Suranthi High King

The High King of Suranth. Elected by the clan chiefs and the clergy, this individual will serve for life and upon their death, the Conclave of the Clans will be called and the great vote shall begin again, with each current clan chief being an option. Sir Kartheart's faithful, the High Priest, the Knight Commander of the Storm Lancers, along with First Captain of the Crusaders and the Inquisitor General of Kartheart's Witch-Hunters, along with the four current Arch-magi of the Magistrate Collegiate in Geata-Iarainn, and the Admiral of the Suranthi Navy are also part of this conference and vote. Fifteen votes. The vote is not taken just once however. The process is much more formal than that. This is to insure as little debate and disagreement at the results as can be managed. Unity is the goal.  

Qualifications

Be the current chief of one of the six great clans.

Requirements

You must give up your chiefdom, and your heir takes up the role. You then must swear a variety of oaths upon accepting the appointment before the grand halls of Sir Kartheart's cathedral in Geata-Iarainn, doing so before easily a few thousand citizens of the city (or even some pilgrims from far beyond come to witness the event), along with all those whom had to go through the process of selecting you, and you swear upon the holy texts to forget your last name. Not to give it up, no dwarf would do so, family is everything. However though you are still that dwarf, you give up the title your last name implies. You no longer are of the ruling family of your clan. You are High King Suranthi. You are as blood to ALL of Suranth's peoples. You swear these complex oaths in a ritual like scene, and do so in the eyes of your citizenry, your god, and your faith's chosen few whom have supreme duty within the clergy. You cannot retire or leave this position. Should you accept it you are stuck until you die. The only moment you may refuse is during the ritualistic oaths, near the beginning, when the High Priest of Sir Kartheart solemnly asks you, the dwarf whom has received the vote of confidence from his peers, "Can you, (insert full name), give us any reason that you should not be granted this position, and take the mantle of this responsibility? Anything that you believe makes you unable to honor the station, and commit to becoming High King (insert first name) Suranthi, responsible for us all, regardless of clan, and our homeland?"

Appointment

When the time comes, all six clan chiefs are potential candidates, though they may if they so choose, step down upon arrival to Geata-Iarainn (yes they must show up. In person.) Even if a chief steps out of the running, all six chiefs must still vote, along with the others. However this is not done in one vote. Instead these fifteen officials bar themselves in the council chambers of Armúr an Cheartais. Within the council chambers, the debate and discussions of the merits and cons of each potential candidate only briefly stop to eat, sleep, and relieve themselves during the days (food and drink brought to them, facilities are adjacent and accessible). Each chief is given a day, to argue their case and merits, and for the others to discuss these, ask questions, along with note and discuss perceived cons to the candidate. This is all done with the person in question involved in the discussion, and despite what one may think, so far as is known, for the most part such discussions, even when discussing cons or criticisms of a candidate remain manageably civil. On the seventh day the vote is cast. A servant offers each person six tokens, insuring no one can see the voter's choice in question. They must select one. This servant has these tokens in a locked box, and the votes are cast one at a time in a closed side office. These six tokens, fifteen of each, are marked with the coat of arms of each of the six clans. This is how the vote is kept secret. After each vote, the servant discards the five tokens remaining into a big box to be sorted through later and goes and pulls one token from six predetermined boxes and laying them out. A priest observes the vote but touches nothing. The servant moves around with practiced ease, for they will have been trained for this, but they will be blind. Not blindfolded, but physically blind, to insure they cannot alter or influence the vote. The priest observing merely insures that each voter only is putting one token into the bowl.

However this is the first vote. For anyone to win they must have ten of the fifteen votes. So after the vote is done, any candidates who receive no votes are taken out of the running, along with the candidate who got the least votes. On average this first round likely removes one or two of the six candidates. Thus another round of debate and questioning, one day for each candidate left, and another vote. Rinse and repeat until one candidate stands at ten votes. This does not necessarily require any candidates to be eliminated you may have noticed, but if all six are in the running, you would assume they each vote for themselves, so unless the other nine of the Conclave all vote for the same person, it is highly unlikely you would have a winner after the first round of voting.

Duties

To protect and care for the peoples of Suranth. To attempt to lead and guide policy to benefit, enrich and enlighten the Suranthi peoples.

Responsibilities

You are the High King of Suranth. You are the ultimate decider. You need to give clearance for all manners of the state, and must be well informed, and listen to your advisors and the news of your nation and the continent. You are the one working on the largest scale, and have to delegate/assign more localized matters through the noble families and protectorates lords, officials and town mayors and the like. You are more directly responsible for trade agreements, for appointing diplomats, military officers, and many others. You dictate policy, behavior, and even responses to direct communication, requests or threats from outside forces. As High King, without your guidance and permissions, none of this complex machinery can move. You also stand with the power beyond your military or diplomats and the like. For you (The High King you, not you on the personal level. No allegiance is given or owed to the individual, but to the office) hold loyalty, and complete and utter command of the Wave-Runners, the clandestine intelligence apparatus that hold in the shadows and troubleshoot directly and only for the High King. The High King does not know them, and in truth, no one does. No one knows whom commands them, who the head intelligence officer within Suranth is. But sometime after the appointment, though no High King has ever been introduced or approached twice in the same way or same time. Who was in command of this clandestine apparatus when the current High King was elected? No one truly knows. Tradition it would seem (though the historical evidence now is highly limited after the Sundering) is that the High King takes this secret to the grave and has no sway in whom from within the apparatus is appointed to run it should the leadership become...vacant (dwarves life a long time so unless the leader happens to be a dwarf or an elf at the time, this likely, one has to assume, would occur). However the High King is seen as the true head of the Wave-Runners, so it would seem, at least. No one is ever seen in person, but on various mornings, a sheaf of documents and reports will be waiting for the High King on the throne, with no one able to explain how they'd gotten there. And the High King will leave sealed letters in unassuming and strange places within Castle Valor on occasion, though in no pattern or predictable nature. Sometimes this will be done four times in the same night. Servants know better than to touch them, guards are stationed at each location to watch them, and told not to touch them under pain of death. And indeed, execution is the punishment, and has happened exactly once, a young and curious guard whom foolishly let his curiosity get the better of him. No one saw the killing blow, but as he tried to read the letter, his throat was slit, his partner seeing the bloody line appear. Panic, alarms, and all else, but after all the cleanup is said and done, the letter was gone. This story spread and now these letters are watched over by the guards as ordered, until they disappear before their very eyes. But no one in the Castle has any thought, seemingly, of touching such letters now. In fact servants openly backtrack their path in fear if they see such an envelope being guarded on the route they were taking, risking delaying completion of whatever task they were ordered to complete, and the trouble that may get them in, rather than go anywhere near such an envelope.

Benefits

Money of course, along with power and political sway. You are the High King of Suranth, and as such, you are the top of the pile within the Nation-State as it were.

Accoutrements & Equipment

There is but one true badge of office as it were. The High King may dress as he likes, and though he must take on the dual crossed axes onto his heraldry (as does his clan often, more out of appreciation for the honor, though he is no longer their chieftan), he may keep his own (as Cormac has with the tower on his). The only badge of office, the Frozen Crown. This simple ring of whitened iron with six prongs, each with a simple crystal that corresponds to each of the six great clans. the bleached look is that almost of ivory, but the ferric nature is obvious in the prongs, the iron there unpolished, allowed to exist in its natural state. The crown is thought to be a rune-crafted item by the citizenry, and many think it likely allows some sort of connection between the High King and the Wave-Runners. Others believe there are protective runic enchantments upon it to defend the High King. However none truly know and if the High King learned upon wearing the crown, he has said nothing. Even the clergy is tight-lipped about it, even though they are the ones entrusted to hold the crown after the death of a High King until the appointment of the next. However no records exist to provide this information, and no High King has yet died since the Sundering and reclamation, though given he is currently in his fifth century, it is believed that High King Cormac is not long for this life now.

Grounds for Removal/Dismissal

Dismissal such as it would need to be....well that is assumed to have never happened in Suranthi history, though no one truly can say for certain. One is, so far as is known currently, only truly removed from office as it were, by death.

History

Many but the one that is still to this day a big deal to the peoples of Suranth, and has been a major part of the Suranthi peoples general approval and appreciation of their High King over the centuries, was the shrewd maneuvering diplomatically to get Suranth on the NPA and the associated treaties and trade agreements, securing the nation-state a position of strength and great influence in all of northern Valerick.

Cultural Significance

He is the figurehead of course, but also the lynchpin and the center cog of the Suranthi Government. He has the clandestine apparatus, at least so it would seem, and that alone makes him a highly important figure. Outside of Suranth, he is seen as the country diplomatically for the point of discussions. You address your formal diplomatic communications to 'The High King' even when having more formal introductory talks to a diplomat, before you can move from these necessary formalities to talk and negotiate openly. Protocol and formality must be observed of course.

Notable Holders

The current High King Cormac Ironcliffe Suranthi.

Type

Civic, Political

Status

It is very important, exceedingly so.

Creation

It is defined in the religious texts of Sir Kartheart's faith, and within the fragments of recovered artifacts by the six great clans thus far in their various archaeological expeditions.

Form of Address

M'lord, Yer Majesty, My King

Alternative Naming

Tundra Lord

Equates to

There are no true equal ranks in theory, though in reality the High King has his small circle of advisors; the six chosen by the great clans, the religious appointees, and his military officers. Though he outranks them all, a High King has the authority due to them. You can make a declaration, but it is up to these individuals and their actions and orders to their underlings to see your will exerted.

Source of Authority

Though the title is King, this dwarf (and it must be a dwarf/recognized honorary dwarf) is elected by a select council of fifteen important individuals in Suranthi Society.

Length of Term

Life, you have to serve for life.

Current Holders

• High King Cormac Ironcliffe

Reports directly to

Empress (or Emperor, but never again) of Valerick

Related Locations

• Geata-Iarainn

Related Organizations

• Suranth
• Cult of Sir Kartheart