Bloody Circus

"Some part of me worries that the Bloody Circus as practiced by Eldermeare is the future. Not just of politics, I don't really care about that, but the future of warfare as well. They caper through the Bloody Circus as conquerors in days past have referred to total war. When hostilities break out, no shadow is safe, no food is unpoisoned, no family member is safe from use as leverage. They'll cut your supply lines, your purse strings, and your throat with the same knife. It would be admirable, if it wasn't so horrifying."
~Margrave Arronax Skinner, Elector of Cambreath

History

The nine greatest families of Eldermeare were responsible for its founding as a political entity. They came from the nine major settlements, though their distribution today is no longer so even, nor are any of the original families in places of prominence.

Execution

Each of the nine greatest families are recognized by the other eight. They reaffirm each family's charter every season. Once every other year, they also nominate one family to put up a member for the position of Elector of Eldermeare, a position known as "Baron." No family may vote for themselves to put up such a candidate, and the politicking is often the most intense for this position.
Waiting in the wings are other prominent or wealthy families. Each member of the Congress has at least a dozen such smaller families ready to pounce on their weakness, nipping away at their petty empires, and undercutting them socially. Such intrigue has its own dangers, of course, as any obvious consolidation of power will see the upstart family as the focus of the more powerful Congren. Consequentially, this results in a complex game of alliances, betrayals, and schemes. Ideally, the family to most successfully play the game will remain anonymous in their victories until the final blow to the Congren family, known as the Masterstroke.
It is said that the Bloody Circus has only two rules: To the victor goes the spoils, and woe to the vanquished.

Components and tools

Each Congren family has possession of a charter, which not only gives them authoritative political power but also serves as an incentive for rival families to never give up the chase. They are rumored to be powerful magical artifacts in their own right.

Participants

The most powerful family is the one from which the Baron hails, and possessing the rank is considered the highest goal of Eldermeare society.
The stepping stone to this highest honor is a seat on the Congress of Merchants. Families in this body are at the top of Eldermeare society, and are referred to as "Congren families." Sometimes, less flatteringly, they are called "attercop families."
In the wings, each Congren family has dozens of potential rivals seeking their seat. These minor aristocratic and mercantile families are known as "viperous families."

Observance

The culminations of the Bloody Circus are on the final day of each season, when rival viperous families make their case for why they should replace a Congren family. Throughout the season, they will have been jockeying for position and paying out bribes and propaganda as well as doing far less savory things. A simple majority of five families is required to replace a Congren seat.
Every two years, on the Ides of Midwinter, the Congren families hold a vote for the seat of the Baron. A complex web of calculation goes into each vote, and a positive vote does not actually necessarily mean direct support. No family may vote for a member of their own.