Rihsama Council of Scholars

Organization • Government (Meritocracy) • Headquarters: Nahrim

Role in Nahrim: The Council governs the nation of Rishama from Nahrim. Municipal authority over the capital itself is delegated to the Wali (currently Safiya al-Khazeen), while the Council focuses on national and international policy.

Quick Facts

Canon boundary: The Undying maintain major archives in Rishama but do not rule; formal cooperation agreements limit intelligence‑sharing to legal warrants and public scholarship.

Mandate

• Steward national law, budget, standards of scholarship, and inter‑state diplomacy.
• Charter and audit universities, archives, and academies (including magewright colleges and windwright guilds).
• Oversee strategic infrastructure (e.g., the elevated harbor & lock complex, wind‑lift code, postal and beacon networks).
• Negotiate treaties, tariffs, and extradition compacts; maintain permanent legations abroad.
• Maintain a strict separation between state policy and city governance (the Wali’s domain).

Jurisdiction & the Wali of Nahrim

The Council: national laws, foreign policy, national treasury, standards, and interprovincial disputes.
The Wali: municipal ordinances, harbor operations, lift scheduling, policing, sanitation, emergency response.
Joint Protocol: in disasters or siege, the Council may declare a Scholastic Emergency, seconding national engineers to the Wali while preserving civilian command.

Composition (The Nonet)

Each seat is tied to a portfolio; the Chair assigns working groups (“colleges”) as needed.

1. Presiding Scholar (Chair) — agenda, arbitration, external representation. (Currently Kelse Dogan.)
2. Collegium of Law & Records — codification, courts, evidence standards.
3. Collegium of Treasury & Trade — tariffs, coinage, merchant charters.
4. Collegium of Works & Windwrights — locks, bridges, wind‑lifts, public works.
5. Collegium of Arcana & Natural Philosophy — research ethics, arcane licensing.
6. Collegium of Education & Examinations — national exams, university charters.
7. Collegium of Health & Civic Welfare — clinics, plague codes, waterworks.
8. Collegium of Diplomacy & Legations — embassies, treaties, envoys.
9. Collegium of Signals & Security — military, beacons, couriers, counter‑sabotage (civilian).*

How Members Are Chosen

The Four Proofs (public, anonymized where possible):

• Proof of Mind — logic, jurisprudence, and policy modeling.
• Proof of Work — design or implement a fix for a real civic bottleneck within 33 days.
• Proof of Word — write and defend a paper before adversarial peers; plagiarism = lifetime ban.
• Proof of Character — open‑books audit of finances and conflicts of interest.

Candidates who pass are ranked. Vacancies are filled from the list after peer interrogatories and a final vote of the sitting Council.

Powers & Procedures

• Edicts & Codes — simple majority (5/9).
• Treaties & Tariffs — supermajority (7/9).
• Scholastic Emergency — 7/9 + Wali’s assent.
• Impeachment/Recall — 6/9 after public inquiry; automatic disqualification for falsified research or bribery.
• Transparency — minutes published weekly; redactions require 7/9 and sunset after one month unless renewed.

Facilities

• Great Scriptorium — atrium stacks, sealed vaults, and a public reading floor; copyists and truth‑clerks.
• Hall of Proof — debate amphitheater; rotating examination chambers; Oath of Uncolored Ink is sworn here.
• Legation Row — guest pavilions for foreign envoys; joint Undying annex with strict data‑access protocols.

Current Agenda (52 AT)

• Harbor Capacity Act — expand upper docks; standardize capstans and quay depths across major ports.
• Lift Code Revision — national safety code for wind‑lifts; certification for foreign caravans entering Nahrim.
• Academic Integrity Charter — national policy against forged seals, falsified theses, and predatory endowments.
• Neutrality Doctrine — reaffirm Rihsama’s non‑alignment amid rising Beekeeper activity; tighten export controls on siege‑useful research.

Relationships

• Wali of Nahrim (Safiya al-Khazeen — close cooperation; no interference in municipal staffing or courts.
• The Undying — shared respect for knowledge; access limited to public stacks unless warrants are issued.
• Lelien Empire — formal ties via Lelien Dogan Defne; careful boundary between scholarship and imperial politics.
• Dravis, Arya, and others — tariff and research exchange treaties; case‑by‑case technology controls.

Notables

• Kelse Dogan — presiding scholar; pragmatic, surgical thinker, famous for The Paper That Saved a Bridge.
• Safiya al‑Khazeen (ally) — Wali of Nahrim; engineer‑magistrate, champion of the No‑Gate Doctrine.

Quote: “We steer by proof, not by pride.” — Kelse Dogan, opening the Qiyuan session.