The Jewel

Qualifications

The Jewel is a title and position of honor bestowed on one girl of marriageable age per kingdom, per Festival Season. The girl in question is required to be of age, single, and agreeable to the end goal of an arranged political marriage. Excellent diplomatic skills and knowledge of court etiquette are unofficial, but necessary requirements. There are not necessarily any wealth or status requirements, but in practice, most Jewels come from either politically or financially powerful families. Although certain Kingdoms, like Summer and Day, tend to favor more gifted applicants versus more connected ones.   The Jewel of a season is a very coveted title, and prospective girls looking to earn it will spend most of their lives getting extra private lessons on every subject imaginable. In early teens, students who are especially gifted will be put on a separate schooling track to learn court manners, politics, and diplomacy (these lessons are given to all students the teachers think qualify as gifted, and those students outside the social circles that would usually be chosen as the Jewel, this extra tutoring is quite a gift). Some important skills taught are finance, diplomacy, history, law, and philosophy, as well as softer subjects like ballroom dancing and knowledge of literature. Girls from eastern kingdoms tend to favor learning obscure musical instruments, like the flute or pianoforte, to lure prospective partners. While girls from the east, tend to favor more physical forms of art, such as watercolor painting and poetry. While not as popular a skill, athletic talent can be a distinguishing mark for a Jewel to possess.
While the setup of the position of Jewel seems quite strict in its gender norms, in practice there are no barriers to this position for applicants who do not identify as female (with at least 25% of the applicants falling into this category historically).

Requirements

The Jewel is required to travel with their kingdom’s court to the capital for Festival. They will be required to participate (and in many cases lead) in all of the Festival activities. All of this is with the aim that by the end of Festival, they have secured a political marriage alliance (so the participant must be single and looking to get married). The consent of the Jewel is culturally important here, and they will get the final say on who and if they will get married in the end.
Between the requirements and duties of the Jewel, it seems pretty obvious, at least to outsiders, that the Jewel needs to be an outgoing, friendly, and diplomatically minded person. But this is not always the case, and some ambitious parents have succeeded in pushing their wholly unprepared and unsuitable children into this position.

Appointment

Getting appointed Jewel is usually more competitive than the marriage mart at Festival could ever be. Every court has a different set of traditions for the very anticipated public ceremony they’ll hold to show off the kingdom’s pick for that year.   For simplicity’s sake, we will look a the process as it happens in the Summer Kingdom. Applications for the Jewel will start coming in as soon as the court if back from the prior year’s festival. The court appointed to selection will take the next six months to look over the applications, inviting candidates to interviews, mock state dinners, holding debates for showcasing knowledge, and special forums for showcasing skills. The less talented will be weeded out during this time until only about a dozen are left to meet with the Kingdom’s most powerful leaders for approval. Summer is lucky, the Shadow King is usually visiting their court around this time, and their prospective Jewels will meet him as well.
Two months out from Festival the Jewel will be announced in a glittering spectacle that will be written about in every paper all over the kingdom. Seeing the Jewel be selected is one of the more popular yearly entertainments, with many establishments having followed along with the selection process, and will be betting on which candidate will make it. The two months after that are spent preparing for Festival. The court dresses alone require almost half a year. And for kingdoms like Summer, who are just as likely to choose the most talented and charming candidate, instead of the most connected one, the kingdoms provide the cost of the wardrobe.

Duties

The Jewel is the Kingdom’s main face to the royal court during Festival. They will lead their kingdom’s procession, be appointed to present the kingdom’s yearly tribute, make their kingdom’s first toast during First Night, and open up the dancing at every event.   The main goal for the Jewel is to have a political marriage arranged by the end of festival season. To have not reached this goal for your kingdom is to be seen as a failure. Some kingdoms will go so far as to pre-arrange potential suitors, or to provide their own suitor for their Jewel. The isolated kingdom of StarSet is known for bringing along a high-ranking military leader that their Jewel will be politically married to, as their politics with the other kingdoms have always been quite strained and they refuse to cower to the defeat of having their Jewel come back unmarried. There is often more pressure on Jewels selected that are not from the most connected families; they have more to prove to their kingdoms, and often the expense their kingdom has put out for them, means they’ll put their kingdom’s needs before their own when looking for an alliance.

Benefits

The Jewel is undeniable a position of great power and prestige. It comes with great honor to be brought back for one’s family and friends and in some cases smaller towns or individual schools. Being named the Jewel provides most with the best chance at making a political marriage with a wealthier or more powerful spouse/kingdom. And their position as wives to one of these people means the Jewel is more likely to find herself in a position of power as well.   For the kingdoms, the potential for an alliance is seen as great. Day is always looking to marry its Jewels off to either Night or StarRise to prevent those kingdoms from going to war with it. The eastern kingdoms love to intermarry to secure trade deals and alliances. And there is always the chance of marrying into the Royal Court, a political bone if ever there was one. The Shadow Prince himself is still unmarried.

Form of Address

Jewel

Source of Authority

Head of each kingdom

Length of Term

1 Festival Season

Related Organizations

• The Royal Court