| Headquarters: | IIS Lightning Station, Eridani Epsilon |
| Motto: | Eat Your Heart Out, Dionysus |
| Founded: | 2400s |
| Major Sectors: | Media Services, Customer Services |
| Minor Sectors: | Security Operations |
| Affiliates: | |
| Rivals: | NanoTrasen |
Idris Incorporated has since its inception subsumed nearly the entire media and entertainment eco-system of the galaxy, and this is both in spite of and because of their unique structure and methods that has many consider them a sprawling cult more than a traditional business. Idris produces many luxury goods and servives. Most modern movies are funded by producers from Idris, and most modern wines, their flagship product, is sold by their many merchants. They, in general stereotypes, encourage the free mixing of classes and genders, free love, and copious amounts of wine.
The corporation is overseen by a Council of Shareholders who operate as mostly an advisory board, or as the final word in disputes between subsidiaries. They are chosen at random out of fifty subsidiaries with the top amount of sponsors, with terms rotating every two years.
Playable Departments
On the ship their departments available are Service, Security, and Merchants.
Their involvement in Service is a testament to their power in the field.
For Security, because their customers or even the merchants themselves are stereotyped as free-loving drunkards they are usually turned into defendants, Idris Incorporated understands the importance of a good lawyer, or having good relations with the local law enforcement. And because Idris deals with extremely common plagiarism and fraud against their flagship company credit cards, they also understand the importance of efficient investigations.
Idris Merchants are silver-tongued or affable drunkards who never-the-less retain their keen eye for a sale.
Sponsors and Contractors
Being hired as an employee of Idris Incorporated is called "being sponsored". Your hiring manager would be your Sponsor, also known as a Patron. When hired you are given all the rights and expectations of all Idris' employees, but your sponsor is your immediate supervisor. In many cases agents of the Sponsor act as middle managers with varying degrees of authority. Think of it like the Sponsor being a regional manager, and his agents being store managers.
All Contractors are equal to all other Contractors within Idris itself, but conform to the hierarchy of whatever ship, station, or faction they happen to be working on together.
Sponsors are responsible for the basic necessities of a Contractor to do their work. They are expected to provide a uniform, allowance, and access to the tools needed to do their job. It's entirely possible for a Sponsor to neglect a Contractor, but other Sponsors can very easily offer better terms and snipe the Contractor away, diminishing their rival and taking away an employee.
Subsidiaries And Franchises
Idris Incorporated uses "Subsidiaries" as other mega-corps would use "franchises". Technically any person can become a "subsidiary"of Idris Incorporated. Typically one needs an independent ship, building, or existing business and then two sponsors that can vouch for them to start a franchise. After signing an agreement with their sponsors the individual is accepted within the wider corporation and has access to their wider markets, contacts, and resources to sell.
More mundane franchises are possible, with the same stipulations - an aspiring winemaker, independent filmmaker, banker, or restaurant owner would also need to find two willing sponsors within the Conglomerate.
The system is wildly decentralized, with the nomadic vessels of Idris roaming from system to system whenever their skills, wine, media, and/or free love are needed. The sponsors are responsible for funding and paying the new merchant, but over time additional sponsors can sign-on to fund either the merchant directly or the merchants own sponsors. Over time vast webs of sponsorships create interconnected systems, where wealth flows both downwards and upwards. Merchants without much money are also free to sponsor one another, forming large networks of communal assistance.
Playing an Idris Contractor
While the stereotypes of idris have been explained above, there is no requirement that you subscribe to them while playing on the station. To join Idris, it's presumed someone higher up in the corporation has 'sponsored' you and acts as your patron, so you must have impressed somebody of your abilities despite your personality or skills. Warm and chipper customer service is, ironically, not always a requirement in the Service department.
A quiet and reserved bartender serving guests in a dim bar filled with cigarette smoke can gain a sponsor as much as a bright and chipper chef. Or perhaps you got a sponsorship as a fluke, from an agent of that Sponsor going out on a limb to quietly give you a job without the Sponsor's full knowledge or even presumed approval.
For security this also applies. The stereotype of Idris Security tends to be that they are professional but affable or even aloof, but extremely professional when it comes to the regulations. In most sectors of space it's almost a relief to know the security officer detaining you is Idris, if only because such an officer knows that they represent their sponsor.
If you want to lean in on Idris stereotypes, always have a glass of wine and a glass ready to offer a friend, stranger, or even an enemy. Find a friend in whoever you meet - and take them to see movies produced by Idris' aligned studios, get them an Idris aligned shirt, and carry positive, if slightly tipsy, vibes wherever you go on the ship.