Artemesia Family/Garret/Realm Proposal 02

On the Roles and Responsibilities of the Nobles of Aquilegia

The State

In theory the state should be a theocracy to Sanguis Astroism, but in practice there are many matters that must be dealt with independent of the religion as a whole. To meet such ends, a strict separation of Church and State is advised, but not required. This means that the immediate jurisdiction of the State is in the hands of the council, and that the Church takes on an advisory role, as opposed to an administrative role.

The State shall be composed of a council of Ruler, General, Judge, and Banker. Overall governance of the realm is given to the four council members, but tangible power over the individual duchies is the exclusive right of the dukes.

The Ruler

The Ruler has theoretical jurisdiction over the entire realm, though in practice this would only be the case if the realm was composed of a single duchy, and if the Ruler was also the Duke. The main duties of the Ruler are to find the best representation of the interests of all duchies of the realm into a summary interest of the realm itself, and to serve as the interrealm representative of the realm's interests to other realms. More practically, the Ruler is responsible for leading diplomatic talks among realms, waging war, making peace. Furthermore, any and all diplomats and ambassadors of the realm would be under the direct authority of the Ruler, as the Ruler can be considered the "head diplomat" of sorts.

To a lesser extent, the Ruler has the responsibility of keeping domestic order. To these ends, he is expected to have regular and transparent meetings with the council, and dukes, to explain foreign issues, and to listen to domestic issues. It is the Ruler's duty to see to it that the other council members are properly attending to their duties.

The Judge

The primary duty of the Judge is to act as arbiter of any and all legal actions in the State. To settle any ambiguities of the State's legal system, the Judge is expected to write a concise, clear, understandable, and accessible public document listing the laws of the realm.

The other duty of the Judge, which is as important, is keeping domestic peace. This is an extension of the first duty as a legal arbiter, as the Judge is responsible for holding courts for region maintenance in the absence of the region lord or duke, for leading the police corps, and for protecting the realm from domestic dangers, such as sedition, espionage, and internal terrorism. As part of the council, the Judge takes on the legal fourth of the realm's authoritative body, as different from the Ruler's diplomatic authority. It is the Judge's duty to keep the council informed of any and all conditions of regions in all duchies.

The Banker

The Banker is expected to manage and to distribute resources to the entire realm with optimal efficiency. As a member of the council, the Banker's jurisdiction stretches to realm economics, as well as foreign business dealings. Resources include, but are not limited to: gold, food, wood, stone, metal, buildings. In clarification of the resource, "buildings", the Banker is responsible for keeping an updated list of the non-military and para-military buildings in every region of the realm. This includes, but is not limited to: Smithies, Tournament Grounds, Academies, Banner Makers, Siege Workshops, Healing Houses, Scouts' Guilds, Cartbuilders, Marketplaces.

Very important among the Banker's duties is the oversight of domestic economic stability. As a member of the council, the Banker's domestic duties focus on security through proper possession of resources, as different from the Judge's legal security and the General's military security. Also, the Banker is head of all traders of the realm, and is responsible for directing them at all times, and for being prompt in responding to each trader. The nature of commerce is very fickle and mercurial, so timing is very important, as is being constantly well-informed.

The General

The military branch of the council is led by the General. The State is expected to have an army of the State, under the direct authority of the General, as opposed to the sponsoring Duke. In the best case, the General would be at least a region lord, and capable of sponsoring the realm's army.

As a council member, the General is concerned not only with forming and executing strategies in foreign warfare, but also in applying strategies to provide military security against monsters, undead, and other non-human military threats. The General's duty also includes organization of the marshals of each army, though in most cases the General should consult the sponsoring Duke. However, in extreme cases of war, where timing is crucial, and going through the bureaucratic chain of authority would be detrimental to the realm, the General can take emergency wartime measures. This will be better explained in the section dedicated to emergency wartime events.

The General is head of all troop leaders in the State army, and has theoretical oversight of all marshals of each ducal army; though in practice the sponsoring Dukes have the actual authority. As part of the council, the General provides military security to the realm, and proposes the methods of expansion, and wartime strategies for foreign dealings. It is his duty to keep the council informed of all pertinent military measures, and to listen to the diplomatic dealings of the Ruler such that the General can adapt his plans for optimal success.

The Duke

Though the State is in theory overseen by the council through the four branches of diplomacy, law, economy, and military, the actual power in almost all cases belongs to the dukes.

The Duke is the authority of all regions belonging to his duchy, and thus is responsible for everything every other member of the council is responsible for, except on a duchy-wide scale, as opposed to a realm-wide scale. As such, the Duke can be considered a smaller-scale Ruler, Judge, Banker, and General. This means that the Duke is responsible for properly representing all interests of his duchy as a single duchy interest to present to the Ruler, for assessing the region conditions of all lands within his duchy to present to the Judge and the Banker, and for sponsoring a ducal army and coordinating regularly with the General to make sure that the army is being properly led.

As a very powerful lifelong position, the power that comes with being Duke brings a great deal of responsibility. A Duke is expected to sit in the realm council's meetings, to listen to all concerns of the realm such that he can better understand how to reconcile them with his duchy, to inform the council of the conditions of the duchy from the perspective of one more closely linked to the regions that are represented, and for negotiating with the council for his duchy's interests.

The Region Lord

The Lord is the lowest order on the chain of administration, but that does not make the Lord's duties any less important. As Region Lord, one is expected to keep proper maintenance of the region and the knights, as well as to report any and all information regarding the region to the Duke, who will then take this to the council. There are, however, emergency provisions for the Region Lord, as will later be explained.

The Knight

While not part of the chain of administration per se, the Knight serves a crucial role in proper realm maintenance, assisting the Lord or the Duke in providing an estate with the manpower to keep the peasantry happy, working, and loyal.

The Marshal

As appointed by the Duke, or in the case of the State army the General is the Marshal, the Marshal's duty is to form the immediate battlefield tactics, such as encounter settings, formation, retreat settings, unit type, unit size, and paraphernalia. The Marshal is expected to regularly coordinate with the General in cases where jurisdiction of the army goes to the General instead of the sponsoring Duke, and in all other cases, for coordinating regularly with the sponsoring duke.

The Troop Leader

It is said that the strongest realms are those that not only have great leaders, but those that also have even greater followers. The Troop Leader is an often underestimated role, but without them, the General would literally have no army. Troop Leaders are expected to consistently follow orders as set by the marshals of their armies, and in the exceptional cases where they cannot do so, to inform their marshals of the reasons they cannot follow such orders.

The Diplomat/Ambassador

Every ruler needs a lobby of loyal, able, and reliable diplomats to assist in his dealings with foreign realms. After all, there are many things that occur, and the Ruler is only one person. As a Diplomat/Ambassador under direct authority of the Ruler, one is expected to truthfully, faithfully, and properly act according to the Ruler's directions. As well, the Diplomat/Ambassador is expected to report any and all correspondence with anyone and everyone to the Ruler for review.

The Trader

Large businesses cannot be run alone, and when the Banker has to run an entire realm's economy, it is clear that help is required. A Trader is under direct authority of the Banker, and is expected to regularly correspond with the Banker regarding possible deals, and to independently search for deals. However, any and all findings, and transactions, must be reported to the Banker within one day of the transaction taking place.

Emergency Powers

These will be better defined as the realm council discusses things, but as a general consideration, all parts of the realm will consider an "elastic clause" for dealing with previously unaccounted factors, and for adapting to the changing times. Also, a general consideration is the ability to bypass the bureaucratic chain of administration in certain extreme and exceptional conditions, which will be defined through discussions.