the Trifectum
The Trifectum is the ruling body of Nidavellir, carrying all the burdens, responsibilities and powers that the Imperial Commander of a planet usually has. It consists of the heads of the three ruling houses, House Draskovik, House Svinfelling and House Droviuk. These familial patriarchs have recognized for millenia that each cannot best the other two, and even if they could, the effort would leave them unable to remain on top of the planetary hierarchy in any case. This has formed the bond for a very strong alliance, with numerous uprisings and coup attempts being crushed by a coalition of the ruling Houses.
As the inflexible Administratum bureaucracy demands only a single name be put forward as Imperial Governor, this title is technically granted to the oldest member of the Trifectum, however, it has long since been an immutable practice that the other two members of the Trifectum share any censures the Imperial Governor is forced to suffer, but also carry the same powers on the planet.
With the settlement of the Gryphonne IV remnant cohort, Archon-Fabricator Lugh Svarogian entered talks with the Trifectum to establish the political position of the Mechanicus on Nidavellir. The three Trifectists were unanimous in their position that they would not have a fourth member in their ruling council - this would be both an unacceptable dilution of their power, and introduce an untested element in a working relationship thousands of years old. However, the Archon-Fabricator would also not accept being the equivalent of a mere noble House on the planet - the pride of the Mechanicus and their considerable military, technological and manufacturing capabilities warranted a higher status in his bionic eyes.
Thus, a compromise was reached. The Mechanicus would have a seat on the Trifectum - but as an observer, without voting rights. They could table issues, but were not a formal part of any decisionmaking. In practice the Trifectists have shown themselves willing to both hear and act upon the Archon-Fabricator's viewpoints, making the arrangement a happy and productive one for all parties so far. However, Nova Gryphonne has been established for less than three decades, and no real issues that have the interests of the noble Houses and the Mechanicus diametrically opposed have arisen yet, so the true bonds of cooperation in this Trifectum-plus-one still have to be tested.
A tension point for the powersharing agreement is the division of certain critical domains of infrastructure to the respective houses. Svinfelling is in control of Nidavellir's space elevator and orbital docks, where the Tithe is loaded into the bulk freighters that supply the embattled corner of the Imperium Nihilus Nidavellir is located in. House Droviuk maintains the electrical grid of the entire planet, heavily dependent on fissile material from offworld to keep their reactors turning over. Lastly, House Droviuk has exclusive right to transportation between cities, largely achieving the immense throughput of goods over a network of maglev railways, with an auxiliary fleet of landcrawlers and aircraft for connecting remote areas and high speed transport respectively. This division has worked well over the milennia, as none of these function without the other two. Goods cannot reach the docks, and thus be tithed, without intercity transportation, which is impossible without power, which cannot be generated without imported fuel that then needs moving to the reactors.
The recent tension comes not from any of the Trifectist Houses, but the Gryphonnian settlers. The Mechanicum has no need for assistance with such base activities as the movement of goods or generation of power, and with the recent announcement they plan to construct their own space elevator a new phase of conflict has been reached. So far the disagreements are limited to pointed words in the secluded meeting chambers of the Trifectum, but both sides see getting their way as essential to maintaining their powerbase. Nova Gryphonne cannot accept dependency on non-Mechanicum infrastructure, and the Trifectum will not allow a parallel state to spring up on the planet they have ruled with an iron fist for close to 4000 years.
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