Kingdom of Albion

The Kingdom of Albion is a society in the Aleph Cluster, currently in control of Albion, and responsible for the infrastructure in the Cluster. It is a constitutional monarchy with feudal origins and democratic practices established in PA 0 after the Aleph Cluster broke away from the Greater Cluster and established its independence from 'petty alien tyrants, all interested in their own lots'.

The Kingdom's colours are a shining shade of orange or copper with a dark blue trim. Its national animal is the Honey Badger, suggested in jest by Gavin the Younger shortly after Albion's independence in PA 0, but finding enough support from citizens and friends to be elected the animal of choice. It symbolises 'defiance incarnate'. The national plants of Albion are the Lotus and the Orange Lilly. They symbolise rebirth and passion, respectively. Finally, the Symbol of Ten, which symbolises the ten City States of Albion, encapsulated by Orbital Object Null.

The Kingdom operates as a constitutional monarchy, currently ruled by the monarch Charles Lysander II. The monarch oversees the lot of nine city states and sectors of Albion, the capital sector Regum, and Orbital Object Null through a series of democratically elected governors from each area. Each governor is responsible for their sector's wellbeing through the appointment of ministers and public servants; and allotting commonwealth funding from taxpayers to infrastructure projects throughout the sectors.

The average person born or living in Albion lives a life of confidence. Their pride in reclaiming Aleph from the Greater Cluster, and securing theirs and the Cluster's independence instils them with patriotism and respect for freedom. A sense of adventure and irreverent, witty humour is also common amongst people. It isn't uncommon for the average Albionite to break away from their day-to-day life and take up an 'adventurous' career as a freelance pilot or explorer. Local-level councils are willing to ensure citizens have the same starting opportunities and are safe from harm, but the outcomes and what citizens do with their affairs is in their hands.

Albion's political class and elite who have eyes on marrying into royalty often include businesspeople, entrepreneurs, career politicians, veteran adventurers, and generals. The games of politics these players take upon themselves seem like chaos to the rest of the universe, but within Albion it's defended as a tradition, with severe consequences for doing wrong for the kingdom and its citizens. The Kingdom prides itself on breaking away from a greater tyrant as a part of its independence; It would be for nothing if Albion was to repeat the wrongs of the past.

The people who live on Albion live in one of ten sectors. Each sector is named after their major city and given a colour for quick identification. Nine of the city states are scattered across three Albion's three continental landmasses: Wace, Nalbin, and Appolyn. The tenth city state and planetary capital is located in the ocean between Wace and Appolyn. They are listed as follows:

• Capital Sector - Regum - Where the rulership and staff of the Kingdom resides, and where the Governors of the nine sectors are summoned to meetings. This sector is considered to be where the military might of Albion is focussed, alongside governmental and monarchical power, with many living within Regum laying a claim to a noble title.
• Continent of Wace - Northeastern continent, with a chilly island chain stretching to the north pole, a grasslands host to the canyon cutting Wace in two, and a rainforest hugging the coast and facing Regum.
  • White Sector - Poyning - Located in a hollowed mountain amidst a rocky set of frozen islands, Poyning is a high-technology city, built to harness geothermal power under the icy sea to power a controlled habitat built throughout the mountain. Poyning is renowned for its scientific research and development thanks to generous governor funding, and is home to many renowned technical colleges.
  • Red Sector - Myrddin - On the banks of the wide Granger river, the city state of Myrddin flourishes in the dusty grasslands and petrified forests. The harsh lands outside the city is slowly being terraformed to create a canal which runs from the eastern side of Wace to the west, effectively splitting it in two. Life has been changing constantly here, but slowly Myrddin will become a better place to live.
  • Purple Sector - Vulgate - This cosmopolitan city is the closest City State to Regum, visible from the forested coast. Vulgate serves as the key to Wace, with a majority of the continent's trade coming through here. For this, Vulgate sells the innovations of Poyning abroad, and uses a portion of the profit for Myrddin's continued redevelopment.
• Continent of Nalbin - A curved continent to the south-west of the central ocean, host to an inland sea which is encapsulated by the continent. Kissed by beautiful sunny weather, a sandy desert, and scenic boreal plains, Nalbin is a land of opportunities.
  • Grey Sector - York - Situated in the hills of a chilly tundra, York is under the cover of a series of flexible domes, responsible for regulating the air quality, and protecting from the elements. Its primary industries are in refinery and manufacturing, with the heat of the various metallurgy processes recycled to keep the city warm. York is also home to large stretches of evergreen wilderness, with small villages of hardy people dotted throughout.
  • Gold Sector - Pendragon - Albion's primary tourism centre, Pendragon takes advantage of Nalbin's inland sea to create a controlled stretch of pristine beaches and seaside real estate. The primary attractions are the amusement parks, memorials to the great wars, entertainment production studios, and the holiday homes of famous actors. Pendragon's city limits stretch all the way down a peninsula leading into the ocean, while the coast sports to wet and sunny conditions all year around.
  • Orange Sector - Iwerddon - Rising from the ashes of an old city glassed during the old wars is the new Iwerddon. The old city along with the rest of the state was made an example of in the past, smote into a desert, and has been slowly recovering since Albion got its independence. The new Iwerddon has only been around since PA 43, and is the youngest of Albion's ten city-states. It is currently looking to rebuild, and secure food and water supplies through agriculture.
• Continent of Appolyn - Due south of Regum and broken into three distinct masses separated by ocean straits, Appolyn's territory stretches down to Albion's south pole. The subcontinent closest to the equator grows wild and green, and the last place between the two is shattered into hundreds of interconnected islands.
  • Green Sector - Caledonia - For generations, Caledonia has served as Albion's food bowl, host to deciduous forests and rolling country meadows. The city of Caledonia faces Regum and Albion as the main trading partner for fruits and vegetables. Much of Caledonia's outskirts are farmland and agricultural-oriented industries. Other attractions in Caledonia are the cozy retirement homes provided to veterans of Albion's battles, and the hustle and bustle of farmer's markets by the spaceports of Caledonia.
  • Blue Sector - Insulae - Scattered amongst hundreds of islands connected naturally and artificially, Insulae is an industrial powerhouse spread throughout its windswept islands. The oceanside city of Insulae follows a volcanic island chain, drawing power and heat from the volcano it overshadows. Less populated parts of Insulae are home to trees, and crumbling old ruins paying tribute to Weird Things, swallowed by the forest and forgotten.
  • Black Sector - Longuyon - A couple hundred miles off-centre from Albion's south pole is the mining site of Longuyon. Run by the mining businesses just as much as the governor runs the city, Longuyon extracts valuable ores from solid landmasses underneath the layers of ice. The location of the city on this otherwise frozen state grant it six months of sunlight, and six months of darkness throughout the year, in addition to phenomenal, recurring aurora patterns.

As a subject of The Ruler of Albion, citizens are held to the following laws:

• A law-abiding citizen of Albion is entitled to move freely between the city states of Albion, and space territories and stations. They are also entitled to, within those territories:
  • Be protected from external aggression from lawless elements or hostiles.
• A citizen of Albion living within a city-state must comply with the wishes and customs of the Governor and their parliament. The Governor's word and station is only overruled by the King.
  • As a Governor of Albion or a Parliamentarian for one of her city states, you are elected by your constituents to represent their interests and keep your sector healthy, happy, protected, and productive.
  • Elections for Governor occur every four years, with Parliamentarian elections happening both concurrently, and every two years.

The Kingdom of Albion mints, circulates, and manages the Aleph Currency (AC). It is a decimal currency used and widely accepted throughout the Aleph Cluster, and considered the standard for negotiating trade and services. For decimal currencies below zero, they are denoted in lowercase (ac) and often referred to as pence.

The physical currency of coins and notes may appear inflated to onlookers, but the banknotes were made for the needs of trade with alien species who could not accept wired transfers, and do not appear often in circulation.

Being host to the Orbital Object Null, and the key in and out of the Aleph Cluster, the Kingdom of Albion is no stranger to travellers from other places in the galaxy and beyond. Albion receives a large amount of traffic from independent peddlers, all the way up to freighter conglomerates. The Kingdom takes a small cut of the profits made from foreign imports and exports around Albion's orbit, in return for the privilege of staying in orbit, and keeping Null maintained. Some traders decry it as a gross invasion of commerce and refuse to trade, but often miss out on unique traffic.

The Kingdom of Albion shares positive relations with the Unity Protocol and Traveller, as Traveller's citizens and the UDD assisted Albion's path to independence from the Greater Cluster. The Units maintain dialogue with the Kingdom for diplomatic and security purposes, but otherwise mind their own business. There is some friendly ribbing between Albionites and United, calling the living on Traveller's moon-colonies softer than on Albion.

The powers of the Monarch themselves are limited in scope, as to Governors and Parliaments handle the day-to-day running of Albion, and are required to be more in touch with their constituents. The Monarch of Albion, and the royal family have the power to do the following:

• Bestow Knighthood
• Issue a pardon
• Issue a bounty
• Issue commendations

If a civic or city-state issue such as a coup, an invasion, a disaster, or other calamity cannot be resolved or contained by a governor, it can be elevated by a vote from the city-state parliament to allow the Monarch to intervene. In this instance, the Monarch can send assistance and/or fire from Regum or Orbital Object: Null, and impel other city-states to come to the Kingdom's aid. However, a debt is recorded against the city-state which invokes this.

To guard its towns and cities, individual city-states employ their own police forces to ensure the safety of the civilisation at the most local level. The reputation of the various police forces boil down to being shaped by their surroundings and the threats they most often face, but they generally project a helpful image first towards citizens. These police forces may coordinate with each other internationally to work on particularly heinous or far-reaching cases, such as roving bandits or criminals from outside of Aleph Cluster.

The Kingdom maintains a planetary force called the Royal Planetary Defence Force¹⁾, and a space navy called the Royal Aerospace Flotilla. In addition, Albion employs exceptional and highly skilled individuals referred to as Knights and Dames. With their fealty to Regum and the monarch's interests, these soldiers fight with a fervour. The roles of Knights and Dames are not always combat-oriented: the current head of Albion's R-AIR joined the organisation PA244 as an intelligence officer, and Knighted in PA252 for foiling a plot of treason against King Charles Lysander II by his step-brother, Anacredes.

For coordinating against political and internal threats like coups, treason, and direct threats to the Crown, the intelligence and spy network R-AIR²⁾ and their Special Operations Branch step in to watch the watchmen. The venerable spy network has had a reputation for bastardry and 'ungentlemanly conduct' towards Albion's traitors large and small, as well as subversive threats from the tyrants of the Greater Cluster.

In addition to this force, Albion is also in control of a strange superweapon, orbiting Albion, known as Orbital Object: Null. The possession of this massive object enables the Kingdom of Albion to maintain oversight and combat prowess within Albion's orbit, and throughout by launching ships through mass-driver to the reaches of the Aleph Cluster. The object possesses a strike range of 300 AU, enabling it to snipe hostile targets. Closer threats are monitored by a network of sub-defence satellites, and the ability to fire close ranged lasers itself. In general, its non-military capabilities, coupled with its immense civilian and Navy throughput make it a poor target, as it is always occupied.