Stormwind House of Nobles

**Lord High Steward**
 **Council of Ministers**
 **Website**
 **Next Meeting**

The **Stormwind House of Nobles** is a body of men and women of noble birth from within the Kingdom of Stormwind who collectively form the governing body of the Kingdom under the direction of King Varian Wrynn. In the years before the First War the House of Nobles enjoyed a great degree of power and authority within the Kingdom of Azeroth, their powers of purse and the loyalty of their men at arms all serving as a check upon the King of Stormwind. In the aftermath of the Third War and the treasonous acts of several high ranking members of the peerage shortly after King Wrynn's disappearance, the House of Nobles' power was greatly diminished.

## Dates, Procedure, & Rules

### Schedule

At present, the House of Nobles meets once a month on the **second Saturday of every month.**

The next scheduled meeting of the House of Nobles is: Septemeber 12th, 35 AP.

### Voting Procedure

Any member of the Lords Temporal, the Lords Spiritual, or the Lords Royal may vote on any matter in the House of Nobles provided that they are physically present.

### Proposing Acts

Any member of the Lords Temporal may propose legislation or an act, but any such proposal must be filed in the docket twenty-four hours in advance of the meeting of the House to the Lord-Speaker, who in turn reserves the right to waive the requirement should a dire situation arise.

All votes cast by the House of Nobles are filed as one of three types of laws:

* Laws of Resolution - Require a simple majority to pass. Typically concern matters such as confirming diplomats, electing Council Ministers, and passing minor legislation.
* Laws of Governance - Require a 2/3 majority vote to pass. Typically concerns matters of major legislative importance, declarations of war, and impeachment.
* Laws of the Realm - Require a unanimous of the House vote to pass. Reserved for dire or highly controversial decisions, and almost exclusively involves issues regarding the Great Charter.

#### Sample Motions

Any member of the House of Nobles may raise a *motion* at any time*.* Motions may involve almost any matter, and do not need to be submitted to the docket before the convening of the House. Some examples of a motion are:

* Motion to Reconsider - Sends proposed act on the docket to the Lord-Speaker for further investigation until the next meeting of the House.
* Motion to Suppress - Silences another member of the House and allows for legislation to move to a vote.
* Motion to Amend - Allows a member to propose and potentially vote on amendments to a legislative act.
* Motion to Include - An attempt to add an item of consideration to the docket.

## Elections and Impeachment

In accordance to the republican traditions of Stormwind's nobility, the House of Nobles exercises a certain limited degree of autonomy from the King of Stormwind. Every three months the House of Nobles convenes to elect from its number the Council of Ministers, who serve along with the Lord Speaker and Lord-High Steward as the chief functionaries of the realm.

### Elections for Council Ministers

Any member of the Lords Temporal may stand to be elected to the Council of Ministers. Once a candidacy is announced, that person need only achieve the majority of the votes cast in a particular election to take office. In the event that no candidate earns an outright majority of votes, the two most popular candidates will participate in a run-off.

### Impeachment

Such a Minister or member of the House of Nobles be found to have committed a crime involving the misuse or abuse of his influence or power of office within the House, he or she may be impeached by the House following a 2/3 vote. If the motion succeeds in garnering 2/3 of the present voting body, then the officer in question is formally indicted and must stand trial before an en banc proceeding of the House of Magistrates overseen by the Lord-Chancellor. Should the Lord-Chancellor be the impeached party, then the Lord-Speaker will appoint a temporary minister to the position.

## History

With the fall of Stormwind after the First War the House suffered major setbacks. Nearly all of the House's members had been exiled from their lands as a result of the orcish occupation and, upon returning to their holdings after the Second War, found that much of their power  had diminished. Having to rebuild their holdings and regain much of their lost wealth, their ability to influence practical government over the King's authority waned.

The House of Nobles did enjoy a brief surge in power, however, during the disappearance of King Varian Wrynn during a diplomatic mission to Theramore. With the King missing and the Prince Anduin Llane Wrynn still too young to effectively rule, the dragon Onyxia, disguised as the Lady Katrana Prestor was able to, in conjunction with the House of Nobles, effectively rule the Kingdom.

The elevated power of the House under Prestor, however, would prove to be short lived. When Marshal Reginald Windsor unveiled Prestor as the dragon Onyxia, the influence of the House of Nobles crumbled almost immediately. Already suspicious of the House after the revealing of Lord Gregor Lescovar as a traitor to the Defias Brotherhood, the image of the House was tattered and, with the return of King Varian, its power totally drained.

## Current Status

To date the House of Nobles, although still an important function of Stormwind's government, primarily operates in the background of the King of Stormwind. With confidence in the House at record lows and the presence of a strong absolutist monarch, the House is mostly relegated to the day to day bureaucratic functions of running Varian's vast Kingdom and the passage of basic laws.

Since the reopening of the Dark Portal, however, the House has experienced a resurgence of influence. With Stormwind's economy dominating within the Grand Alliance, the internal security of the homeland almost as great as it was before the First War, and the steady re-population of the realm, the nobility of the Kingdom of Stormwind has come to once again play a larger governing role.