Arlea Committee & 9 Great Houses

[vegas]

I believe this is a question without an answer in canon, but perhaps one of you grognards will prove me wrong with some serious Traveller trivia knowledge. And in lieu of canon fact, I'm curious to hear your speculation. Meantime, I'm working up my own conjecture. Enough preamble…

In T4:M0 we learn of…

"…the Arlea Committee, comprising the heads of the original nine great houses which signed the Charter of Arlea (including the head of the Zhunastu house, Emperor Cleon). The Arlea Committee is the real power in the Imperium. Any decisions they make are “suggested” to members of the Moot to raise in session. All decisions made by the Committee are passed."

Question: we know House Zhunastu is one of the "nine great houses", but which are the other eight that make up the Arlea Committee?

 

[GypsyComet]

Reading between the lines in M:0 Campaign, I suspect the second Dynasty arose from one of these families, so the Lentuli could be on the list.

Similarly, the entry on p54 for Tukera Lines makes a case that they are also on the list.

The biographies on p.77 through 79 probably eliminate the Repzinski and Aurion families from the Nine.

We don't have many other family names.

 

[vegas]

I agree House Lentuli and House Tukera are extremely likely. I would also add House Ling.

So that is 4 houses, 1 confirmed and 3 highly likely. Need 5 more.

 

[mike wightman]

Makhidkarun, Naasirka. Shiishuginsa, Alkhalikoi

 

[GypsyComet]

Makhidkarun, Naasirka. Shiishuginsa, Alkhalikoi

The only evidence we have of the Alkhalikoi is that the first of their name came from behind the Claw 600 years later.

Makhidkarun is a Vilani megacorp that originated in the earliest days of space travel. Their given territory during the First Imperium did not include what would become Core, so a scion of that name around Sylea seems unlikely at best.

Naasirka is also an original Vilani bureau, so also unlikely.

Shiishuginsa is the most likely of these, as they are an old Vilani family which has held the Sector Duke position for Vland for a very long time, and are notably rare among the old Vilani families for spending time on Capital. As such they are possible, but still not ideal. They are modern supporters of the Alkhalikoi line, but that doesn't rule out their having been around much earlier.

 

[mike wightman]

The vast majority of Sylea were of Vilani descent.

The names I have suggested are a lot more likely than Ling.

The only two we know for definite are Zhunastu and Lentuli, and even that second one could be argued against.

Remember that much of M:0 was written by third party authors who didn't quite understand the setting - why would anyone pull strings to manipulate the Moot when the Moot only has one purpose, it is not part of the government apparatus - the Imperium is a totalitarian dictatorship.

 

[vegas]

Far be it for me to defend the authors of T4 (though I am a big fan of Greg Porter), I disagree with you, Mike, about the appropriateness of the Arlea Committee to the setting. I think it functions as the politburo of the old USSR or in the current PRC where you still have a totalitarian dictator but there remains other powerful interests that 1) must be placated, and 2) from whom future leadership can emerge.

Military dictatorships may not need a politburo (at least at first), but the Third Imperium was not a result of a military coup, it was a diplomatic/political coup that subverted the former Sylean Senate. How do you get the most powerful economic/political families of the prior regime to willingly (bloodlessly) choose an Emperor? You give them a piece of the governing action to protect their interests.

As far as Houses, it seems we are quickly getting into conjecture but we do know for sure that 2 of your 4 names are out and in my view no better than 1 for 4, Mike. Neither a House of Makhidkarun nor Naairka (which would be House Igsiirdi) were part of the Imperium at its founding. They came later when Vland joined, so they can't be part of the original nine signatories to the Charter of Sylea. We are told that explicitly in TD18 and it is implicit in M0.

That same fact may argue against House Shiishuginsa, the founders of Zirunkariish, but I'm with you and don't think it does. Zirunkariish is a megacorp in M0 and it is the ONLY financial megacorp on the list. It is hard to have a growing, high-tech, trade-based society without finance. Zirunkariish finances Vland, but does so AFTER contact with Sylea, which to me is a clue that they come from Sylea. So I am with you and number House Shiishuginsa with the original 9.

As for House Alkhalikoi, I'd say there is explicit evidence in CT they are not part of the original Arela Committee. Arbellatra is the last Emperor of the Flag and according to CT, it is the marriage of her son Zhakirov that "cemented an alliance between the Alkhalikoi dynasty and the business interests of the Imperial Core…" The whole early history of dynasty is of an outsider that takes over, not an insider rising to power.

I don't know what your argument against House Ling would be, Mike. Ling Standard Products is a M0 megacorp. Obviously they have a Solomani name, but the Ling must have emigrated long ago to have achieved such a status. LSP is explicitly indicated as one of 4 megacorps in Sylea along with GSbAG, Turkera, and Zirunkariish. (In any event, they certainly can't have been based in the Solomani Rim as that area is not reincorporated into the Third Imperium until beginning in the 5th century of the Imperium.)

So I think we are up to 5 because we can add House Shiishuginsa of Zirunkariish.

Need 4 more.

 

[BRJN]

Admiral Arbellatra Alkhalikoi, first of her line, came to Capital bearing a battlefleet and a victorious peace treaty with the Zhodani. That was the original basis of her power and her claim to the throne. No canonical references (that I am aware of) to family or historical connections that would make her more-credible royalty.

Drat, it would have made the history more elegant if she had.

 

[GypsyComet]

No canonical references (that I am aware of) to family or historical connections that would make her more-credible royalty.

I think the Alkhalikoi line was tied to Rhylanor prior to Arbellatra, and is still a part of Rhylanor's Ducal bloodline, though no longer THE name there.

Mike is correct that the Syleans were genetically and culturally dominated by Vland prior to the Long Night (GT: Humaniti). My understanding is that a Sylean reclamation occurred during the Long Night, however. As such it is not a stretch to assume that some of the so-called Great Houses of the Charter might have Bilandin names. Just not the company names of the Vilani Shangarim/Bureaux.

As the Charter appears to have similar historical significance as the US Declaration of Independence (in that it *isn't* the Constitution analog of the Third Imperium), I think the Arlea Committee is less likely to have remained a political force beyond the lifespans of the signatories. The Great Families were installed at the top of the Noble pecking order and retain political power that way, but the Committee strikes me as a short-term entity. That said, Imperial nobility was IIRC more prone to use anagathics at the time, so some of the Committee might have been around for quite a while.

To eliminate another known family name, there is no evidence I'm aware of to suggest that Norris' ancestors (the Caranda family) would have been a Great Family. I think we can rule out the Plankwells as well.

 

[tjoneslo]

What may provide an interesting source of potential names is to go through the barrack emperor's list. It may be possible that one or more of them were (at one time) the Great House from the founding of the Imperium, fell on hard times as the Imperium expanded, then attempted to claim their birthright.

 

[GypsyComet]

What may provide an interesting source of potential names is to go through the barrack emperor's list.

I was looking at that last night. The common versions of the list only have family names for the Emperor who started the Civil War (Plankwell) and the one who ended it (Alkhalikoi).

 

[tjoneslo]

Imperial encyclopedia p.9-10. The emperor of the flag. The canon list of barracks emperors.

 

[mike wightman]

Going back to the eventual megacorps of the 3I being great houses of the Sylean Federation.

Are we to take seriously the idea that Cleon Industries begat the 3I and then several decades later upon re-contact with Vland allows the pitiful remnants of the Vilani megacorps to build up in scale to rival Cleon Industries?

Cobblers.

It is much more likely that the 3I 'Vilani' megacorporations are actually rebuilt from the companies and houses that survived within the Sylean Federation and then absorbed the remnants of their ancestors around Vland.

 

[vegas]

Here is what TD18 has to say about that:

"Vilani participation in establishing the Imperium: Vland joind the Third Imperium soon after its formation. This allowed the Imperium to expand into the only frontier available: Corridor, deneb, and Spinward Marches sectors.
The Imperium also benefited by bringing the three Vilani megacorporations (Naasirka, Makhidkarum, and Sharurshid) under the same banner as the Sylean industrial base, working to expand the Imperium and their markets...."

So the bureau were not part of Sylea but came on later.

But I agree that it makes sense to look to the eventual megacorps to search for the great 9 houses. Excluding the Vilani bureau, we have the following:

TD18 IDs these 4 as "the Sylean industrial base" and M0 has the same:
GSbAG
Ling Standard
Tukera
Zirunkariish

Then M0 adds the following megacorps:
Baldang Arms
InStarSpec
Sternmetal

I think it is in those last 3 plus GSbAG were we are likely to find other members of the 9, though the Lentuli are probably one of them. (My conjecture is that the Lentuli are behind GSbAG.)

 

[whulorigan]

Here is what TD18 has to say about that:

"Vilani participation in establishing the Imperium: Vland joind the Third Imperium soon after its formation. This allowed the Imperium to expand into the only frontier available: Corridor, deneb, and Spinward Marches sectors.
The Imperium also benefited by bringing the three Vilani megacorporations (Naasirka, Makhidkarum, and Sharurshid) under the same banner as the Sylean industrial base, working to expand the Imperium and their markets...."

So the bureau were not part of Sylea but came on later.

But I agree that it makes sense to look to the eventual megacorps to search for the great 9 houses. Excluding the Vilani bureau, we have the following:

TD18 IDs these 4 as "the Sylean industrial base" and M0 has the same:
GSbAG
Ling Standard
Tukera
Zirunkariish

Then M0 adds the following megacorps:
Baldang Arms
InStarSpec
Sternmetal

I think it is in those last 3 plus GSbAG were we are likely to find other members of the 9, though the Lentuli are probably one of them. (My conjecture is that the Lentuli are behind GSbAG.)

Add to that list Zuan Kerr from TD #15.

So our possibilities are:

1. House Zhunastu - (Zhunastu Industries)
2. House Kerr - (?)
3. House Lentuli - (?)
4. House Ling - (Ling Standard Products)
5. House Tukera - (Tukera Lines)
6. House Shiishuginsa - (Zirunkariish)
7. House (?) - (GSbAG)
8. House (?) - (Baldang Arms)
9. House (?) - (InStarSpec)
10. House (Stern ?) - (Sternmetal)

 

[vegas]

@tjoneslo

I think that is a great idea, but with exception of Plankwell (the first) and Alkhalikoi (the last), we don't get a family name or background for any of the Emperors of the Flag, so there isn't anything to go on.

Both Ramon I and Constantus were proclaimed Emperor by the Moot after defeating a self-proclaimed usurper. Both of those are good candidates for insiders that returned to power. (At the very least, they appear to be more acceptable to the insiders than the usurpers.) Just don't know who they represent.

In that regard, looking prior to the civil war, both Jerome and Jaquline I ascended the throne by moot election when there was no dynastic succesor. I would bet that both of them hailed from different Arela Committee Houses, but we don't know which.

@whulorigan

That is a nice addition - other senators/moot members from the period. That suggests as well Houses that date back to pre-Imperial times, which gives one more candidate: House Aella.

The problem with Kerr and Aella is that there isn't evidence (that I can find) that they were that powerful, at the start of the Imperium. But the fact that they were around, means they at least could have been.

Do we know any other early Dukes? We do know House Tauribi were the Archdukes of the Domain of Vland. Plausible they were a great House too, but also plausible that the Lentuli were rewarding an ally.

 

[GypsyComet]

It is much more likely that the 3I 'Vilani' megacorporations are actually rebuilt from the companies and houses that survived within the Sylean Federation and then absorbed the remnants of their ancestors around Vland.

The more I read of M:0 Campaign, the more House Shiishuginsa (owners of Zirunkariish) makes sense. Vland was a strong but fairly small state by the end of the Long Night. They had been contacted by Sylea 400 years prior and had brushed them off, but that contact restarted Vland anyway, and by the time Cleon came calling the Vilani were better listeners. Zirunkariish bankrolled a lot of that 400 years of prosperity and likely brokered Cleon's deal...

Because of the Sylean Reclamation, I can't see any local Bureaux remnants being among the Sylean successes. IIRC only one of them had previously operated in the area of Sylea to any extent, and they would have been cut off from the home office if they stayed.

[*]House (?) - (GSbAG)

Their entry in Milieu Zero Campaign suggests against that, though I suppose they could have been playing it sneaky. Not sure I like Lentuli being the harbingers of GSbAG either, given that they would turn into a very long-running dynasty on the Iridium Throne.

I can dig House Stern. Maybe Kerr and Ling...

M:0 Campaign, page 46 features one William Shigaka (or Shigaku), who is listed as a close friend and advisor of Cleon. Is that all, or is he from one of the Great Houses?

 

[mike wightman]

I just can not accept that the Sylean Federation and then Imperium would allow the Vilani megacorporations to rise above their own companies.

I can accept that within the Sylean Federation there were remnants of Vilani megacorporation 'houses' who owned Sylean businesses and then incorporated the Vilani remnants post recontact.

Basically Syleans of Vilani ancestry took over the vestiges of the corporations that had maintained some sort of continuity in the Vland area of influence through the Long Night.

The Vilani remained culturally biased against rising to TL12, and yet after incorporation within the Imperium they leap to TL13...

 

[vegas]

I just can not accept that the Sylean Federation and then Imperium would allow the Vilani megacorporations to rise above their own companies...

I don't think canon is on record that they did.

The Vilani remained culturally biased against rising to TL12, and yet after incorporation within the Imperium they leap to TL13...

This is explicitly denied by canon. The TL timeline goes like this:
IY0: Sylea TL12, Vland TL9
IY300: Sylea TL13, Vland TL11
source: MT:VV

Technology does not transfer very easily in the Imperium, and tech transfer from Sylea to Vland is no different. 300 years pass from Vland's entry into the Imperium, and Vland still hasn't reached the level of the Sylean industrial base at IY0, and that same base has moved one TL higher.

So I don't think canon supports that the Vilani megacorps rise above the Sylean. I picture them as 3 behemoths that we might assume have marketing muscle and assets in a lot of planets due to their history from the Ziru Sirka onward, but they are lower tech provider. They open markets and make profits, but don't get to capture as much value as the higher tech Syleans do. It might be analogous to the entry of the PRC into western trade, but with a technology lag that lasts centuries.

 

[GypsyComet]

The original three Bureaux took a significant demotion in the Third Imperium, rising to merely the status of megacorporation alongside several of the Sylean and Terran megacorps. It would take the Civil War in the 600s and the subsequent shift at Capital from Terran dominance to Vilani dominance for the old Bureaux to perhaps surpass the other megacorps, and even then LSP and Tukera remain stubbornly ubiquitous, among others.

The old Bureaux map in V&V indicates that the area around Capital was mixed, likely due to the Sylean Main being much too useful to have been tied up by one of them. M:0 strongly implies that Vilani Bureaux resources that weren't recalled to the area around Vland as the Rule of Man collapsed were lost in the Long Night. The narrative in M:0C makes some case for the Vilani bankers of Zirunkariish to be part of Cleon's cabal, but the rest were still growing around Vland at the Founding.

The Nine Families should include at least one of each of Terran, Vilani, and Sylean, and should probably slant toward the Sylean. Zhunastu appears to be a Sylean or regional name.