Triumvirate

Description

The Triumvirate is the traditional leadership of the City of Whadi. It is composed of three Triumvirs (individuals) who hold equal and absolute power over the city. Decisions must be made unanimously and always in the interest of the city. The city is considered a living being and is more important than its individuals. Of course unhappy citizens is not in the interest of the city and has weight in the decision making process. They can (and almost always) appoint councillors who have specific tasks but absolutely no decision making power.

Political System

Roughly every five years, the leadership is revised and the leaders either stay in office or are replaced by a new trio. This process is simply called 'The Revision'. All three Triumvirs are selected independently but always represent the same three branches: Military, Economic and Logistic. Once selected all three leaders are put in a room for one month and must live in common cut from the rest of the world for that time. This ensures harmony, cooperation and communication for the triad. That ritual is called 'The Binding'. During that period the new Triumvirate must solve a dilemma imposed by the former Triumvirate. If they fail, the former Triumvirate stays in power for another five years. If a person has been a Triumvir, or was part of a failed Binding, they cannot represent themselves as candidate to 'The Revision' in the future. A failed Binding is therefore fatal to the political life of a candidate. This is a highly motivating restrictions, some candidate wait a very long time to present themselves, when they are almost sure to be selected. Triumvirs are always motivated to do the right thing. In extremely exceptional circumstances, a former Triumvirate (no longer in power) can request an early Revision.

The Revision (Selection process)

The process occurs roughly every five years, timed by the Desertic Monsoon. When the 5th Monsoon starts, the selection process of the Revision candidates is initiated. Selection of candidates is distinct for each arm and must end by the third sunny day. At sunset of the third sunny day, the three selected individuals have to start The Binding.

Military Candidate

The miliatry arm of the rulers is selected amongst the three most powerful warbands of the city. To determine which warbands are eligible, they are evaluated by the number of soldiers, the number of enemies killed and their military feats such as successful raids and invasions successfully repelled. The leaders of the top three Warbands fight each-other in multiple non-lethal combat rounds until the strongest leader is chosen.

Economic Candidate

The economic arm of the rulers is selected amongst the richest traders of whadi. There is a yearly census to count the richest (in coins) of each merchant and only merchants in the top ten richest of the last five years are eligible. These merchants must be living permanently in the city for at least ten years. The merchant who actually donates the most gold to the city is proclaimed the economic ruler, plain and simple.

Logistic Candidate

The logistics arm of the rulers is selected amongst the 'merchant fleet' (essentially pirates) of Whadi. They follow 'The Code' (historically known as the Code of the Pirates) and is essentially a mix of meritocracy and popularity contest amongst the elites of the fleet. Running a pirate crew is a lot of logistic and is very similar to the management of land supplies, they make great candidates. The code prescribes an election which is essentially all sailors of the fleet individually taking turns to take a shot of rhum from the candidate believed to be the best for the job. The candidate with the most empty barrels is the winner of the election.

Primary Roles

Tactical Triumvir

This leader has absolute power over the military of the city. They must ensure the protection of the city as well as all residents and visitors alike. The military are also the judges and executioners. Laws and major military actions are however dictated by the Triumvirate.

Commercial Triumvir

This leader has absolute power over the treasury and culture of the city. Any major decisions such as change in taxes and new holidays/monuments must be dictated by the Triumvirate.

Strategic Triumvir

This leader has absolute power over food supplies and urban planning, including the port and granaries of the city. Almost no produce is grown locally, everything must be fished or imported.

Secondary Roles

Mayor

The mayor is appointed to represent the people. Citizens are not allowed to interact with the Triumvirate, therefore if there are issues or bequests, they are submitted to the Mayor wich in turn presents them to the Triumvirate for decision making.

Prelate

This person is in charge of religious matters in the city, and allowed to interact directly with the Triumvirate. It is typically a follower of the Crocodile God, but sometimes is the great follower of Kelemvor or other major religion. That person is in charge of representing all religions, typically they have a council to help them in that task. Those administrative tasks are typically performed in the Holy Plaza.

History

Historically, before Whadi became a city, the settlement was lead by a group of warbands and merchants hanging together and that worked for a very long time. Following the ways of the tribes, when the rains ended, chieftains fought to assert dominance and the strongest became the formal leader of the settlement. Leaders then appointed a merchant to manage the economics of the settlement, and a captain, to manage the port. Each leader decided where they erected their center of operations, thus changing roughly every two years.

After a few years of particular chaos, this system clearly did not work; power needed to be stabilized, centralized and improved especially to react to crisis when time sensitive events occurred. The 'Triumvirate' (three leaders political system) model was kept but heavily modified to improve stability and efficiency. Permanent buildings in close proximity of each other were built on top of a hill forming Whadi's Fort where all the city could be seen and ruled.