Marentia

Maps IV , V and IX . Island realm in the Inner Sea commonly referred to as Kartria. Kartria is the largest of the islands, but Geradia and Esduroy are also Marentian, as is another 6 inhabited islands. Formally, Marentia is a democracy, in which representatives of each region assemble to appoint the government, the Supreme Council. The Supreme Council in turn elect the head of state, the autarch. The local representatives are typically not elected, however, rather they are the local rulers, such as lords, governors and most numerously arch mages. About 98% of the seats in the Assembly belongs to the island of Kartria. At the election of Nimrod IV in 1102 all arch mages except one were representatives of Kartria. The towns Drezla and Sparkia, and the islands Geradia and Esduroy each are ruled by a governor. The Assembly convenes whenever new members of the Supreme Council are needed, roughly every five years. Allmost all members of the Supreme Council are arch mages, but this is not specified in the constitution, nor has it always been the case. Marentia has a very small army whose primary duty is internal, so it is more like a nationwide guard force than a regular army. The national defense relies heavily on the personal powers of the Supreme Council, especially the autarch. The navy is one of the strongest in the Inner Sea. Marentia is otherwise a feudal society, in which each region is ruled relatively independently by an arch mage, a lord or a governor. When the nation of Marentia was founded in 282, there was no head of state, only the Supreme Council. The title and authority of autarch was introduced with the inauguration of Nimrod I. Since that time, Marentia has been an elective monarchy with the exception that the 'king' must be a wizard. This exception was suspended during the Time of Kings, when men with little or no magic ability were regents. The Supreme Council continued to elect the kings, and at all times the majority of seats in the Council have been held by wizards. The foreign policy of Marentia can be divided into five periods: 1) The period 282-441, during which Marentia was isolationistic. 2) The period 441-656, a time of conquest and expansion (see the War of Wizardry), that ended with the Nomad Invasions. 3) The reign of Iktemar I 656-726. 4) The Time of Kings 726-878. 5) The period from 878 up to the present, during which time Marentia with the return of the autarchs have influenced its neighbors by offering help and advice (see Castanamir I and II). On occasion Marentia has used threats, but has not been forced to carry them through (but see the Sparkia Massacre).
=== Legal and Political System ===
Though there are many stations as explained in more detail below, in Marentia basically two kinds of persons exist, the initiated wizards and mere mortals (ordinary men without magic ability). Below the mere mortals rank the uninitiated wizards. Any attack from a mere mortal on a wizard is punishable by death. The crimes of the initiates are in principle judged by the Supreme Council, and only the "fates" may execute or attack them physically (see renegades). Kartria is divided into earldoms, which is divided into shires each ruled by a lord, and here the normal feudal conduct is adhered to (cf. the legal system of  Penboyn). Earldoms and manufacturing towns are ruled by arch mages, but they in turn may have vassal lords. Although there are few laws concerning this local government, Kartrian tradition preaches efficiency. This means that sometimes punishment or a fine is in order, but a ruler can occasionally sanction an act, such as a mutiny or the killing of a wife batterer, if he judges the new situation to be more conducive. The Kartrians initiates are taught to regard other men as tools needing regular maintenance. Most of all, they hate thieves, and anyone stealing repeatedly (typically three times) is punished by galley duty. If they do not row well enough they are thrown overboard. All non-initiates, even lords holding seats in the Assembly, are serfs in the sense that they cannot change residence or occupation without the permission of a wizard.
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==== The tiers of government ====
Each person in Marentia is supposedly classified and given a status. The classifications are: enemy, foreigner, infant, citizen, priest, initiate (meaning wizard), lord, Supreme Council member, and monarch (autarch or king). Though there is no legal distinction between the genders, a woman can only rarely rise above citizen station. The fates are an exception from this, as they are technically priests. Priests are also an exception in themselves to the rigid rank system, as certain conditions allows them to overrule those who would otherwise outrank them. Within each station there are numerous sub-classifications.
All lords are automatically a member of the Assembly. Currently there are around 200 lords, of whom roughly 180 are arch mages. The Assembly serves as the legislative body of Marentia, whereas the Supreme Council is the cabinet. The monarch rules by decrees. In principle, the constitution has some built-in checks and balances. The Assembly can declare the monarch unfit to rule, and the monarch can veto the Assembly. In practice, however, with few exceptions the Assembly is simply a rubber stamp serving the monarch.
==== The regions and the Assembly ====
Under Iktemar I it was established that any arch mage was entitled to part of Marentia to rule as his own. Such a part is typically called a shire. In 700 CC there were 67 arch mages. As the title arch mage was given to anyone with sufficient skill to potentially master the hardest spells, it was based on merit, not available land. At first, this was not considered a problem, as the shire would not be passed down unless the arch mage's offspring showed an equal talent for magic. However, the number of arch mages would rise steadily in the coming centuries. Before he died, Iktemar ordered a reform of the shires bringing their total to a hundred. In 758, Legemul decreed that an arch mage might have to start out as a junior lord in a given shire, co-ruling it with the lord already in residence, now called a senior lord. He also divided Kartria into six parts, the earldoms, and created accompanying titles. These earls would receive tithes from the shires within the earldoms and serve as administrators and moderators. In 782, Stevin made each junior lord in charge of establishing a small hub of industry, the so-called manufacturing towns. Instead of being junior lords, they would now be town masters. This was later modified somewhat, and in some shires there would be several manufacturing towns, or both such a town and a junior lord. In 985, there were 227 arch mages. With an additional 22 military (non-wizard) lords, the Assembly numbered 249. Since then, the number has declined to 179 arch mages in 1101.