Praeses

The position of Praeses (plural: Praesedes) refers to a regional governor, and dates back to the days of the Ancoran Emprie. It fell into disuse for centuries after the Fall, but has recently been revived in the republic of Kinilan following the Kinilan Revolution.

Imperial Praeses

In the days of the Ancoran Empire, a Praeses was a political position of considerable power. Appointed directly by the Emperor, those who held this title were responsible for large swathes of land, often populated by well over a million people. In these regions, they held ultimate authority to make decrees, interpret imperial law, set regional laws, and grant pardons. This absolute authority came with a catch: absolute responsibility. There was also a network of imperial spies responsible for auditing various aspects of governance in these regions, ensuring the regions met productivity targets (or had good reason not to) and that law, order and freedom were maintained. If these spies reported that a Praeses was proving incapable as a ruler, they would be given a warning with an offer to resign. If they stayed on and things did not improve, or the spies reported more deliberate abuses of power, the Praeses would face execution for their failure. On a handful of occasions, this led to civil war between a condemned Praeses supported by their regional security forces and the Imperial throne, but Imperial policy kept a large portion of their military power in the capital under direct Imperial control, keeping these civil wars short and discouraging others from following suit.
After the Fall, which destroyed the capital and the core of the Ancoran legions with it, many Praeses took the opportunity to declare themselves Emperor, or declare their region's independence.

Praesedes in Kinilan

After the Kinilan Revolution, a modified version of the old Ancoran system was proposed. A Praeses of Kinilan has far less power and control, having only the authority to make regional policy and to oversee the implementation of projects approved by the High Council.
However, as the Great War grew in scale, more and more military leaders were appointed Praeses, putting large sections of the country effectively under martial law. Furthermore, the Kinilani system lacks the ruthless system of keeping their Praesedes under control that was an essential component of the Ancoran model. This allowed the miltiary to gain an absolutely enormous amount of control over the country, though since the end of the war, the High Queen and her council have begun to push back - and with public support (including that of many of the soldiers making up the lower ranks of the military) firmly on the side of Queen and Council, the military still plays the political game rather than launching an open rebellion.