Empire

The primary political structure in the world, The Empire is ancient and expansive enough that the official name is unnecessary and has fallen into disuse. The Priesthood and the Court of Lords refer to it as "Saltakolra ko Fisůṙia" ("Glorious Nation of the Enlightened People" or "The Enlightened People's Glorious Nation") in official discourse. The Empire was formed from the Union of Six in ancient history as a treaty-bound theocratic confederation.

Constituents

States

See Union of Six.

The members of the original Union are now known as States, and maintain their sovereignty under the Empire. There are six in total, two city-states and four larger nations. The larger city-state, Koṙmaṙ, is the capitol of the Empire and the seat of the Priesthood.

The six member states are:

• Koṙmaṙ, a city built on a large hill by the sea.
• Saofůṙn, a democratic republic.
• Losdoṙk, the largest State.
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Satrapies

See Satrapy.

When the Standard Present Period begins, there are 32 Satrapies.

Government

(--Have Reviewed--)

The Empire, like all states, carries its history in its government. There are three significant levels to the government, the Priesthood (itself led by the Court of Elder Soothsayers (Snodu ko Kurohiskhantea)), which is given full jurisdiction (of the entire world, of course) but largely concerns itself with religious matters, the Court of Kings (Snodu ko Koṙpia), which represents the remnant of the original secular government of the Union of Five, which has 12 members, and the Court of Lords (Snodu ko Fufia), which is the representation of the interests of the outlying territories, which has a varying number of members.

The Court of Kings is composed of two representatives from each State in the Union, as well as two from the Priesthood, yielding a total and fixed value of 14 Kings. They reside in Koṙmaṙ, and have jurisdiction over all civil matters inside the Nation, and have final say in matters of the Court of Lords' jurisdiction, which they may either declare to be in their interest or they may be appealed by the Lords. Most actions require a simple majority.

The Court of Lords is composed of the four Sheriffs of Koṙmaṙ's wards, four representative each from the other States, and two representatives from each satrapy. All positions except the Sheriffs may be "collapsed", wherein a governor appoints fewer Lords than their quota and divides the allotted votes as they see fit. At present, there are 32 satrapies, and 72 Lords accounting for 78 votes. A hung vote is automatically referred to the Court of Kings.

The States have different types of government, but are required by the treaty to always follow the laws mandated by the Priesthood and the Court of Kings. The head of government of a State is generically known as "", except in Saofuṙn, which is a democratic republic with no role comparable to "president" or "prime minister" besides the "Speaker" (Hante).

Satrapies are not considered to be full States, but are also independent of any individual State. Most government of the Satrapies in general is done by representative vote among the Lords, so in fact, the people of the Satrapies are not significantly farther removed from the seat of government than the people of the States. (After all, the Empire is largely not a democracy.) They are, however, ruled by nobles descended from Unioners, not people of their own lands, which has brought conflict throughout history.

The position of satrap is (in general, though there are 3 elected satraps) hereditary, but not patrilineal. (Edict of the Priesthood, no legal document may differentiate by gender. In most cases, the oldest child who has already produced children is preferred.) Ambassadors serve until either death or until they are recalled, and each satrap can appoint two (or one, with two votes) to serve in the Court of Lords. In general, satraps are civil leaders with limited power, most power being held by the Courts. Satraps are required to maintain armies of 12 well-trained soldiers for every 1728 free citizens (~.7%).

Despite anything dissidents may say, the Empire serves one function for the clear benefit of all humanity: Food distribution. Because the sky rotates about the azimuth over Haotnesis, (See Calendar and Cosmology) seasons are more like time zones than anything, and if you can afford to import food, you can get anything that can survive the trip any time of year. The Empire subsidizes that for the good of all, and therefore fewer people starve.

The Sacred Priesthood of the Formless Maker

The Sacred Priesthood of the Formless Maker is not just a church, but is actually the real government of the Empire. The Empire does not have a state church, the church was formed directly by the treaty to be the state. The Priesthood has uncontested ownership of the city and port of Koṙmaṙ, as well as the immediately surrounding regions, and owns the entire Union and Empire by proxy.

As the Empire slowly crumbles, the Priesthood does, too, and even now, the Priesthood is finding it harder and harder to control the people. They are a very old and respected institution, with significant political power, and in fact, they have the power to overrule any decision of the secular government.