Drawing Maps - Season 6 Faction Creation Pt. 8 - Revisiting Kesh + Wrap Up

Hey everyone, as you'll hear me say the second you hit play, I fucked up and made one last pre-PARTIZAN Drawing Maps update.  (Also, it's fun to use the red moon placeholder art that Ali made one last time.)

This week's is revisiting Kesh (who I worked some additional details out for, and wanted to share) and talking generally about the process of cleaning up my prep and revisiting it ahead of starting the season proper. Hope everyone's had a great weekend and has a great week. Enjoy!

 Stel Kesh

1. Government Type: Oligarchy (Cryptocracy)
   1. Kesh is the eternal home of the Princept, the singular leader whose role is supposedly to be the loyal servant, chief advocate, and heir of all citizens of the Divine Principality. And yet… in this current moment, at least, Kesh is not a monarchy or an autocracy. Though it positions itself as the inheritor of a lost legacy of justice and stability, it is Kesh’s long running history of macro-scale manipulation, backroom dealing, and intelligence operations that powers the engine of this empire. Sure, there is a Princept on the People’s Throne. But who runs Kesh, really?
   2. Some additional detail: Kesh is technically something like a constitutional monarchy, though one with very few real voters. It’s chief governmental body has five major legislative "halls" (read: houses), each of which are said to carry a single vote when it comes to the establishment of laws inside of Kesh territory. Those four bodies are:
      1. The Hall of the Elect: Literally, the Divine elects of Stel Kesh
      2. The Hall of the Ecclesiast: High ranking members of clergy residing in Stel Kesh (which some say gives Stel Nideo outsized influence on Kesh politics)
      3. The Hall of the Fundament: Made up from the members of Stel Kesh’s highest ranking noble houses, appointed one per ranking family.
      4. The Hall of the People: The Princept, who is said to represent not only the people of Kesh but of the Divine Principality write large, carries their own vote. 
      5. The Hall of the Designate: Candidates approved by at least 3 of the other 4 voting bodies may run for membership in the Wing of the Designate, which is voted on by electors across Kesh. (How those electors are chosen varies. Some are chosen simply by holding land and territory. Others may be local mayors, appointed governors, or landed lords. In exceedingly rare cases, some voting districts allow for direct election of elector, who then goes on to vote for a chosen Designate.)
2. Goal: Divided They Fall (barring player change).
3. Corruption: 5
4. Aesthetic notes, Notable NPCs, Vehicle Designs, additional traits.
   1. THE PAST: Data/Information retrieval, historical information, mysteries of ages gone by, secular and non-commercial scholarship, understanding of foundational laws and myths. Can tell you where something was. 
      1. BOTH HUMANISM AND THE HUMANITIES. HOW DID I NOT SEE THIS ALREADY.
         1. This has always been Kesh’s vibe right? Even arguably at their best, the coalition builders and “Annihilation Class Objects” halters of the time from C/W through pre-TM, it’s like, annihilation for who?? Humans and those “close enough” to count (which is BROAD: Talonites, slime people, synthetics, etc.) 
         2. They’ve always had aesthetic ties to the “age of reason” / enlightenment (in architecture, fashion, and even names like Dawn and Gloaming). 
         3. If the Branched are Posthumanism at its indifferent, frightening, and liberating, Kesh is humanism in its most appealing, comfortable, and insidious.  
         4. Courtly, urbane, and largely incapable of exerting its force. All theory, no praxis. Deeply traditional and obeisant culture. 
         5. Respectable Liberalism (with the occasional strand of elitist realpolitik. David Plotzian ‘That’s just the way these things are.’ Fans of getting things done “behind closed doors.”)
   2. Aesthetics:
      1. “Neo-mirage” style. Overbaroque. Too many curves, too much textile use. Lots of fake augmented reality--mist with laser light holograms projected into them. “This is how things used to be right?” 
      2. Statues of people everywhere. And, despite being a majority human stel, statues of peoples from around the galaxy. They don’t have eidolons like Stel Apostolos, but they do greatly admire “great leaders” and “great heroes” and “great thinkers.” 
   3. Mechs
      1. While Kesh of course fields front line fighters in AdArm and Zenith mechs, there is also a serious culture of mechs as familial heirlooms, like suits of armor passing down a line of knights. This means that over time mechs often change in character and form, but keep a sort of continuous throughline that you can trace back like lineage. So, as before: Retrofitted/updated old mech designs. Literally mechs we’ve seen in this show before. Rooks, Saints, Anglers, Hoplite, etc. 
      2. BUT ALSO: The mass produced mechs that are used must evoke some mythological past. Which, in this case, means MECHS THAT DUEL. In the same way that the COUNTER/Weight Rook began as knock off Graze from Iron-Blooded Orphans, the new Hallows and Hollows commissioned by Kesh are extremely IBO shit. 
         1. Kesh Mechs “feel” like people wearing beautiful armor plates. Look at this video of the MG Gundam Barbatos model, where you can really see the internal body components, pistons, etc.
         2. If Stel Nideo  feels like human bodies pushed to normative beauty extremes, to the point of seeming almost (creepily?) angelic, Stel Kesh sees much more simple--still very normative and thus potentially alienating--humanoid bodies adorned with armor
      3. NPCs
         1. See previous NPC update
         2. Cynosure Kesh, The Living Princept / The Peaceful Princept - (“The Anti-Princept”) (not actually on this moon)
         3. Worth noting that those born as heirs to the princept get elect names, as they will become the elects of the the greatest divine of them all: The Divine Principality itself. Cynosure Kesh is NOT named such, because he was not born as heir to the throne.
5. Squads
   1. House Chasmata (Tier V): The Chasmata family has governed Stel Kesh’s holdings for as long as Kesh has had holdings on Partizan. But in the last century, the family seems more interested in an archeological dig in the northern ice cap than in managing its estates… (Goal: To find the rest of it.)
   2. The Curtain (Tier IV): If The Curtain, a supposedly cryptocratic organization pulling the strings of Kesh, existed, it would certainly have holdings on Partizan, the largest world where all five Stels hold significant territory. And if it did exist on Partizan, it would absolutely have members secreted across the moon in every Stel, across class lines, and in senior leadership positions. Thankfully, The Curtain simply does not exist. (Goal: To manipulate Orion, Columnar, or Nideo into war with Apostolos.)
   3. The Cult of Order (Tier IV):  Order towers over the world in both physicality and presence. Though it rests, without Elect, its blessed Hallows enact its will and search for one worthy to pilot it. (Goal: To defend the status quo and find Order an Elect.)
   4. House Whitestar (Tier III): A generation ago, House Whitestar was a footnote: A noble house in name alone, with an ancient (and novel) connection to Apostolos. But then a scion of their house was elected as Princept. Now, they have a little weight to throw around and a chip on their shoulder. (Goal: To prove their merit to the galaxy.)
   5. House Brightline (Tier III): House Brightline openly waves the flag of reform, pushing the  Principality to withdraw from war and improve conditions for its citizens. Whispers say that they were once tied to the radical, anti-Principality terrorist organization “Horizon,” but proof is circumstantial at best. (Goal: To build a Horizon stronghold on Partizan.)
   6. Silversky Recovery & Restoration (Tier II): Salvagers are a dime a dozen, but with chief engineer Sombre Sky in the pit, no one on Partizan is better at putting a machine back together. (Goal: To work on a Divine.)
   7. The Dreamers (Tier I): Thousands of years ago, they slipped into cryostasis en route to a warzone. Knocked offroute in both time and space, their sleep detachment has finally ended, and after finding their footing, they’ve found lives as Hallow pilots for Kesh, blessed (appropriately) by the Divine Past. (Goal: To build a place like home.)
   8. Verglaz University Archeology Department (Procurement and Defense) (Tier I): V.U. is the most esteemed academic institution on Partizan. That doesn’t mean that their archaeological digs go unattacked… nor that everyone is happy to have the school dig in their backyard. (Goal: To make (or take) a big discovery.)
6. Region
   1. The Verglaz Taiga 
      1. Description: Wrapped around the northern latitudes of Partizan, the Verglaz is a beauty to take in, at least from the comfort of the palatial Kesh estates which dot its wooded expanses. From the smaller villages and towns, where feudal tenants huddle for warmth in the snow, whatever aesthetic pleasure the taiga may offer the rich is lost. In the south west, though, a new source of warmth has made its presence known: The burning engine of the Apostolosian war machine, which melts the ice away with artillery barrage and crashed mech, both.
      2. Scene: Birds lift off from a coniferous branch, sending new snow down to cover old. The sound of horse hooves rhythmically galloping across dirt, as some baroness or duke drives their hunting dog forward. A distant gunpowder explosion, and the deep breath that follows: An invading enemy? Or just another noble on excursion?
      3. 2-3 Notable NPCs
         1. Calendar Longyear (Melancholy, Flexible, Curious): A young ship captain who has inherited their grandmother’s vessel, the final asset of their house’s once affluent estate. Eager to make something of themself, they just don’t know what.
         2. Gucci Garantine (Idealistic, Clever, Rich): By light of day, Gucci Garantine manages House Brightline’s diplomatic engagements. But from the shadows, she operates all of resistant group Horizon’s activities on Partizan.
         3. Sombre Sky (Brilliant, Ambitious, Practical): Chief engineer at Silversky Recovery and Restoration, they stay out of politics except for when politicians bring her new gear to play with.
      4. 2-4 Landmarks
         1. Cruciat: The Jewel of Kesh’s holdings on Partizan (and the home of the Stel’s Winter Palace) sits on a cross shaped island in the northernmost reaches of the Prophet’s Sea
         2. The Estatelands: The southeastern taiga, where the climate is most temperate and the tall trees stand closely together, is home to the dozens of noble families who rule Kesh’s lands on Partizan. Miles of canopy suddenly broken by vast, cleared and pruned acreage.
         3. The Chasmata Quarry: The most powerful of Kesh’s families on the world have many holdings, but none as mysterious (or important to them) as their quarry deep in Verglaz’s most northern polar region.
         4. Westhaven: Kesh’s military might is most centered in this province, which stretches across its westmost ports and up against its border with chief rival, Apostolos. “Westhaven stands so that we may serve dinner in the palace.”
      5. Ratings:
         1. Wealth: 3
         2. Might: 2
         3. Crime: 1
         4. Tech: 1
      6. Special Rule: The Vergalz’s cold is a gift and a curse. Give your vehicle the temporary quirk “Runs cold” whenever you’re deployed in the Taiga.
   2. Cruciat
      1. Description: The jewel of Kesh’s holdings on Partizan (and the home of the Stel’s Winter Palace) is this city on a cross shaped island in the northernmost reaches of the Prophet’s Sea.
         
         Its cruciform shape made the city easily divisible into districts. The long southern arm is given to government, first to miles of civil bureaucracy and then to noble homes along the waterside, and finally to the famous, icelike Winter Palace. To the east, and across some of the nearby islands that dot the coast, the large proletariat cram into homes. On the west, Kesh’s military marches in formation and launches naval vessels to probe at Apostolos’ borders. The north is industrial, situated so that it can more quickly intake both incoming supplies and outgoing shipments directly from the continent. Finally, the center is a bustling downtown, filled with music, food, shopping, and pleasure of all kinds.
         
         
      2. Scene: It’s never quite night time in Cruciat, partly because of its place north on the moon, and partly because the gas lamps saturate the northern fog with white-blue light. It’s a color matched by the stonework buildings, whose light grey facades grow darker as you move north, towards the factories. Horses carry nobles whose homes are worth a thousand thousand times the laborers they pass. And the smell of warm stew is in the air.
      3. 2-3 Notable NPCs
         1. Alise Breka (Inquisitive, Creative, Connected): Guest lecturer at Verglaz University and Author of popular Renegade Hearts pulp series, which tells stories of daring and romantic Hallow pilots. Here to research her next book.
         2. Sloe Uplight (Discreet, Cool, Knowledgeable): His business card says “Private Historian,” his parlor rooms’ security system says “information broker,” and his grinning mouth says “no difference.”
         3. A.O Rooke (Boisterous, Young, Loyal): Audacious Opportunity Rooke was a young Orion merc caught in a daring (and foolhardy) raid against Stel Kesh. Refused to give up his employer, and is now paying the price one day of service at a time.
      4. Landmarks
         1. The Winter Palace: Owned and managed by House Kesh, but eternal “home” to the Princept, whether they choose to visit or not. Built for privacy and access, featuring both its own port and trainyard.
         2. Verglaz University: The largest and most prestigious school on Partizan (in fact, in the sector). Even in a culture as stratified and hostile as Kesh’s, the University promises that those who manage to attend it will be able to earn their way into prosperity.
         3. Museum Row: Before the war struck, an emerging tourism industry had come to Cruciat, and so Kesh invested in dozens of niche museums in the city’s commercial district.
      5. Ratings:
         1. Wealth: 4
         2. Might: 3
         3. Crime: 2
         4. Tech: 0
      6. Special Rule: Between Vergalz University, Museum Row, and a dozen competing information brokers, there’s nowhere on the planet as equipped for research into the past. Whenever gathering information about something historical (whether recent or ancient) take 1d.

A transcription is available for this episode here.

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