> The ILH is a bit vague on intermediate rulership in Dara Happa (specfically where I'm interest in, Yuthuppa). You have the Red Emperor who is the son of the Red Moon Goddess but not of a mortal Dara Happan. Then you have the Satrap of First Blessed, who is appointed by the Red Emperor (and who could be (?), is (?), or isn't (?)) a Dara Happan?
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> Below this somewhere is the ruler of Yuthuppa. Is there anyone between him and the Satrap? What is the title of this ruler (of Yuthuppa or higher)? Do we have any names of current rulers?
It's a bit/lot more complicated than that.
The nominal ruler of Yuthuppa is the Overseer of Yuthuppa. He worships Yelm and reports directly to the Emperor of Dara Happa who is also the Red Emperor. He is however not the most important person in Yuthuppa as the Priesthoods of Dayzatar and Buserian are independent of his authority.
If asked to name the ruler of Yuthuppa, most Yuthuppans would think of the High Priest of Dayzatar, who dominates Yuthuppa as the Pope dominates Rome. He confines himself mostly to stellar affairs and rarely has thoughts about the mortal world.
In practice, the person with the most authority and the willingness to use it is the High Priest of Buserian. He functions like a Prime Minister or Vice-Chancellor of Yuthuppa and does the important work so that the High Priest of Dayzatar won't have to.
After him in precedence is the Overseer of Yuthuppa who represents Yelm and the Emperor. In addition to the Priesthood of Yelm, he governs the bits of Yuthuppa that aren't controlled by the priesthoods as well as all Esvulthil, the local Dara Happan province. This may seem to give him more power than the Priesthoods of Dayzatar and Buserian but what he rules is a lot less prestigious in Yuthuppan eyes.
Now who these people are is unknown. The Overseer of Yuthuppa was traditionally awarded to a close relative of the Emperor and is expected to be a Dara Happan in good standing (ie No Lunars). The High Priests are traditionally the seniormost priests of Buserian and Dayzatar within Yuthuppa.
So how do the Lunars rule? I think they appoint attaches, secretaries and liasons to the High Priest of Buserian and the Overseer of Yuthuppa (the High Priest of Dayzatar won't accept an attache but he can be safely ignored). These officials are usually worshippers of Irrippi Ontor (beacuse they can pass themselves of as Buserian worshippers) and perform discharge most of the adminstrative duties of their superiors after consultation with each other and the Satrap of First Blessed. The leading Lunar of Yuthuppa is a close blood relative of the Satrap of First Blessed and has some mundane title like Chief Secretary to the High Priest of Buserian.
--Peter Metcalfe
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