Esrolian Government
Grandmothers
The title ?Grandmother? refers to the head of an Esrolian matrilineal
family or clan. The Grandmother has absolute authority over the
members of her family. She can approve or reject marriage, dispose of
the personal property of the members, even sell family members into
slavery or exile them. Among the members of the family, the
Grandmother?s word is absolute and final.
Although the Grandmother?s word is absolute within her family,
disputes between families, cities and foreigners are resolved by the
Grandmother?s Council. The Council has existed in one form or another
since before the Dawn, although new families have been added, old ones
died off, new ways to worship and so on. Stubbornly conservative, the
Council successfully resisted Belintar?s efforts to reform it and it
remains the real ruler of Esrolia and not Belintar?s Governors and
Deputies.
As it is currently constituted, the Council is composed of all the
clan Grandmothers ? some 200 or more ? accompanied by their family
advisors. Even the Queens of the cities and the cult leaders
acknowledge the authority of their Grandmother. They gather for two to
six weeks a year at a location that rotates according to a route
established by tradition. The Council reaches decision by consensus
and not majority rule ? members can vote Yes, No, Abstain or Refuse.
If any Grandmother votes to Refuse a decision, the Council must
continue to debate the issue. As a result, the meetings of the Council
are often described as tedious and everlasting. Esrolian men are glad
they don?t have to attend.
The Grandmothers? Council is tenaciously conservative. Any Grandmother
or faction that increases its status or power will find itself on the
receiving end of a coalition of the other Grandmothers. There have
been many attempts to break or weaken the power of the Grandmothers?
Council, but all rebellions against the rule of the Grandmothers have
failed.
Esrolia is a matriarchy (?mothers? rule?) of the Grandmothers and not
a gynecocacy (?women rule?). Contrary to rumors, Esrolian men are not
?effeminate? or otherwise any less masculine than other Orlanthi men.
They are scared and intimidated by their Grandmothers, but then again,
so are most Esrolian women.
Queens and Cities
?Queen? is the title of the ruler of an Esrolian city. The Queen deals
with judgments, outsiders, and obtaining divine blessing for the city
and its inhabitants. The city Queen is not an absolute ruler of her
city (unlike the Grandmother of her family), but presides over the
council of the city. As is the Esrolian way, the city council reaches
decision by consensus. Nonetheless, the Queen of a city is a powerful
prize for any powerful Esrolian clan and the struggles over the
queenship of the more important cities can be intense.
There are many competing interests in the larger cities, which the
Queen and her council must try to reconcile. Some of these interests
have no official representative ? some (such as foreigners, scribes,
and mercenaries) are even led by men and not women. As a result, the
Queen and her council must closely oversee the city.
Esrolia has a large urban population ? some 100k in 1621. The ?queen
of Esrolian cities? is Nochet, the oldest and most populated city in
Esrolia. During the Middle Sea Empire, Nochet numbered at least
100,000 people. After the Closing and Dragonkill the population of
Nochet dropped to about 5,000. The arrival of the God-King was a
blessing to the city and its population soon grew to 20,000. However,
with the Opening of the Seas, Nochet has boomed, rapidly growing from
20,000 people to 100,000 in little more than a generation. Nochet now
has a significant Esvularing and Western Malkioni minority (perhaps as
many as 5,000 or more).
Issaries, Inc.
c/o Greg Stafford
1942 Shattuck AVe, #204
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
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