Consul

A consul is a type of diplomat who travels regionally or internationally to facilitate trade and communication between their home country and another, and to protect the rights and interests of their countrymen abroad. They answer directly to the ambassador. They are usually highly respected members of their community, both in the places where they are stationed and their original homelands. In many places, becoming a consul is the best opportunity to see more of the world than a middle-class person otherwise might.  

Consuls Around the World

Kingdom of Erdelan. The Erdelanian consulate hires new consuls and their assistants by way of the Dienstexamen, a high-stakes yearly exam available to all young citizens upon completion of their twentieth year of schooling. Before the DIenstexamin, the testing rooms are lined with wool and tapestries to muffle any distracting noises from the surrounding caverns, nearby mines and forges are shut down for the day, and others in the town are expected to keep noise to a minimum so as not to distract the testers.

Kingdom of Scalados. New consuls are chosen each decade directly by the kaiwelë of each diocese. Prospective consuls submit extensive applications that include both their schooling and references from their family line. To limit possible nepotism, no more than two of an applicant's great-grandparents can be direct blood relatives of the kaiwel.

Dreibach Empire. Dreibach has gone through a number of consul appointment processes in the years before and after the Glorious Revolution. Its current consuls are primarily revolutionary military veterans hand-picked by Emperor Amadeus. This has led some places with traditionally complicated relationships with Dreibach to mistrust the Empire's consuls, or cut ties with them entirely.

Prairie Clans. After a prolonged war between two clans, the Sovetsipnya chooses several children of prominent families between the ages of 8 and 12 to exchange between the clans. These children, called Ariunokhim, act as cultural translators to soothe future disputes. They also heavily discourage further conflict, as neither side wants to risk harm to one of their own children.

Aquatic Kingdoms. The Aquatic Kingdoms maintains the largest number of consulates in the known realms, as most individual kingdoms have official diplomatic presences in one or more of the other kingdoms as well as with the international community. Over a hundred consuls of various ranks from across the world reside in Urbana al-Sona alone, in a district known as the Cuarto al-Salim. There are even a small group of consuls from Usko-Tarrak, the largest settlement in the Mystic Lands with which Belcantas has made contact.