Political order in the Weslanan

The political order in the Weslanan

The Weslanan all have the same structure when it comes to politics. The structure comes from the time of the United Empires, only after the Independence War, the Weslanan do not have kings and emperors above them. They do not despise royalty, but they do not like the emperor of Daleth. None of the rulers of the Weslanan has proclaimed him/herself king, because “when a true king rises, we will bow for him”.

The counts (Ciniz, Gronbrunlar, Scholvan) dukes (Tarnov, Lameirvar) and lords (Unvar, Vimeir, Dohn) of the countries of the Weslanan are the sovereign rulers of their land. They do get together at least twice a year, and more often if necessary. In these meetings, they discuss matters of international influence. In these meetings, the most important place at the table is kept free for the king that is not yet there.

These rulers have a personal guard, the knights. In older times, these were knights who came from the army, nowadays the knights are men and women who did something special for the country.
The ruler is also the head of the army, in name. High-commanders are the true rulers of the army; they should obey the orders of their count, duke or lord - but in war, they have mostly their own responsibility. The high-commander is chosen from the commanders of the army; usually this person has shown special abilities that makes him or her an outstanding commander. The army is in times of peace foremost responsible for the guarding of the borders.
The rulers of the country do have their own housemasters, the seneschals. These seneschals keep the palaces and castles running and take care of everything in the household of their masters. The seneschal is the head of the Guards.

Daily life is controlled by the kindins. The city-kindins rule in the cities, the field-kindins on the fields and the villages. They both have to obey to their ruler, but both have a large amount of helpers.
The city-kindins is head of the city council and bailiff(s); the field-kindins is also head of bailiff(s). The city council (with various members, depending on the country and/or the city) consist of members that are chosen by the guilds. The members should use their own talents to inform and consult the kindins, so that the kindins gets the information from the specialists.
The city council and the bailiffs are head of a large array of specialised constables: for the fields, the city (day and night), the forests, the mountains. These are the people who should keep an eye on the well-behaving of citizens. They also inform their chiefs about the state of the country.

To make communication more easy, messengers are also in the state service.

There is also a system for law and order. There are at least three judges in a country. In matters of crime, all three judges should condemn the criminal. In other cases, two will be sufficient.
The rulers and the judges communicate through counsellors. These work for both sides. The ruler can never directly tell the judge what to do. The ruler can change the law though; but that rarely happens.
The laws are made by the kurlors. The kurlors are informed by the kindins and the judges. The kurlors have the responsibility for the justice in the laws. The laws should be signed by the ruler before the law comes valid.

In theory, the rulers have many powers, in practice, they gave away much of these powers to the judges, the high-commanders and the kindins. This was necessary since the reigning of the countries became to complicated to do for one person. In some countries (Vimeir) the rulers have not given away many powers, and rule more or less as a demagog. In other countries (Ciniz, Lameirvar), the ruler can lay back and watch the country flourish.