Aca-Santerra political/social

Just a word of warning, Art. The religion of Aca-Santerra will be reworked later. Will have to update the general entry later.
Should this become an extra entry (I would suggest that) or merged into the general entry?

The political and social structure of Aca-Santerra is rather complex and very strong influenced by the military structure of the kingdom. The population is split up into seven fractions:

-The Royal Court consisting of the royal familiy with its leader the High-King and all noblemen and people related to the family and or working for them. Also the "High-Marshals", the rulers of the provinces are part of the Royal Court.

-The Nobility consisting of all noble families ruling the lands. They're split up into two groups: The "Sealords" and the "Griffonlords". Both sides are responsible for different military sections(for the navy and for the army) and are responsible for the upkeep of a certain army unit. Also the nobility are members of the "Kuritas" the senater of their province and thus are a major part of the government.

-The Knights(the Frathra) are given land and or industry from the King to supply their military expenses as mounted soldiers and thus form a loyal group of elite warriors that is totally loyal to king and country. When spread among the lands wisely by the King and the High-Marshals they often have major influence on the nobility. In later times they form a completely independant group of people that are part of councils that control the decisions of their local lord.

-Landowners are free farmers that pay a tax to the local lord who therefore guarantees them a certain amount of land and protection. Most of them are relatively prosperous and independant but as the citizens they've no major political influence but guaranteed rights.

-Citizens are like the landowners free people with property but they live in the cities of the country. They often have stores or industries and so are rather prosperous as well. Their only political influence is their economical strength and organized in guilds have at least some influence on their leaders.

-Free people are the ones who have no property on their own but enough income to stay free. They are mainly workers or small merchants. The rate of free people is rather fluctuating as 'Free' people can become 'unfree' or 'Unfree' can become 'Free' again.

-The Unfree are those that have no money and no property. They have to work for citizens, landowners and noblemen for food and shelter and have to pay a certain depths before they become 'Free' again. Paying this depths can take some generations. You can become 'unfree' when having depths, no work, you comitted a crime or you're freed from slavery.

-The Slaves are mainly prisoners either criminals or captured in war. They have no rights, get no money for their work and are owned by someone. However, you can be only slave for 30 years and then you'll become 'unfree' or when you're a war prisoner even 'free' your children are automazically 'unfree' and then according to the rules can become 'free'.
Despite the fact that in the mining camps and stone pits hardly anyone survives 30 years this regulations has prevented Aca-Santerra from becoming a slave-state like Korwein or Anis-Anpagan whose economy heavily depends on the constant gain of new 'slave markets'.

Based on this fundamental social structure which heavily influenced by the Santerran military organization the political institutions of the High Kingdom were erected. They're rather complex and explaining them in detail would take pages over pages of study but the most important organs of Power which influence the Fate of the "Highkingdom of Aca-Santerra" are:

The High King and his Royal Court are the highest Constitution of the Kingdom. The King is the political and military Supreme Leader as well as the highest earthern Court of Aca-Santerra. In his hands lie the responsibilty for Foreign affairs as well as the most general guidelines for the leaders of the provinces. To keep close control of the provinces the Highking as well as the Royal Court is always travelling from province to province using a widespread system of messengers to keep track of the events elsewhere in the world. Its main palace however and center of all organization is Altyr the capital of Aca-Santerra since "Jelim the Great".

The leaders of the provinces are called Treshanti and are directly appointed by the king. They're often also called the "High-Marshalls" as they're the leader of their own garrison meant to provide protection and defense for their province. They directly rule the different provinces only supervised by the Kuritas the senate of the local nobility. They're also members of the Royal Couert to guarantee loyality towards the king. They appoint the officials, the judges and the prefects of their country.

The Kuritas is the institution of the nobility. They can debate on any issue they think important and have a Veto on any decision made by the "Treshanti" ruling their province. They also are responsible to provide a certain amount of military capabilities(the Sealords in ships and sailors, the Griffonlords in troops) that is needed to keep up a constant military standard to 'fend off Korwein and other powers and keep what Aca-Santerra has gained. The noblemen themselves are also the rulers of their districts but their authority is ranked below that of the "Treshanti" and their officials.

The Frathra are Elitewarriors of armored knights and therefore need enough income to maintain their equipment. They're loyal to the king and an important factor in his neverending task to keep control of the local noblemen. Therefore he forces every noblemen to 'house' (give him lands and income) a certain amount of Knights on his ground who also get privileges that make it hard for the nobility to control or even buy them. The Frathra often form Councils or even whole Orders who debate on every decision made by the nobleman and even force him to obey to their Veto if neccessary. Although the Frathra is highly loyal to the King they also see themselves as the "Representatives of the Common" which have only minor influence in the cities due to Guilds and their economical strength but only little influence in the rural regions of Aca-Santerra. This often makes the Frathra to highly respected personalities among the people, a goal the nobility as well as the Royal Court often only achieve due to their Power and Wealth.

<< End of possible entry!>>
Hmmm... think that are the most important things. Hope it gets clearer when Religion and Military are done. They're a really complex and sometimes annoying society!

Koldar Mondrakken, Knight of the Moonlight

Edited by: Koldar Mondrakken at: 7/28/01 1:31:17 pm