Political System

Fortitude is an independent City-State located in the Free Realms, a collection of city states located in the east coast of Olira.

Fortitude is an elective monarchy, controlled by a oligarchy, with each monarch ruling until death. A new Monarch is elected by the heads of the 5 ruling families in Fortitude, collectively know as the Council of Five.

The criteria for a new Monarch is quite strict. To be eligible the individual:

* Must be Male
* cannot hold any current political office or position
* must not be a member of any of the 5 ruling families
* can only be Human, Halfling or Orcish (previously Dwarven and Elven monarchs were eligible, but their extended life expectancy allowed them too long of a ruling period. The last elven ruler caused unrest in their second century of rule, as they began to push for a reduction of powers for the oligarch families. Their subsequent assassination resulted in a decade of unrest and riots, and the overthrowing of 2 of the major families)
* Must be past their 40th year if human or Orcish, or past their 90th year if Halfling
* Must not have any living offspring

When a new Monarch is elected, they swear fealty to the Council of Five, and are sterilised as part of their coronation, to ensure there is no chance of hereditary succession. Once elected they receive the title of "Lord of Fortitude".

**Powers of the Lord of Fortitude**

The Lord of Fortitude has very little direct decision making power. All major policy decisions must be approved by a majority vote from the Council of Five, with any day to day decision making handled by the Imperial Court. Only personal disputes fall under the jurisdiction of the Lord of Fortitude, resulting in a majority of their time being split between attending events and making official appearances, and running open dispute sessions, where those that feel that they have been wrong in anyway may present their case directly to the lord. If however a party in any of these disputes has any relation or association to any of the major families of Fortitude, the Lord is politically obligated to side with one of the houses. Due to these, only petty disputes are commonly brought forward.

The Lord of Fortitude additionally has political discretion to bring a major policy decision to a public vote, circumventing the Council of Five. The policy is presented to all citizen of Fortitude over the period of a month, cumulating in a free day of voting, where over a 24 hour period all citizens may spend time traveling to Upper Fortitude to cast their vote. The vote is politically binding, the new policy is effective a month after voting day, and cannot be removed or overruled by the Council of Five for a minimum of half a millennia. Only another public vote may overrule it within this time period.

This is an incredibly rare occurrence, as doing so without any political backing from any of the major houses usually results in the assassination of the Lord. When it does happen it is seen usually as a power play from one of the families, a brazen attempt from a powerful family that does not currently sit on the council to sway power their way and usurp a council seat, or outright dissidence from the Lord of Fortitude. Even if the Lord is assassinated before the vote is held, it is still legally binding, and some major worker protections and civil rights policy has stemmed from the Lord of Fortitude sacrificing themselves for political change.