Re-introducing a character: help from political types and anyone else most welcome

[Alexi Hesith]

Well, hello there.

As I have said elsewhere a few minutes ago (though probably a few more by the time I finish writing this), I date from a long time ago and have been inactive for rather a long time.

When I was active here with this account it was in the guise of a moderate senator in the (old) New Republic. I had a great deal of fun playing that role, mostly because I got to collaborate with several gifted and generous writers in creating stories that pleased us and, I fervently hope, contributed to others' enjoyment of the roleplaying here.

Then we did the re-set to the immediately post-Battle of Endor setting. I was heavily involved with this using another character (Tiberius Anar) on the Imperial side. Anar, the swine, made the transition rather well and was getting along swimmingly until I lost the time to write a few years ago. Hesith, alas, was not so lucky. I never found a way to take him from the old setting to the new. I always hoped I would because I liked him quite a bit.

(We'll skip over the bit where I got distracted from writing by real life but kept coming back to read and go straight to where I am now.)

I rather hope I have now found an opportunity to re-introduce Hesith in the Galaxy as it is now and I would like, with the assistance of you here, to look at how this might be done.

Essentially, I am thinking of introducing a version of Hesith as the Senator from Lantillies (which I understand to be without a player character in that position) and would like to look at how this might be done before I plough ahead.

First of all, would someone be kind enough to tell me if this would be alright? I gather there are some concerns about (a) an excess of humans in the Alliance Senate and (b) concerns about an excess of senators from certain areas of the Galaxy.

Second, would some be able to tell me whether or not a moderate senator (i.e. not rabidly anti-Imperial) from a world in that region would be a realistic proposition?

[Kallachiturra]

I'm not sure where Lantilles is in the map (no wookieepedia entry!), but I think you can be moderate if you want to be. I, personally, am SUPER EXCITED to see Hesith come back. I used to play Senator Thareena and we had many political adventures! This character is the senator from Kashyyyk.

As far as getting started, someone else can correct me on this, but you can just plunge in. While we have established the Senate being formed and starting "off camera" there haven't been a great deal of RPs yet, so if you have an idea I say go for it.

[Captain Untouchable]

Lantillies (has a sneaky I in there, which is probably why you couldn't find it Holly!) is in P8, near Hapes, and relatively close to the Alliance border.

I think a moderate Senator really suits Lantillies. They're pretty close to the border, and someone with a less negative opinion of the Empire (and with that geography) would be an interesting voice towards things like trade. The Lantillian Spacers' Brotherhood (a trade guild for independent spacers) is also a pretty big deal, and we've tossed around the idea that maybe they're officially endorsed by the Senate, awarded a lot of contracts by the Ministry of Supply, and all that sort of stuff.

Something else in the pipeline that potentially relates to Lantillies: the Fans version of the Majestic-class is going to be a Hapan design, and their first ship that's designed to operate out in the big bad galaxy. Since it's intended to operate outside the Cluster, the idea was for it to be built outside the Cluster too, and the Lantillian ShipWrights seemed like a pretty interesting option for that: they used to be a subsidiary of TaggeCo, but because of the border they now aren't. Perhaps they're now state-owned, and/or owned by the Brotherhood?

I play the Minister of Supply and a couple of figures in the Hapan Navy, so if those are angles you're interested in sinking your teeth into, I'd be more than happy to be involved.

Either way, Lantillies is potentially a really interesting political character, especially with a moderate sort of attitude. As for those concerns: a human from Lantillies might not add race diversity, but it is a pretty interesting bit of political diversity, so I think that works in our favour; and the only other Senators in that entire patch of galaxy are from Hapes, Onderon, Umbara, or Kashyyyk. All in all, seems like a pretty cracking character concept to me!

Oh, and welcome back!

[Alexi Hesith]

Well this is most encouraging.

I, too, got tripped up by the spelling of the planet's name.

Three times. The shame. The shame.

Anyhoo...

I shall do some reading around the subject and see if I can work-up a little something to give an idea of how I might work this. I shall want to get views on this to ensure it fits with what has already been worked out/might be looming.

In the meantime, I would welcome any further comments or suggestions.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Great to see you back ^_^

[Alexi Hesith]

Thanks for the welcomes.

I am so happy not to have been driven out of town by an angry wrench wielding mob that I shall do my happy dance.



Anyhoo...

I have done a bit of scribbling and I think that I have this revised version of Hesith understood well enough to start posting. This being the case I shall now properly claim (can one claim) the post of Senator from Lantillies in t'other thread.

Meantime, I have two quick questions.

1. Are we still in the first year of the Senate's operation?
2. Are all Senators elected and, if so, for what term of office?

[Taataani Meorrrei]

First year of the Senate, yep.

The selection of Senators is, I believe, determined by their planetary municipality/state/fiefdom whatever. Some represent a world, some represent several, (Jace has a more exhaustive explanation of this one I believe). While I believe most are installed by democratic process, others (ie, the Cizerack Senators and possibly the Hapan as well) are not, and are appointments by their respective heads of state.

As far as term of office, that's a good question and I'm not sure it's yet been tackled. Six years probably to stick with the US political lingua franca would be my first guess but I don't think we nailed that one down.

[Captain Untouchable]

Pretty much what Charley said. A planet can chose their representative however they want. For Sullust, the Senator is also the CEO of SoroSuub, because SoroSuub is the "majority shareholder" in the Sullustan government. For Bothawui, the Senator is chosen by the Bothan Diplomatic Corps, who are completely independent of the actual Bothan government. Hapes is represented by (among others) a princess-in-exile of sorts. Elrood is represented by a former Imperial Officer who secured the loyalty of a big chunk of the Sector Force, and agreed that he (and his forces) would remain loyal to Elrood in exchange for being appointed Senator.

I would imagine that the selection process, and term of office, varies pretty widely from planet to planet.

As far as who represents what...

Senators represent "groupings" of worlds. Sometimes those worlds are all within one star system. Sometimes they represent several star systems. Sometimes they represent an entire sector, or an area that overlaps and doesn't comply with the traditional sector borders. The groupings are based on which world is currently (or traditionally) responsible for aiding and protecting those worlds, so usually Senators represent worlds that have a decent amount of financial, cultural, or military significance. The idea is that the Senator is there to represent the interests of their "neighbourhood" on issues where geography is relevant: defense, trade, infrastructure, etc. There is also a rule that "no culturally cohesive region of space may be represented by more than two Senators", to stop any one cultural/political entity from having too much sway in the Senate. Currently, the only regions represented by two Senators are the Carshoulis Cluster, Hapes Cluster, Bothan Space, and Mon Calamari Space, all of whom have made sizeable strategic contributions to the Alliance. The rule may also "prevent" certain worlds from getting a Senator, of there are too many regions / too many trading partners, etc. There are also some oddballs, like the Celegians being represented in the Senate by a Senator from their colony on Tramanos, since Celegians on their homeworld are fairly isolationist and disinterested in the outside world.

If you don't have a Senator, then every single planet, moon, racial group, or other cultural/social group of sufficient size is entitled to a Representative. This could be a group like the Gungans on Naboo; it could be a race like the Veknoids of Moonus Mandel who don't have their own Senator because they're under Bothawui's protection; it might be an interstellar corporation, a religious order like the Jedi, or a group like the Lantillies Spacers' Brotherhood who "deserves to have their interests represented" in the Senate; or something else entirely. When Representatives vote, it's supposed to represent popular opinion, and so one would expect the larger and/or more populous regions to have a greater number of Representatives.

There are also Ambassadors. They don't have the opportunity to vote within the Senate, but they are permitted to speak in front of it. Ambassadors might represent worlds in neighbouring sectors; but they might represent worlds within Alliance Space who might get (positively or negatively) affected by the Senate's decisions, but aren't actively members of the Alliance... Trandosha, Ando, and Triton for example.

That's the gist of it, at least.