IMVU: My avatar page: MurkEmpire

About Me

MurkEmpire
Avatar since: 08/05/07

Female
Age: 28
Dominica
Last log on: 11/09/08

"Morning Glory - don't mess with the affairs of the Empire!"

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The Murk Empire loosely follows the spirit of the Holy Roman Empire. As open minds we do not care about age, gender, sexual preferences etc. . Only requirements are authenticity, loyalty and veracity of the character who is presented as part of this virtual world. Some might regard this as "roleplay"; however, as here we should be how we really want to be, without constraints and burdens of the real world, it is questionable whether role play is what happens in the "real world" out there, or in the virtual worlds here. Thus, it is preferred to regard to this as the virtual life rather than a role play. Live a part of your character, rather than playing a role that is distinct from what you're comfortable with.

Note that the Murk Empire is NOT a democracy. Its legislative and constitution is the word of the Empress. Her decisions define the law and order of the Empire, trust and follow her, or leave.

However, the role of the Empress as the sovereign of the Empire is not a dominant one. Following the spirit of the Emperors in the Holy Roman Empire, the position of the Empress as a monarch is to rule over other sovereign monarchs (such as a Queen or King), each of them with their own realms. As such, the position of the Empress is more one of advisory and guidance, rather than of total control. In general, the Empress will not interfere with internal affairs within sovereign realms of the Empire. However, the Empress reserves the right of the last word in the jurisdiction and expects unquestioned loyalty on external affairs.

This vision of the Empire conforms to the definition in Wikipedia: Generally, one may define an empire as a state that extends dominion over populations distinct culturally and ethnically from the culture/ethnicity at the center of power.

Now take your time to read through this page to find out more about the Empire. Should it appeal to you, you are cordially welcomed to join.

Signed and sealed,
Empress Werena
Igneous Shadow of the Gloomy Night.

My URL

The Imperial Palace

Wayfarer! When you enter one of these rooms, you enter the grounds of the Murk Empire. Please to respect all who members and address them by their proper titles as posted on this page. Feel welcome in Our lands!

http://avatars.imvu.com/MurkEmpire

My Buddies (40)

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Werena	Ember2011	WhiteRavene..	GravidiaNig..	ErebosTyr	Jeanne24
WitchClaudi..	binkiebee	Zeriphon	Anasazi69	Guest_Flami..	lyndilez

My Rankings

More info

Hierarchy

The Murk Empire follows the fiefdom system in medieval Europe: A vassal or lord, in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fief.

In other words, all members of the Empire are vassals to an higher instance, their liege lord (with the Empress as the ultimate liege and only the Gods of the Iridescent Mighty Virtual Universe - aka IMVU - as higher instance).

The ranking system among peers follows the medieval system in the Holy Roman Empire. Note that We distinguish among positions (someone is appointed to a certain task and duty) and titles (the place in the hierarchy). More refinements can be found e.g. in Wikipedia. The respective rights as listed in the following are accumulative, i.e. a higher rank naturally has the rights of all lower ranks. Note that the address form Lord / Lady is to be used for ranks of a Baron / Prince / Count / Marquise. Higher ranks are to be addressed by their respective titles.

Empress
- Reigns the Empire
- Decides over admission to the Empire
- Appoints imperial positions
- Grants and raises titles

Queen / King
- Reigns a realm, called a Kingdom or Queendom
- Appoints royal positions
- Right to speak law on delicts that results in excuses of all kind
- Right to issues laws within own realm
- Right to impose the Reichsacht (see wishlist panel)
- Right to propose anyone for the title of a Marquis/Marquise or lower rank (will be granted by the Empress upon approval)

Duke / Duchess / Herzog / Herzogin
- Reigns a Dukedom or Duchy
- Right to speak law on delicts that result in gift excuse, personal excuse, public excuse and imperial excuses
- Right to propose anyone for the title of a count or countess or lower (will be granted by the Empress upon approval)

Marquis / Marquise / Marchioness / Markgraf / Markgraefin / Gefuersteter Graf / Pfalzgraf / Reichsgraf / Princely Count / Palsgrave
- Reichsgraf / Palsgrave / Imperial count: an Imperial title; the count directly reports to the Empress with no intermediate instance.
- Gefuersteter Graf / Princely count: an Royal title; the count directly reports to a Queen or King with no intermediate instance.
A Marquis (and all higher ranks) has a vote in the High Court that discusses about admission process and punishments, and in particular the revocation of the Imperial Ban (termination of the Reichsacht).

Count / Countess / Graf / Graefin / Earl
- Reigns a County / Countship / Shire
- Highest title that can be proposed by a duke or duchess
- Right to call for a court meeting (e.g. to discuss admission processes, punishments, bans...)
- Is subject to a duke or higher rank

Prince / Princess / Fuerst / Fuerstin
- Reigns a principality
- From wikipedia: "princess" often conjures images of elegance and self-control, and among the younger generations, is a depiction of all things feminine and lovely.
- May be awarded the prefix of His/Her Royal Highness by a Queen or King
- Must have intention to build and improve the principality, which means:
  1. Must seek followers who swear eternal loyalty.
  2. Followers must give reference to their prince/princess on their page, e.g. via "special someone" feature, tagline, "about me" declaration (recommended), a sticker issued by the liege (for developers)
  3. The followers need to be mentioned, listed and referenced on the page of the principality.
  4. All followers must obey Imperial Law, but do not need to be directly members of the Empire. Admission to the Empire will only be granted after a certain probationary time in which the follower has proven his/her loyalty to his/her liege Prince/Princess. The Prince/Princess will remain to be the warranter for this member until the liege is changed.
  5. The quality and wealthiness of the principality is measured by the number of subordinates referenced on its page (only counting those members who do give tribute in return to the principality they are in).
  6. The wealthier a principality has grown, the larger are the chances that the prince/princess will be raised into an higher rank.
  7. Warriors in service to the principality are expected to also serve in the army of the Empire upon call.

Baron / Baronesse
- Owns a barony
- Lowest noble rank
- Participates in the Empire as private person, with no further intention to build own realm

Master/Mistress
Free people in the Empire who have the right to own slaves and pets (as all higher ranks have this right). It may well be used as well in personal communication when a submissive adresses his/her owner.

The Bulge
A tightly packed group of stars at the center of the Empire. This is the entry level of commoners with no specific rights or ranks so far. Yet any of our newcomers is a star, so the analogy to the term given in wikipedia is appropriate. There are many lower in rank, and many higher in rank. Specifically, We distinguish certain subgroups (without limitation to these):
- Citizens
- Wayfarers, Vagabonds, Pilgrims, Homeless
- Wildlife
- Celestial Beings, e.g. Angels
Pets
A pet is a position of someone loyally serving his master or mistress, but his/her requirements are to be heard and taken care of. The pet's owner is required to provide protection to the pet, and the pet has the right to leave if he/she feels inappropriately handled.
Pets are held within a protectorate. They are under special protection of the Empire. Only those on the pet's buddy list are permitted to send the pet private messages, all others are required to send them messages in public. Violators are to be reported to proper authorities.

Slaves
From Wikipedia: "Slavery" refers to the status or condition of those persons who are treated as the property of another person or household. Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation in return for their labor.
In general, slaves are considered as personal items. Their owner is fully responsible to them, and the slaves need to give exclusive reference to his/her owner (the requirement of discretion of some slaves due to RL constraints is recognized; however, such slaves cannot be count as measure for the mastery of their owner. Hereby note that not the numerical count of slaves is the main measure of an owner's mastery, but the quality of the reference given by the slave on his page).
Under exceptional conditions, a slave can be raised into Imperial status, which means that he or she will be available for consumption by any Imperial citizen. This grace will only be granted to very well trained slaves.
Be very cautious when applying as a position of a slave, as this position is not revocable by will of the slave. Only his/her owner may grant freedom. Disobedient slaves and those who do not conform to their roles (i.e., pretenders) will automatically be put on the black list.

The Empire
The Empire has only one purpose, which is to serve. To serve those who have found home in its embracement, and to provide a good place and framework for all those who are in, including those who are lowest in rank. The Empire is an institution, a tool and toy of its members, it is not allowed emotions, just to serve, and has no options to leave. As such, the Empire itself is lowest in rank, even below the slaves. And like the Empress, there is only one. It is her complement and the other cusp of the hierarchy.

Note: these rankings are for the civilian hierarchy. The military hierarchy, constituting Our army, is yet under construction. Full of the best expections We seek applicants who provide the will and skills to join Our army. Interested parties please apply at General Haendli, or to Our precious Imperial Messenger Dijara.

Buddies 40

Visitors 439

Gifts 10

Generosity 0

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Joining the Empire

You found the page of the Empire intriguing and are tempted consider to join? You are welcome to do so! But please note that in order to achieve Our high standards, You are be required to prove worthy and loyal by fulfilling some challenging tasks during the approval process. This is no place to come by with a "hello, may I join?" message. Silent buddy requests or silent group invitations will not be recognized, please contact the authorities of the Empire if you have interest in Us.

We do not accept applications, only commitments!

Joining the group of the Murk Empire is the first step that opens You the gates to admittance. Note that the group can be joined by invitation only, thus You need to find a member of the Empire who is eligble to invite You. Finding such and showing You are worthy to apply for membership is Your first challenge.
The member who introduced You to the Murk Empire and invited You to the group will be Your liege lord or liege lady and serve as Your guarantor. In case Your guarantor is not a noble of the Murk Empire (i.e. at least a Baron or Baroness), ask him or her to introduce You to an higher instance who is willing to be Your liege. Your first contact will remain Your guarantor, except if Your liege will take this duty.
Schedule an audience with the Empress or the Royals for the introductory talk. In this audience, You will be assigned Your rank and position within the Murk Empire:
- Rank is one of the 12 hierarchy levels within the Murk Empire, whereby the topmost and lowest rank are not available.
  Once in the Empire, You are not to ask for a higher rank then the one that has been granted. Doing so is considered a delict. You may however have someone of higher rank ask intercede for You. How You arrange this without asking the interceder for a higher rank is left to You. Note that the highest rank a Duke/Duchess can apply for someone is that of a Count/Countess, the highest rank a Queen/King can apply for someone is that of a Marquis/Marquise.
  Ranks in other realms are of no relevance here, but experience in a rank will be heard well and such ranks may be kept under certain circumstances: First and foremost, membership in the Murk Empire is exclusive and does not allow claims of ownership from external instances. Leaders of other realms may keep their external ranks as appointments when joining the Murk Empire. This is considered a personal union, whereby the rank granted within the Murk Empire is to be used as the primary one.
- Position is Your "job description" within the Murk Empire. It shall fit well Your skills and enrich the Empire with Your qualities.
You are doing good to think about Your rank and position in advance to Your introductory talk and make a well-reasoned proposal. You might want to discuss this topic with Your liege lord/lady first. Needless to say, Your envisioned rank cannot be higher than that of Your liege.
In Your "about me" section (not the tagline, but the edit custom/html part), give reference to the Murk Empire. Every of Our precious members is a representative of the Murk Empire, and their pages are to help others find their path to Us. In Your text, state Your rank and position in the Empire, give reference to Your liege lord or lady, and feel free to elaborate on the relation to those in the Empire who are important to You. This text is intended to give others a context on how to approach You. It shall not be longer than a paragraph, but it is expected to be well conceived in order to please the Empress and make her proud of Your membership.

Issue a buddy request to the Murk Empire and inform the Empire, the Empress or the Royals that You have performed the previous steps. Your buddy request will be accepted on Your approval. Your buddy list must be visible on Your page and the Murk Empire has to be the first buddy. The visibility of the Murk Empire buddy on Your page is the ultimate proof of membership in the Empire.

If You don't have a special someone, set the Murk Empire as Your special someone. Only if You have a special person, it it is acceptable to set this one instead.

Upon approval, a short version of Your membership declaration will be added to the member list of the Empire. From now on You may expect official visitors from the Empire. Offer them the same hospitality as You would offer the Empress, and You will receive the same hospitality from any other place of the Empire.

Leaving the Empire

You may leave the Empire at any time, but depending on how You do so, You will end up on the black list, or remain a friend and alliance.

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Etiquette

Communication among different ranks is asymmetric and reflecting the hierarchy. When a lower rank talks to a higher rank, he/she is supposed to refer to the higher rank by capitalization, i.e. addressing the higher ranked person by "You" instead of "you". Among nobles, this is optional, and the higher rank may grant relaxed speech. For pets and slaves, capitalized speech is mandatory for any communication with nobles and free persons.

Members of the Empire in noble rank equal or higher than that of a Count or Countess are encouraged to use dignitive speech, i.e. to capitalize themselves in their speech and in official messages ("Me" instead of "me"). This is optional, but lower ranks do not have such right.The Empress, Queens and Kings may as well make use of the pluralis majestatis if they refer to themselves and their realm ("Our" instead of "mine").

In German, usual speech to an higher rank is the plural form ("ihr","eure"), to a lower rank either in casual "du" form in close personal friendships or to very low hierarchies (pets, slaves), otherwise the 3rd person ("er", "sie"), possibly as well the plural form in order to show special respect. The modern plural 3rd person ("Sie") is never to be used.

It is well received to address a person with a title higher than he/she actually is, as long as no higher rank is present during such communication. It is however violation of Imperial Law for someone to present himself/herself with a rank higher than the approved one (which are announced here on this page).

Avatar motions are to be agreed on first before invoking them. Usually, a greeting or bowing to a person of higher rank is welcome any time, but inappropriate avatar motions (in particular attacks, slappings, vampire bites, but even a simple hug without consent) may be perceived as disrespectful behavior, thus violation of Imperial Law and result in sanctions.

Multichats are considered rude and disrespectful, as the attention displayed by one chat partner is not taken serious. IF the need for multichatting arise, say so, and give a good reason. The chat partner may decide whether to continue or not. Hidden multichats (chatting with someone else without saying so) are considered a delict that is subject to punishment.

Do not leave a chat without proper closing. This is considered rude. It is recognized that there are external situation that force an abrupt close. If such happens, then at your early convenience send a message to your chat partner what had happened. Any excuse is welcome as long as it is a good story.

Note that this account represents the Murk Empire as an institution. Messages sent here are utilized as a black board for public announcements by anyone. If you seek feedback, rather send messages to members of the Empire instead. As such, there is not much of a point of sending private messages here. They will most likely not be read for a long time... similarly, sending gifts here is an act of generosity, but as well pretty meaningless. Please use your resources to delight a member of the Empire instead.
Goto MurkEmpire chat group Get a Chat Box

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06/24/08 IMVU inc.

A message from our CEO: Hi! I'm Cary Rosenzweig ("CaryJay") Chief Executive Officer of IMVU. Today we're issuing our first-ever press release in order to tell the IMVU story to a larger audience. Please do not reply to this message as your reply will not be maintained by the system. Please go here for more information and to ask questions and offer feedback.

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03/07/08 CooltoyQueen

Just stopping by to spread some love!!

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02/26/08 lyndilez

by the mark and the mesure i greet thee m'lady Dominica i am Lyndi formaly the lady bohtia one of the last knights of tolnadia most recently paladin of qeynos champion of the forest people of faydark and bane of the dark side.dost thine empire hold to the teachings of the mark and the mesure...............signed this day AD 26/02/2008

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01/23/08 binkiebee

safari ani. poses couch

Greetings Majesty..

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01/21/08 iridescentkiss

I've taken the poll! Bows and skips out.

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12/03/07 MurkEmpire

OPEN POSITION: The Empire seeks an *headhunter* who will look for appropriate candidates to fill various open positions in the Empire. We provide a warm atmosphere (up to the roasting point) and most interesting minds collected in tight bonds. Applications to be send to Empress Werena or posted here.

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11/18/07 Myrannah

*enters and bows* Greetings to you, sovereigns and subjects of Murk... Let me introduce myself: Myrannah, Ambassador of the Stryges of the Blade, -most known as Strigoi. I just heard of your empire and I'm bringing you greetings from my kindred. Having not seen the diplomatic chamber, I came directly to the Throne room, forgive me my boldeness... May your sword be strong and your heart be wise. We, who dwell in the shadows greet you all.

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09/30/07 Werena

The search to fill the position of the *Director of the Imperial Zoological Garden* is opened hereby. Further details will be announced and discussed in the group of the Murk Empire. Seeked skills are interests in furries, knowledge in mythological creators, and web page design (beside the usual skills expected from fellows of the Empire, which are loyalty in friendships and persistence). Applications and feedbacks are cordially welcome. ~Empress Werena~

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09/26/07 Werena

The position of an Imperial geographer and cartographer is hereby opened to be filled by a skilled person with talents in graphic design and painting. We are seeking for a map similar to those available for middle earth. It shall reflect Our current domains, and will require updates as more Our realms grow. Applicants please voice yourself to Dijara, the Empress or the group pages.

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09/07/07 MurkEmpire

OPEN POSITION: The Empire seeks an application for the duty of a journalist, who shall travel among the realm, collect information of the events and changes, and delivers such to Our precious members. As well the journalist shall take care of an archive of the Imperial Times. Applications to be sent to DarkAngle Dijara.

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09/07/07 MurkEmpire

OPEN POSITION: The Empire seeks skilled a skilled knight and warrior who will take the responsibility to build, extent, and train Our army. Beside leadership qualities, required skills are web page building experience in order to manage the own face of the army, and the will to take care of forthcoming changes, in the loyal service to the Empire. Applications to be sent to the Imperial Messenger Dijara.

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