>>5383470That is basically a reworded version of what I was imagining. it does actually make sense. If we remember that the Knights origins are as colonists who used mecha frames to establish their colonies independent of the federation, it makes a lot of sense. they hoard the technology and rule over the land, while the rest of the populace not part of their noble class has to live using fuedal means. meanwhile Sacristians and Artificers are basically the Gentry or the Merchant class in a way, organizing the industrial means owned and controlled by the Aristocracy to maintain the Knight frames.
In this sense, the fuedal peasants are there to produce just enough food to feed themselves and the Knights, who lord over them and specifically want to maintain their superiority over the rest of the populace.
Essentially what might happen to any isolated colony world where a small caste of people hoard the tech and the rest swear fealty to them. And they've opted to maintain this way of life for thousands of years, rather than trying to advance and grow like the colonies that became hive worlds did.
For Imperial Knight Worlds I can see that very much. For the Mechanicus Questoris Houses? Well, maybe the lifestyle is ultimately more important to them even than the chance of maximized production.
But then there's the issue that there are some Mechanicus Questoris Knight Houses that don't live on Fuedal worlds but Forge Worlds so how do they work?
House Taranis for example is the oldest Knight House currently in existence and was forged and raised upon Mars. A notoriously barren planet. Is it likely that they were able to maintain independence of their lifestyle from the rest of the Red Planet, so their zones of control still use castles and peasants working by hand (probably with granting exceptions for just enough suits to protect them from the radioactive air)? I mean, when they have giant walking battle frames and its choosing to fight the Knights on your planet vs not having to, I can see even Taranis being able to advocate to maintain their fuedal lifestyle admidst the backdrop of Mars.
