2026-03-15
Fixing Earendel
Currently Earendel notes are a real mess, and are in dire need of a rewrite. I guess I will take one note from Earendel and move it to "New Earendel", rewriting it in the process to be something I can be proud of. One problem I am having at the moment is that my keyboard has decided to randomly miss keystrokes, or repeat them. I'm not sure if it is a problem with the hardware or the software (Pop-OS)
I think that I'm going to start with Earendel/04-Countries-and-Polities/Helheim as it is central to the founding story. It currently reads as follows:
Helheim, the origin country of the humans of Earandel, was a fascist monarchy, ruled by the Kaiser.
Helheim was technology advanced, but had no concept of magic until Dr. Doctorname discovered “the great weave” that he thought he could harness for energy production. His experiments, partnering with the military, invented “The Gate”. The gate generates a rift in space and time to Earandel. “The Gate” allowed instantaneous transport between the two realms, but it consumed so much power that the entire city of Helheim would experience total blackout while the gate was opened.
Helheim was surrounded by several competing empires, and was frequently at war with one of them. Towards the end of the gate era, most of the surrounding nations united against Helheim and destroyed the kingdom. They split the territories between them, and destroyed the remnants of the imperial city. The DoctorName Gate was lost, as well as the Knowledge of how to rebuild it.
There was an expedition led by the crown prince to Earendel, to scout for supplies and potential colonization. They went through the gate four days after the start of the last war. The expedition was a failure, with 70 of the 77 members of the expedition being lost, as well as being delayed from returning to Helheim by over a year. Once they returned, they found the empire on the brink of collapse, and so evacuated the royal family and as many soldiers and civilians as possible to Earandel.
30,000 civilians
10,000 soldiers
It's not much, but it is a start. But for the purposes of my expansion tonight, I want to focus on the government structure. Helheim is based on the German Empire at the start of WW1. I want the makeup of this government to be based on that, but greatly simplified.
Source Information
From the 1914-1918 Encyclopedia:
The political system under the 1871 constitution of Imperial Germany can be described on one hand as a federation of formerly sovereign principalities and free city states, with the king of Prussia presiding over the federation and assuming the hereditary title as German emperor (Kaiser). On the other hand, it was a constitutional monarchy with strict separation of powers. The executive branch of government had a triangular shape, headed by the Kaiser. The civilian part of the executive was led by the imperial chancellor. The chancellor was not elected but instead appointed by the Kaiser and responsible only to him. The military part of the executive was led by the high command of the army’s General Staff and by the Imperial Admiralty; the chancellor had no authority over their strategic planning and decisions. Coordination between the civilian and military branch of government fell under the _Kaiser’_s responsibility.
The legislative branch of government consisted of two chambers, the Bundesrat, representing the states, and the Reichstag, representing the people. Without the consent of a majority in both chambers no law, including the budget, could be passed. The 397 members of the Reichstag were democratically elected – beginning in 1888 for a five-year term – by universal male suffrage. Although the Reichstag’s majority was indispensable in passing legislation, it neither elected the chancellor nor could it depose him by a vote of no confidence; it was a purely legislative body.1
From Wikipedia:
The Bundesrat (German for 'Federal Council') was the highest legislative body in the German Empire (1871–1918). Its members were appointed by the governments of Germany's constituent states to represent their interests in the German parliament. The popularly elected Reichstag was the lower house. The Constitution of the German Empire required that both the Bundesrat and the Reichstag approve laws before they came into force. The Bundesrat was responsible for the enactment of the laws, administrative regulations and the judicial resolution of disputes between constituent states. Its approval was required for declarations of war and, with certain limitations, the conclusion of state treaties.
The chairman of the Bundesrat was the chancellor, who was appointed by the emperor. Constitutionally, his only functions were to chair the Bundesrat's meetings and implement its resolutions. He had neither a seat nor a vote in the chamber and could not propose legislation. In practice, however, the chancellor was almost always the minister president of Prussia as well. As Prussian minister president, the chancellor could act as a member of the Bundesrat and introduce legislation.
The predecessor of the German Empire, the North German Confederation (1867–1870), had a Bundesrat that was carried over to the newly united Germany with little change. Emperor Wilhelm I (r. 1871–1888) wished to rename the Bundesrat to the "Reichsrat", but his chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, convinced him that the federal character of the Empire should continue to be emphasized. The name therefore remained "Bundesrat".[1]