Have been watching shows like Rurounin Kenshin recently when i suddenly realise that the "country" structure of Pokimono (Sun Empire) does not seem to be very "set in stone"). Eg. so we have several villages and stuffs but is there a capital city of some sorts? Maybe an Emperor somewhere too? Factions under him or something...?The land expansions are awesome though.
The Sun Empire actually does have a more set in stone social and political climate than it might seem initially! (It's not really written anywhere explicitly, so it's not exactly easy for you and others to figure out, whoops!) That more structured social and political climate IS, however, quite different from real-world historical Japan.
For starters, it's important to consider the current villages—Gale Spring, Scorched Mountain, and Noir Vale—as much larger than the word "village" might initially imply. It might be better to think of them more as regions, counties, provinces, or city-states (whichever is easiest to imagine). There's a central village for each one, but they're very large, and each has a few associated villages around or near it. Of course, there are also many smaller villages further outside of the reach of the "Main Villages," too, though those are usually smaller and more isolated villages (and we leave what they're like up to our villagers' imaginations!)
We do have a map, which can help with imagining the size of the whole thing: http://fav.me/d505wy1 In addition to that map, I've made some rudimentary corrections to some geography and the closeness of some villages in the past, too: http://sta.sh/026k0zwtc049
In essence, the three villages are independent units, but they come together often (in times of celebration or times of conflict) to defend one another as a unified country.
As for government, there is no Emperor. The Leaders of each village are, in fact, the rulers of the villages and of the country all together. Since many of them are very friendly and very accessible even to normal people, it may not seem like it, but they are the collective "shogun" or "emperor" type figures in Poki. They make the rules and laws, they establish whatever military or police forces are necessary, etc. In addition to that, the Priest-Leaders of Gale Spring are also the premier religious heads/figures of the entire country, and they're responsible for organizing all of the temples throughout the land.
But of course, the Leaders aren't alone! The Guardians are also political figures, but they're much more like Generals than "Emperors" (which is really a terrible word for it, but it serves its purpose). They keep the peace, are primarily responsible for keeping the villages and villagers safe, and also help out with smaller state or political matters. Each Guardian is responsible for overseeing the "fighter" class of their village, and each has a preference for what ways are best for keeping the village safe—Gale Spring prefers Souhei, the warrior-monks who train and meditate in the mountains, but who defend the innocent and faith, and all Souhei answer to Tserin and Koori; Scorched Mountain's guardians organize and use Samurai, who defend the peace and make arrests and fight against threats with their swords; and Noir Vale's guardians prefer to keep the peace using a sneaky, silent force of ninja, who keep tabs on absolutely everything and deal with problems before they can even happen.
In that way, villagers are protected by and answer to the Souhei/Samurai/Ninja (which is why we're very particular about those apps that come into the group), Souhei/Samurai/Ninja obey the Guardians, and the Guardians obey the Leaders.
And that last point brings us to social structure. Historical Japan (and indeed, almost every other historical and modern society today) had deeply ingrained senses of class and place. However, here in Pokimono/The Sun Empire, those ideas are much less pronounced. Regular workers and villagers might have to obey a samurai trying to clear a path to make an arrest, but that doesn't make the samurai better or higher than them. Women and men stand on completely equal footing (though of course, some characters will have their prejudices or alternate ideas, and some of the more secluded villages might have different views). Many Leaders and Guardians are very friendly and accessible to regular villagers, which helps to erase the class divide.
That's not to say that there's no nobility in Pokimono, and no classes to speak of at all. But we intentionally leave things like that vague to allow our members to have the most freedom possible when creating their character. We have many villagers who were nobles who ran away from their villages to pursue other dreams in the main villages, and we also have many villages who are nobles who come from the main villages and continue to live their in their manors and estates. These families are usually distinguished by their wealth and their bloodlines, rather than through any kind of rigid class system.
So this ended up being fairly long, but I hope it helps you when you consider the general political and social climate of the country! This is also simply my own (the mod llawll) idea of what Pokimono looks like, and I'm always happy to integrate the ideas of my fellow mods and their ideas! Generally, though, the reason we don't have this in a specific journal anywhere in the actual group is because 1) it rarely comes up as an issue and 2) by leaving it vague, we let our members have the most room to grow and explore! But these ARE the ideas that come into play whenever I play my leader character, or develop events and challenges for the group!
[I can also edit or remove this answer as needed <3]
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