Nothing better to do
Just wondering if it seem a bit too compact, too neatly wrapped together and such. I suppose the interesting parts would be in the finer details - which would probably call for its own novel or something. Contains almost everything you could want know about one of my fictional countries.
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Palthazar:
Brief History: The kingdom of Palthazar was one of the first stable states to rise after the collapse of the Colonial (Kestane) Empire in the north. Named for its first king, Palthazar expanded voraciously during the monarch's sixty-year reign into more or less its current borders, swallowing small princedoms and estates more through political alliance than warfare until it met its neighbors of Terishal at the Smokewind mountains in the west and Avagon at the banks of the Tadrieth to the south. Palthazar and Avagon fought over possession of the Tadrieth river (and its use as a shipping lane) and the city-states that had established themselves along its banks. After decades of nearly constant border skirmishing, neither state could exert effective influence in the region owing to the difficult terrain and the fanatic independence of the city-states. The result was the Free Range Treaties, declaring the Tadrieth gorge area as neutral and independent territory. The treaty did not put an end to the enmity between Palthazar and Avagon as it intended; instead leading to raiding through the Free Ranges by "bandits" sponsored by one state or the other along border country, as the treaty forbade the movement of regular troops through the Free Ranges. To the north, Palthazar met the natural barrier of the Shalespar range and the frontier of the barbarian state of Ikara. In the east, Palthazar's expansion was halted at the foothills of the Barrier Mountains by the principalities that would form Holden.
The Palthazaran state reached its current borders eighty years after its founding. The first king died in his late eighties and was best known for (other than his founding of the state) his ruthless control of the aristocracy - never fully trusting his nobles and vassals, he established a strong bureaucracy his heir would build upon. The second king ruled for little more than thirty years - the first twenty concerned with the expansion of Palthazar's borders and the solidifying of its holdings. The last ten years were devoted to strengthening the state as a whole. The second king died without naming a heir. The vacuum created by the unclear ascension left three high noble families with equally valid claims on the throne. As the state teetered on the brink of civil war the three heirs collaborated in a compromise, refashioning the kingdom into a republic. The Republic of Palthazar has remained stable over the last one hundred twenty years despite its tumultuous politics, intermittent wars with its southern rivals and various incursions by raiders from the northern wilds and Suladri plains to the east.
Government:
The Ducal Charter: The reformers (the first three dukes) built upon the legal doctrines started by the kings and drafted the Ducal Charter - a document that established the powers and offices of government, established the rights of nobles, fief-holders, land owners and citizens of the state. It created the Ducal Seat, the triumviral head of the government, the Parliament - in which any landowner could participate, and the Judicial Court.
Ducal Seat: The Ducal Seat is comprised of three semi-hereditary dukes and an advisory counsel drawn from the current High Noble families and other prominent aristocrats. The Ducal Seat holds final authority over the treasury and can veto motions made by an individual branch. The dukes and their advisors can propose laws to be voted on by Parliament and control fief grants to earls.
Parliament: Parliament is theoretically made up of any land-owning Palthazaran citizen. In practice it is composed of enfiefed nobles (earls and counts) or their appointed representatives. Also in theory all votes are equally weighted; however, because of the vassal relationship between earls and counts, counts and land holders, dissention between lords and their vassals in votes is rare despite the majority they represent. The exception to this can be found dominantly in urban centers, where those with land and wealth see themselves as apart from their counts and especially earls. The body of parliament is also limited by those who can afford to attend its sessions and leave their lands for that time. While the land owners in and around the capital can likely attend parliamentary sessions, the minor nobility and non-noble land owners more distant from the capital must rely on their counts and earls to represent their interests. Parliament is responsible for codifying law, levying taxes and holds final authority for the declaration of war and call for conscription. Parliament holds veto power of ducal declarations if the dukes are not in consensus. Laws and measures are passed by simple majority of those present during the vote.
Judicial: The Judicial functions as a body of justiciars who rule on the interpretation of law and the legality of laws passed by parliament in regards to the Ducal Charter. The Judicial also regulates the court system as a whole and the appointment of judges at the local, county and fief level. The Judicial holds veto power over parliament, but can be overruled by the Ducal Seat if the three dukes are in consensus. There are five justiciars on the high court to prevent dead lock, one who must have been a military officer and one who must be clergy. The high justiciars are appointed by the dukes, but must be approved by the majority of parliament.
High Nobles: The dukes are drawn from the three current High Noble families and must be unrelated to at leas the third degree. The three families are not fixed; their positions can change by declaration of heirs (a current duke declaring their heir as being from another branch family) by the extinction of a ducal line (no direct or named heirs) and by vote of parliament. Two dukes are required to make the motion to replace a high noble family and parliament has the power to block the nomination of a specific family to the position.
The high nobles also comprise the majority of the advisory council to the dukes. A family's status is directly tied to having a reigning duke in their household, it is rare for the high noble families to change - but it has occurred in the past - typically from a reigning duke declaring their heir as a member of a branch family.
Fief System: Palthazar's territory is divided into three roughly equal duchies split between the dukes; the duchies are further split into earldoms and earls are enfiefed, appointed, by the current duke over that territory. Earls act as regional administrators and oversee the collection of taxes and their delivery to government coffers. Earls have the power to enfief counts in their territory (without oversight of the central government) and counties are determined by population rather than land area. The fief grants are typically hereditary, but the dukes can (and occasionally do) revoke an earl's fief, though the power of county fief grants lies solely in an earl's hands.
Other Bodies:
Military: Palthazar's military is built around a small core of full-time professional soldiers in the form of a parliamentary and ducal Guard that is augmented by militia levies in a time of war. The militia is a volunteer force of part-time soldiers who serve actively for part of the year - maintaining border garrisons and training together to maintain fighting skills. Militiamen are generally trained as light troops (archers or crossbowmen) or as pikemen. Each county is required to maintain a specific number of militia.
The Guard is comprised of a mix of highly trained heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, riflemen and specialists. During a time of war, every adult male is theoretically eligible for conscription and counties are delineated by population so that uniform conscription quotas can be enacted.
Nobles are typically placed as military officers; however both in the militia and standing army soldier can achieve officer positions through training and merit.
The Circle: Though it has many unofficial names (mostly derogatory) the Circle, as it's commonly known, has no official name or official acknowledgment as it being an organized body. It acts as an arm of the Ducal Seat, providing trained war-mages to the Guard. It is also tasked with discovering and training nascent sorcerers, who are seen as a public threat. The fact that the families of fledgling sorcerers never see their children again makes the Circle highly unpopular despite the propaganda of their working for the public good.
The Circle is rumored to be the "black hand" of the ducal government; providing the services of spies, assassins and elite - unconventional - troops as well as war-mages.
~
~
Palthazar:
Brief History: The kingdom of Palthazar was one of the first stable states to rise after the collapse of the Colonial (Kestane) Empire in the north. Named for its first king, Palthazar expanded voraciously during the monarch's sixty-year reign into more or less its current borders, swallowing small princedoms and estates more through political alliance than warfare until it met its neighbors of Terishal at the Smokewind mountains in the west and Avagon at the banks of the Tadrieth to the south. Palthazar and Avagon fought over possession of the Tadrieth river (and its use as a shipping lane) and the city-states that had established themselves along its banks. After decades of nearly constant border skirmishing, neither state could exert effective influence in the region owing to the difficult terrain and the fanatic independence of the city-states. The result was the Free Range Treaties, declaring the Tadrieth gorge area as neutral and independent territory. The treaty did not put an end to the enmity between Palthazar and Avagon as it intended; instead leading to raiding through the Free Ranges by "bandits" sponsored by one state or the other along border country, as the treaty forbade the movement of regular troops through the Free Ranges. To the north, Palthazar met the natural barrier of the Shalespar range and the frontier of the barbarian state of Ikara. In the east, Palthazar's expansion was halted at the foothills of the Barrier Mountains by the principalities that would form Holden.
The Palthazaran state reached its current borders eighty years after its founding. The first king died in his late eighties and was best known for (other than his founding of the state) his ruthless control of the aristocracy - never fully trusting his nobles and vassals, he established a strong bureaucracy his heir would build upon. The second king ruled for little more than thirty years - the first twenty concerned with the expansion of Palthazar's borders and the solidifying of its holdings. The last ten years were devoted to strengthening the state as a whole. The second king died without naming a heir. The vacuum created by the unclear ascension left three high noble families with equally valid claims on the throne. As the state teetered on the brink of civil war the three heirs collaborated in a compromise, refashioning the kingdom into a republic. The Republic of Palthazar has remained stable over the last one hundred twenty years despite its tumultuous politics, intermittent wars with its southern rivals and various incursions by raiders from the northern wilds and Suladri plains to the east.
Government:
The Ducal Charter: The reformers (the first three dukes) built upon the legal doctrines started by the kings and drafted the Ducal Charter - a document that established the powers and offices of government, established the rights of nobles, fief-holders, land owners and citizens of the state. It created the Ducal Seat, the triumviral head of the government, the Parliament - in which any landowner could participate, and the Judicial Court.
Ducal Seat: The Ducal Seat is comprised of three semi-hereditary dukes and an advisory counsel drawn from the current High Noble families and other prominent aristocrats. The Ducal Seat holds final authority over the treasury and can veto motions made by an individual branch. The dukes and their advisors can propose laws to be voted on by Parliament and control fief grants to earls.
Parliament: Parliament is theoretically made up of any land-owning Palthazaran citizen. In practice it is composed of enfiefed nobles (earls and counts) or their appointed representatives. Also in theory all votes are equally weighted; however, because of the vassal relationship between earls and counts, counts and land holders, dissention between lords and their vassals in votes is rare despite the majority they represent. The exception to this can be found dominantly in urban centers, where those with land and wealth see themselves as apart from their counts and especially earls. The body of parliament is also limited by those who can afford to attend its sessions and leave their lands for that time. While the land owners in and around the capital can likely attend parliamentary sessions, the minor nobility and non-noble land owners more distant from the capital must rely on their counts and earls to represent their interests. Parliament is responsible for codifying law, levying taxes and holds final authority for the declaration of war and call for conscription. Parliament holds veto power of ducal declarations if the dukes are not in consensus. Laws and measures are passed by simple majority of those present during the vote.
Judicial: The Judicial functions as a body of justiciars who rule on the interpretation of law and the legality of laws passed by parliament in regards to the Ducal Charter. The Judicial also regulates the court system as a whole and the appointment of judges at the local, county and fief level. The Judicial holds veto power over parliament, but can be overruled by the Ducal Seat if the three dukes are in consensus. There are five justiciars on the high court to prevent dead lock, one who must have been a military officer and one who must be clergy. The high justiciars are appointed by the dukes, but must be approved by the majority of parliament.
High Nobles: The dukes are drawn from the three current High Noble families and must be unrelated to at leas the third degree. The three families are not fixed; their positions can change by declaration of heirs (a current duke declaring their heir as being from another branch family) by the extinction of a ducal line (no direct or named heirs) and by vote of parliament. Two dukes are required to make the motion to replace a high noble family and parliament has the power to block the nomination of a specific family to the position.
The high nobles also comprise the majority of the advisory council to the dukes. A family's status is directly tied to having a reigning duke in their household, it is rare for the high noble families to change - but it has occurred in the past - typically from a reigning duke declaring their heir as a member of a branch family.
Fief System: Palthazar's territory is divided into three roughly equal duchies split between the dukes; the duchies are further split into earldoms and earls are enfiefed, appointed, by the current duke over that territory. Earls act as regional administrators and oversee the collection of taxes and their delivery to government coffers. Earls have the power to enfief counts in their territory (without oversight of the central government) and counties are determined by population rather than land area. The fief grants are typically hereditary, but the dukes can (and occasionally do) revoke an earl's fief, though the power of county fief grants lies solely in an earl's hands.
Other Bodies:
Military: Palthazar's military is built around a small core of full-time professional soldiers in the form of a parliamentary and ducal Guard that is augmented by militia levies in a time of war. The militia is a volunteer force of part-time soldiers who serve actively for part of the year - maintaining border garrisons and training together to maintain fighting skills. Militiamen are generally trained as light troops (archers or crossbowmen) or as pikemen. Each county is required to maintain a specific number of militia.
The Guard is comprised of a mix of highly trained heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, riflemen and specialists. During a time of war, every adult male is theoretically eligible for conscription and counties are delineated by population so that uniform conscription quotas can be enacted.
Nobles are typically placed as military officers; however both in the militia and standing army soldier can achieve officer positions through training and merit.
The Circle: Though it has many unofficial names (mostly derogatory) the Circle, as it's commonly known, has no official name or official acknowledgment as it being an organized body. It acts as an arm of the Ducal Seat, providing trained war-mages to the Guard. It is also tasked with discovering and training nascent sorcerers, who are seen as a public threat. The fact that the families of fledgling sorcerers never see their children again makes the Circle highly unpopular despite the propaganda of their working for the public good.
The Circle is rumored to be the "black hand" of the ducal government; providing the services of spies, assassins and elite - unconventional - troops as well as war-mages.
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