The Lesser Chamber
Delegates to the Lesser Chamber of the Deliberative are selected by the Greater Chamber from patrician families, wealthy peasant merchants, and satrapial nobility. Dragon-Blooded patricians, outcastes, and cadet branch members are influential but rare.
The ideal delegate, in the Greater Chamber’s eyes, is pliable, wealthy, and useful to her betters; much horse-trading occurs between senators when a vacancy opens in the Lesser Chamber, each seeking to reward favorites with positions of power, or keep potential enemies under her watch. While the Greater Chamber elects delegates, only the Empress has the power to dismiss them.
Delegates elect a Master of the Lesser Chamber to oversee debate, a Scrupulous Monitor of the Will of the People to tally votes, and a Protector of the Debate to oversee the Guardians of the Deliberative protecting the Lesser Chamber. The current Master of the Lesser Chamber is Tide Lojan, daughter of a distinguished patrician family that’s enjoyed House Peleps’ patronage for decades.
Her mother, the indefatigable negotiator Tide Miren, once held the same post; Lojan trades aggressively on her mother’s accumulated favors — and her knowledge of where the bodies are buried. The Lesser Chamber can’t introduce motions, voting only on legislation passed down from the Greater Chamber.
The Master of the Lesser Chamber solemnly reads each motion, then opens debate. In theory, the Master controls the order of speakers; in practice, debate in the Lesser Chamber rapidly devolves into a shouting match. Any delegate may call for a vote on the motion at any point, although the Master and twothirds of the delegates must approve the request.
Once a vote is called, the motion passes and is sent on to the Empress — now the Regent — for consideration unless two-thirds of the Lesser Chamber votes against it. If the motion is defeated, it’s returned to the Greater Chamber in the form of a scroll bound with twined black and red ribbons.
Given the Greater Chamber’s control of appointments and the difficulty of voting down a motion, the Lesser Chamber might be expected to serve as a rubber stamp on the Greater Chamber.
But the Lesser Chamber’s delegates have little love for the Greater Chamber — and though the Greater Chamber fills their ranks, it has no power to dismiss them. Debates over legislation can be lengthy and contentious even if the proposed law isn’t particularly controversial, as delegates seize the opportunity to demonstrate skill at oratory and statesmanship.
Matters of overwhelming importance to the Realm might pass unobstructed, and bribes from senators or interested houses can grease the wheels, but beyond that, the Lesser Chamber doesn’t shrink from voting down the Greater Chamber’s proposals.
Parent Organization
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