Tsares Hive is a hive city on the world of Merov. The Tsares are elite families of the ownership class, the manufactory barons, toll-rail masters, and district lords whose ancestors fought over great swathes of hive structure. Tsareite law and tradition hold sway in the hives, despite the efforts of the Administratum. In parts of the world controlled by the Tsares, the very soul of the serf is owned by the structure they labor within: by writ of law these souls are of no more consequence than beams or doors. Baroness Demydova accepts sworn fealty from no soul, yet is a baroness by the size of her alchemical processors. The souls within grovel at her feet by her ownership of alchemy vaults that in turn own them; each aspect of their lives rests upon her whim. It is a crushing tradition of law that produces callous lords and gray, solidly faithful masses of little knowledge and less vision. Brotherhoods are grave matters under Tsareite law. Serfs are forbidden from making any oaths without instruction, and fraternal organizations are scrutinized by bailiffs and priests.
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