The Treaty of the Great Houses

The Treaty of the Great Houses is the document that forms the legal basis of the Alliance of The Great Houses. It was drafted by its original signatories in what was then Vernon, BC, Lapin Protectorate; now Okanagan City, at The Warren in April of 2022, during the second spring Tourney of Tales, and officially ratified by the original signatories in July of 2022, during the summer Tourney of Tales, also at the Warren.

Purpose

In light of the assumed continual threat of the The Undead Horde returning every year, the Literomantic Great Houses determined that it was far more important to protect themselves, and the world, from another potential zombie apocalypse, than it was for them to carry on any inter-House conflicts. Further, in the wake of the Lapinite-Chiropteran conflict, the danger of a magical war of Literomancy, and its potential for massive, widescale destruction, was something that the House Leaders felt, in good conscience, they could not ignore. They determined to put aside their differences in a mutual defense pact, both to curtail the risks of their own conflicts, and to unite their efforts against any future return of the Undead Horde, or other existential supernatural threats.
Borrowing from the example (and much of the wording) of the North Atlantic Treaty, the Great Houses signed a historic mutual defense pact, thus setting the stage for the current alliance of the Literomantic Protectorates in the Word Wars, and current world politics.

Document Structure

Clauses

There are 15 Articles in the Treaty of the Great Houses, delineating the intent, and the responsibilities, of each of the Houses and Protectorates in upholding the conditions of the Treaty, and also, under which conditions the Treaty applies.
The first two Articles establish the intent of the Treaty to maintain peace between the signatories.
Articles 3 through 7 delineate the mutual defense pact, and under what conditions that pact applies.
Articles 8 and 9 reaffirm the obligations of the Protectorates to the United Nations, and each other.
Article 10 delineates the procedure by which the Treaty shall be administered.
Articles 11 and 12 details how others can become Parties to the Treaty, and under what conditions the signatories shall be recognized.
Articles 13 and 14 delineate the conditions under which the Treaty may be reviewed or abandoned.
Article 15 details how the record of the Treaty shall be recognized and stored.

Caveats

After ten years, any Party to the Treaty may request a review in Council, and after twenty years, any Party may choose to resign from participation in the Treaty. The deadline for review comes up in April of 2032, and the deadline for possible withdrawl in April of 2042.

References

The Treaty of the Great Houses drew upon the North Atlantic Treaty, which formed the NATO alliance, for inspiration, conditions, and wording. It also refers to the Charter of the United Nations, which most of the Protectorates claim membership in, and reaffirms their commitment to supporting that organization.

Publication Status

Copies of the Treaty are widely available for public access in the House Libraries of the Great Houses, as well as their Parliamentary and Royal Libraries, in all three languages the Treaty was drafted in (English, French, and Spanish.) Its text is also widely available for public access on the internet, and copies are registered with the United Nations. The originals are stored in the Lapin Secret Library during wartime, and are available at the Lapin Parliamentary Library for public viewing during peacetime.

Legal status

The Treaty of the Great Houses has been recognized by the United Nations, and is law in all of the current Protectorates of the Great Houses, including the "Neutral Territories." This includes all of North America, Europe, most of the Asian South Pacific region, Australia and New Zealand, and Antarctica.

Historical Details

Background

With the advent of The First Word War, the awakening of The Iron Tome, and the return of Literomancy in 2020, the world was forever changed. The Second Word War was, however, a surprise to everyone. AuthorGoddess, the new Night Monarch, began the conflict by sowing seeds of distrust between the Great Houses, preying upon centuries-old rivalries.
Technically, Queen Sable Aradia of House Lapin began the war when she had reason to think that her friend, Queen Siobhan the Writer of House Chiroptera, had planted a zombie-summoning device on the grounds of The Warren, and declared war on Chiroptera. This sparked off a powder-keg of threats and war declarations as other House Leaders found similar devices, each implicating another House.
However, the Bats and the Bunnies soon resolved their differences, when it became apparent that the Undead Horde had returned. As Houses fell one by one, Queen Sable eventually found herself housing refugees from multiple Houses, and she formed the Grand Alliance against the Undead Horde. The war ended with victory for the living under the Bunny Queen's leadership.
Concerned about the future threat of the Undead Horde's return, and also about the conflicts that she had started between the Houses, Queen Sable invited all the Great Houses to the April Tourney of Tales, in which Houses compete in a friendly way against each other for bragging rights, thus keeping their skills honed against future supernatural threats. She then used the opportunity to negotiate for a mutual defense pact.

History

The Treaty of the Great Houses was duly ratified on the 12th of July, 2022, at the summer Tourney of Tales. The initial signatories were Queen Sable of House Lapin, King Darth Nikolas of House Meles, Queen Siobhan the Writer of House Chiroptera, Coffee Quills The Cosmic Kraken of House Mollusca, Kahuna the Elder of House Tiki, King RPGDinosaurBob of House Sauropoda, ShyRedFox the Oyabun of House Kitsune, Tempest Kwake the Great Flame of House Incendium, Isaac A Thom the Toast of House Ceapaire, and the unknown leader of The Missing House.
Later signatories include DaniAdventures the Queen Bee of House Apis, Regent EGryph of House Avis, and Archon Mykola Lapin-Void of House Ailurus.
This Treaty has completely transformed global politics. While many of the nations of the world collapsed in 2020, including most of the G8, the formation of the Protectorates, and their commitment to this alliance, has become the governing force of global politics and military strategy in their place. Most nations that maintain independence from the Protectorates still have alliances with them, and they form the backbone of the new world economy. Society has reorganized itself according to the conditions of the Treaty, especially concerned with being able to bring strong military resistance to the yearly assault of the Undead Horde.

Public Reaction

Within the Protectorates, the public reaction has been overwhelmingly favourable. The formation of the Alliance of the Great Houses, the restoration of such institutions as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, and the patterning of the Council of the Great Houses after the structure of NATO, has restored a great deal of public confidence in the stability of society in the wake of catastrophe and the formation of a new world order.
Nations outside of the Protectorates, however, aren't as sure about the situation. There is some concern about the amount of temporal power resting in the hands of the literomantic Great Houses. Smaller nations often express resentment towards the larger nations, and especially the Protectorates.

This article is a work in progress, and may be subject to changes.

This article is part of a series related to streaming the Game of Tomes. For more information, see Streaming Game of Tomes.

Read the Document

The Treaty of the Great Houses

The Parties to this Treaty affirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace, when possible, with all peoples and all governments.
They are determined to safeguard the lives, freedom, common heritage and civilization of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in this material Realm.
They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace and security. They therefore agree to this Treaty of the Great Houses:

Article 1

The Parties undertake to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the Great Houses and their Protectorates.

Article 2

The Parties will contribute toward the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening their free institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well-being. They will seek to eliminate conflict in their international economic policies and will encourage economic collaboration between any or all of them.

Article 3

In order more effectively to achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the Parties, separately and jointly, by means of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, will maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack.

Article 4

The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.

Article 5

The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security and safety of the Realm.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Council of the Great Houses. Such measures shall be terminated when the Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.

Article 6

For the purpose of Article 5, an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack:

on the territory of any of the Parties in their Protectorates;

on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in which occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force;

any international waters within 100 km of the shorelines or borders of said Protectorates;

on the Royal Families of any of the Great Houses who are Parties to this Treaty.

Article 7

In particular, an attack by the forces of the Undead is considered by the Parties to be a threat to all life in the Realm, and the Parties shall come together to support one another against Undead threats and assailants.

Article 8

This Treaty does not affect, and shall not be interpreted as affecting in any way the rights and obligations under the Charter of the Parties which are members of the United Nations, or the primary responsibility of the United Nations Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Article 9

Each Party declares that none of the international engagements now in force between it and any other of the Parties or any third State is in conflict with the provisions of this Treaty, and undertakes not to enter into any international engagement in conflict with this Treaty.

Article 10

The Parties hereby establish a Council, on which each of them shall be represented, to consider matters concerning the implementation of this Treaty. The Council shall be so organised as to be able to meet promptly at any time. The Council shall set up such subsidiary bodies as may be necessary; in particular it shall establish immediately a defense committee which shall recommend measures for the implementation of Articles 3 and 5.

Article 11

The Parties may, by unanimous agreement, invite any other Great House in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the Realm to accede to this Treaty. Any House so invited may become a Party to the Treaty by depositing its instrument of accession with House Lapin. House Lapin will inform each of the Parties of the deposit of each such instrument of accession.

Article 12

This Treaty shall be ratified and its provisions carried out by the Parties in accordance with their respective constitutional processes. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited as soon as possible with House Lapin, which will notify all the other signatories of each deposit. The Treaty shall enter into force between the States which have ratified it as soon as the ratifications of the majority of the signatories, including the ratifications of House Chiroptera, ███████████, House Incendium, House Kitsune, House Lapin, House Meles, House Mollusca, House Sauropoda, and House Tiki, have been deposited and shall come into effect with respect to other States on the date of the deposit of their ratifications.

Article 13

After the Treaty has been in force for ten years, or at any time thereafter, the Parties shall, if any of them so requests, consult together for the purpose of reviewing the Treaty, having regard for the factors then affecting peace and security in the Realm, including the development of universal as well as regional arrangements under this Treaty, and the Charter of the United Nations, for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Article 14

After the Treaty has been in force for twenty years, any Party may cease to be a Party one year after its notice of denunciation has been given to House Lapin, which will inform the Governments of the other Parties of the deposit of each notice of denunciation.

Article 15

This Treaty, of which the English, French, and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of House Lapin. Duly certified copies will be transmitted by that House to the other signatories.

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Type

Treaty, Diplomatic

Medium

Paper

Authoring Date

April 4, 2022

Ratification Date

July 12, 2022

Location

The Warren

Authors

• Coffee Quills
• Darth Nikolas
• RPGDinosaurBob
• Sable Aradia
• ShyRedFox
• Siobhan the Writer

Signatories (Characters)

• Coffee Quills
• DaniAdventures
• Darth Nikolas
• EGryph
• Kahuna the Elder
• Mykola Lapin-Void
• RPGDinosaurBob
• Sable Aradia
• ShyRedFox
• Siobhan the Writer
• Tempest Kwake

Signatories (Organizations)

• House Avis
• House Ceapaire
• House Chiroptera
• House Incendium
• House Kitsune
• House Lapin
• House Meles
• House Mollusca
• House Sauropoda
• House Tiki
• The Great Houses
• The Missing House

Queen Sable reads the Treaty of the Great Houses (July 12, 2022) by Moonflower with HeroForge & NightCafe

Big Tree by Tommy_Rau on Pixabay

The tree at the top of the Warren, where the signatories had a celebratory picnic following the signing