The Coral Archipelago
(More to come)
Government
The Coral Archipelago is ruled by the Sea Lord, an elected dictator. He’s normally chosen based on promises of large public works and lavish festivals, funded mainly through tribute and plunder, sources of income that also provide the islands’ high standard of living without collecting taxes. This is an occasion for candidates to show that they can raise Coral to hitherto unknown degrees of wealth and prosperity. The Sea Lord is expected to be an administrator of such a high
standard that he can easily afford the public works and the festivals; keeping the basic finances running and the islands fed and defended is assumed to be the bare minimum. Each successful Sea Lord raises expectations a little higher.
The Sea Lord must be a martinet; it is his duty to keep the islands fed and defended, and in the worst cases, to decide who and where must be sacrificed for the greater good. When the Fair Folk attacked, it was the Sea Lord’s duty to decide where the lines of defense should be drawn, and which islands or Protectorates had to be stripped of defenders in order to save others.
The Sea Lord must appease the Realm while protecting Coral’s interests, must coordinate strategies to oppose Wavecrest’s barbaric expansion and bribery and must remain vigilant against the threats of Skullstone and the Fair Folk.
The Plutocrats
Each of the 23 islands in the archipelago contributes a representative to the Council of Plutocrats, who assist the Sea Lord. These representatives are elected from among the wealthiest inhabitants of each island; technically they are all equal, but in practice the representatives of the larger islands have more influence. Bribing plutocrats is an accepted practice and a perfectly normal transaction.
The Council of Plutocrats has no actual power to pass laws, but advises the Sea Lord in all matters. Councilmen provide the information the Sea Lord uses to make all necessary decisions, coordinating their own spy networks, diplomats, sea captains, traders, petty gods in their debt and other sources of data. A plutocrat may shade information in order to promote his own island’s interests, but may not lie or conceal information that damages Coral’s interests as a whole. Plutocrats have unparalleled opportunities to enrich themselves and expand their power base, but must ultimately serve
Coral rather than themselves, or face financial ruin and execution.
The Coral Protectorates
Over the centuries, the Protectorates have expanded, and Coral has also claimed other small islands within its reach in all directions. The Protectorates don’t have voting rights in the Sea Lord’s election, or any formal representation, though they can bribe plutocrats. The leader of each island is free to govern as he wishes, as long as the island pays Coral’s tribute.
Open treaties with “the enemies of Coral” (in practice Wavecrest, the Fair Folk and hostile pelagothrope tribes) are forbidden, but under-the-table deals are common, and some Protectorate islands are nests of barbarism, ancestor-worship or dream-eaten slaves. When these are found, Coral roots them out with its convict battalions; if necessary, every man and boy on a turncoat island is put to the sword.
Of note...
While the islands of the Protectorate are many and varied in their arrangements, the nation of Coral is one of the few intensely patriarchal nations in Creation.
The Coral Archipelago is also one of the few areas of the West with an extensive Guild presence.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:05, Sat 10 Apr 2021.
