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#1 yellowdingo Aug 28, 2009 6:16:20

Authority in a Points of Light oriented Campaign Setting  MONARCHICAL ABSOLUTISM. The King or independent Chief enjoys absolute power. EMINENT DOMAIN. All land, Livestock, and Game are the property of the monarch providing a right to income. DIVINE AUTHORITY. The Ruler is a divine power or has access to divine Power. RITUAL ISOLATION. The Monarch resides in physical isolation with a few attendants to do the Monarchs Bidding. Meetings involve acts of isolation by curtains, designated speakers. INSIGNIA OF OFFICE. Royal status is displayed through symbolic regalia, CAPITAL TOWNS. The Monarch resides in a capital and new rulers establish a new capital or residence. ROYAL COURTS. The Monarch maintains a Court with assorted specialized staff. Pages, guards, chamberlains, etc. PROTOCOL. Behaviour in the presence almost universally requires conformity to a process of behaviour. Indirect Interaction, Gifts, Abject Prostration, etc. HAREMS. The ruler has a great many wives and or concubines. QUEENS. At most royal courts a queen mother, a queen consort, a Queen Sister enjoy prestige sometimes outranking the Monarch. They will likely have their own estates and enjoy some political authority. TERRITORIAL BUREACRACY. For Administrative purposes, the state is divided into administrative provinces with their own officials tasked with taxation and labour management. Such provinces will be subordinate to a central authority. MINISTERS. Located in the Capital they work as assistants to the Monarch in the central Bureaucracy. DUALITY OF ROLES. Ministers function in an assortment of areas of the bureaucracy. TITLES. Hereditary or Term of Service. SECURITY. Rivals for the throne are killed, imprisoned, or deported to maintain stability. ELECTORAL SUCCESSION. Though the Monarch designates an Heir, the final say is in the hands of ministers. PERIOD OF MOURNING. After the death of the Monarch. A period of social disorder occurs when candidates vie for power. HECATOMB. Funerary Rites for a Monarch include, acts of sacrifice, sometimes large scale slaughter.