The Credo states, "Organic Intelligence Must Defend Itself Against The Synthetic." The Third Corollary is "Ensure Capability," which gives rise to the First Necessity, "Bring Harmony."
Bringing more worlds into concert with The Harmony means more resources are available for The Great War. The Harmony has been fighting several synthetic intelligences for a few millennia now, with successes here, losses there, and no end in sight.
The Harmony devotes great resources to The First Necessity. As a result, The Harmony has spread its wings into several universes, a great investment yielding yet greater returns. While actual Harmonic worlds, those inhabited by Harmonic Citizens, comprise only a small fraction of The Harmony, Harmonic Consuls rule many more worlds as colonies. The Subject States bring a far greater number of worlds into concert with the wings of The Harmony, and the Client States yet more.
As longs as all support the Credo, and its great champion, The Harmony, they are in tune, and are as if in consert with The Harmony. Trade and tribute, taxes and tariffs are substantive evidence of devotion to The Harmony and its holy Cause, the support of the Credo.
Even greater evidence of concert is when subject and client states send military units in excess of the required Levy to fight The Great War. The greater the variation of their cultures (and technologies) the greater their chances of outwitting the coolly logical, synthetic intelligence of The Enemy. Of course, once acquired, The Harmony may choose to use the Levies or other resources fro other, "supporting needs," rather than direct them directly against The Enemy.
(SEE Gene Wolf, especially The Book of The New Sun, for great examples of the use of disparate levels of technology, including of military personnel and hardware, working together.)
The Harmony, Champion of the Organic Credo, has spread its wings into many universes. Indeed, it is this very multiplicity of universes, both mundane and odd, and of "exotic dimensions" stranger still, which makes The Harmony possible.
"Jump ships," "Gates," and other mechanisms of faster interstellar travel actually utilize other dimensions where the rules of physics vary from those of the more mundane universes. When traveling at sub-light speeds in a "slow boat," the nearest star may be years, decades, or centuries away, depending on the local universe's physics and the local star density. When ships move between, rather than merely through, universes, a far closer neighbor may be found.
The exact rules vary considerable, as what dimensions and which universes are "near" each other, and how they can be brought together and ships passed safely through to their targets, depends upon the universes and technologies involved. Happily, there are many instances where the rules, once determined for a particular set of conjuncturesof universes and exotic dimensions, remain stable.
This has given rise to a muliversal culture where several different means of interstellar travel (usually actually via an inter-dimensional rout) are used.
Harmonic policy holds that to be in Harmony, there must be differences that complement each other. Worlds should not become too similar. A world that becomes robust of economy but does not increase its trade with others is suspect, for it is not Harmonizing with others. A subject or client state whose worlds become too homogenous is likewise not truly fostering the Harmony.
A moderate level of dissonance is desirable, as it stimulates the Harmony and staves off the entropy of homogeneity. This is one reason subject and client states are permitted to petition to buy charters authorizing (localized) war, although where and when and what conditions may surprise; an initial potential for a local war may, by the time the statesmen are done with it, evolve in to a formal "joust" between champion ships, or a contest to see who can colonize a set of new worlds first. (The worlds are selected, one state divides them, then the other chooses which set to take.) Or competing colonies may be set up in the same star system, or even the same planet.
When a world (or larger realm) comes in to disharmony, an opportunity to retune and return to Harmony is made available.
Should the world seem uneager to come into concert with The Harmony, it may be declared Outlaw. This means the Harmonic forces withdraw their protection, as must all who wish to remain in Harmony. The Harmonic government, whether through system Consul, Satrap of the Province, or an authority yet higher, may then sell Papers authorizing Privateers to take a free hand against the minions of the state in question. The next step is the auctioning off of Charters authorizing (localized, limited) war.
States that are in concert with The Harmony may submit bids for the right to seize the colony worlds, or form coalitions to occupy the main world, of the dissonant state. Harmonic authorities are likely to favor bidders who are not neighbors, in order to foster the development of non-contiguous states that are more likely to be devoted to the continued cohesion of The Harmony as a whole.
Harmonic Citizenship is not something to be taken lightly. Citizenship is a privilege granted in solemn ceremony to worthy individuals. For a subject in good standing from a good House living in a Provincial world, Citizenship is like a Doctorate; anyone willing to work at it can earn one, and it is a basic requirement for higher positions.
For one born a barbarian from a Client State or even beyond The Harmony, the granting of Citizenship is possible but is not done without careful consideration. Citizenship would be a mark of very special favor, issued only when there is evidance that the individual in question will in fact lead a life exemplerary of the qualities we wish to have associated with Citizenship. For mere bravery and simple loyaly, some other award, medal, or title will suffice; one need not be a Citizen to be awarded a title, even one of substance.
Citizenship is revokable, but to admit that a Citizen might behave in such a way as to warrent such a revocation would be a blemish on the honor of The Harmony. Better that such an individual dissapear quietly.
The Incorporated Provinces are the bones of the Harmony, the skeleton of Cosmic Culture-rich worlds which hold the whole together.
The Provinces are directly ruled by civilian Satraps and Pashas appointed by the Maestros - and may be a member of the Blood - and defended by a military governor, usually a Kha-Khan, General or Admiral, who may also be a member of the Blood. Keeping the military under a separate chain of command reduces temptation to dissonance.
Even in the Provinces, order continues to be maintained by local, traditional authority systems where possible. The Harmonic Consul and his staff are there to oversee the system and make sure all is peaceful and prosperous. In Incorporated Provinces, the Consul rules as Governor and has great authority. Remnants of traditional higher authority are often symbolic or honorary titles with little real inherent authority, although they may have such great wealth, powerful family ties, and political connections that they do not need to humble themselves to working for the local harmonic authorities.
In the Provinces there are few "Indies" or "Indians," as Indigenous peoples are called. Most subjects in the Provinces are of Cosmic Culture level civilization, however varied the worlds may be.
Being from a good family in a Province is a good start to earning Citizenship.
Unincorporated Territories are regions of Harmonized Multiverse in which Indiginous populations continue under their traditional forms of governance but inder the close guidance of Harmonic officials. Where warrented, these officials are authorized to interceed directly in Indy affairs, for the good of those less enlighened folk and of TheHarmony as a whole.
Indies may be deemed "uncivilized" because they are utterly alien, haven't developed autonomous interstellar capability, or fail to offer tribute and levies to The Harmony.
There are only minor multi-system local governments in the Territories, very little of which is considered at a Cosmic Culture level of civilization. No dangerous technologies permitted in the Territories, at least in theory, beyond the direct controle of Harmonic authorities. Wilds and Demi-wilds areas may be found on local maps, where authorized maps exist at all.
The civilian Satrap (regional governor) is mostly concerned with the development of the more progressive parts of the territory, and the affairs of the Harmonic Citizens and subjects from Provincial worlds trading in these more advances areas or colonizing the less advanced areas. Most Territory worlds are generally left to their own devises, and Citizens travel there at their own risk. The military is more likely to avenge the death of a Citizen than rescue - unless the Citizen was heading into a Crimson Zone (Forbidden/Interdicted area.)
Each star system has a Consul appointed to it. As with the Provinces, where warranted, Proconsuls may be appointed to individual worlds within a system. In the Territories, this is more likely to happen because the various parts of a world remain under different Indy authorities than because the high population merits additional bureaucracy.
The Consul is the interface between the local star system and the bureaucracy of The Harmony. The title Consul is somewhat flexible; it can mean merely one who consults, or it can mean Governor. Whether he, she, or it is designated Consul TO or OF, is significant. The Consul advises local powers on Harmony issues and Harmony officials about local matters. In a developed star system, each major planet (or local authority) has its own proconsul.
Citizens of The Harmony may consider the Consul as their ambassador if there is a problem with local authorities.
Subject Client States are in tune with The Harmony, but not in full concert. Thus, they are only to be given what advences in technology are necessary for their survival or which, in the giving, substantially benefit The Harmony. Indeed, it is generally a wiser policy to limit and depress the Indiginous technology level of Subject States, as this promotes the sale of "black box" (patented and sealed) high-tech items from the Cosmic Culture worlds of the Provinces in exchange for the less sophisticated trade goods of these lesser states. Harmonic Citizens traveling to Subject States are warned not to give inappropriate technologies to the Indiginous population.
That said, the adverage level of technology of the Indy population of Subject States is actually higher than that of the Territories; if they had been higher tech, those worlds brought into thre Territories might have rated Subject State status.
Subject States may be fully civilized, or quite barbaric. In common, while they are given the benefit of direct Harmonic oversight, the traditinal Indy governance system retains far more autonomy that do territory worlds.
Subect States generally have less (official) autonomy than Client States. They are held more closely to Harmonic standards of law, at least as it applies to Harmonic Citizens and matters affecting interstellar economics. Trade relations, however, are usually more relaxed than with Client States.
Consuls to Subject States may officially only be offering advise, but a local potentate who ignores this advise will soon be replaced.
Most of the Harmonized Multiverse is an assemblage of civilized client states. As Subject States are givren limited access to highter technology, so too are Client State discouraged from research or production save along carefully selected lines determined to best promote the echonomic well-being of The Harmony as a whole. Clients permitting Indiginous populations access to inappropriate technologies may be subject to charges of treason.
Some Client States have modeled themselves after Harmonic institutions, and so the have clients or subject states of their own; this may be a point of pride, so even small clients may have clients.
Others Client States remain completely alien. In a few of the most bizarre alien cases, it's not even clear whether they realize they're part of The Harmony. Still, if they're civilized and there is (something which can be interpreted as) tribute, it's a Client State. In some cases, this is clearly an official construction and there is no real Harmonic authority in the region. In others, it is merely a point of protocol and an historic nicety which keeps a culturally and politically Client State form being re-labeled as a subject state. (Local potentates beware!)
Harmonic Consuls watch and guide the local governments; some are more autonomous than others. These Harmonic officials are also concerned with interactions between Harmonic Citizens and Indies.