Artemesia Family/Garret/Aquilegia Intro

Talk to the Asterion!

A young man clad in a thoroughly normal shirt of brown cloth, white cloth trousers and boots made of some scaly sea monster looks at you with the usual calm expression. And then he grins, running a hand over his black hair, staring at you directly.

"So I take it you have some questions about Aquilegia?" He asks, his dark blue eyes not leaving your face.

You ask, and he answers, "Of course. Everyone has concerns about the fact that Aquilegia is termed a theocracy. But tell me, do you understand what a theocracy is?"

You tell him, and he nods. "Yes," Garret says, "That could be one interpretation. We here at Aquilegia really will not in any way force you to join the Order of the Celestial Light. Or you probably have heard of it referred to as 'Sanguis Astroism' or 'SA'. Really, one of the major tenets of the religion is to tolerate those who do not yet believe, and to welcome those who are curious."

You ask about how religion functions in the government.

"In the actual government? Religion is not an issue that is brought up. It is not a basis for any secular actions we make. Granted there are some political decisions that are too messily intertwined with religion, but those are very rare. Besides, with Aquilegia's currently small population and distance from the main centers of activity, in practice we really just focus on our own concerns. You see those monsters out in the distance?"

You nod, remembering the tiger-like and wolf-like beasts that you encountered on your trip through Turbul.

Garret grins widely. "Those make for nutritious meals, if you particularly like monster meat. It is somewhat tough, but the taste is good, and if you know how to prepare it then the meat is tender enough."

You question the sanitary conditions of doing that.

He replies, "Oh, the healthy ones that go about eating the farmers are quite clean. No worries about that."

You decide to change the subject to more on internal politics.

"Ah, right. Well, Aquilegia functions on a system of representation, whereby the lords of rural, badlands, mountains, woodland, and town regions are elected through popular vote by all nobles of the realm. The dukes are elected by the Senate, which consists of the council, dukes, and region lords, and the council is appointed by the ruler, who is voted in by popular vote. More or less what you might expect from a representative democracy. But I try to maintain a friendly atmosphere during campaigns by informing all candidates that any mudslinging would be a termination of their candidacy. It seems to work well."

You then ask about economic and political opportunities.

"We are small at the moment, but we have one of the richest cities on the continent, and our regions are quite rich as well. The main point is our excellent position to defend ourselves from attack, so our city and town has been able to grow untouched by monsters and undead. So I think you would be able to receive a generous amount soon enough, and until then the duke is rather good with distributing funds. Now about your political opportunities, all you have to do to become a region lord is to give a public campaign speech, and to wait for the referendum to end. As for dukeship, same process, except give your speeches to the Senate. Due to the low numbers of nobles currently in Aquilegia and the fact that upon expansion the region to noble ratio might be rather saturated, if you feel a calling to attend to a certain region then there is a very high chance that you would be elected, assuming you have a good platform on which you run."

You thank him, and walk outside to enjoy the myriad of flowers and to watch people fishing and surfing.