Hello everyone! I was looking for some general advice on how to go about naming two particular factions in an upcoming campaign I'll be running for my group. I have about a week or so before we start playing and I'm aware that names are less important than story points / plot, but I'd like to really have some flushed out lore about both groups prepared as well just to make the setting more immersive and engaging.
Anyway, to sum it up, the group the players will be starting out under is sort of similar to a combination of the Greek City States and classic feudalism. I was envisioning this as being a commonwealth of sorts, where each area within the commonwealth is considered its own separate hold (sort of like states in the U.S. or city states in Greece for real world comparisons), but rather than the will of the people being what rules the make-shift commonwealth, each hold is ruled by an Archduke who resides in a well fortified estate mostly focusing on military might.
Following the Archduke's estates, the north, east, south, and western quadrants would be ruled over by a Duke, with individual cities and towns in those quadrants controlled by a baron or baroness. The positions of office aren't hereditary, however, each position is lifelong once the person is elected. Everyone from Baron / Baroness on up the ladder gets a say in how the hold is run under the Archduke, with the Archduke more or less deciding how to bring about chosen policies. For matters affecting the entire commonwealth, Archdukes get the votes from their lessers, then hold a summit for each of the holds to take a vote on what they'll do.
So... The big road block here I'm running into is... What can I call this collection of holds that won't sound too outlandish or cheesy to my playerbase? The campaign takes place in a setting modeled after the Victorian age (in style, art, and architecture), with bits of pre-industrial era tech brought in (common place firearms / canons / metal working), but with a more middle ages sort of political structure.
All that said, I'm looking for something that accurately explains what the government system for this faction is, whilst still keeping the terminology sort of old world, you know? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
If it helps to have a compare and contrast sort of view, the opposing enemy faction against the players is going to be an Empire that's ruled by a secretive council where each member of the council is somehow close to and using the emperor's authority to try to establish themselves as an autocrat over a smaller subsection of the empire. However, they'll be competing with and constantly quarreling for power over a rising class of wealthy merchant oligarchs who have been supplying the war effort and gaining significant standing in the empire due to their contributions to the war effort. I haven't named that faction yet either, but I'm more focused on the player's faction for now!
Thanks ahead of time!
- D.M. Cook
