---

Callum Rensler leaned back in chair, an old, black leather thing that couched him very nicely, and waited for the newest addition to his team to speak. It took a moment, but the young man eventually got the sense that it was his turn to talk.

“Well, there are constitutional issues implicated here,” the associate said. Obviously. He was young. Very young. They get younger every year, and I get older. “But the Chancellor’s Article IV War Powers take priority over, well, almost anything, right?” he asked. The question was tentative. “That is, if the Senate passes a statute empowering him to,” the associated added. It was the oldest of balances to strike in this sort of conversation, for the junior associate to present himself as intelligent, casually, while also subtly acknowledging that he knew almost nothing.

The Chancellor’s Article IV war powers take priority over almost everything, yes, an answer straight from a lecture given in whatever law school this associate graduated. But do the Article IV war powers allow the Galactic Senate to pass a statute empowering the Chancellor to exercise seizure of property derivatively protected by the Contemplanys Hermi and its corollary accords? Maybe. It would make sense, on its face, but the outcome would make the guarantee to Corellia of its ability to suspend its membership of the Republic worthless. The lawyers were going to have a field day with this one if it passed.

“What’s your name again?” Callum asked.

“Ben. Ben Croya.”

“Right, Ben,” Callum continued. “Did you intern with us before coming on?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s correct. I was here two summers ago. For the program,” Ben Croya said.

“So, you’re a first-year associate,” Callum said. “You’ve been here, what? Three months now?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Alright, you know the drill then. I want you to go through Horvatz’s Treatise on Galactic Constitutional Law and give me briefs on every case on the Chancellor’s Article IV war powers with respect to the Contemplanys Hermi. You know what, look for anything having to do with the Contemplanys Hermi and the Takings Clause too. And drop some footnotes on general commentary from the Treatise while you’re at it, alright?”

“Uh, sure. When do you want that by?”

“Immediately, Mr. Croya,” Callum said, pointing at a holofeed in the corner of the room. Even on mute, they could almost hear the chants as the camera feed panned over thousands of protesters on the streets of Coruscant, Corellia, and a dozen other words besides. “If you haven’t noticed, the situation is a little urgent.”

“Of course,” Mr. Croya said hurriedly. “And when you say dropping footnotes…”

“Just ask Narayana,” Callum preempted him, waving him off. Ben Croya, first-year associate, scuttled out of Callum’s office. These kids. Callum keyed a few buttons on his desk terminal and put a call through to Narayana to warn her of her upcoming visit. As it rang, her profile came up on his terminal screen. Narayana Navi, graduated from Anaxes School of Law with the second highest honors available, certificates of excellence in corporate and securities, government, and real estate law, and a fifth-year associate at Ku’lya, Kast & Vosadii LLP.

“Hi Cal,” the Mirialan said, voice cheerful and strained simultaneously. It was a busy day for all of them.

“Hey Raya, I sent down that first-year to you. Roya, I think his name was?”

“Ben Croya. He’s a good kid.”

“Sure. I have him briefing cases on Article IV and the Contemplanys, he has some questions on formatting for you, I think.”

“That’s not nice, Cal,” she said, scolding but almost laughing. Callum smirked, looking out over Coruscant through the sliver of window which passed for a luxurious amenity on this most densely crowded of worlds. Mr. Croya would find frustratingly little to present in his memo. He’d probably end up panicking a bit, Callum imagined, wondering if he were missing something hugely important that was sure to get himself fired not even three months into the job. Callum remembered being an associate.

“It’ll keep him busy. We’re paying these kids too much, Raya,” he said. “Where are we at on the backers for this thing?”

“I have a list of senators supporting the resolution ready, but I’m still compiling their financial donations over the last few months. I have a few of our guys in data analytics going over the statistics and, uh, they think they’ve found something interesting,” she said.

“Yeah?” Callum asked, perking up a little. ‘Interesting’ was good. Maybe. ‘Interesting’ could be bad, too. Very bad, if it was the wrong kind of interesting.

“We’re seeing some deviations from traditional voting patterns on this. A lot, actually. Senators going cross-message, flip-flopping. More than usual,” Raya said. “More than you’d get from lobbying under normal circumstances.”

“Well, these aren’t normal circumstances," Callum said, but thoughtfully. They were extraordinary circumstances, really, but the analytics these days had a real way of cutting through the muck and mire. It couldn't be ignored. "You don’t think people are being bought, do you?”

“No. I mean, maybe, but I don’t have anything definite for you,” she said. Callum nodded.

“Send me that list, Raya.”



So, this is an investigative mystery RP focused on corruption and politics in the heart of the Galactic Senate that will played out in-tandem with a developing plotline revolving around Corellia.

The main thrust of the RP is straightforward enough. Through the exercise of the Galactic Senate’s War Powers clause under Article IV of the Galactic Constitution, a weighty number of powerful senators have introduced a bill to the Senate floor authorizing the Chancellor to seize the Corellian Engineering Corporation’s shipyards in response to the developing Free Corellia crisis, which, it seems, is bordering on outright revolution.

The problem with this proposal is the Contemplanys Hermi, an obscure clause in the Galactic Constitution that allows the Corellian sector to suspend diplomatic relations with the Republic and temporarily declare itself a neutral, independent state separate and apart from the Galactic Republic. The resolution in question, Resolution 4-1138-95, raises constitutional issues on the grounds that the ability of the Galactic Senate to seize Corellian assets protected by the Contemplanys Hermi renders the sector’s ability to separate itself from the Republic entirely ineffective, reducing the Contemplanys to an unenforceable promise on paper.

While Corellia—and indeed, many of the more independently minded worlds in the Galactic Republic—are outraged at this turn of events, all legal precedent suggests that the War Powers afforded to the Galactic Senate take precedence over such constitutional concerns in the event of an emergency such as the one brewing on Corellia.

As irreconcilable differences are wont to do, the resolution threatens to make the Galactic Senate—and the Republic itself—a house divided.

While to the eyes of most this political drama is unfolding in the due course of politics, one lobbyist in a corner office of the politically-oriented law firm Ku’lya, Kast & Vosadii LLP senses that something is amiss, and endeavors to sift through a web of corruption, greed, and illicit profits to determine who, exactly, stands to gain from turning the Republic against itself.

If you’re interested in joining, drop a little interest-post below and feel free to either draft a full character for the RP, or participate through the drafting of a supplemental character you’ll use for this RP alone. A brief template for such supplemental characters will be provided in the near future. Obviously, supplemental characters can be drafted into fully fledged PCs whenever you like. Whatever works for you.

To make this idea work, I’d love to source some smugglers, spies, politicians, and the like for this story line. Hell, an investigative journalist would be an awesome addition. Dig up some dirt for the Coruscant Star Gazette or something. I imagine I might wind up playing most of the antagonists in this, but if you’re interested in playing a corrupt politician or businessman, an agent of the antagonists, or the like, let me know and we’ll coordinate something.

Once we have sufficient interest, we’ll kick this off with some story boarding sessions to get a sense of direction for the actual writing, and I have a suspicion the plot will take us from there.

You know I am interested, I'll be looking at putting together some sort of Law Enforcement type.

Much interest.

I was originally going to play this as Theron Shan, but he's been sent to Corellia itself, so I'll have to rustle up a different character.

Name: Akira “The Eye” Zexal

Occupation and Affiliation: Information Broker, works with/for Consular Rekka Jorga

Description: Akira is a Human with pale skin standing at 1.7 meters tall and wiry build. Their clothes have many pockets, each holding some sort of blade or gadget they uses for stealth. His stance is confident yet light, ready for anything. His dark black hair is kept well styled and out of his face. When not wearing their mask, a few wrinkles can be seen on a somewhat androgynous face. They use a voice changer at all times when dealing with clients and agents.

Background: Akira has been working behind the scenes gathering and collecting information about the Republic, using it to sell to those who would like to know these things. They were found at early in their career by Jedi Knight Rekka Jorga, who needed information on a city. They entered a working relationship, which has been quite beneficial for them. They rose in power, slipping under the moniker “The Eye”. Very few knew their actual identity, and they would like to keep it that way.

It has come to their attention recently that several informants have gone dark, their agents either killed silently or in one case, exploded. For the first time they are not getting the answers they seek, their clients are pulling out and something needs to be done.

**this is a preliminary guide subject to revision


Congratulations, you are a citizen of the Galactic Republic! You enjoy all of the protections of the law the Republic affords, as well as its privileges, which includes the rights to vote and to run for office.

Now let’s say you’ve had enough of being a bystander, watching from the sidelines as corrupt politicians haggle over bills that don’t serve your planet, and you think you can do better. You want to run for office! That’s great! First thing’s first, you need to pick a team. Political parties are political entities that exist in almost every government, galactic and planetary, across the galaxy. They tell a lot of people a lot of things about you. Many would-be constituents and potential voters will cast their votes for you just because they see you're on the same side they are, and many will vote against you just because they're on the other side. Further, they secure you he funding and support of the party and its members. Other politicians on your side of the aisle will rally to your cause, and the donations and appropriations will pay for media buy-ins, commercials, rallies, events, and more. Membership with one of the primary parties is the base of most politicians' careers.

Of course, if you were thinking that running as an independent because you don't want a political party to speak for you when you're perfectly capable of speaking for yourself, that's also perfectly feasible and I wish you all the luck in your world on that likely doomed venture. But if I have so eloquently convinced you of the value of political party membership, let's introduce you to the parties themselves.


The two primary political parties in the galaxy are the Core Faction and the Rim Faction. Contrary to their names, the scope of their representation is not necessarily limited to their namesakes. Over the centuries, the values of the Core and Rim have changed, broadened, and become universally applicable political platforms on any world in the Republic. While worlds outside the Core Regions of the galaxy may be more likely to lean Rim, and core worlds may be more likely to lean Core, every democratically elected congress on every world in the Republic has some variation on these two parties vying for power, both on the planetary and galactic governmental levels.

The Core Faction is the more conservative of the two primary parties and it is, as the name may suggest, the predominant political party in the Galactic Core. With a focus on strong central government, a belief in a staunchly unified republic, and a policy of promoting strong military spending and force projection, border security, industry, and corporate interests, the Core Faction is the faction of the rich, the powerful, and the believers in a secure galaxy and free market capitalism.

This is not to say that this party is solely for those who feel greed is good. The Core Faction is a strong proponent of universally available, standardized education based on the best and most effective teaching principles developed in the Core. The Core Faction works tirelessly on legislation promoting effective and accessible healthcare, fostering entrepreneurship and small business development, empowering law enforcement to charge and prosecute organized crime and slavery in every corner of the galaxy, and developing strong healthcare and social policies to tackle spice abuse.

Perhaps most importantly, the Core Faction and its membership are firm believers in a unilateral approach to foreign affairs that approaches the looming shadow of the Republic’s evil twin, the Sith Empire, as an equal in galactic politics, and intends to maintain the status quo between the two states through strong military policies and force projection. In a nutshell, the Core Faction pursues policies that create a strong, secure, and effective government for every planet in the Republic.

The Rim Faction is the more liberal of the two, with the biggest difference separating the Core from the Rim being the Rim Faction’s stance on individual, planetary, and sector rights. The Rim Faction agrees that the Galactic Republic is a single, unified federal republic, but they place specific emphasis on the word “federal.” The Rim Faction pursues and promotes legislation and policies that further the ability of individual planets to govern themselves. This commitment to self-governance covers education, law enforcement, healthcare, industry, election law, and even interplanetary commerce, among other subjects.

The Rim Faction further advocates for legislation supporting migrants, immigrants, and alien inclusion policies in both private and government employment and seeks to address inequity between species across the galaxy. The Rim is also a consistent advocate for lower federal taxation on worlds, especially those planets of the Outer Rim on which the burden of taxation often falls the hardest, higher taxation on corporate entities, liberalized labor laws, and for legislation promoting planetary development across those worlds outside the galactic core.

Finally, an important distinction between the Rim and the Core is the Rim’s bilateral approach to foreign policy. In this new era of the Cold War, the Rim Faction believes that the way forward lies through peaceful, diplomatic communication and cooperation with the Sith Empire and the other independent states of the galaxy, and favors policies that stabilize or reduce military spending in favor of humanitarian outreach and cross-borders communication initiatives.

That’s so much stuff, you might say, and you’d be right! Few politicians line up exactly with their party’s stances on every issue, but your membership of one party or another suggests to your peers, generally, where you stand. But that’s not the only way to communicate that. Caucuses are another great way to figure out where you and the politicians around you stand in the galaxy, with much more specificity and particularity than a broad, overarching party membership allows.


Good question! I look forward to telling you when I update this guide!



Committees and Subcommittees of the Galactic Senate
Agriculture & Nutrition
Biotechnology & Research
Commodities
Livestock
Foreign Agriculture
Nutrition & Oversight

Appropriations

Appropriations & Budget Reform

Armed Services
Planetary Forces
Military Intelligence
Military Oversight
Navy & Force Projection
Personnel
Strategic Readiness

Banking & Finance
Community Development
Institutions
Investor Protection & Capital Markets
Interplanetary Security & Monetary Policy
Species Inclusion

Budget

Census

Commerce
Communications & Technology
Consumer Protection & Commerce
Health

Economics

Energy, Environment & Natural Resources
Coreworlds Mineral Resources
Outworlds Mineral Resources
National Parks & Public Lands
Waters, Oceans, Wildlife

Entrepreneurship & Small Businesses
Contracts
Capital Access
Rim World Development

Ethics

Exploration
First Contact
Continuing Exploration
Wild Space Initiatives

Foreign Relations
Imperial Relations & Treaties
Migration & Immigration
Sovereign Interplanetary Relations
Foreign States

Health & Education

Homeworlds Security

House & Urban Affairs
Ecumenopoli

Intelligence

Judiciary
Antitrust & Commercial Law
Citizenship & Immigration
Liberties
Homeworlds Security

Labor & Pensions

Library

Oversight & Reform

Rules & Administration

Science & Technology
Energy Development
Hyperspace & Astronautics
Research & Development

Taxation
Entitlements

Transportation & Infrastructure
Astrogation
Aerospace & Planetary Transportation

Veteran’s Affairs

---

Welcome back! Or, just welcome, if you’re coming by the for the first time.

The previous iteration of this, some months back, revolved around a conspiracy against the Republic, but due to my absence due to real life complications and in light of the direction the Persistent World has taken since the inception of Chapter I of A House Divided, we’ve elected to bring back A House Divided and take the story in a new direction.

There’s a ton of room in this setting for a Game of Thrones-in-space-esque roleplay focused around the Senate and other setpieces at the heart of the Republic, and with the Mission: Harvest Moon RP poised to set in motion rippling effects across the setting of the Persistent World, now is a great time to bring back a Coruscant-centric roleplaying experience.

Now, the aftermath of Mission: Harvest Moon will not be the focus of this RP until that story has come closer to a conclusion and we have a clearer picture of the consequences of that storyline. While the outcome generally seems to be a foregone conclusion, having a more complete picture—in my opinion—will better inform and enrich our writing product when we address it.

For now, the focus will be on the Corellian Sector, where things are heating up in a big way.

The basic premise of this storyline is that, if you consider the map, the Northern and Southern halves of the Republic are linked by two hyperspace routes. The first of these is the joint Corellian Trade Spine and Corellian Run routes, which intersect at Corellia. The second is the Hydian Way. With Iseno and Denon grappling with an as-of-yet unexplored conflict, and the Corellian Sector dealing with the Free Corellia movement, the ability to travel safely and securely from one half of the Republic to the other has been left in doubt. With the Republic Fleet stretched thin, a coalition of southerly worlds led by Hosnian Prime have pledged to deploy system defense forces to the troubled Corellian Sector to secure the hyperspace routes linking the Republic together.

We open up this story three months after the events of Chapter I: Instrumentalities of Secession, in which this deployment is still a prospective event. In the present timeframe, 6 ATC, Month 4, Hosnian Prime has deployed its system defense force, the Hosnian Prime Navy, to secure the systems of Plympto and New Plympto, while the worlds of Loronar and Byblos have made a much less aggressive move to secure the Nubia System. These actions have inadvertently sparked a civil war among the Nosaurian population on the planet of New Plympto, and have—to put it lightly—not been well received by the worlds of the Corellian Sector.

Hopefully, this second chapter of A House Divided will provide you with an interesting and exciting setting to play out your characters’ stories, and I look forward to discussing our next steps.

As always, this RP is open to all, and I look forward to seeing new faces join the team as this tale unfolds. Feel free to join the story with existing characters, or submit a Limited-Use Character for the purposes of participating in this RP, which you can find in the Character Submissions tab.

Welcome to A House Divided II: A Little Wrong. I hope you enjoy the story!

Count me in for part 2! Planning to throw in Vyshtal team on behalf of Republic SIS tryna assist counterrevolutionaries and counterrevolutionary efforts, and Commander Voycnor on behalf of the Empire tryna help the Free Corellia movement to destabilize the region.