The Divine Mandate of Zaraphath

The Divine Mandate of Zaraphath is a theocratic, heavily religious and isolationist state in the south-east of the map.

## Provinces

The Divine Mandate currently resides in the first and foremost of its ancient ancestors homelands; Zaraphath itself. It is surrounded by ruins of its former ancestors ascended holy lands, such as Myral to the North, and others.

## National Organisation

The Divine Mandate of Zaraphath is divided up into Protectorates, which are semi-autonomous regions usually ruled by a single large city with smaller villages or forts dotted around them. Each Protectorate has a Governor-General, who oversees the protectorate and represents it in the advisors court. Governor generals are usually nobles or religious leaders who have been granted a position from great trust. Each Protectorate is divided into counties. Some have no counties, others have many. Counties have no regional or national power and are simply useful for dividing the land, between towns, villages, corporations, etc.

## Government Workings

The Government of the Divine Mandate of Zaraphath is a theocratic diarchy, with the Lord Protector acting as the authority on foreign affairs, diplomacy, and recruitment. The Arch Patriarch, in turn, acts as the religious and internal leader of the nation. The Lord Protector governs the nations external affairs and the Arch-Patriach ensures loyalty, within and outside the nation to the religion and state.

While the Governor-Generals are free to do as they please within reason to and with the nation, in reality the protectorates of the nation (autonamous provinces) are free to mostly manage their own affairs, with foreign diplomacy as the exception. Protectorates are in turn divided into smaller counties, which can be 1 of 3 classifications:

* County of a city or town
* Frontier county/march
* Special county

County of a city or town is straightforward, and is simply the local area of a town or city.

A frontier county or march is a harsh, wild or untamed part of the nation. They usually contain none if any human settlement, and usually their only duties are the maintence of infrastructure, shipping lanes, and forts if any are present within its durisdiction.

Finally, a special county is any county that doesn't fit into this: Sites of religious significance, for example, are the most common type.

Counties are ruled and controlled by the leader of its greater protectorate, or another Zaraphathian citizen, if the Governor-General wishes to delegate the duties and responsibilities to other trusted members of the protectorate.

#### Zaraphathian Advisory Council

While the protectorates and governor-generals do not have any direct power over the Lord Protector and Arch Patriarch, the governor generals do have the right to maintain a seat on the Advisory Council. Members of the advisory council are free to suggest and discuss ideas to the leaders, although that action is REQUIRED to be considered by the leaders, after its considered it doesnt need to be put into action. The Advisory Council essentially acts as an advisory senate. In times of distress, or times of great unrest or uncertainty, the leaders of Zaraphath may activate the council fully, giving its members more autonomy and influence, to help restore unity and stability. Only one of the leaders need to consent to this to put it in effect. This has never been used, and its use is a very rare and unlikely event.

## Leadership

The Divine Mandate of Zaraphath is led by two leaders; The Lord Protector (Steppecist) and the Grand-Patriach, Squimghraif IXVII. The lord protector is the leader of the entire military, and is responsible for the defence of the nation, foreign diplomacy, and recruitment. The Grand Patriach oversees internal issues, such as allocation of funds and resources, building, colonisation, and recruiting new nations to the religion.

## Religion

The nation devoutly follows the teaching of the Grand Patriach, and is the founding member of the Scribes of the Sky. It worships the sky, and sees all land found underneath its gaze to be protected from evil and hardships. Temples are found in many towns, but the only prerequisite to worship its religon is to be under the great blue sky while praying.