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Master Index |
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Library Data Index |
In the ensuing centuries, the Empire of Varroerth has changed drastically. Originally, it was a force that sucked independent worlds into itself and digested them like an infinitely huge amoeba. Today it is an empire in name only.
Stretched to its limits, the central empire authority has little influence among its member worlds. The Emperor Varroerth XLVII is no more than a figurehead. The actual power in the Empire of Varroerth lies with its twenty regional governors, who operate independently from the emperor and from each other, as well.
Several independent corsair groups are also in control of quite a bit of military, economic, and political power within the confines of the Empire. The common bond between these corsairs and the regional governors is the lip-service they pay to the emperor and Empire of Varroerth as a matter of political convenience. They all have found the idea of a charismatic emperor favorable among the general populace, and they seem to have no qualms with this status as figurehead, as long as the real power is in their hands.
Military skirmishes between any combination of regional governors, corsairs, and independently-minded member worlds oocur on a regular basis within the borders of the Empire. Loose confederations of individual worlds often secede from the phantom Empire to form their own interstellar governments. Many of these new governments are ignored by the central empire authority, left to their own devices by an empire without the energy to fight civil wars.
Just as there is little central government, there is little
common culture in the Empire of Varroerth. Individual worlds and clusters
of worlds form their own governments, societies, and customs, usually under
some control from either the regional governors or corsair groups. -pro
V&V