The Lost Empire of Ortega
"When you look in the history books, you may notice a rather notable blank space before the Rhyliss Imperium rose and after the end of the elven Seladrame Empire. This is the Lost Empire, which you can find references to in other works but historical records seem to always avoid specifics. It is, of course, for the best - there are many things best left forgotten. Ortega was the source of many of those."
Structure
The rulership of Ortega was centralized into a council of mystics who were (ostensibly) among the most powerful and knowledgeable individuals within the ranks of the Ortegan mystics. The number was always fluctuating, but it was intentionally kept to an odd number to prevent ties from existing when matters were put to a vote. Other, lesser, mystics were given authority and responsibilities to keep the eight cities functioning and prevent outside forces from being a problem which would prevent research and development of magical secrets from happening.
As such the Councilors were considered the primary authority, with the eldest among them bearing the official title of "Venerable Councilor"; if any additional authority was needed, they were given a greater weight than other Councilors.
Underneath them were the accredited Mystics, who were those who had not been called upon to serve the council. This meant there were some Mystics who held considerable power who for political reasons were not invited to become Councilors, but for the most part Mystics were the authorities when a Councilor had not issued any commands or edicts.
Beneath Mystics were the Voices, who were more often than not magically gifted yet not possessing enough clout to break free for their own purposes. They were assigned by Mystics to deal with matters which either could not be handled directly, or did not interest the respective Mystic in the least to actively handle. Voices were severely limited in authority, as any Mystic could countermand any instructions regardless of whether they were the patron or not. As such, Voices usually were assigned tasks and responsibilities which would not truly bring anyone into conflict with other Mystics' interests.
And lastly, there were the Fellows. Fellows were drawn exclusively from the non-gifted population and had zero authority over anyone with magical talent. Their entire purpose was to keep the mundane population content and productive to prevent any major issues from forcing a Voice or Mystic from needing to intervene. Fellows who showed loyalty and some fashion of autonomy would be raised to become Voices, usually to govern swaths of territory which were not of interest to Mystics.
As such the Councilors were considered the primary authority, with the eldest among them bearing the official title of "Venerable Councilor"; if any additional authority was needed, they were given a greater weight than other Councilors.
Underneath them were the accredited Mystics, who were those who had not been called upon to serve the council. This meant there were some Mystics who held considerable power who for political reasons were not invited to become Councilors, but for the most part Mystics were the authorities when a Councilor had not issued any commands or edicts.
Beneath Mystics were the Voices, who were more often than not magically gifted yet not possessing enough clout to break free for their own purposes. They were assigned by Mystics to deal with matters which either could not be handled directly, or did not interest the respective Mystic in the least to actively handle. Voices were severely limited in authority, as any Mystic could countermand any instructions regardless of whether they were the patron or not. As such, Voices usually were assigned tasks and responsibilities which would not truly bring anyone into conflict with other Mystics' interests.
And lastly, there were the Fellows. Fellows were drawn exclusively from the non-gifted population and had zero authority over anyone with magical talent. Their entire purpose was to keep the mundane population content and productive to prevent any major issues from forcing a Voice or Mystic from needing to intervene. Fellows who showed loyalty and some fashion of autonomy would be raised to become Voices, usually to govern swaths of territory which were not of interest to Mystics.
Public Agenda
The Ortegan Mystics were always interested in pursuing the power of magic over the material world, and as such every policy and decision was geared towards keeping the magically-inclined from needing to set aside whatever research project was in mind to handle "mundane concerns".
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Demonym
Ortegan
Government System
Magocracy
Currency
- Orichalcum Tokens
- Gold, Silver, Electrum Coins
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