Eridanii Freepersons

Freepersons in House Eridanus are people of common blood who have sufficient wealth and power to have escaped from under the harsh boot of the Imperial feudal system. This included everyone who is not a noble but has legal protections that give them more rights than a feudally bound serf. These people are referred to as freepersons.
Each freeperson has certain rights that improves their lot in life compared to their serf siblings. These can include but are not limited to: right of travel, right to lease land, right of legal representation, and other privileges that allow them to be the architects of their own fate.

These rights are not inherent to them as a person, and cannot be inherited by blood, like noble rights. Each freeperson is still a commoner and only has the inherent human right that the Chain of Being grants them as non-nobles. Their rights as freepersons are granted to them by higher powers, such as nobles, corporations, or other legally recognised entities. For instance, a noble can bestow legal privileges onto a common-born. This requires a noble to take some measure of responsibility for the actions of their charge. Corporations are legal entities that can effectively do the same thing, by using their own legal powers to protect their employees from exploitation by their betters.

## Freepersons of House Eridanus

Freepersons in House Eridanus are comprised of two groups: Management in the Eridanus corporate structure, and senior servants of a noble household. The corporate freepersons used to be part of the management structure of the A.C.R.E. corporation, and now make up the largest part of the management branch of the Eridanii corporations. Their positions in the social hierarchy of the House were established recently, and largely follows the previous corporate hierarchy of the A.C.R.E. corporation. The senior servants of the household owe their positions to centuries of tradition, and hold a strong, well-defined place in the hierarchy.

In total there are four distinguishable social classes between the freepersons of House Eridanus:

1. Discounts
2. Executive Freepersons
3. Middle Management Freepersons
4. Senior Servants of the Household

### **Discounts**

**Discounts** hold the highest positions of any freepersons in Eridanii society and are often prominent members of the Actii Mercantil’s bureaucracy. The non-noble title of Discount is awarded to freepersons who marry into House Eridanus. Prior to 3200 very few non-nobles had the wealth and inclination to marry into the House, but the influx of obscenely wealthy Directors and CEOs in the A.C.R.E. corporation lead more Discounts. Many directors, those of which were not locked up by House Crux, were able to retain high positions in the A.C.R.E. mass-market economy while it integrated into the new Eridanii system.

#### Birth of a Discount

The title of Discount is a non-noble title awarded to persons who undergo The Ritual of Eternal Spring. This process does not confer nobility upon its subject but gives the limited right to marry a member of House Eridanus. Many of the old Directors of A.C.R.E. are descended from noble lineages. This nobility was stripped through the process of Exigo when they joined the corporation and are now legally at best bastards or disgraced cousins without the Discount title. A minor semblance of clout derived from these severed bloodlines and the immense wealth of the directorship allowed Directors to undergo the Ritual of Eternal Spring if they had direct sponsorship of a noble. With the title, Discounts are able to operate in the political spheres of the House but are ultimately the responsibility of the noble who sponsored them.

#### Rights and Obligations

Discounts are afforded limited legal rights, chiefly is the right to marry a noble and potentially have noble grandchildren. The noble rights to own land, duel, and legal standing are, by law, beyond Discounts, but they may have effective access to them through their adoptive family. In return for this access, the family may make use of the Discount’s skills, assets, and connections. A Discount may act in the name of their adoptive family when dealing with important nobility despite the social divide between the two.

#### Social Hierarchy

Discounts operate at the highest economic and political positions in House Eridanus for any non-noble. They are usually more wealthy than the average Eridanus noble, but have a lower social standing, due to their freeperson status. Nobles are acutely aware of a Discounts freeperson status, but have to treat them with begrudging respect as charges of their adoptive families. Powerful nobility never address Discounts as if they are equals. While they can afford to remind a Discount of their lower social standing, most average nobles are forced to treat Discounts with the respect that their power and influence is due.

Commoners often cannot tell the difference between a Discount and a noble. Many Discounts are mistakenly addressed as ‘my Lord’, or ‘my Lady’ by commoners lower in hierarchy. To those not familiar with nobility and social etiquette, there is little distinction between a Discount and a noble.
Adoptive families

In the current political situation of a post-A.C.R.E. merger Eridanus, a noble family may require relatives with strong connections to the corporate side of the House. Discounts offer access to a large amount of corporate control, which a family can leverage in internal House politics. However, adopting a Discount into the family always comes with risks. It is a clear sign that the family is willing to throw away noble traditions to marry a commoner, and this gives their political opponents ammunition against them. The family essentially exchanges social capital for economic control, which can end disastrously if done without proper consideration.

Most marriage contracts between a Discount and their family are seen as purely transactional. Some Discounts have married into powerful families to secure a strong place in the House and usually end up as majordomo to a powerful noble. Other Discounts form a contract with a financially struggling family so that the terms are more in their favour. This gives them more freedom to further their own goals, but their political reach is limited by their families destitute situation. In extreme cases, the Discount can end up as a shadow regent for their new family, using them as a front while holding all of the power. However, most Discounts fall somewhere on the spectrum between these to extremes. Discounts generally have an amicable business relationship with their adoptive families, choosing to work together with their in-laws to beat the competition.

### **Executive Freepersons**

The freepersons in the upper management of the Eridanii corporate structure are responsible for making the executive decisions for many High Companies. Executives make up most of the richest freepersons in Eridanii society, with only the nobility and Discounts above them.

#### Leadership and oversight

The High companies they operate are subsidiaries of larger Noble companies and are beholden to the wishes of their noble stakeholders. The highest executive positions in a High company are always filled by a Viscount or Discount. Viscount are generally less experienced in higher management functions and heavily rely on the expertise of their executive freepersons to handle the bulk of the decision making.

Upper management operates under oversight from the nobility, but, because House Eridanus has limited noble manpower to micromanage all of their subsidiaries, the oversight is limited. Instead, the House uses rewards and promises to keep its richest subjects in line. The level of noble involvement varies per company, but most executive freepersons have a lot of freedom, as long as they can fill their quotas.

Noble companies deal with most of the internal politics and trade negotiations of the Actii Mercantil. Their High company subsidiaries are only indirectly involved in politics, resulting in very limited political power for executive freepersons. However, they have a great amount of local control over House operations and are very influential within a single Eridanus corporation.

#### Power and wealth

The high salaries and autonomy of executive freepersons make them powerful individuals in Eridanii society. They are as wealthy as the average noble but are severely lacking in social and political clout. Their actions are generally motivated by desires for personal enrichment. Executive freepersons have reached the highest place their birth allows them in Eridanii society, and since there is no higher place in the hierarchy for them to go without pursuing the Discount title, most are content with making as much money as possible, while preventing their noble lieges from interfering. Executives tend to value their freedom and wealth above all else.

There is always a push and pull between the overarching influence of the Eridanus nobility and Discounts, and the localised power of the executive freepersons. Rich freepersons have a lot of say in local affairs, and it requires plenty of bribes and promises from the nobility to keep their richer subjects loyal. This is why the salaries of the executive freepersons have not been reduced during the A.C.R.E. merger. On the contrary, many executive freepersons have had their salaries increased to secure their loyalties.

### **Middle management freepersons**

The middle management of the Eridanus corporate structure is responsible for overseeing the day to day operations of the corporations. They make up around five percent of the total population on Eridanii worlds and are the closest thing to a House Eridanus middle class.

#### Rights and salaries

Middle managers make large salaries compared to the working class serfs. This naturally allows them a great deal of freedom that poorer serfs don’t have. Most freepersons have been given the right to lease land, travel freely, and privately educate their children. These rights are a product of their position on the corporate ladder. The higher one's position, the more freedoms they are given. Getting demoted means losing your rights and privileges. Middle management freepersons have the freedoms, amenities, and opportunities that serfs can only dream of.

#### Cutthroat corporate culture

Middle managers are very competitive with each other, aggressively using cutthroat corporate politics to climb the hierarchy. This competitive corporate structure is born out of a desire for economic safety. Middle managers know that their jobs are highly sought after by the people below them on the ladder and that they themselves are very much replaceable.

Getting removed from your job means losing the luxuries and rights that come with that position. This fear of being pulled back down into the slums of the working class means that middle managers have to be constantly vigilant for others who want to take what they have. All of this makes the middle management structure a competitive and hostile place, although the potential rewards are great.

### **Servants of the household**

Servants of the household are commoners who directly serve a noble family. The senior servants are the freepersons who control and manage the private servants of a noble. They can serve functions such as butlers, master-servants, majordomos, and representatives. Senior servants earn a middle-class salary and have access to extra amenities, such as proper housing, education, and luxuries. Their privileges are tied to their position in the social hierarchy. However, these positions are based on centuries-old traditions and are far less competitive than the corporate ladder. Positions in a household are determined through seniority, social class, and nepotism.

#### The Household

A noble household consists of the many serfs that maintain a noble’s private holdings, such as manors, spaceships, and other personal facilities. Senior servants manage these serfs in the noble's name. Eridanus noble families have servants for almost every task. Most Eridanii are well versed in bureaucracy, and finances, but rely heavily on specialized servants to do the jobs they cannot themselves perform. Many Eridanii nobles are in charge of large operations that require thousands of serfs to manage, such as overseeing a bureaucratic department or company and prefer taking a managerial role and delegating to their serfs. The household is an important part of any noble’s resources, and the senior servants are vital to controlling a household.

#### Responsibilities

Senior servants serve as the representative of a noble to their serfs and other nobles. They are situated between nobles and serfs on the hierarchical ladder, and tradition gives them rights. Even highborn nobility treat senior servants with the respect that they are due, but traditions bind them as well. A senior servant is always expected to behave according to etiquette. Their position comes with many rights, responsibilities, and influence. A senior servant can act in a noble’s name, and make far-reaching decisions on behalf of their master. This makes them influential in House politics.

#### Old guard

The senior servants are the original freepersons of House Eridanus and were small in number, until the integration of the A.C.R.E. management during the merger. Because of their traditional upbringing, many senior servants regard their corporate counterparts as improper upstarts. The social standing of senior servants is generally higher than the corporates, but they are less wealthy. Being further removed from the nobility gives corporates more personal freedom in comparison to servants, whose power relies on the closeness to their masters.

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