Development Sneak Peek: CH 9 Previews & Empire Lore

Hi everyone, hope your week is going well!

There'll be minor spoilers due to small excerpts from the chapter today, as I have finally written enough to start posting the previews! They'll be mostly dialogue, no plot or character spoilers, but if you're super sensitive about that sort of thing I'd take care not to read the screenshots near the top of this post!

It's a very, very, VERY long post today because I literally just can't contain myself when I'm writing about worldbuilding and lore, so let's start off with the fun, lighthearted bits!

Chapter Previews

The opening scene has gone much better than I expected, and I'd love to share a few tidbits with you all! 

There are a lot of good interactions between characters in the opening scene, but one of the ones I enjoyed writing most was this one for R:

R is everything pure and good in this world.

Anyway, while the shitshow of the opening scene is happening, that doesn't mean that there isn't any time for levity. Even inappropriate levity! Allow X to demonstrate-

Thanks, X. Very helpful!

Arsur's Government

As promised in last week's Progress Report, this month's sneak peek is about what you can expect from the MC's routine as the Crown moving forward! In order to understand how the Crown rules, however, it's necessary to understand exactly what it is the Crown does. 

So, Arsur's system of government. In most respects, it is a monarchy with an empire that functions similar to how the Ancient Persian Empire used to function, specifically the Achaemenid Empire. 

The Achaemenids had a very sophisticated, centralized imperial bureaucracy, necessary due to the large amount of land governed by the king. The king can't be everywhere all at once, after all, so satraps were appointed to oversee the conquered vassal states, though the Achaemenids maintained a multicultural policy of allowing these states to keep their traditions, religions and customs so long as appropriate taxes and tithes were paid to the king.

The power of the empire was centralized in the king's court. This court typically was composed of the highest ranking officials and bureaucrats in the land, as well as representatives of the satrap to keep the king up to date on happenings within the various provinces of the empire.

For Arsur, the hierarchy is similar. I've envisioned the broadest lines as split between central hierarchy and provincial hierarchy:

1. The Crown
Supported by the Sorcerer, the Royal Protector, the General and the Cabinet Ministers of the Imperial Court that preside over different branches of government, all of which are appointed by the Crown. Other officials that may be present during court sessions would be the Imperial Treasurer, the Imperial Secretary, representatives of the Mîrs and Inspector Generals (more on the latter below).

2. The Mîrs
Below the Crown, on the provincial level, rank the Mîrs. They each have their own courts within their provinces. These courts work like the Crown's own does, and are similarly attended by officials that aid them in governing their province. Now, here's where the juicy bits of the hierarchy comes into play.

While the Mîrs rank second only to the Crown, there are officials (such as the Crown's Sorcerer, the Royal Protector, and the General) who answer solely to the Crown, but are otherwise not necessarily ranked above the Mîr. They cannot interfere with a Mîr's affairs, unless explicitly ordered to do so by the Crown. 

As such, the Mîrs (used to) have several constraints placed upon them to keep them in check. First, the Commanders of their Provincial Armies answer directly to the General, and as such, to the Crown. This way there is a separation between civil and military administration, minimizing the risks of possible revolt.

Second, the Mîr's court is also attended by the Eyes of the Crown and the Ears of the Crown, both appointed by the central government and the Crown themselves.

The Eyes of the Crown can be considered a "state attorney" in legal matters in the Mîr's court, to ensure they're not overstepping their authority in making decisions. The Ears of the Crown is akin to an Inspector General of the state. They are representatives of the Crown who make periodic, unexpected visits to the Mîrs and their administrators, and report any corruption and mismanagement directly to the Crown.

However, with the Crown having been absent for the past 10 years, the positions of the Eyes and Ears of the Crown have gone unfilled, which means there hasn't been any oversight in the Mîrs' courts in a decade...

3. The Stewards
The stewards of the towns and cities in a province play a separate, particular role in government. The Council of Stewards, which represents the needs of their cities and towns to the Mîr, can bypass the Mîr and petition the Crown directly if they feel they are not being listened to. 

The stewards also aren't appointed by neither their Mîr nor the Crown; they are representatives appointed by their own communities. The capital cities, where the Mîr and/or Crown resides, are the only exceptions. Steward Welat, for example, was appointed by Mîr Behram to be an extension of his court, and not chosen by the citizens of Marabad.

As you can gather, the government of villages is (usually) much more democratic compared to the central or provincial government. Citizens vote communally on governing decisions; the stewardship is often a rotating role taken by different citizens, and the steward is accountable to their fellow citizens to guide the governing process responsibly. 

To help this process along, there are smaller councils within a town that preside over various matters concerning the town - such as a council for trade, a council for security, a council on religious matters - whose members also rotate regularly and are elected by their fellow citizens. The steward is similarly accountable to these various councils as well, and is expected to attend each council meeting.

During these council meetings the steward takes criticism from citizens on how to improve, and communities discuss and try to reach consensus on what action should be taken next. It's the steward's job to oversee these meetings and implement, together with the councils, whatever decisions are reached.

This is inspired very much by the real life Kurdish communes in Rojava, which is a modern government, but very much based on ideology and principles of communalism that I wanted to have present in the story. 

What does all this mean for the Crown?
Basically, it means that there are many, many messy court sessions in their near future. The administration of Arsur's Empire is in utter shambles, the Mîrs have gone without oversight for ten years, and there are many vacant positions on the Imperial Court that urgently need to be filled.

So, first order of the day: sort out your Imperial Court, ASAP!!!

For sources and more details on the real life inspirations for Arsur's government, you can find various articles and also a helpful YouTube video listed below!

That was all for this week. I hope you found the lore interesting! If not, well... I hope you enjoyed the previews at least lol

See you all next time! 💖

Sources

I don't think I'm allowed to share the PDFs freely, but if you message me in the patron channels of the AToC server, I can help you gain access to them if you're interested in reading them!

On Rojava
The Communes of Rojava: A Model in Societal Self Direction, A 40 minute video explaining the system of Kurdish communalism (also known as democratic confederalism) in the Rojava commune which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDnenjIdnnE  

Knapp, M., & Jongerden, J. (2016). Communal Democracy: The Social Contract and Confederalism in Rojava. Comparative Islamic Studies, 10(1), 87–109. https://doi.org/10.1558/cis.29642

Küçük, B., & Özselçuk, C. (2016). The Rojava Experience: Possibilities and Challenges of Building a Democratic Life. South Atlantic Quarterly, 115(1), 184–196. https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-3425013

On the Achaemenid Empire
Colburn, H. P. (2013). Connectivity and Communication in the Achaemenid Empire. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 56(1), 29–52. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685209-12341278

Farazmand, A. (1998). Administration of the Persian Achaemenid World-state Empire: implications for modern public administration. International Journal of Public Administration, 21(1), 25–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900699808525297

Tuplin, C. & Oxford Symposium on Coinage and Monetary History. (1987). The Administration of the Achaemenid Empire. In: Coinage and Administration in the Athenian and Persian Empires (9th edition). BAR Publishing.