[Dragaera] Vassals

[Jon Lincicum]

Howard Brazee wrote:
>
> On Oct 22, 2008, at 6:57 PM, Peter Granzeau wrote:
>
>> I would have assumed that the title belonged to the Empire, and the 
>> tax collectors would have been appointed by the Imperial crown and 
>> render taxes to it.  Now that Vlad is Count Szurke, he collects the 
>> taxes etc.  I assume he also collects and keeps the rents (rather 
>> than having it be forwarded to the crown, too).
>
>
> It depends on how taxes are collected.   Traditionally the central 
> government tells the smaller government how much money it wanted.  How 
> they got the money didn't matter.

We know from /Phoenix/ that Szurke County is within the Dutchy of 
Eastmanswatch, so presumably the Count of Szurke would collect from his 
Barons (if any), the Duke would collect from the Count, and the Empire 
would collect from the Duke. (Unless Eastmanswatch itself is but a part 
of a Principality, but this was apparently not true in Adron's time, and 
Principalities do not appear to work that way in Dragaera in any case. 
They seem to exist /instead/ of a Dutchy, rather than containing 
Dutchies within them.)

To the left, we have no idea if there is anyone currently acting as the 
Duke of Eastmanswatch, anyway. This title may also be held in trust by 
the Empire. Aliera may have a claim to it, but Adron's treason makes 
this a problematic issue at best. Add to that the post of Duke of 
Eastmanswatch was evidently not hereditary, even during Adron's time. 
Paarfi says it was appointed by the Emperor and the Duke charged with 
defense of the Eastern border from the villainous heathen Easterners.

All of this put together means that we're basically back to where we 
started with; there's no clear idea how the region was being managed 
before Vlad's appointment. I would consider it somewhat interesting, 
however, if Aliera turned out to be Duchess of Eastmanswatch, and 
therefore Vlad's Liege.

Majikjon