> There are written tests to become a Mandarin,
The writing that the Mandarins must understand is draconic writing, not human writing.
More importantly I think seeing the Kralori government as a civil service is a bit misleading. There are elements of the civil service there and they are most prominent in the cities but they are really only one part.
Each Emperor has bequeathed their own style of followers to bless Kralorela. They can be summed up as:
Metsyla: What they see themselves as: The keepers of the oldest and wisest sagely tradition.
What others see them as: Irrelevant and out of touch.
Shavaya: What they see themselves as: The true teachers of civilization to the savage dragon people
What others see them as: Snobs.
Daruda: What they see themselves as: The keepers of Draconic Wisdom.
What others seem them as: Savage and unpredictable
shapeshifters.
Thalurzni: What they see themselves as: Learned sages in balance with the mystical currents of the cosmos.
What others see them as: Corrupt and depraved
androgynous sorcerors and assassins.
Mikaday: What they see themselves as: Wise and sagely officials ruling for the good of all (ie the Mandarins).
What others see them as: Pompous paper-shufflers
obsessed with minutae.
Sekever: What they see themselves as: Kralorela's worst nightmare!
What others see them as: Kralorela's worst nightmare!
Vayobi: What they see themselves as: Brave, valiant defenders of Kralorela.
What others seem them as: Brutal psychotic killers who
are more dangerous to Kralorela than the
people they fight.
Vashanti: What they see themselves as: Wise travellers who keep the
parts of Kralorela and the Cosmic Dragon in touch.
What others see them as: Homeless who bring foreign
ideas and devils in their wake. And they smell.
Yanoor: What they see themselves as: Noble scholars seeking to recover the lost teachings of Yanoor.
What others see them as: Sages without any teachings
who waste their time weeping about other
people not taking them seriously.
ShangHsa: What they see themselves as: The Immanent Masters who bring
draconic wisdom to all and not just an elite few.
What others see them as: Frauds and rabble-rousers.
Godunya: What they see themselves as: Builders of a new unity for Kralorela.
What others see them as: Wasters of vast fortunes
to build pointless bridges that nobody needs.
At the base of Kralorela governance is that every community feels to tithe a little something to a sage to bless and protect them. The local sage is usually attached to a school, hermitage or whatever that teaches his particular wisdom. These sagely institutions will be teach various types of magic be it sorcery, divine magic or whatever. There's no uniform Imperial Cult for a specific Emperor, the cults associated with an Emperor will differ widely among provinces.
The placement of these sagely institutions is a largely a product of mythology (When summoned by the Emperor, the Great Sage Tzu Chin slept here a night and saw the locals were blighted by their ignorance. He decided not to go to see the Emperor but remained here to teach...), history (the learned rocketeers fled here after Sheng Seleris sacked their first monastery) or heroic actions. The Emperors and Exarchs do have some latitude in establishing sagely institutions but they are much more likely to plug a gap rather than to provide universal coverage.
Because of their shared draconic heritage, most Sagely traditions are part of the Web of Righteous Knowledge and work in harmony. They can decide to trade some of their tithes with each other in return for favours so that a village that used to provide a few yams for the Darudist Sage must now provide thirty hours a week building a bridge. In charge of organizing the various tithes is the Exarch, who is usually chosen from among the wisest sages in a Province. The Emperor and the Imperial Bureacracy really co-ordinate between the provinces rather than govern them.
--Peter Metcalfe
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