Royal Electorate of Arkhera

Structure

Arkhera's Royal Electorate is, by design, structured a little differently from the various noble houses that govern individual cities/towns. Generally speaking, having a family is discouraged in its leaders, as its founder, Garlan the Great, specifically cited the folly of having a beloved ruler be followed by his mad tyrant of a son. Instead, Arkheran kings chose their next successor personally from non-relatives.
In theory, this is meant to discourage nepotism, however in practice, there are a select few minor noble families who are most likely to be contain the next king, owing to their tendency to send spare children to Deathsport (or indeed base their estate within Deathsport itself). These families are the following: Shearwater, Godspeak, Axol, and Boathis. These families are so ingrained in the system that though the electorate has run for over five hundred years, kings have only ever been human or elven, Princess Serella Senheil being the first 'spellbinder' heir to the throne (as well as the first female heir).
The King also chooses a Royal Advisor for himself, once again tending towards the 'favourite families', though occasionally this has changed up, with the Royal Advisor position rarely being taken up by common-born people, people of otherwise marginalised races like gnomes and orcs, and religious figures. There is also a small military elite force known as the Royal Guard, headed by a royally selected captain, a non-public spymaster position known as the 'Royal Looking Glass', and like most Arkheran noble houses, there is also a mandatory wisdom position, whose title is naturally 'Royal Wisdom'. Along with these major positions are numerous councilors for matters regarding running of Deathsport and smaller sections of the kingdom's day to day running.

Culture

The Royal Electorate often has a culture of acknowledging the innate rot and corruption of politics while endeavouring to reduce its impact as much as possible. While it does this in much the same way a sadistic masochist might; putting everyone else down to put themselves down, their attitude seems to revolve around the idea that their way may be flawed, but it's better than other forms of succession.
Historically, the Royal Electorate was founded upon the idea of the humble may rising above the haughty few, however as the electorate inevitably became a power shuffle between a few otherwise minor noble houses, it has often become a case of acting as the haughtiest putting the rest of the haughty to heel. This culture comes out especially in the numerous Boathis kings, whose supremacist leanings have led to race rebellions time and time again (to the point where the now mostly-extinct house is generally considered an undesirable source of future kings).
Oftentimes, princes selected by the king were mere actors who pretended to understand and sympathise with their king's motives and politics, only to completely overturn them upon their ascension. As such, there have been numerous shifts in the specifics of the Royal Electorate's priorities, often with patterns corresponding to the surname of the king. For example, historically Axols favoured unity through diplomacy, Shearwaters a balance of military threat, proof of good management and fair-minded discussion, and Boathises sheer dominance.
While in theory open to everyone, the royal court has historically been particularly averse to necromancers, owing to the electorate's origins overthrowing a necromantic feudal shogunate of sorts. Due to the conspiracy theories many have regarding the Abraxases and Senheils (who are officially spellbinders), there are concerns regarding the appointment of Princess Serella Senheil and Royal Advisor Quira Abraxas.

Public Agenda

Under Landon Shearwater, the current concerns the Royal Electorate hopes to address are the numerous tensions and feuds between noble families and the fragmented nature of Arkhera as a result, as well as the prevalence of organised crime within the nation. Hoping to lead by example, Landon has implemented stringent criminal law reform in Deathsport, cracking down on organised crime significantly, driving it (in some cases, literally) underground.

Assets

While the Kingdom of Arkhera has numerous resources, Deathsport itself is famously quite poor in resources ever since rapid urbanisation and the resultant sewage systems led to mass pollution and eutrophication of the seas. It used to have a healthy fishery, but nowadays fish is done better by the Divine Halls, farming is done better by the Flowerfields, and mineral deposits are done better by the Crystal Palace and its vassals. It has a middling supply of each of these, but ultimately, manpower and education/skilled labour is the only thing Deathsport has an abundance of, which in turn requires imports from most of the surrounding cities in order to be maintained.
Hence, Deathsport, and the Royal Electorate by extension, needs to keep its allies on-board, because angering the Kazaroses or Werenthoses could lead to a famine, while angering the Verawors could lead to a metal shortage.

History

0 AGA (After Garlan's Ascension): Garlan the Great founds the Royal Electorate as its first king, codifying the laws and expectations of the new, non-blood-related succession system.
55 AGA: Yal'miroen Boathis, Fourth King of Arkhera, decrees that spellbinders and necromancers will be held culpable for their ancestors' crimes, as will their seerish allies such as the Verawors. This leads to numerous racial attacks and decades of uncertainty from necromantic noble families, who militarise in response.
72 AGA: Angry at the discrimination and genocide, a necromantic-seer hybrid named Abraxas rebels with the backing of numerous necromantic houses and fails, leading to the extinction of the Houses of Soren and Wrathaek, and the surrender of the Houses Verawor and Khanas.
143 AGA: King Alton Godswater expresses a deep contrition for the persecution of the necromancers and spellbinders, officially stating that Abraxas was correct and pays all declared remnants of necromantic families affected reparations. Some saw this as a move to identify remaining scions to later exterminate, however, and never identified themselves.
499 AGA: A racially motivated massacre of necromancers in Deathsport that King Yal'gerar Boathis, refuses to condemn, drives Lord Eridius Abraxas to rebel in a campaign for true racial equality, backed by his brother Parthus. This goes on for a year before failing, and while the Abraxases are spared, their lord is a traumatised nine-year-old, Rhaeus.
541 AGA: A tragic incident befalls Deathsport where a clown, going insane from what appeared to be an abusive performance routine, burnt down the big top he was in, killing numerous parents and children at the performance. This would be remembered as 'the Cheegal Incident' and King Silas Godspeak would commemorate the event by keeping the square it was on clear save for a memorial epitaph with the names of the known dead.
548 AGA: Landon Shearwater ascends as King of Arkhera and immediately terminates the employment of the brilliant Royal Wisdom, Melancholy, for humanoid experimentation. He appoints Komekk Axol as his successor, and in a show of good faith to the downtrodden Abraxas family, appoints Lady Quira Abraxas as Royal Advisor.

Demography and Population

Humans (28%)
High Elves (26%)
Dark Elves (24%)
Orcs (14%)
Goblins (4%)
Gnomes (2%)
Spellbinders (1%)
Others (remaining 1%)

Territories

Deathsport (main city)
Scumwater Mouth (town)
Riverstwistle (town)
Dusty Brook (town)
Death's Lookout (town)
Spiderton (town)
Ternville (village)
Braxley (village)
Greenpond (village)
Other villages in the southeastern part of the Plains of Death

Religion

Arkheran Pantheism
Madaki Renewalism
Elarondian Eternalism
Riversong Daemonism
The Old Four

Justice and Fairness

Founding Date

0 AGA (day of Garlan's Ascension)

Type

Political, Faction / Party

Alternative Names

The Royal Electorate
Royal Court
The Crown

Leader

Landon Shearwater

Leader Title

King

Power Structure

Dependent territory

Economic System

Market economy

Major Exports

Magitech
Weaponry
Trained Guards/Soldiers
Shellfish
Dye

Major Imports

Fruit
Vegetables
Grains
Fish
Iron
Semiprecious Stones
Wood

Legislative Body

King Landon Shearwater
Royal Advisor Quira Abraxas

Judicial Body

King Landon Shearwater
Deathsport Body of Magistrates

Parent Organization

Elective Kingdom of Arkhera

Location

Deathsport

Official Languages

• Common Tongue

Related Ranks & Titles

• King

Notable Members

• Komekk Axol
• Landon Shearwater
• Quira Abraxas
• Robb Stagg
• Serella Senheil
• Tei Fel'thuz

Related Ethnicities

• Arkheran
• Elarondian
• Galdusian
• Jaranese
• Madaki