Government
overview
hierarchy
current royals
The government of Shadow Star is simple at first glance- the Council Unity holds the most power, with a King or Queen for each realm in the Council. Below the Council is each King/Queen's Own, a mini-Council as it were, ruling in StarScape and answering only to the Council. Below *them* is the prince/ess, and the dukes and duchesses are at the lowest ring of royalty. If a royal loses royalty by death or other means, then the royal beneath them will move up to the vacant position. Simple, right?
Wrong. Just below the Council Unity is the Council of Guilds, with the guildmaster or some other guild member representing each guild, barring the Thieves' Guild. The Council of Guilds aids in making laws, and does most of the economic work in SS. They keep the island working. Right alongside the CoG in power is the Council of Knights, made up of seven members, including the Guildmaster, the Patrolmaster, the elected Bowmaster, and four elected master Knights, usually nacirons. They act somewhat like the USA's judicial system, with some executive branch duty thrown in. Within the palace is a host of staff. There are two bards per realm to aid in secretarial work, a Head Servant to hire and command servants, and the servants themselves. Servants are well paid and well treated.
Protection of royalty is a muddled thing. Outwardly, the knights guard the royals at all times- until the royals get aggravated and send them away or manage to shake them. Magical safeguards protect against poison and magical assassinating means.
The job of making coins (the copper, Tana, Tyra, Clae, etc) falls on the Guild of Smiths. Counterfeiting is not easy- the Smith's Guild coin mold is spelled to place an identifying spell on each coin so that a true coin can be magically identified from a counterfeit one, even by people without magical Talent. The army is supplied by the Knights' Guild, although commoners may be drafted as needed, and often are in times of war. Any spying on Chaos or other peoples is done by Patrollers or, occasionally, Thieves' Guilders.
The heirarchy is as follows:
It follows this pattern for all the Unity realms. The realm King or Queen is automatically part of the Council of the Realms, marked by a powerful telepathic bond to the three other members of the Council that is created during the coronation by the druid Guildmaster or Irotana's Chosen. The bond exists by the gift of the goddess Irotana. She bestowed this link on the Council at the request of King Ryntan who decided it would make things a lot easier for the ruling four.
Traditionally, the King or Queen's Own of the realms go to StarScape to rule the mountain stronghold under the bidding of the Council, leaving the Council to rule in Cascadia Falls. However, with the lack of royals, they have been kept concentrated in Cascadia.
If one member of the heirarchy is forced to give up their position by means of death, force, or direct order from the Council, the ranks beneath will be promoted to the next level. Exceptions are occasionally made, depending on the circumstances.
Remember, rank is awarded for participation. It is a reward for being part of our creation. Everyone has a fair shot at a royal position! Having royal and moderation positions barres those who are already royals from having any more royals, as that would monopolize the hierarchy and be extremely unfair to others. For others to get royals, we must approve it, and must go through the bonding RPG. They must be a part of a class for four to six RL months to assume full responsibilities of the position they have been granted. Royals are completely random and we reserve the right to refuse one to any person we deem unworthy this time around. The Council collectively decides who gets a royal and who gets passed over, it is NOT decided simply because the player wants one. We look for long, frequent posts and good content, a level-headed character, responsibility and staying power. We also like players who help develop the world of Shadow Star. Those who have been in the RPG longer naturally have a better chance. This is not saying that new members don't have any chance at all, they just don't have as big a one. Royals must be active ICly and OOCly, helping organize bondings and other events of importance. We WILL revoke royal status if players are gone for a long amount of time without prior notification.
The Council so far are:
Other royals so far are:
And Chaos, too, has its royals. So far:
There are still royal positions open for all the realms! So get your 'sonas in and you might get a royal!