Girl Genius XXVIII: Dancink! Ve is here for de dancink!

[Fyraltari]

It seems to me that the spark going hand-in-hand with nobility makes perfect sense since it is somewhat hereditary. Nobles are pretty much by definition the descendants of conquerors and the spark gives a pretty big advantage in that field (especially since it makes the people around the sparks into minions). So any spark that manages to conquer a place and not blow themselves up before having adult children is going to start a noble line. Of course, genetics being genetics, not everyone descended from a spark is going to be a spark (just like a family may have a lot of redheads but not everyone in the family) so not every noble is going to be a spark.

We were told early on that female sparks tend to be abducted to guarantee strong sparks as heirs which makes perfect sense.

[BRC]

It seems to me that the spark going hand-in-hand with nobility makes perfect sense since it is somewhat hereditary. Nobles are pretty much by definition the descendants of conquerors and the spark gives a pretty big advantage in that field (especially since it makes the people around the sparks into minions). So any spark that manages to conquer a place and not blow themselves up before having adult children is going to start a noble line. Of course, genetics being genetics, not everyone descended from a spark is going to be a spark (just like a family may have a lot of redheads but not everyone in the family) so not every noble is going to be a spark.

We were told early on that female sparks tend to be abducted to guarantee strong sparks as heirs which makes perfect sense.

We're given the impression early on that the "Fifty Families" seem to predate a current, spark-dominated political era. Although it's possible the worldbuilding has shifted since then.

My personal headcanon is that, as general tech base developed, the threshold for being a "Spark" has gradually decreased, with a resulting shift in the political landscape.

Back in the day, it took Strong Sparks like The Queens, The Heterodynes, or Van Riji to bootstrap their way from waterwheels, trebuchets, and animal husbandry to wrapping the laws of physics around their pinkies. Hence the description of a lot of old sparks as Wizards or Sorcerors. You were either strong enough to tame a thunderstorm and wear it as a hat, or you'd top out at building some snowshoes. Sparks are intuitive tinkerers, but they do spend a lot of time researching and referencing existing science, and they're limited by tools and materials, so it's not like they just wake up with the knowledge they need. While Agatha's Spark was supressed, she did attend TPU and work directly under Doctor Beetle, so she was exposed to a lot of knowledge.


As society generally industrializes, the old school supersparks stick around, but they're as rare as they ever were. However, weaker sparks now have access to knowledge and tools that they can use to build things and actually do some work, so Sparks start to become a lot more common, not because they're more common, but because they're more noticeable, able to break through.

I want to say this "Sparky Revolution" Starts around the era of The Storm King, and Sparks start to transition from Wizards to Tinkerers and Engineers. The Incorruptible Library is founded around this time. After this point, any noble-born Spark is likely to have enough education and resources to break through, but from this point commoner breakthroughs become increasingly common.

However, most power is still held by the Noble Families, who intermarry with Sparks, leading to "Sparky Nobles". Meanwhile, commoner Sparks become increasingly prevalent, eroding the power of the traditional nobility over the course of the Long War, until you reach a point where noble families who have held power for centuries end up on similar ground to a butcher's daughter with an army of pigmen. By the time Wulfenbach conquers everything, Europa is a patchwork of noble holdings, sparky warlords, and Sparky Nobles.

It should be noted that, while Klaus Wulfenbach is a powerful spark, we don't get the impression that he does a lot of work himself. Most of his work is done by minions. His Spark was probably crucial for bootstrapping his empire, but the fact that he is personally a Spark is probably less relevant than one would think for maintaining power, not when he has so many Sparks working for him.

Of course, it's possible that those Sparks only obey him because he's a Spark himself. We've seen that Sparks are just as vulnerable to Sparky charisma and minionization as anybody.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Essentially the break up of the great feudal principalities into the microstates of the later HRE. Making Klaus and the Other the local equivalents of the Habsburgs and Hohenstaufens trying to consolidate everything by crushing anyone who won't step into line.

[BRC]

Essentially the break up of the great feudal principalities into the microstates of the later HRE. Making Klaus and the Other the local equivalents of the Habsburgs and Hohenstaufens trying to consolidate everything by crushing anyone who won't step into line.

Right, with a bit of a Classic Aristocracy vs Educated Bourgeoise parallel mixed in.

If your title is spark-based, and predates the Storm King, you're "The Master of Paris" or "The Heterodyne".

If your family had political power before the storm king, you're a Count, Baron, or Prince, whether or not you have The Spark.

If your family came to power AFTER the Storm King, you're far more likely to go by "Doctor" or "Professor". Beetle was "Professor Beetle", but was, IIRC, the regent of Beetlesburg in addition to being head of TPU. Unless he renamed himself or the town, it seems likely that his family ruled the area in some way when the town was founded, although he very much seemed to follow the "Professor" aesthetic, rather than "Noble".

If The Spark truely is as simple as a recessive gene, it's also quite likely that, by this point, noble houses are more likely to have subsequent generations of Sparks, whereas commoner Sparks are less likely to have Sparky children, since unless they marry into a Noble house, their partners are less likely to carry the trait. So commoner Sparks don't really build dynasties in the same way.


That or, a commoner spark is more likely to join an organization (Like the Corbettites or the Incorruptable Library), or enter the service of a noble house. Those that set out to conquer in their own names either die, fail to establish a dynasty, or adopt the mannerisms of aristocracy after a few generations of rule.

It's also possible we got a bit of an Unnatural Selection going on. Those Europan sparks who are alive these days are those who survived the Wulfenbach Conquests, which means 1) they were smart enough to bend the knee to Wulfenbach, 2) They were either established nobles (Who kept their own territories), Stable enough that Wulfenbach trusted them to hold power, or 3) Didn't have political ambitions, and neatly slotted in to serving Wulfenbach, teaching at a University, or entering some sort of service.

The Freeholding Spark Warlords are simply not around anymore. What's left is canny Nobles who know which way the wind is blowing, and well-behaved Doctors and Professors who just want some lab space and a few grad student Minions to feed the experiments.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Oh, there's a number of independents around. Wulfenbach didn't control everything, after all.

Tarsus Beetle's official title was Tyrant of Beetleburg, btw, so I'm pretty sure he renamed the town after himself once he took over.

[Rockphed]

We were told early on that female sparks tend to be abducted to guarantee strong sparks as heirs which makes perfect sense.

We are told that women with the spark tend to go missing. It is implied that it is because girls were being abducted and put into the summoning engine. I suspect that there are many causes.

And Zulenna specifically says that the only reason her family had a seat at the table is because Bill and Barry built their defenses. That isn't quite "nobody in my family is a spark", but it also implies at least "there haven't been strong sparks in my family for many generations". By "strong", I mean on the order of Theo or Master Payne, not the Barons or Barry and Bills of the world.

[Mechalich]

Oh, there's a number of independents around. Wulfenbach didn't control everything, after all.

And he was fighting some kind of rebellion by independent or small coalitions of spark warlords almost constantly, including people who managed to escape his wrath, go to ground, and reemerge later. Some of the earlier ruminantions by Klaus involve him name-dropping such people.

I suspect the divide between spark-warlords and noble houses might have a lot to do with the type of lands they control. Sparks are creatures of industry, or production, and of urbanization. The average spark warlord probably controls a small city-state and maybe nearby industrial resources like quarries, mines, and so on. However, it's the nobility that controls the vast tracts of agricultural land, wilderness, and wasteland, that still comprises the majority of Europa. For instance, the Heterodynes control Mechanicsburg, but Martellus (and apparently the Sturmovaus family generally) controlled a lot of semi-wilderness hunting preserve territory really quite close by in geographic terms. I mean, how far did they really travel during the flying sleigh ride?

Consider also that Voltaire, in controlling Paris, apparently controlled one of the largest independent domains in all of Europa. If we estimate that the 'Paris' realm included most of what is now the Ile-de-France region of France, that's a zone around 12,000 sq km in size, which is smaller than Montenegro. The modern European Union (which probably includes a total territory similar in size to that of Europa and conveniently doesn't include the British Isles) has an area of around 4.23 million sq km. That's over 350 Paris-sized zones. However, I suspect the average spark-warlord controls a city-state and its environs of only a few hundred sq km, similar in size to Andorra (468) or Singapore (726). If there were 1,000 independent or semi-independent warlords each averaging 500 km of territory, that would still only be 500,000 sq km, only around 12% of the total land area.

[Traab]

And he was fighting some kind of rebellion by independent or small coalitions of spark warlords almost constantly, including people who managed to escape his wrath, go to ground, and reemerge later. Some of the earlier ruminantions by Klaus involve him name-dropping such people.

I suspect the divide between spark-warlords and noble houses might have a lot to do with the type of lands they control. Sparks are creatures of industry, or production, and of urbanization. The average spark warlord probably controls a small city-state and maybe nearby industrial resources like quarries, mines, and so on. However, it's the nobility that controls the vast tracts of agricultural land, wilderness, and wasteland, that still comprises the majority of Europa. For instance, the Heterodynes control Mechanicsburg, but Martellus (and apparently the Sturmovaus family generally) controlled a lot of semi-wilderness hunting preserve territory really quite close by in geographic terms. I mean, how far did they really travel during the flying sleigh ride?

Consider also that Voltaire, in controlling Paris, apparently controlled one of the largest independent domains in all of Europa. If we estimate that the 'Paris' realm included most of what is now the Ile-de-France region of France, that's a zone around 12,000 sq km in size, which is smaller than Montenegro. The modern European Union (which probably includes a total territory similar in size to that of Europa and conveniently doesn't include the British Isles) has an area of around 4.23 million sq km. That's over 350 Paris-sized zones. However, I suspect the average spark-warlord controls a city-state and its environs of only a few hundred sq km, similar in size to Andorra (468) or Singapore (726). If there were 1,000 independent or semi-independent warlords each averaging 500 km of territory, that would still only be 500,000 sq km, only around 12% of the total land area.

Honestly, I think the line between spark warlord and noble house is one determined by how long its existed. The warlord is the spark who broke through, survived, and managed to carve out some territory for himself, generally lasting until one of the powers deigned to notice and crush them or an experiment goes wrong enough to kill them. If they survive for a couple generations, then they are now an established noble family and generally have intertwining alliances with other small to middle sized powers to make smashing them not worth the effort, and chances are if they lasted that long they arent causing the kind of problem that requires smashing in the first place. The other line between warlord and noble is stability. The warlord is always looking to expand and grow, their rule is marked by endless conflict with everyone around them till they generally die and it all falls apart. The noble tends to look to secure their position and if its a safe bet, expand a little more. When they die there is a system in place to put someone else in charge with a minimum of fuss and loss.

[Alandra]

It's probably also about whether they want to give themselves a title and whether they are powerful enough to make the title stick.

https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20141031

People like the Master of Paris or the Heterodyne are powerful enough that they don't need an additional title to make sure everybody is afraid of them.

[Manga Shoggoth]

It's probably also about whether they want to give themselves a title and whether they are powerful enough to make the title stick.

https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20141031

People like the Master of Paris or the Heterodyne are powerful enough that they don't need an additional title to make sure everybody is afraid of them.

Alandra - You've mucked up the URL in that link. You have "http://https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20141031", and it took me somewhere really odd.

[SZbNAhL]

Here's the correct link.

Incidentally, the previous page is one of my favourite Martellus moments.

[Rockphed]

Here's the correct link.

Incidentally, the previous page is one of my favourite Martellus moments.

Martellus is a horrible person who manages to spend most of his energy killing worse people.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Given his family there's no shortage of those.

[Traab]

Martellus is a horrible person who manages to spend most of his energy killing worse people.

Thats close to a description of democracy as a government. Its the worst way to run a country ever created. Other than all the others that have been tried. I wonder what that says about martellus?

[Rockphed]

Thats close to a description of democracy as a government. Its the worst way to run a country ever created. Other than all the others that have been tried. I wonder what that says about martellus?

That if this weren't agatha's story watching him kill off the evil and stupid nobles while being less evil and less stupid might be interesting.

[Radar]

That if this weren't agatha's story watching him kill off the evil and stupid nobles while being less evil and less stupid might be interesting.

Survival of the morally fittest? Does have an good ring to it. It would also be an interesting comparison: The Boys gave people second chances and inspired them to behave, The Baron threatened people to behave and Martellus would simply eliminate dissent. Kind of like the ancient Greek golden, silver and bronze ages.

Given Martellus's track record with dealing with his own family, it might devolve to this. Not that I would complain.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I've been to enough faculty functions to get the Professora's unholy glee.

[Rockphed]

Survival of the morally fittest? Does have an good ring to it. It would also be an interesting comparison: The Boys gave people second chances and inspired them to behave, The Baron threatened people to behave and Martellus would simply eliminate dissent. Kind of like the ancient Greek golden, silver and bronze ages.

Given Martellus's track record with dealing with his own family, it might devolve to this. Not that I would complain.

I am not sure that twiddle is as dissent squashing as you say. He did offer the cirbetite abbot an advisor job even though the abbot was pretty clearly only restrained from smacking him by the abbot's manners.

[Fyraltari]

That mug is the best thing on that airship.

[Radar]

I am not sure that twiddle is as dissent squashing as you say. He did offer the cirbetite abbot an advisor job even though the abbot was pretty clearly only restrained from smacking him by the abbot's manners.

Because an honest advisor is very useful. That idiot advisor, who was patronizing and overstepping Martellus on the other hand...

I guess dissent was not the right word there. But basically, he is the kind of guy Machiavelli would write about.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Here's the correct link.

Incidentally, the previous page is one of my favourite Martellus moments.

Ah, Defenistration. Is there any problem it can't solve? (Taking the Praguematic view, of course).

Perhaps my favourite defenstration of another idiot in the strip - (The actual sequence starts here). The novel expands this by noting that his death was logged as "down to stupidity", and that nobody in his family questioned it.

Because an honest advisor is very useful. That idiot advisor, who was patronizing and overstepping Martellus on the other hand...

I guess dissent was not the right word there. But basically, he is the kind of guy Machiavelli would write about.

An honest, competent advisor. I suspect that the Stumovarus family is overstocked with idiots - we just tend to see the better (or rather more competent) members of the family.

In other news, my Christmas Leave has started (which gives you some idea how little time I take off the rest of the year), and on the very first day I am greeted with an email from the GG Game project with two of the earlier Rain Games offerings. This may end up being a better Christmas break than I anticipated.

[Traab]

Ah, Defenistration. Is there any problem it can't solve? (Taking the Praguematic view, of course).

Perhaps my favourite defenstration of another idiot in the strip - (The actual sequence starts here). The novel expands this by noting that his death was logged as "down to stupidity", and that nobody in his family questioned it.



An honest, competent advisor. I suspect that the Stumovarus family is overstocked with idiots - we just tend to see the better (or rather more competent) members of the family.

In other news, my Christmas Leave has started (which gives you some idea how little time I take off the rest of the year), and on the very first day I am greeted with an email from the GG Game project with two of the earlier Rain Games offerings. This may end up being a better Christmas break than I anticipated.

I think the strom family is equally split between idiots and back stabbing devious monsters. The idiots survive as long as they dont tick off the monsters too much, the backstabbers keep their own numbers low due to.... well, backstabbing.

[Fyraltari]

Ah, Defenistration. Is there any problem it can't solve?

Broken windows.

(Taking the Praguematic view, of course).

Ah yes, who can forget that time Prague exiled all idealists in 1438?

[Rockphed]

Ah, Defenestration. Is there any problem it can't solve? (Taking the Praguematic view, of course).

I imagine breaking-and-entering is hard to do via defenestration. Also, nice pun with Praguematic.

Broken windows.

If you throw enough people through the window at once they plug up the hole.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I imagine breaking-and-entering is hard to do via defenestration. Also, nice pun with Praguematic.

Why, thank you.

If you throw enough people through the window at once they plug up the hole.

Ah, sharing the pain.

[Fyraltari]

I imagine breaking-and-entering is hard to do via defenestration. Also, nice pun with Praguematic.



If you throw enough people through the window at once they plug up the hole.

But the windows don't work no more.

[Rogar Demonblud]

S'Okay, you just have to wind up really hard so as to throw the next one through the wall to make a new window.

[Traab]

Why, thank you.



Ah, sharing the pane.

Fixed that for you.

[wingnutx]

Fixed that for you.

Well done.

[TaRix]

Ah, Defenistration. Is there any problem it can't solve? (Taking the Praguematic view, of course).

Othar, sadly. But it is certainly enjoyable for a while.