DarkheartOne/FourthAgeDBPolitics
Contents
The Perfected National Assembly: The Will of the Isle
The Fivefold Authority: Minders of Dragons
Once, all the Isle needed was the Five. But they eventually decided that Dynast should govern Dynast, and they set into motion the creation of the first part of the Island's political structure, the council of judges now known as the Fivefold Authority. The concept has gone through many iterations (and three destructions; the First Dragons had warned that widescale corruption will be met with divine judgment), but the latest has remained intact for nearly five hundred years, and seems to be poised to last another five hundred.
The Authority consists of ten individuals; two of each element. They must be at least four hundred years old, must have served at least twenty-five years in the Imperial Army (although service as a non-combatant in the Hemlock Division does count) and must have the extensive backing of their originating Clan to even be considered. Presentation of potential candidates requires that they gain the support of ten Councilors, who present the potential apointee as soon as possible; time also plays a factor.
The Arbiters, as they are called singly, are elected by the Council of Divinity through floor votes, intense investigation, and months of politcal manuevering. Once they are elected, they remain until they retire, die or are removed through a difficult-to-execute Council ordinance that requires solid proof that the Arbiter's actions are flagrantly against the security and prosperity of the Island and its Blooded. This rule, the 'Peerless Complaint', has been enacted seven times during the life of the Empire; it has only succeeded once, and even that took eleven years of investigation and a breakthrough witness.
The Arbiters are mainly a judicial force, but also have been vested with executive power; however, it is up to the Avalanche Division of the Imperial Army, which answers to the Council, to give their decrees teeth. This breeds a sort of give-and-take between both groups what is needed in order to keep the Realm running smoothly. The Council, lawmakers and the voices of the polulace, do have the power to call actions of the Arbiters into review, and regularly does so to gum matters up... or merely to remind the Authority that they do have some power of their own.
Presently, the council consists of three members from Clan Irran (Fire, Air and Wood), two from Autol (Fire and Water), one each from Rykol (Wood), Ubali (Water), Sutnam (Earth) and L'Dat (Earth). The final seat is taken, to the dismay of many, by Clan Jitread, who practically drowned the Council in jade in order to have a young (for the Authority) Skyblood put into place. Already, some are watching him closely and keeping notes in case a Peerless Complaint is utilized.
The Council of Divinity: The Voices of the People
The Endless Bureaucracy: Protean Arms of the Council
- back to The Dragon-Blooded
- back to The Age of Reason
