Pendleton Fic: Background on the Free Republic of Pendleton

[Norseman]

State Name: Free Republic of Pendleton
Planet Name: Erde (but generally referred to as Pendleton by outsiders)

Population: 115 million
Free/Slave Ratio: Free 80 million; Slave 35 million
Demographics: 15% Pendleton Anglo-Saxon; 20% Avonlea Anglo-Saxon; 25% Noveau Aquitainian; 10% Helvetian; 30% Great Plains Spanish.

Technology: Roughly 1900s tech in most respects, but with some very peculiar exceptions in some areas including interstellar travel.

Magic: Magic is exceedingly powerful but generally kept somewhat discrete for certain cultural reasons, however in an actual war the magical arsenal of Pendleton would make it a frightful opponent.

Terrain:

Pendleton is a series of medium sized islands starting by the river mouth of the river Atanya in the Noveau Acquitaine area. The islands are generally relatively flat with some minor hills in the interior; The Pendleton island chain stretches from the mouth of the Atanya and all the way to the borders of Helvetia.

Noveau Aquitaine is a wealthy agricultural area through which the river Atanya runs. The area is dedicated to high intensity agriculture and the bulk of the terrain has been developed. The northern section of Noveau Aquitaine is however home to the Great Crater Lake, a perfectly round lake approximately 12 miles across, the edges of said lake show signs of having been molten and you can still find large areas where sand was fused to glass; Noveau Aquitaine borders Helvetia to the north and north-west, Pendleton to the east, and the Grand Plains to the south.

Helvetia is a mountainous and difficult region, marked by many lakes, rivers, and green valleys. The area is surprisingly fertile though, and home of many of the planets Ether mines. The river Atanya originates in Helvetia; Helvetia borders Noveau Aquitaine to the south and south-west, and in the south-east Pendleton.

The Grand Plains (East and West) are an enormous wide open expanse with some of the finest pasture lands in the world, they are however very very flat and very large; The Grand Plains border each other, Noveau Aquitaine to the north, and the Southern Islands to the south.

The Southern islands are several medium sized islands with a consistent warm climate and rich agricultural land; They stretch across the southern border of the Grand Plains bordering both of these lands.

Avonlea is a very large island to the east of the main continent, it is marked by large expanses of agricultural land and carefully managed forests; Avonlea has no borders with any other country.

Luna is a medium sized moon covered in ancient craters, it is the only major feature to Erde's orbital space.

Culture:
The culture of the Free Republic of Pendleton is not easily described there are similarities to various Earth cultures but in many cases these similarities are often just enough to land you in serious trouble. However here is an approximate description of how the society of the republic works.

First the Republic is a class based society, it is impossible for most people from more egalitarian worlds to understand just how class based it truly is. Although it is a Republic with widespread suffrage class divisions are stark, in addition there are other divisions based on gender and nationality but they pale compared to those of class.

There are basically three classes of society each with three subdivisions, making a total of nine which will now be described.

The Upper Classes

At the very top of the Upper Classes there is of course the President of the Republic, the High Worshipful Mistress, and the heads of the most powerful families. There are invariably less than twenty people counted among this august assembly, and they represent the true power of the Republic.

Second comes the Aristocracy and the Old Money, these are the multi-millionaires of Pendletonian society, the families and individuals that everyone seeks to emulate. To be accepted into this august assembly one needs to first be fantastically wealthy, and second not to have worked for a living for three generations or a century, whichever comes first.

Third comes the up and comers, the minor Planters, the Bankers, Industrialists, and Parvenu's that make up the New Men, and in some rare cases new women. Their hands are still grimy with the work necessary to amass enough money to make it work instead, their manners still a little gritty, or else they are too rustic to fit into the handsome salons. That said members of this class often intermarry with the Aristocrats and Old Money, a deal in which the New Men gain respectability and the Aristocrat gain more money.

What defines the Upper Classes is that instead of working for their money, their money works for them, in short one should not be seen doing any actual work at all. In general this means owning large estates; industry and trade is generally looked down upon as somewhat unfitting, land then is the measuring stick by which you are judged. Indeed it is only due to the Mercantile background of Pendleton proper that the richest industrialists and other upstarts can count themselves members of the upper class.

It may seem that this system is horribly inflexible, but in truth however it is quite possible, though difficult, to claw your way up. It's only that when you get to the top you need to make it look like you've always been there; in short the successful businessman needs to purchase a mansion and a large estate, preferably filled with antiques that one can imply are heirlooms.

The Middle Classes

At the top of the Middle Classes is a group that we can call the Professionals, they are master mages, doctors, lawyers, minor bankers, stockbrokers and clergymen. Some of the richest members of the middle-classes are almost indistinguishable from the poorer members of the upper classes, the main difference being that they have not yet acquired a landed estate and a mansion. These are the well educated well connected people, many of whom, especially clergymen, have relatives in the upper classes. It should be pointed out that they have mannerisms and affectations similar to the upper classes, many of these people will for instance not work for wages, but instead receive "gifts" or "stipends".

The middle tier can be described as the Business class, this is the engineers, businessmen, merchants, famous inventors and so forth. This is the first class that truly work hands on with their business and lack the etiquette shield of the Professionals. This is also the first group that has jobs occasionally, but rarely, done by well educated slaves, this does not engender in them any great abolitionist sentiment at most they might support restrictions on the number of slaves that may be educated.

Finally there are the Tradesmen, basically very similar to the middle-tier except poorer and in some cases more threatened by slave labour. In this class you find small shopkeepers, ship captains, farmers, journalists, inventors, clerks, and if they're self employed tailors, seamstresses, and so forth come here. In regards to slavery this group is just rich enough to afford slaves to help them, and even if they can't they vociferously object to any restrictions on slavery because to their mind they will eventually be able to afford one.

The Middle-Classes have to work for a living, unlike the upper classes, and that makes all the difference. The middle-classes want to be seen as being moral and religious some call them hypocritical but the virtues of courtesy, industriousness, honesty and morality have served them well.

Middle-class women are generally the stereotypical housewife, though of course some exceptions do exist especially towards the lower and higher area of the scheme. A Middle-Class family will generally own a handful of slaves that are house servants, or helps the head of the family in his business venture, or in some cases actually run the business venture.

Because there is no social safety network any middle-class family lives in fear of financial ruin, and indeed only friends and the Church offer support in this regard. Slaves represent one of the securities of middle-class life, a skilled well trained slave is often sort of an insurance against bad times if the breadwinner should be injured or unable to work a skilled slave can bring income to the family.

The Lower Class

The Lower Class or the Working Class are those who toil for others, poor, irrelevant, and generally exploited until they can work no more at which point they are thrown away. These are the lower classes, the slaves fearing the overseers whip, and the freemen fearing sickness, unemployment, and the competition of slaves.

The best off are the artisans, upper servants, and government employees, among this class are mechanics, butlers, valets, railway drivers, cabbies, bricklayers. In short this group are the skilled labourers, generally relatively well off and difficult enough to replace that they receive better treatment like an additional half day off a week. Many of this class are actually slaves, relatively well treated and allowed to keep a portion of what they earn when rented out to others.

Next come the Labourers, the vast undistinguished mass of unskilled and semi-skilled workers. The drawers of water and the hewers of wood, the miners, the field workers, the factory hands, the chimneysweeps and the ditch diggers, in short the ones that do all the labour that no one else wants to. They often drown their sorrows in rotgut liquor or opium, which for the free worker often brings him to the last and lowest class.

Finally there are the Destitute, criminals, the insane, slaves sold to the most demeaning tasks, their life is poor and miserable. Generally they make a living by odd jobs, scavenging, crime, and prostitution. Addiction to opium and alcoholism is near universal in many cities. Many reformers are actively encouraging the enslavement of anyone who has fallen to such a level.

The Culture of the Classes:
A gentleman or gentlewoman is first one that does not need to work for a living, and secondly someone who is genteel, that is someone to whom proper etiquette and proper manners is second nature. Understanding the code of honour and the etiquette that comes with it may be easier for someone familiar with medieval knights and the mercantile Republics of Italy, than for someone expecting a more modern society. The full etiquette is too ornate to be brought up right now, and varies slightly from place to place, though allowances are made for foreigners unfamiliar with local etiquette.

The Pendletonian Gentleman believes in a righteous and divinely ordained social order, the virtues of womanhood, and the code of the gentleman. Courtesy and hospitality are vital, even the lower classes are entitled to basic courtesy provided of course that they behave with suitable respect. A gentleman does not abuse his inferiors, indeed how he treats those under him is, by many, considered more important than how he addresses his peers. This code of Noblesse Oblige does, however, only apply to those social inferiors who know their place, and the gentleman may spend considerable resources keeping them in their place, convinced that he is thus propagating a good and moral social system.

A member of the upper classes knows, fully, in his heart that he is better than those beneath him, this means that he goes through life with utter and complete self-confidence and that again means that he often accomplishes things that by all means he should not be able to. It's important however to understand that the lower classes fully share this point of view, the lower classes are, perhaps subconsciously, genuinely convinced of their own inferiority of mind and body. It is very important to understand that this is not an act, this is not a charade or an illusion these beliefs are genuinely and firmly held by ALL levels of society.

It must also be clear that there is no unique Middle-Class morality, the Middle-Classes have a form of morality and a code of honour if you would that is a slightly twisted copy of that of the upper-classes. In short though there is a large middle-class that is quite hard working the fact that Pendleton is a mercantile republic means that the middle-classes imitate the Pendletonian upper classes, rather than inventing their own morals. Thus since the middle-classes aspire to join the upper classes their lifestyles are slightly kitchy imitations of their superiors, for better or for worse.

Duelling is of course practised by both the upper and lower classes, but normally one only duels those of ones own class, insults from members of the lower classes call for a flogging not a duel. Duels follow the British format with the challenged party picking the weapon, and are generally only to the first blood. Note however that since murder is the killing of a man without his consent, killing a man in a duel is not murder since there is mutual consent.

The lower classes of course imitate their betters when they can, in the country side and among the more well to do this leads to a form of middle-class morality, combined with a love for brightly coloured clothing. In the poorer areas this leads to squalid promiscuity, and common law marriages more common than the real thing. In the main they have a certain sense of raw patriotism, a deep rooted conservativism, and for the free folk there is always the deep satisfaction from being superior to the slaves, a satisfaction they would not be without for all the world.

For all classes there are certain forms of indulgence held in common namely drinking, gambling, licentious indulgence (for lack of a better term), theatre and sports, in short the only thing that differs is what they drink, what the stakes are, where they do it, where they watch it, and whether or not they are watching impromptu football games in the gutter or seeing the regatta and Pendleton Quay. That said the upper classes also have a certain love for art and beauty, often preferring a slightly understated style, the middle-classes in imitating this have a tendency to exaggerate in a fashion that brings great amusement to their superiors. Indeed being able to recognise good art is one of the litmus tests of the upper class.

It is now that we get to opium and the obvious question: If Opium ruins so many lives, why is it not prohibited? A Pendletonian might be unable to even understand the question, to him the idea that free people need to be protected from their own desires would be absurd. Furthermore it is shameful to be addicted to drugs if you let that rule your life, the same way that it is shameful to be addicted to gambling, drink, or fornication. There is a strong streak of self-reliance and independence in Pendletonian thinking, in short people are expected to make their choices and pay the cost, this also leads to the Pendletonian reluctance to accept charity. As a rule even very down on their luck Pendletonians would be very loathe to go to the many charities that can be found, church run or otherwise. All of this is intimately connected with their world view.

The Place of Woman:
A Womans Place in Pendleton depends very much on her social standing, however the ideal woman is gracious and polite to men and women alike, deferential to her superiors, courteous to her peers, polite yet firm to her inferiors. Naturally she is not seen in public without an escort, she does not smoke in public, nor does she drink excessively. She appreciates her husband and ensures that his household is in good order, basing her life to please him, and being chaste (in the literal sense of only having sexual relations with her husband). She is placed upon a pedestal and her needs should be provided for her, her clothes with their corsets and long dresses emphasise her womanly nature by giving her the desired hour glass figure.

That of course is the theory, the ideal, the truth varies with class, for instance for the upper class the above ideal is the face she is expected to present to the outside world. However when you consider that one of the unspoken, but never broken, rules for an upper class woman is that she must not have an affair before a viable heir has been produced, you realise that the upper class woman has an additional virtue: She is very discrete. Some people would call that hypocrisy, and in a way it is, there is a theme that goes through all of Pendletonian society namely that if you must sin be sure to be discrete at all times. Truth be told an upper class lady, provided she is discrete, is so insulated by her position that she has almost as much freedom as a man.

It's only in the middle-classes that you find the "ideal" Pendletonian woman, as middle-class women are generally too busy managing the household, and lack the resources to do anything too outrageous. Even here however discretion is the byword, not necessarily in illicit deeds, but in all affairs of life. However many, if not most, middle-class women are genuinely the slightly airheaded perfect housewives that one finds in romance novels, having been prepared for no other way of life.

It should be note though that since only women can host the elaborate dinners and balls so important to Pendletonian society, and since women handle much of the vital social affairs, women have far more power than might readily be apparent. Furthermore one should also remember that the husband will leave his "unintelligent" wife to run his household, an administrative job of great proportions, though of course he will not see it that way.

In the lower classes though there is not much room for this ideal woman, the lower class woman often have to work just as hard as the men, and struggle through life without much concern for her "feminine delicacy". This of course often means that many lower class women see their upper class sisters as screaming ninnies, whereas many reformers sigh and make sad sounds about the coarse and unwomanly nature of the females of the lower classes.

Prostitution:
Pendleton has a culture and technology very similar to what on Earth triggered "The Golden Age of Prostitution", the belief that men must be the guardians of the frail woman, and that women are inherently inferior and unintelligent leads inevitably to frustration for both sides. Prostitutes are charming, witty, seductive, all the things that a good woman isn't, and the man can relax and lean back in their presence, without having to worry about social norms.

This strange situation reaches its zenith in the slave courtesans, generally enslaved Avonleans preferably of gentle blood, who are well educated and intelligent and able to maintain an intelligent conversation on any subject you'd care to mention. They occupy a place similar to the Hetaerai in ancient Athens, or the Courtesans of Venice, able to satisfy a man in any way he'd care to mention. There is of course, in a society so obsessed with class as Pendleton, the added cachet of being able to command the obedience and services of someone who looks and speaks like an aristocrat.

Slavery:
Roughly 30% of the population of the Republic are slaves, 10% of the population are enslaved Avonleans and 20% are slaves from various other nations across the globe. However Avonleans are most empathically the same Anglo-Saxon stock as the Pendletonians themselves, a fact neither side can deny.

Slavery in the Republic exists in its classical form, that is the condition of the slaves spread an enormous gap from educated engineers and architects, even mages, to bricklayers and mechanics, to factory workers labouring 12-15 hours a day, and all the way down to the farm hands, and the worst place of all the slaves working the coal mines of the Helvetian mountains and beneath the Avonlean hills.

House servants are invariably slaves, few free persons would ever agree to be a servant, even though said house servants are often far better off than most free workers. The one exception is that freed slaves often continue working as servants for their master. Servants generally receive tips from guests, and are contemptuous of poor people and bad tippers, and important point to bear in mind. Many house servants are able to save up money using church charity banks, and thus work to purchase their freedom, but even this is rare.

It should be noted that house slaves constitute 10% of the total population of the Republic, and that the remaining slaves are overwhelmingly better off in physical terms than the average poor freeman. In short the average slave is a house servant or an artesan, even though there exists for the slaves many highly undesirable positions valuable property is rarely used to fill them. After all Free Labour is just that, Free.

It should however be noted that there are few mechanism for enslaving previously free people, since there are no more wars there is obviously no more chance of gaining more slaves that way; however some other methods do exist: a sentence of death can be commuted into slavery; a man or a woman might sell him or herself into slavery to raise funds or to improve his or her quality of life. Some social reformers call for enslaving the Destitute, but such calls are generally rejected.

There are some laws regulating emancipation, for instance upon freeing a slave you need to pay a tax equivalent to 5% the value of the slave. In addition there are laws prohibiting the manumission of certain slaves, those enslaved due to a death sentence for instance, or other slaves whose release would endanger the public good.

The most favoured slaves of all is of course Avonleans, especially the rare gentry or the even rarer former aristocrat, generally considered refined, elegant, the mark of a wealthy and exclusive household. Having an educated and refined Avonlean as your valet or butler is considered the mark of a true gentleman, and of course to a lesser extent that is true of the Avonlean ladies maid.

Part of the dark side of Pendletonian slavery is of course that the maids and females of the servants are often considered a benefit of the master of the house, provided of course that one is discrete about it. Naturally the converse is most empathically not true, after all the Pendletonian woman is a chaste and virtuous one, and of course no one sees this as hypocritical.

The Culture of the Regions:
Pendleton proper is the heartland of the Republic, and one of the richest areas of the planet and the architecture shows centuries of lavish expenditure by rich merchant princes. The people are money loving, freedom loving, and quietly convinced of their own superiority to everyone else. The stereo type is very similar to that of the Britons.

The Grand Plains is known for the Ranchero culture, the stereotypical Platan is a big booted loud and demanding fellow quick to grab for his gun, but he is also known for being expansive and generous, and the hospitality of the Platans is legendary. Think a Spanish speaking Texas and you are almost there.

Noveau Aquitaine is famous for its architecture, culture and cuisine. Aquitainians have often been accused of being either too passive or too aggressive, there's an old saying that an Aquitainian is either at your throat or at your feet. Noveau Aquitaine has a culture very similar to Pre-WWI France, that is while France was still militaristic.

Helvetia is a mountainous region cut with meadows, sparkling lakes and great rivers. The people are known to be rugged and freedom loving, insisting on voting on more or less anything, they are also very industrious and quite inventive too. In a word Switzerland.

Avonlea was once very similar to Pendleton, but with a stronger idealistic streak, they still dislike slavery. The war and the conquest however utterly changed Avonlean society, and the stereotypes that go with it. The women are supposedly slightly frigid and quite chaste, but fiery like a tiger once you got them in bed. The men are seen as stand-offish, rustic, old fashioned, understated, but quite polite. In general the Avonlean slave is seen as being obedient and fatalistic, and an excellent house servant, this is supported by the fact that Avonleans will agree to work as house servants for other Avonleans. This was Britain at its best.

History:
The world of Erde was settled before the God Wars in approximately 2544 A.E. or so extant sources would indicate, alas anything from those ages far gone is now lost. Indeed the only thing that remains of the original colony is a single vast crater lake which some say is haunted, that of course was a result of the God War. Even the name of the original colony is shrouded in darkness however from what's left of the sources the name Quedlimburgi appear more often than not, who or what Quedlim was is not known.

The colony apparently prospered due to relatively rich Ether deposits and a well educated hard working population, once more so it is thought. Then the God Wars came, it's not quite sure what happened except that there is now a gigantic, reputedly haunted, crater where the original colony lay, whatever it was it probably wasn't good.

Pendleton now entered into its dark age, where the colony was surrounded by one of the worst Ether storms imaginable, and the population collapsed into ignorance as they no longer had the numbers or infrastructure needed to maintain themselves. There were many long years of famine, death, and warfare, not much is known of this period.

By the year 431 N.E. there were already on Pendleton five major states, first there was the Free City of Pendleton, a rich mercantile republic situated on an easily defensible archipelago in front of the mouth of Atanya, one the greatest rivers on all of Erde.

Second there was Noveau Aquitaine, a rich state straddling the Atanya, reknown for its wealth of agriculture, its learning, and its large population.

To the north the Freehold of Helvetia, a set of free cantons living up in the mountains, an area surprisingly fertile and also a supplier of metals to the rest of the world.

To the south there was the Grand Plains Republic, though there were also large forests, a few hills and what not here it was agricultural but also very rich from owning such huge pasture grounds for cattle.

Finally over the seas there was the Kingdom of Avonlea, a kingdom with a constitutional monarchy and a strong bicameral parliament. Known for its lush forests, fertile lands, and isolationist tendencies, it was Pendletons only rival for ocean going trade.

In addition there were dozens of other states, and still many empty islands, some of them quite large, around the world. From such humble beginnings, as the least of the Great Powers, Pendleton would begin to grow in importance.

Over the centuries technology and magic continued to improve, magic especially in Avonlea and Helvetia, and technology in the other areas, but all nations generally kept up in both fields.

One of the discoveries however was cane sugar, and the other was cotton, both of which depended heavily upon slave labour to make it economical. Pendleton dominated both trades by having grabbed large islands in the right areas and used them to grow said resources. Avonlea found slavery distasteful and soon ended the practise in their own territories, leaving Pendleton dominant in the field.

Pendleton was however constantly checked by Avonlea, who remained a persistent thorn in their side, and many Pendletonians resented in particular the assumed moral superiority of the Avonleans.

However it was not before 846 N.E. that Pendleton, by now the richest state in the area would truly begin its ascendancy to true power. In 846 the War of the Grand Alliance broke loose, Helvetia and the Grand Plains republic waged a bloody war against Noveau Aquitaine it lasted till 858 N.E. a duration that onlookers found astounding, and all the involved parties were exhausted.

In 860 N.E. Noveau Aquitaine entered into a bloody civil war that was not ended before 864 N.E. when Pendleton intervened and began to gobble up the whole of the state by 880 N.E. the un-disputably largest and most powerful state on Erde was in existence.

In 890 N.E. acting on a rather flimsy pretext Pendleton invaded the Grand Plains Republic, overrunning the whole of the state in a shocking eight month campaign. Slavery was now extended all over Pendletons area, already rebels from Noveau Aquitaine had been enslaved, and hold outs in the Grand Plains went the same way.

Helvetia, Avonlea and the remaining free states now formed a compact in defence against Pendleton, condemning it for its slavery and its conquests. Pendleton meanwhile condemned Helvetia and Avonlea for being primitive worthless holdouts of an old world order, superstitious fools in other words.

By 924 N.E. Pendleton had done the impossible it had forged its conquests into a cohesive whole, the very similar cultures probably helped there, and of course the free population of each area would now benefit from the cheap labour of the slaves. Now they felt ready to wage war again, Avonlea would come to regret not having struck thirty years earlier.

The war on the Allies lasted for eight years, bloodier and longer than it ought to have been, officially Pendleton did not use magic viewing it as superstitious and foolish. Unofficially their counter-mages and enchanters were as good as anything the other side had, albeit in more limited numbers. The problem of course was that Helvetia could not hold forever, and despite Avonlea's best efforts Pendleton ruled the waves. Slowly the mainland fell only occasionally reinforced by courageous Avonlean blockade runners and constant raids on the Pendleton coast. After that it was just a matter of time, Helvetia had been the main supplier of Ether to Avonlea and now they were running out.

In 930 N.E. the invasion of Avonlea began, one of the great victories of the Pendletonians was teleporting an elite commando team into the Grand Hall of Mages in Avonlea, whereupon the slaughter began. This incident has always been held up whenever people argue that "magic is no match for a good revolver," though of course people with that attitude often get worked out when its pointed out that only magic made the scheme work.

In 932 N.E. with the death of the last King of Avonlea the war was over, and the Free Republic of Pendleton stood as the undisputed ruler of the world. In Helvetia they had only enslaved handfuls, and allowed them to purchase their freedom eventually. In Avonlea they were not so merciful, indeed many called for enslaving the entire population, and a few enslaved aristocrats fetched high prices.

However despite mass enslavements the fact was that there had always been heavy intermarriage between Pendleton and Avonlea, and as the anger and triumph over victory passed away many were shocked over the idea of enslaving their cousins and relatives. In additions, away from Pendleton proper, there were mutterings and deep grumbles over the idea of enslaving an entire civilized nation.

In 934 N.E. the Limited Captivity bill was passed limiting enslavement to those elements of Avonlean most responsible for the war. It also ensured that the vast majority of Avonleans would remain wards of the state rather than be auctioned off.

Then in 940 N.E. the Subsidized Emancipation Act was passed allowing for mass emancipation, and also the mass confiscation of Avonlean property to finance it. This essentially wrecked and ruined the Avonlean aristocracy, furthermore though many of them were liberated several of them, including some powerful mages, agreed to sell themselves back into captivity in return for their sales sums being used to emancipate as many of their former wards as possible.

The Republic now settled down to enjoy its victory, and to build a strong healthy society uniting the economies of the entire planet. Peace and prosperity and progress would reign now.

Then in 985 N.E. they learned that the Ether storms around their world was starting to fade, not enough to permit travel, but enough to make people worry. Experimental airships with Ether gas went up into space, and even more experimental ships tried to travel a bit, but it was not before 992 N.E. that a single battered foreign ship made it to Pendleton with some news of the outside world.

Realising that the world might be a dangerous place it was decided to build a fleet, and to rebuild the armies while they waited for the storms to finally abate fully.

[Junghalli]

Technology: Roughly 1900s tech in most respects, but with some very peculiar exceptions in some areas including interstellar travel.

What level 1900s? Early 1900s, 1950s, 1990s? I presume something closer to the end of the twentieth century than the beginning, because I have an extremely hard time imagining how a culture with a 1910 or so level of technology could build a starship.

[Norseman]

Technology: Roughly 1900s tech in most respects, but with some very peculiar exceptions in some areas including interstellar travel.

What level 1900s? Early 1900s, 1950s, 1990s? I presume something closer to the end of the twentieth century than the beginning, because I have an extremely hard time imagining how a culture with a 1910 or so level of technology could build a starship.

By 1900s I mean 1900-1909 level of tech, that is pre-WWI, and this is the background to my series of Pendleton based fics (which you might have noticed).

As for how? By the Miracles of Æther!

In short this world obeys the laws of physics from pulp fiction, not the boring conventional ones that you are familiar with; and by Gernsbackian Laws of Physics 1900s is plenty for Steam Starships!

[Junghalli]

By 1900s I mean 1900-1909 level of tech, that is pre-WWI, and this is the background to my series of Pendleton based fics (which you might have noticed).

Hmm. I suppose it could work if we presume the technology exists but is very rare and is only in the hands of the government. All it would take would be for a few starships to survive the God War, and as long as they're built to last and are don't need support facilities to refuel you've got your fleet.

[Norseman]

By 1900s I mean 1900-1909 level of tech, that is pre-WWI, and this is the background to my series of Pendleton based fics (which you might have noticed).

Hmm. I suppose it could work if we presume the technology exists but is very rare and is only in the hands of the government. All it would take would be for a few starships to survive the God War, and as long as they're built to last and are don't need support facilities to refuel you've got your fleet.

Seriously these ships move by way of Ætheric Steam Rockets flying through the Æther, while the Rumish ships use actual propellers to send them through the Æther (which is of course the unbreathable but near atmospheric medium through which light propagates).

In other words the world won't violate Newtonian laws of physics, but everything else pretty much goes out the window. I mean read the stories there's three of them so far, they just don't generally function according to Real World laws of physics.

Allan Whitcomb in Pendleton:
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=66753

Lady Katherine de la Poers adventures and misadventures
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=66755

Inspector Lebrija investigating the Mysterious Ambassador
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=67189

[Junghalli]

So the whole universe is sort of like a superdense nebula? That would definitely make space travel easier, as you don't have to drag your working fluid with you. And I take it relativity doesn't apply here.
The only problem I see is that as a planet orbits its star in such a universe there'd be a great deal of friction between the planet and the surrounding nebula, which would result in the world loosing its atmosphere and then the orbit degrading. A universe like this would very quickly end up with no planets, as they all spiralled into their stars. Since propellor driven craft can reach escape velocity gravity seems to follow a steeper curve here though, that would probably help prolong the spiralling-in process.

[Norseman]

So the whole universe is sort of like a superdense nebula? That would definitely make space travel easier, as you don't have to drag your working fluid with you. And I take it relativity doesn't apply here.
The only problem I see is that as a planet orbits its star in such a universe there'd be a great deal of friction between the planet and the surrounding nebula, which would result in the world loosing its atmosphere and then the orbit degrading. A universe like this would very quickly end up with no planets, as they all spiralled into their stars. Since propellor driven craft can reach escape velocity gravity seems to follow a steeper curve here though, that would probably help prolong the spiralling-in process.

Well they're not regular propellers they are etheric propellers, and it's basically the Lumineferous ether (as theorised in the 19th Century), but it's seriously an extremely weird medium but as such there is no vacuum there is rather the Deep Sky.

That said stop trying to make sense of it, you'll go crazy