and standing within the House. The great houses also own most of the land and buildings, so part of the house benifit is usually a place to live.