The 9 Families
The 9 Families rule over a large swath of land encompassing their 9 cantons.
Each Family has a patriarch or matriarch which is determined by each house individually and represents the house in the general assembly.
Most 9 families politics is relatively deadlocked and not much gets done because 6 of the 9 families must vote for a law or provision for it to generally pass. There are some exceptions to this, like war which only needs a 5 of 9 majority.
The 9 families as a whole is less of a government and more of a series of treaties and agreements so tightly bound that they may as well be a government (similar to the EU).
Each of the Families runs their canton individually, and is only subject to the other 8 in the very few laws that have ever managed to be passed.
The families control land surrounding the basin of ________ and the assembly meets on the small island in the center of the basin. The patriarchs and matriarchs of each family also live on the island in their own enclave. Ostensibly this is to further communication between the families, but it's practical purpose is to give each family leverage over the others in terms of their leaders.
The enclaves are guarded by the only "national" military, the Blue Guard. They swear allegiance to no house and are accepted at birth so that they have no house sensibilities. While the Blue Guard has immense power over the families in that they watch over each leader, they are so small as to be able to be wiped out by the military of any individual family.
The 9 families are the remnant of the "House Wars", a conflict which took the several dozen polities of the region and condensed them under 9 family banners.
Structure
Each of the 9 families has a patriarch or matriarch which is determined by each house individually and represents the house in the general assembly.
Culture
The 9 families like to think of themselves as deserving of independence. Many of them rose to power during the house wars, while a few brutally fought off internal and external threats to maintain their dominance. In either case, the culture within the leading families is one of superiority. The culture within the lower families, at least at the moment, has an undercurrent of resentment towards their overlords. There are still many grudges being held from the wars, and some are less willing to forgive and forget than others.
Public Agenda
The survival and stabilization of the member families.
Stronger together
Founding Date
746 Post-L
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Capital
Alternative Names
The families, The Assembly, The 9, The sea cities
Demonym
You don't identify as being from the 9, you identify as being from a particular house, which everyone knows is one of the 9 or subservient to one of the 9.
Government System
Oligarchy
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Mixed economy
Legislative Body
The 9 patriarchs/matriarchs
Judicial Body
The 9 patriarchs/matriarchs
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
