Settlements

Information of settlements

Space age science fiction
In the space age, mankind (and others) have found ways to reach into the stars. Seeing as interstellar travel is a reality in this setting, it becomes obvious that settlements have changed quite a bit in how they generally appear.

Earth-like worlds
On earth-like worlds, there are, generally speaking, two kinds of worlds.

Dwellings
Dwelling Worlds are entirely modern, and they are located, commonly at least, close to a hyperlane, meaning interstellar travel is easy for those that live there. It's difficult to set a rule of thumb about how dwellings operate, but typically they are entirely formed under a single government. In an interstellar age, the concept of multiple states on a single world becomes nearly absurd, and quite frankly, it's even rare that systems are owned by multiple governments.

Most dwellings consist of a single extremely populated planet with very modern technology being in the picture of everyone going about their daily life. That isn't to say that they are entirely cityscapes with enormously tall buildings. like Coruscant from Star Wars - It could be a small luxury world where everyone works white-collar jobs, supported by labor from a larger world, like Elysium from the movie of same title. It could be a combination of the two, or even all three.

The only truly defining feature about a dwelling is it's level of technology - that sort of does mean that a dwelling has to be self-sustaining if it lies away from the hyperlanes.

Along the Hyperlanes, there aren't that many hospitable earth-like worlds, but certainly more than that you can count them on two hands. These worlds are all Dwellings, and most of them are densely populated and very urbanized.

Colony worlds
Colony worlds are always found away from the hyperlanes, or perhaps along recently discovered hyperlanes - but such examples aren't going to remain colony worlds for long. Colonies are similar to the Wild West in many ways - Remote, expensive to ship to, constant flow of people trying to make it outside the predefined norms of society where they came from, generally suffering from a tendency towards lawlessness, fairly rural and often with a huge cap in available technology.

When you compare Victorian London to shit-creek USA of the same time period, you'll find gunslining horsemen wielding weapons very advanced time, while also living in wooden houses and having to use torches and lanterns for street lights. Contrary to Victorian London where the military culture had evolved to using motorized vehicle, the streets were lit by gaslights and houses were built to last, from bricks.

It's sort of the same contrast you see between Dwellings and Colonies. The colonies use a lot of outdated technology, because it is reliable and easy to maintain and manufacture. Without much training, a farmer can learn to fix up an old analogue tractor - but if he tries to fix an advanced hover car on his own, he is more likely to damage it further. Other pieces of technology are just considered necessary, and are manufactured all the same because humanity cannot imagine existing without them.

In the colony worlds, what is considered a basic commodity in a Dwelling, is often handled by means that seem absurd or bizarre. Many colonies use horse back riding (or other animals) for short distance transportation, and use vehicles that would appear horribly outdated by Dwelling standpoints, for rather crucial tasks.

It's not unheard of to have actual airplanes or ships in the less developed worlds, but that kind of technology is considered ancient in a Dwelling, where most people would probably use an orbital shuttle or a massive hover craft.

Colony worlds are this way, because they, like the wild west, are not simply just across the border. The logistics of getting spare parts, machinery and more to the colony worlds is extremely complicated and expensive. Building a space ship capable of hoarding enormous amounts of goods is an expense that few can pay for, and they certainly cannot afford to have such a valuable ship transporting things outside of the hyperlanes.

The colony worlds generally never see ships of classes higher than a Frigate, and even then, most trade and transport jobs are handled by small crews of free traders.

So you might ask yourself... Aren't colony worlds sort of like the real world? The answer is difficult to provide though. Some colony worlds are indeed very much like the real modern world, but only with limited access to advanced future tech. Others are much more primitive, resembling the real world, maybe only in the capital city, but everywhere else, it's basically a strange mixture of wild-west and strange, but simplistic future tech.

Inhospitable worlds
Inhospitable worlds are rarely populated with the notion that they are to be permanent places of residency, but in some cases, they end up as important trade hubs or are slowly converted into military outposts, because any logistical system will eventually come to depend on lasting factors.

The only way to populate an inhospitable world, is to create an artificial environment in which it's possible to live. This is done either by going underground, or by making dome structures on the surface. A mixture is the most common way. The dome structures are large domes that house an atmosphere - they are known as dome stations.

Life in a dome station is usually not at all bad. The domes are often large enough that it isn't that different from living in a very big city, with parks and green areas that some times even have an artificial simulated "sky", making it seem like the inhabitants are walking around in a small paradise.

Dome stations are often big enough to become self-sustaining colonies, but there is a strict population control in effect in any of these that have basically become permanent. They almost always start as mining, production or research facilities - then traders start profiting from the people there, and they become integral parts of the local trade routes. Soon, a business sector sprouts up, from the needs of the local workers and in a matter of short time, there is a small dome-housed nation where there once was a temporary colony. Dome stations usually develop a lot faster than other colonies, because there are massive economical powers at work behind them, and the dome colonist who stay behind often (unknowingly) through their taxes, are slowly paying off the expenses the original company had establishing the colony, turning dome colonies into a profitable venture.

Dome colonies also vary from normal colonies in that they are often very advanced as it is. Just because a world is inhospitable, doesn't mean it isn't full of resources. Dome colonies can often manufacture high tech equipment just the same as dwellings, though the living standard is more akin to colonies, but somewhere in between.

In space
Space Stations are commonly not big enough to house families. But to every rule, there are exceptions and frankly, a space station doesn't differ much from a dome station in most situations. Most (but not all) space stations, orbit a planet meaning that they, in all likelyhood, are near a star. This means there is sunlight, at least some of the time. If there are planets nearby, and if that is also the case, it's likely that the necessary components to create water are available.

The most popular way to create a space station is usually within a depleted mineral asteroid that has been drilled out for mining already. The the asteroid is filled with structures similar to those made in a dome colony. Life on such a space station can be very comfortable compared to the harsh rigors of life on a colony world or the fast paced existence in a dome colony, but this is somewhat of a rare phenomenon.

Space stations are smaller than dome colonies, and that makes them harder to supply with food and other resources, so when there is the choice to simply live somewhere cheaper, it's often taken.

Fantasy Setting
In the empire, Settlements are found in various categories:

Lone steading
A lone steading is a building that is located more than a day's travel on foot, from any nearby settlement - or a building that is located so far off the beaten path that the tax collector refuses to collect from the property - the latter is more common than the former. Lone Steadings are not afforded the protection of what ever security the nearby shire has to offer, but they do not pay any property taxes. It is fairly rare for a Lone Steading to be a fully blown farm - many choose to live in Lone Steadings with their family because they want to be on their own and be free, but Lone Steadings are frequently victims of banditry. People who live in Lone Steadings are allowed to own and carry what ever weapons and armor they desire and are even permitted to bring them into civilized regions. Those living in Lone Steadings are not required to sign up for military services and will often have a hard time obtaining access to such, without signing up for some sort of formal service period.

Farm land
Farm Land constitutes farms that are outside of a settlement (hamlet or village), but aren't considered Lone Steadings. There are usually at least a few farms scattered outside a settlement for various reasons - first of all - farm land that is further away from a settlement is cheaper than the farmland which is close. Secondly, the property taxes are much lower. Farmers inside settlements often live in regular sized houses with their most immediate family members, sharing barns and stables with other relatives in the settlement, but the farmers outside settlements, in the farm land, often live on much larger farms - typically compounds that consist of multiple buildings either joined or placed closely together. Farms are allowed to form a House-Hold Guard, which counts as part of the Shire Militia Reserve - this means they are allowed to join the Shire Militia, rather than the local settlement Militia. As reservists rather than militia - this means that members are more frequently called in for temporary service terms (usually of 6 months at a time), but they do not have any sanctioned and scheduled weekly militia training sessions.

Hamlet
Dotting the landscape of any shire, one will find many hamlets near locations with ample natural resources that one can make a living from - close to small mines, close to bogs with pete deposits, near small ponds, lakes and rivers, by quarries and lumber sites and generally anywhere where the local occupation is less likely to be farming.
 * A hamlet is, by official definition, any settlement within a shire that isn't regarded as the shire capital and also doesn't have a wall. There must be at least 3 households for a hamlet to be declared.
 * A hamlet has an Ealdorman who governs there
 * By lawful decree, hamlets are not required to form a militia, but they are permitted to join the County Militia Reserve. Hamlets are so small that they are practically regarded as farmland militarily speaking.
 * Hamlets usually pay considerably lower property taxes than those living in a village or larger settlements, but hamlets are still more expensive to live in than if one lives entirely outside of a settlement.
 * A hamlet can never feature a wall - if this happens, the hamlet becomes a Village by definition.
 * Hamlets are required to erect a building to serve as an inn - though no one has to operate the inn, the building must be finished no more than three years after the formation of the hamlet. The building exists so that the tax collector or lords of the land (and what ever have you) have a proper place to dine and sleep if they should happen to visit. The citizens of the hamlet are granted the necessary resources to erect the building, though they often have to extract it themselves, meaning they might have to work in a local quarry for months at a time to gather up the necessary stone and such - but as compensation, the forming hamlet is tax-free the first 3 years. The Shire has to send someone to oversee the construction and if the hamlet has less than 10 able-bodied men available, extra work-force has to be supplied by the shire.
 * Hamlets are required to construct a stone building with a flat stone-roof and a small one-room (and usually one-floor) tower/spire featuring a small alarm bell and the Ealdorman's office. The building must be raised so that the first floor is half a level up, and there must be a very deep basement that holds emergency food stores for citizens of the hamlet as well as militia supplies. This building is to serve as a bunk-house for stationed soldiers - the basement doubles as a temporary prison with a dedicated room for this purpose and the small raised room serves as a tower. The building being stone with a flat stone roof makes it fire-proof and useful for evacuations. This building is much more demanding to construct and construction often draws out - as such, the settlers are not required to pay taxes until it is finished. Who ever oversees the construction of this building is ordered to make it a second priority to the inn (which is used for the same purpose until construction of this building is finished).
 * Hamlets always feature a shrine to the gods somewhere, often a small shrine by the local graveyard, under a gazebo - featuring wooden or stone carved idols.

Villages
<p class="MsoNormal">The word "Village" is frequently used about any kind of settlement that is viewed as "small", and as such, the term is fairly misleading. In this regard and in this example, a village is a settlement with more than 10 house-holds that doesn't feature a wall.
 * <p class="MsoNormal">A village is defined as having more than 10 house-holds, but less than 25 - however, any settlement with more than 25 house-holds than isn't walled, is still called a Village.
 * <p class="MsoNormal">A Settlement can have a wall and be called a Village, if there are no more than 25 house holds. A settlement is also called a Village if it features a wall but less than 10 house holds (though still more than three).
 * <p class="MsoNormal">Villages must feature the same buildings as mentioned in the "hamlet" section - but a Village must in addition feature a Chapel, unless a larger religious structure is already present - such as an Abbey.
 * <p class="MsoNormal">Members of a village are required to submit to military service as militia members.
 * <p class="MsoNormal">It isn't unusual for a larger settlement to feature one or even several villages immediately outside of the city-walls - but in such a case, the village is considered a "borough".

Towns
<p class="MsoNormal">Most shire capitals are towns and most barony high-seats are also towns - towns are defined as being walled and having above 25 households, but less than 50. It's unusual to find a town without quite a few different craftsmen, and some sort of mayor employment source nearby, such as a mine, a lumber camp or a factory. <p class="MsoNormal">For a town to be considered as such, at least 25 households must exist within the walls - any number of households can exist outside the walls.

City
<p class="MsoNormal">Cities are defined as having more than 50 households within the walls, but less than 100. At this point, it's unusual not have the walls layered. Any number can reside outside the walls. Cities are often county capitals, and as such there is always a cathedral there. <p class="MsoNormal">It's unusual that Cities aren't the local trade-centers and centers of government. <p class="MsoNormal">Often there is a myriad of traders and craftsmen in cities, but it's still kept on a competitive and pragmatic level.

Metropolis
<p class="MsoNormal">A metropolis is defined as having more than 100 households within the walls, and any number outside. A duchy capital is often a metropolis, and quite frequently the local religious authority will own a small city-block or a whole neighborhood, dedicated entirely to religious services - where the local Arch-Bishop reigns from. <p class="MsoNormal">A metropolis is where one goes to find examples of fine architecture, art and luxury wares available.

Capital
<p class="MsoNormal">The capital is also the city in which the ruler of the country resides in almost all cases that is. It is usually the greatest of cities in a province, and even when that is not the case, it remains the center of all official business.A capital is usually a duchy capital, a county capital, located in the very close vicinity of a baron's keep and typically located in a barony that also has an earl, ruled by a mayor and also home to the regent.