On Aluvian Politics, History, and Related Topics

Archengeia wrote:

Kolson Wezrae wrote:Since I understand that, I know that the counties have sheriffs, the cities have police, the states have their own police and the national guard, and that the federal government has certain law enforcement and military measures all their own. And that's not even including the private sector or the highly motivated citizenry that has 3 guns for every man, woman, and child living here right now. That's a lot to watch out for and I live in this society so I know that.

So what's the equivalent for Aluvia? We really need that context if we are ever going to be able to play the various rivals and factions against each other or have any chance of understanding how people wield power in their domains. I'll have MANY followup questions.

You know the funny thing is I plan to do a Concerning Primus on this exact topic; the governments of the world.  Text wall inc.

Aluvia prior to the Dryreach Incident was a loose alliance of wealthy magnates and patrons who used their influence and resources to maintain a nonstop balancing act between them in a political game of... fancy chairs.  In this old system the military was entirely cell-based, with each cell being structured around a given wealthy individual, family, or group.  Usually this was at the city level, rarely it would go higher.  This military was poorly structured, trained, and equipped... for there was no real need for a military in the modern world.  War wasn't even in the vocabulary until it was introduced after the Dryreach Incident by the Dericost.  

The High Queen, woman chosen to the Monarch and one of the only surviving members from the 'before times' aka Year 0.  The High Queen, Alysa of Highspring (a Lord Elf) retained sovereign power over the entire Kingdom and was very active in the day to day management of the bureaucracy, and created the Lords and the Council to help her manage the affairs of such a vast territory.  The Council consisted of people with the wealth to buy their way in, a move Alysa herself calculated to ensure that people with resources and influence would be in the upper hierarchy and, since anyone could buy their way in, would be invested in maintaining that position through the only method ratified; by her personal approval.  With this threat constantly over the Council's heads, they walked a fine line of being happy with where they were and terrified of losing their position.   With the Lords she took a different route; the Lords were people of no standing, wealth, or influence... but were hand chosen by her own personal agents and then selected by her, herself, for one distinguished trait; intellect.  She wanted leaders.  Leaders with charisma, intellect, tactical know-how, and strategic capacity.  The only ones with the power to remove or replace Lords were her and the Council, and as a result there has been only 1 occasion of a Lord's family member ascending to the position after their removal (and even then it was only because the child in question was simply that brilliant).

All of this went to hell after the Incident.  The Aristocracy (which I use to refer to the wealthy upper class in general, since there are no true lines of nobility) and the Council found themselves in the same boat; facing a foe they had no capacity to deal with.  It was several months before the Dericost even shared a name for their enemy; Tumerok.  Thus in those first few months a nameless fear which could not be stopped had crushed them and their fellow nations like bugs.  Money and resources could not combat the Tumerok or that which they created; fear.  Alysa probably had a plan of action in mind, but she never got a chance to implement it as the Lords stepped in, being the types of individuals they were.  The Lords completely redid half the government of Aluvia, turning the cell-based decentralized city-states into a cohesive force which effectively became run by the Lords themselves.  The Council was allowed to maintain their position, but lost all of their actual political power, being reduced to managers and bureaucrats.  The High Queen was allowed to retain sovereignty in name only, losing every ounce of her political influence and control.  And the Lords became the Supreme Commanders of the other major thing that was reshaped... the military.

In the face of a total unknown such as the Tumerok, the Lords reasoned that they needed manpower, training, and technology.  The alliance with the Republic was fully the idea of the Lords, as was devoting a colossal portion of all national resources to such a completely overhaul of the military that comparing the two is like comparing a single ant to an army of Tuskers.  When the geniuses in the Republic devised the Airship and its military-grade equivalents, dozens were commissioned in the first few years alone.  And given how well military service paid in benefits (though not in actual pay), a fairly large number of volunteers signed up not just to be well dressed mercenaries, but career soldiers.

All of this left the Lords the unquestioned rulers of Aluvia.  All of the Lords who were in power during this transformation remain in power today (not counting the Lady Lightmane) except for Aayndia of Floralwind, a Half-Banderling who was a brilliant tactician placed in command of the newly formed Lytlethorpe Region as part of the joint effort of the Four Nations to create a military barrier along the boundaries of the Dryreach Zone.  

With the Lords at the top and the Council dealing with large-scale bureaucracy, all internal and external policing was dealt with by the newly revamped military.  Thus military officials in the officer track would often serve as constables, judges, jury, investigators, and the like.  This isn't too dissimilar from how things worked before, as the cell militias and soldiers under the Aristocracy handled things in fairly the same fashion, but it was far better organized now.

Under these upper echelons things branch a bit.  The military is often considered a singular unit when it comes to factions, but in truth the military is effectively five separate organizations which coordinate with one another, each one reporting to their respective Lord.  The Lords themselves do have an informal and off-the-paperwork council among themselves, being the actual rulers of Aluvia.  

The Aristocracy retains an unusual position in the power structure.  Borrowing from Alysa's ideas from a century ago, public positions are allowed to be purchased into, resulting in a similar situation to how the Council used to work.  This means most of the mayors, secretaries, and otherwise bureaucracy is consistent of the wealthy or formerly wealthy members of the Aristocracy.  More than once in the last 30 years there have been disorganized attempts by the wealthy to take more political power, but the military tends to keep such things in check... and add to that the fact that the whole of the Aristocracy is not a faction in any sense of the word, as any alliances tend to be small in scope and usually temporary.  Thus there is no true group of the Aristocracy, merely a designation.  As a side effect, there are actually very strict laws in place in Aluvia regarding ownership of weapons and armor.  Anything up to Steel is completely unrestricted.  Going slightly above that in magical or material quality requires a license, which is tantamount to registration with the military so they know where you are and what you use.  (Side note: One of the recruitment pitches the Adventurer's Guild used back when it was still active in this time was that they would handle such hassles for you, which some found to be a benefit).  Anything from a certain quality and higher is flat forbidden for non military personnel in Aluvia.

The Undermarket has always slipped into the cracks of this.  The Lords tolerated the Undermarket because they weren't stupid and understood how critical it was to the substructure of the economy, so allowing them some leniency was acceptable.  

There's probably more to tell but I've been typing with my eyes closed for a bit now.  Feel free to hit me with more questions.

Archengeia wrote:1. As a followup to the military benefits line of inquiry what happens to enlisted men and officers after they retire?
Interestingly given the fairly recent resurgence of the military, there's been next to no retirements thusfar. In theory what type of benefits they might gain depends solely on their standing, record, age, how they retire, that sort of thing.

Archengeia wrote:2. Would it be too far out of line to suppose that the Lords pay a stipend to Queen Alysa for her day to day expenses?
Queen Alysa manages her own finances, though no one's entirely sure how.