Love it or hate it, politics informs how we live within a society. Now, the ‘Politics’ page outlines the hierarchy of how the nobility and ruling class fit into Shai’Khal.
Above: The power structure immediately surrounding the Shah. The Khanum, married to the Shah, is the second most powerful person in Shai’Khal. The triumvirate councils each confer directly with the Shah when the need arises. The Shahzade, heir to the throne, must earn the privilege to appear upon either the Vizier or Security Council.
The current hierarchy grew out of the Unification War, where the Great Prophet of Akhenios brought each other Shah to heel — hence the title Shahanshah, or Shah of Shahs. From four Shahs to only one. Each province is now governed by an Amir, who sends tribute by way of taxes, trade, and soldiers for the Royal Guard. Each city governor beneath the Amirs do the same. While imperfect, the system has held Shai’Khal united for nine hundred years of unbroken Madiaran Dynasty. A strong military, foreign and nomadic scapegoats, and a religious devotion to the royal bloodline of the Great Prophet have been the repeated secrets to Unification and Madiaran success.
Succession
Laws of inheritance differ between the common people and the noble. Commoners have a great deal of freedom when deciding which child will inherit whatever land or valuables they own. The nobility, on the other hand, have strict purity-of-blood laws to follow.
Heirs are firstborn, regardless of gender. Successive children inherit nothing, with the expectation they will find their own vocation or marry upward. A good marital match isn’t always the highest priority. Children with magical affinities are often spent to study within one of Shai’Khal’s sorcery schools. In turn, they’re expected to return periodically to their families to provide enchantments and security to the family estate.
Marriage is required to produce an heir, as bastards are extremely frowned upon for succession (particularly the higher the rank). While same-gender marriages have been acceptable for the common folk, it is only under Shah Merikh’s reign that they became acceptable within the nobility. A true-blood heir is required, meaning a child must be born of the higher ranking noble and a nuclear family member of their spouse — be it their sibling or parent if no sibling of the correct gender is born.
VIRGINITY, BASTARDS, & MARRIAGE
Virginity, for both men and women, is well prized within Shai’Khal. But it means something very different to each culture. The Umbeah and Tsukarai define it as ‘unspoiled by sexual conduct’. The Yahidah, born from their nomadic horseback riding culture, define it as ‘bearing no children’. After the Yahidah introduction to the Great Prophet’s bloodline, the culturally accepted definition became the Yahidah’s. While bastards are frowned upon, discreet lovers are often taken by the nobility before (and sometimes after) marriage. Too many lovers, or too many obvious affairs, are frowned upon (particularly for women) within all of Shai’Khal — not just the Umbeah and Tsukarai provinces. Sex without bearing children is somewhat mocked among the Yahidah, a sign of poor breeding and lacking virility.
Thank you for reading!
-L.J