(urth) STL vs FTL

[Jeff Wilson]

thalassocrat at nym.hush.com wrote:
> 
> On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:14:07 +1100 Jeff Wilson <jwilson at io.com> 
> wrote:
>> thalassocrat at nym.hush.com wrote:
>>> And also: how could he have been the ruler of many worlds 
>> without 
>>> some kind of FTL travel? 
>> The way it was done by rules from Alexander to Victoria: by proxy 
>> through stationary vassals, the individual territories garrisoned 
>> with 
>> loyal forces superior to any the locals are likely to raise.
> 
> How does that work with travel times of perhaps hundreds of years? 

The more infrequent the contact the more important the technological 
edge the garrison has over the locals, and the stronger the ties between 
  the vassal and the absentee ruler must be. Bribes help, too. DUNE and 
the Foundation series have some examples.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >