Quintessency
The Summer Kingdom is currently run by the Quintessent Government, also known as the Quintessency. It is headquartered at the Quinseat in Halitara. The Quintessency is structured around the Quintessence as the ruler of the Kingdom. The Quintessence is expected to be a quintessential leader in every respect, including gender. The rest of the government is built to support her in running the Kingdom and promoting the wellbeing of its people.
The Quintessency has been going strong for many generations and is still generally revered by the Summerian people. However, the rise of the merchant nobles, as well as a few key missteps in previous generations of the Quintessency, have caused a degree of instability in the power structure. As the nobility gain wealth and power and the Quintessent Government continues to try and recover its finances, the balance of power hovers on the edge of widespread change.
The Quintessence
The head of the Quintessency. The position is upheld as an ideal of diplomacy, protection, and guidance. She is final voice of judgment regarding law and governance. She oversees the efforts of the rest of the government.
The Quinor
The consort of the Quintessence and overseer of military matters within the Kingdom. The position was created to ensure that the Quintessence can remain untainted by issues of violence. In matters where military or capital punishment are deemed to be necessary, the Quintessence will hand responsibility to the Quinor. While technically considered to be a ruler at the Quintessence's side, the Quinor in actuality is more of an advisor and one of the weaker positions in the governmental structure.
The Quins of the State
Oversee the remaining governmental responsiblities. There are always three Quins: Quin of the Mind (in charge of trade and education), Quin of the Body (in charge of health and policing), and Quin of the Heart (in charge of religion and aid). Each Quin works independently to administrate their area of responsibility with the staff under them and reports to the Quintessence.
The Ques
High ranking servants of the Quintessency are knighted as Ques. A Qu of the Summer Kingdom can have a variety of actual jobs within the government, from a department head under one of the Quins to the right hand of the Quintessence.
Together, the Quintessence, the Quinor, and the Quins of the State establish the laws of the Kingdom and work to ensure the wellbeing of the Summerian people.
The merchant nobles are a class of people who have become wealthy enough to secure formal power within the government. Nobles pay a higher tax rate that makes the majority of the Quintessency's income and in return have the right to administrate city states with a high degree of freedom and exemption from certain laws. Read more under Merchant Noble.
In the event that a child of the Quintessence becomes neither Quin, Quinor, nor Qu, they are typically inducted into the nobility and taken in by a merchant. It has never before occurred that a Quintessent child does not take one of these routes.
As an organization founded upon explicitly gendered ideas, the Quintessency originally tended towards very gendered law making and societal structure. One of the early Quintessences attempted to establish rules about what kind of weapons men were allowed to own. However, the wider values of the Summerian people (and the efforts of some very determined merchant nobles) either hindered the formalization of such efforts or just ignored them until the government admitted they were ineffective. Modern conversations question the wisdom of a gender-based system. There are conversations taking place regarding the role of non-binary individuals in such a system. Many commentators blame the current instability of the Quintessency either on being too gendered or not gendered enough.
However, the Summerian people still hold tight to the idea of a woman ruling the kingdom. The idea is that only a woman has the qualities necessary to ensure a kingdom's success: the patience, the wisdom, and the protectiveness that are required to cater to the wellbeing of a people rather than the hoarding of power. All the other little details can and will be argued until the sun sets, but a woman on the throne is something most Summerians, however reluctantly, will agree on.
The Quintessency has been going strong for many generations and is still generally revered by the Summerian people. However, the rise of the merchant nobles, as well as a few key missteps in previous generations of the Quintessency, have caused a degree of instability in the power structure. As the nobility gain wealth and power and the Quintessent Government continues to try and recover its finances, the balance of power hovers on the edge of widespread change.
Governmental Structure
The Quintessence
The head of the Quintessency. The position is upheld as an ideal of diplomacy, protection, and guidance. She is final voice of judgment regarding law and governance. She oversees the efforts of the rest of the government.
The Quinor
The consort of the Quintessence and overseer of military matters within the Kingdom. The position was created to ensure that the Quintessence can remain untainted by issues of violence. In matters where military or capital punishment are deemed to be necessary, the Quintessence will hand responsibility to the Quinor. While technically considered to be a ruler at the Quintessence's side, the Quinor in actuality is more of an advisor and one of the weaker positions in the governmental structure.
The Quins of the State
Oversee the remaining governmental responsiblities. There are always three Quins: Quin of the Mind (in charge of trade and education), Quin of the Body (in charge of health and policing), and Quin of the Heart (in charge of religion and aid). Each Quin works independently to administrate their area of responsibility with the staff under them and reports to the Quintessence.
The Ques
High ranking servants of the Quintessency are knighted as Ques. A Qu of the Summer Kingdom can have a variety of actual jobs within the government, from a department head under one of the Quins to the right hand of the Quintessence.
Together, the Quintessence, the Quinor, and the Quins of the State establish the laws of the Kingdom and work to ensure the wellbeing of the Summerian people.
The Quintessent Court and the Merchant Nobles
The Quintessent Court represents the nobility and other individuals of power in the Kingdom. While in large part a social scene, the Court also has the ability to vote on matters pertaining to the administration of the Court and nobility. Read more under the Quintessent Court.The merchant nobles are a class of people who have become wealthy enough to secure formal power within the government. Nobles pay a higher tax rate that makes the majority of the Quintessency's income and in return have the right to administrate city states with a high degree of freedom and exemption from certain laws. Read more under Merchant Noble.
Succession
The line of succession is matrilineal, passing from mother to daughter. All daughters of the Quintessence are eligible for the throne and as such are raised to strive for the Quintessent ideal. When all candidates (known as Quinets) have come of age, they are evaluated by the Quintessent Government and the Quintessent Court to determine whom will be heir to the throne.In the event that a child of the Quintessence becomes neither Quin, Quinor, nor Qu, they are typically inducted into the nobility and taken in by a merchant. It has never before occurred that a Quintessent child does not take one of these routes.
Origin and Ideology
Founded after the Element Wars, the Quintessency was structured around the premise that men, as inherently violent individuals, could not be trusted to hold the reigning seat of power. The first Quintessence, Zroa the Unyielding, was the last remaining mage of the Fire Element and vowed to learn from what she considered to be the mistakes of her peers. She appointed the first Quinor to handle military matters as a task she considered a necessary evil for their society. It wasn't until the second Quintessence that the Quins of the State were established to further divide the responsibilities of running a Kingdom. And shortly thereafter, the Quintessent Court was established to give a platform to the powerful of society, in particular the growing merchant class. It would be several more generations before the Quintessency would establish the nobility and acknowledge the city states beginning to form up and down the coast.As an organization founded upon explicitly gendered ideas, the Quintessency originally tended towards very gendered law making and societal structure. One of the early Quintessences attempted to establish rules about what kind of weapons men were allowed to own. However, the wider values of the Summerian people (and the efforts of some very determined merchant nobles) either hindered the formalization of such efforts or just ignored them until the government admitted they were ineffective. Modern conversations question the wisdom of a gender-based system. There are conversations taking place regarding the role of non-binary individuals in such a system. Many commentators blame the current instability of the Quintessency either on being too gendered or not gendered enough.
However, the Summerian people still hold tight to the idea of a woman ruling the kingdom. The idea is that only a woman has the qualities necessary to ensure a kingdom's success: the patience, the wisdom, and the protectiveness that are required to cater to the wellbeing of a people rather than the hoarding of power. All the other little details can and will be argued until the sun sets, but a woman on the throne is something most Summerians, however reluctantly, will agree on.
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Leader
Leader Title
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Controlled Territories
Comments