Nah, the US once upon a time had a similar issue. That’s sort of like Nevada demanding a corridor through California to reach the Pacific, and a good reason why a national government should regulate interstate/province/department/governate commerce. When handled evenly and well, that nips these sorts of internecine quarrels in the bud.
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I thought they were already mixed like a blender. I mean, in the Rim, the helots have English names while the old Shayarin nobility have French ones.
Shayard’s major regions have been mentioned in game, but not systematically. They’re the Rim (far West), the Westriding (central West), the Southriding (southern plains and coast), the Coast (eastern Coast to Erezza), and the Reach (north, bordering Karagon).
The former two have an Anglo-Saxon inflected culture, the third and fourth a Franco-Norman one; and the Reach is an odd blend, the crucible of Angelic religion, more culturally Karagond than any other part of Shayard.
Within those regions, there are large districts. For example, in the Rim you’ve got the Outer Rim, Norther Rim, Rimhert and Rim Hethe, and probably a couple more I haven’t pinned down yet. 
Edit: in the Coast and Southriding, the peasantry also have French names. And many of the Westriding and Rim nobility consider themselves culturally different from the south/coast.
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Of course when they’re asking we’re likely to still be in the middle of fighting against the Thaumatarchy and have likely not set up a workable new system of interprovince commerce. Furthermore given their experiences with central government at the hand of the Hegemony one can’t really fault them for being cautious and believing the new central government is not going to handle things “evenly and well” as they’ve had only the experience of the thoroughly corrupt and oppressive Hegemony to inform their views.
That said I agree with you that the answer is most likely going to be “no” and the easiest and most natural division is to split the Hegemony’s huge provinces along the traditional ethno- regional lines. I just hope Shayard is naturally divisible into more than just its French and Anglo-Saxon -esque components and has its own Scottish, Welsh, Norman, Breton and Occitan analogues too. If it’s not then ,yes, I guess I have to make some more divisions of my own.
Besides the fact that interprovince commerce is going to be one of the most important powers of any new central government, there is also the fact that I would want the various provinces to be as interconnected and interdependent on one another as possible. It is therefore in my best interests to ensure that none of the new provinces is particularly viable as an independent nation-state on its own in order to discourage secessionism.
So while the French-esque parts may end up with the coastline and most of the shipyards, industry and the largest cities it is also imperative that they lack the resources, food, timber, etc to supply and feed all of those without depending on interprovince commerce.
Which practically guarantees any new regime of mine is going to split and divide that part, both among it’s neighbours and along some artificial lines, if need be, so as to render it entirely impotent.
Hm. I get the feeling that this will still be color at best. After all, weren’t the Westriding yeomen rising up in favor of a southern/coastal royal bloodline?
Don’t think I said that the Westriding yeomen were calling for a monarchic restoration (though do point it out to me if I have!). The Cabel rebels are different from the Laconniers – less southern, less absolutist, and much less noble-friendly after the way things ended last time.
Which reminds me:
What do you mean 45 isn’t young, you whippersnapper?
(I’ll fix this, thanks! 
)
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I also assume that these districts have a noble as its executive who is nominally loyal to the Hegemony via appointed advisors and military commander. Town noble reports to the district who reports to the region who reports to the Archon. Considering that I would try to preserve as much of the Hegemony that can be saved I would probably keep the existing division going for local governance but have the conte assembly regularly redistributed by population irrespective of district lines. I think I would try to respect the regional governments as much as possible unless there was a clear advantage to stability through redrawing borders. The Brecklands come to mind as needing to be incorporated with a wealthier district and region for local tax purposes for instance. In general I would not redraw a boundary so a individual territory could be more self sufficient.
To your specific question, no I would not give a landlocked region sea access because interstate commerce would be free from tolls and taxation not levied by the (whatever replaces it) Hegemony government and “inter-polity” commerce would be the preview of the “Federal” government.
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I’m of the mind that making independence difficult needs to be balanced with keeping the support of your most ardent followers. I’m thus less inclined to break everything up at once unless there is some major gain to be had, and the benefits considerably outweigh the blowback. I will however go after and make examples of the biggest threats, breaking up their holdings, and then continually rinse and repeat until there are no serious threats left.
Great point, and that is my problem with “burning it all down.” With nothing to anchor the rebellion you get total chaos and not in the philosophical sense but the “Rwandan” sense.
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I completely agree. My problem with the anti-religious, anti-nationalist path is that there is no anchor for your rebellion unless you find an ideology like communism to replace them, and we know how that is going to go in the long run… I see no solid real world evidence that either skepticism or cosmopolitanism have the ability to serve as realistic anchors for a rebellion, in fact the evidence that does exist leads me to believe that any attempts to base a rebellion on either would quickly become unglued once the immediate danger is past.
And while having one anchor is good, having two is even better as it makes your support as ruler broader and stronger, and keeps you from becoming too dependent or overly beholden to any one group.
Exactly. Look at the original plans for the state of Deseret. The Mormon state came the closest to detaching itself from the US, even moreso than the South that tried to succeed. If there were not some fortunate maneuvers accomplished in California to both stymie those that wanted full West Coast succession and those that wanted a greater Zion, there might very well be a separate nation in the Southwest.
Luckily, the Siera Nevada gold was enough to keep the federal government focused on supporting Stanford and the other Unionists.
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Answer in a bit. 
O.K.
Perhaps I am missing things; a lot or a little.
It seems to me that to answer this, you need to answer, first what type of government your revolutionary state will have and secondly the land resource management system you will be following.
To answer the first, @Havenstone seems to be setting up a dichotomy: Either a model based on the French Revolutionary model or one based on the Russian Revolutionary model (as corrupted by Stalin).
In a perfect world, @Havenstone would let me set up my government as a mix between the French Imperial bureaucracy of the First Empire (Napoleon I) and the Norman medieval localities as seen both in England after its invasion by William and in the Kingdom of Sicily after 1130.
Having the French Imperial system would allow me (as Empress) to enact land management policies that the US had with regards to canals, railroads, forests and other natural resources - policies that would lead to a specific outcome in the quoted scenario. The land in question “to provide a corridor to the sea” and connect the inner land-locked provinces to the sea would be federalized with specific “corporations” based on local (Rim, Westriding, Southriding and Coast) consortiums competing to build the most efficient system
Anything dealing with commerce between provinces and/or outside the Empire would fall under the federal government’s authority.
Now, due to the already existing local governing systems in place in @Havenstone 's world, the localities would best be ruled as the Normans ruled England, parts of Wales, Ireland, Sicily and Apulla. Basically to keep control, the Normans grafted their top leadership onto the local existing structure. In England, the result was an eventual emergence of a mixed culture and this is what my goal would be (if I could supervise for multiple generations). Norman + Anglo-Saxon = English.
I think my set-up would be a lot more stable and successful than anything yet outlined and the new Imperial power would be strengthened both internally and externally for future troubles.
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So in essence, not only are to going to keep the worst and most corrupt of the oppressors around you’re basically going to reward them handsomely too.
Then for your sake I hope that those figures are going to be a bit more like archbishop Tutu then the Iranian Ayatollahs and some Saudi clerics,religious fundamentalism has an ugliness all its own. Personal honesty and asceticism is no guarantee they are going to be fair and even handed figures to all but the most fanatical once they’re given power, after all.
Co-opting the faith from within would also be next to impossible for a magic loving, impious, gay helot to accomplish, as that would go against everything the church purportedly stands for. Particularly one who can’t even say “merciful angels” out loud without practically throwing up.
Whereas I cannot as it it virtually guaranteed that they’d “resolve” any disputes in way that is contrary to my character’s best interests every single time.
All of the Hegemony’s current provinces are simply too big, so they will all need to be split up. You’re right though that beyond Shayard we’d need to find advisers we can trust and who know where the fault lines in their own nations run.
Whereas the foremost reason I dislike them is because of their power and unity, which is something my mc dreads more than the Thaumatarchy itself, particularly as they stand against everything that he is and are the central pillar of the immutable caste system and the de-jure originators of the Hegemony’s unjust laws.
As you yourself pointed out the only way my mc and the Xthonic faith can co-exist is if it fractures, quite severely diluting its worldly power and influence. Meaning we need the rise of not one but at least two dozen would-be Martin Luthers, but after they’re done it would also mean the faith and particularly its multiple churches would become largely useless against would-be secessionists.
Which is my indeed my character’s main challenge. Besides you can always build a new nationalism given enough time. Like I said before my rebellion is mainly anti-nationalist because most of the narrative of Shayardene nationalism (monarchy, Xthonic faith) does not fit with my character’s vision, while the one part that he does like is absolutely nonviable due to the simple fact that times and economic conditions have changed.
The US itself has also built a broader nationalism that mostly papers over the fault lines of the individual states by today (well the South is still weird and loopy, even today…), but that’s a multi-generational effort that does not suddenly spring into being and not immediately useful to our budding rebellion.
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Brother, to misquote Admiral John Paul Jones “we have not begun to make unsavory compromises.”
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There’s also the matter that such a compromise is, by its very nature, going to be viable only for noble mc’s.
If a Helot shows any sign of weakness they’d just take it all, as the Xthonic theocracy claims is their birthright.
I don’t think the genie will be so easily returned to his jar as you. Letting nobles who “bend the knee” to the new state keep thier style, title, and a portion of thier land will go a long way toward making this a non-existential fight for them.
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You mean to say Bethune isn’t another Kryptast?
So, I finished a playthrough of Choice of Rebels after wanting to try it out for a while and I must say I’m quite impressed. You, @Havenstone, managed to create a very sphisticated story. In a lot of points my character’s heritage as an aristocrat felt like a actual, important part of the story, instead of just being a choice that’s never brought up again.
The sheer level of worldbuilding you put up with is also very good. I especially enjoyed the bits about the world’s philosophy and songs. It made it feel as if the places the characters inhabit are more fleshed out. The amount of freedom the MC has when making their choices is another good addition to the game. I imagine it must be a pain to code, but allowing the protagonist to make their choices about what to change and what to keep in place are a very ambitious and welcomed idea.
All in all, I think CoR is a very interesting WiP, and I look forward to see what you have next.
I guess to know that we’ll have to see how @Havenstone further develops this but for what it’s worth I think you’re grossly underestimating just how pernicious a supposedly “divinely ordained” caste system that has been in place for centuries is. Just ask modern India (and Nepal for that matter).
It is not some you can increment your way out of, particularly not when you’re part of the blood-cattle caste, considered sub-human filth by the highest castes.
Isn’t Simon and Breden being Kryptasts enough for you? 
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It’s kryptasts all the way down, isn’t it? Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to betray our rebels too them and join up. We could even have an alternate sequel: Choice of the Secret Police!
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