House Dvaered

The House Dvaered are one of the major factions in the Naev universe. It evolved from the simple working class of the Empire during the Second Growth and the Faction Wars and was granted the status of a Great House by the Emperor during the golden age of the Empire. Today, it is governed by the military and the armed forces dominate much of the everyday lives of the Dvaered citizens. Planets are governed by Warlords, former members of the Dvaered High Command, which makes all the most important decisions about the House. The Warlords regulate life on a local basis, while the High Command directs the Faction as a whole. The only way of rising up is usually to join the military and earn medals and commendations.

=The Facts=

History
House Dvaered came forth from a lower caste in the old Empire, a collection of miners, manual labourers, foot soldiers and outcasts. With the gradual decline in authority of the Empire, the working class became increasingly disgruntled with their social position. They banded together into what could be considered the biggest labour union in all of human history, and started demanding better treatment.

When the Empire was less than forthcoming, the labourers began to take more drastic measures. The labour union turned into a resistance movement that escalated into open rebellion on several worlds. History names this movement the Dvaered Revolts. The origin of that name is unclear, but it became common among the rebelling workers.

Cycles of civil unrest on the working planets and fruitless attempts on the part of the Empire to quell it eventually led the Emperor of that time to agree to the Dvaereds' demands. Their leaders were granted the right to establish a Great House, and direct control over a sizeable chunk of space, in reparation for the lives lost during the Dvaered Revolts.

Eager to claim their place among the other big players, the then-time Dvaered leadership decided that discipline was the only proper way to shape a society. And so House Dvaered evolved into a military regime, and the values of honor and strength were etched into the Dvaered soul.

Government
Today, House Dvaered is ruled by the Generals of the Dvaered military. The amount of Generals varies from time to time, but there are always enough to feed the fires of internal discord. Influence is usually determined by the amount of medals and commendations a General has collected in his career. This at least stands undisputed, for House Dvaered has extensive protocols for dispensing awards. In fact, it can be considered a constitution of sorts.

Warlords
When a General retires from High Command, he often takes with him a small contingent of the armed forces. These are soldiers and captains who have sworn allegiance to the man, not the banner, and they will continue to serve until the bitter end. The General, now known as a Warlord, will then use his little private army to secure rule over one or more Dvaered worlds, usually by usurping the position from another Warlord. This method of local government is commonly accepted to be legal, and no Dvaered citizen will be surprised when suddenly a new set of local laws will be passed to replace another.

Citizens
The Dvaered citizenry itself is barely worthy of the name. There is often more squalor than culture, and more often than not the Dvaered will seek employment in the military, despite the dangers that represents. Nevertheless, there certainly is a Dvaered elite. They often concentrate on the few truly hospitable worlds in Dvaered space, where they pursue their idea of luxury.

Warlords and Dvaered High Command
While every Dvaered controlled world is governed by a Warlord at any given time, it is Dvaered High Command that the Warlords ultimately answer to. Though Dvaered High Command is more military than government, it needs a steady stream of funds, manpower and materials to further its agenda. Each Warlord is required to pay a certain portion of his worlds' resources in tax. Failure to do so results in a swift and permanent removal by Dvaered High Command, after which the worlds previously held by that warlord become available to any other Warlords with the will to take them (which is to say, all of them).

=In-Game Database=

History
During the Golden Age of The Empire, there was an abundance of simple workers: miners, manual labourers and factory workers. Over the course of time, this lower class of society became increasingly discontent of their status and began demanding more rights and a better social position. Sheer unimaginable masses of workers from many planets formed an organization in order to give their demands a more structured backing. This, coupled with the slow but steady demise of the Empire's power gave them quite considerable authority.

The Empire, however, refused their requests for better housing and working conditions, so the labourers took the next step. What could at first be called a labour union turned into an activist group, and finally into a resistance organization. Many workers also stopped pursuing their goals in peaceful ways, resulting in what would later be called the Dvaered Revolts: A violent uprising of the working class on many of the Empire's industrial worlds. The exact origin of the name Dvaered is unknown, but it is speculated that it was the name of a hero during the rebellion. The only thing that is certain is that the name came up within the group and stuck.

This crippling strike to the Empire's manufacturing output led to a shortage of materials and finished products throughout the Empire. The military found itself increasingly ill equipped to deal with the uprising. Ultimately, the Emperor of that time, Varis, was forced to give into the Dvaered's demands. Their leaders were given the right to form the second Great House, after House Za'lek. The leaders also demanded control over most of the previously rebellious worlds as repayment for the many lives lost in the revolts. Once again, the Emperor was forced to give in.

Values
With these new rights, the Dvaered leadership immediately started thinking about how their new House should be structured and decided that the only proper way to govern a House consisting mainly of workers and lower ranking soldiers was discipline. Therefore, the Dvaered leaders became Dvaered High Command, and House Dvaered became a military government.

Dvaered citizens greatly honour the values associated with the military: strength, honour, valour, perseverance and obedience.

Territory
Today, the Dvaered control almost as many systems as the Empire does, owning most systems between Ogat and Pudas, as well as the two isolated systems of Tau Prime and Draygar. They share territorial borders with the Empire, House Sirius and the Frontier Alliance. Generally, the Dvaered respect these borders, but recently conflicts between the Dvaered and the Frontier over territory have arisen, prompting the emergence of the Frontier Liberation Front, with which the Dvaered military is in constant conflict.

Economy
Much like in its early history, House Dvaered still is a major producer of industrial goods, owning many worlds primarily used for the refinement of metals and alloys. However, trade in these commodities is not conducted by House Dvaered itself, but by individual companies. The House itself does very little trading, except on a military basis, the details of which are not open to the public.

Science & Technology
The Dvaered have a reputation for being backward and outdated in every way. Though this is well in the realm of prejudice, it is not wholly unfounded. While most military powers in the galaxy rely on constantly upgrading their hardware to cutting-edge technology, House Dvaered has opted to rely on proven concepts, making only improvements in performance and capacity.

The HDSF employs mainly ballistic-class weaponry. Because House Dvaered has by far the largest heavy industry output in the galaxy, they are in a unique position to mass-produce these low-tech weapons. Though this means that individually Dvaered ships are lacking in combat performance, the increased numbers the Dvaered can field at a fraction of the cost more than make up for this.

Political System
The Dvaered government is solely military in origin. Young men join the armed forces, either the House Dvaered Planetary Forces (HDPF) or the House Dvaered Space Forces (HDSF). There, they rise up through the ranks, by gaining medals and awards noted in an exhaustive catalogue called the "Dvaered Catalogue of Military Honours". When one has reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander, one is considered a member of the Senior Staff. Finally, when one has become a general of the army, one is a member of Dvaered High Command. The number of generals is not set and there is little protocol about the way decisions are made in the High Command, so the conflicting opinions of the generals often impede the making of decisions. It has been argued, however that decisions can still be made much faster than in most democratic systems.

When a general retires, he automatically gains the rank of Warlord. Since it is common for new soldiers to swear their oaths not to House Dvaered itself but to a general, each Warlord has his own private army. A general never ceases to be a warrior: after his retirement he will use his contingent of absolutely loyal soldiers to gain control over some Dvaered worlds. Inevitably, these will already be under the control of another Warlord. The common (and legal) practice then is for the newcomer to overthrow the current Warlord. Citizens have long since gotten used to this practice and it is not considered a domestic political incident.