All copies of the Great Charter maintain the original language used when it was signed. It includes a number of archaic terms, such as the use of "Rep'Hek'Tos" ("The Great Republic of the People") as opposed to the commonly used "Rep'Tos e'My'Kin'Thi'os" ("The Great Republic of Mykentos.") While many refer to the document as "My'Kin'Thi'Fa'Tos" ("The Great Mykentian Charter"), it is still officially referred to by government officials as "Fa'Hek'Tos" ("The Great Charter of the People.")
We, the people of Erdos, grant the Republic the right to be the only legitimate government uniting our various factions, beliefs, cultures and civilizations under the following conditions:
The following conditions would later be referred to as the "Primary Conditions," as the Charter listed them first.
1. The Republic will accept the existence of all belief systems within its territory, so long as those belief systems do not threaten the safety or existence of another or the public safety.
The leadership of the Tavenso, Knetreka, and Utrajalek initially resisted this portion of the Charter when it was proposed. Their resistance was overcome by the persuasive arguments of the Triad, which as secular states belonged to none of the three factions. It was pointed out that the Great War was fought over religious strife, and that mutual respect was the only path forward.
2. The Republic will guarantee the right of the people to choose their own beliefs.
During the initial breakdown of the Hudrajel Empire, cities tried to "purge" the members of opposing beliefs from their territory. Such cities would then treat anyone choosing a different belief as an enemy or heretic, effectively requiring every citizen to follow the belief system which had gained dominance. If a city was taken by the other side, the population would most often be forced to convert.
3. The Republic shall not violate the sanctity of temples.
There were fears among the Tavenso and Knetreka that the new Republic, at that time dominated by the secular Triad, would attempt to forcibly seize their temples and sanctuaries as they had in their own uprisings. They also feared that Mykentos may do the same, for while he claimed to be secular there remained suspicions that he was an Utrajalek High Priest.
4. The Republic will not allow city or provincial governments to remove rights guaranteed under this Charter.
As the Charter system was being established, it was recognized that each city and province would have its own Charter. It was decided to make it abundantly clear that the Great Charter superseded all other Charters.
5. The Republic will guarantee the speedy conduct of all business, legislation, and justice.
It was common among the various cities to delay acting on events until absolutely necessary, either through "Reflection and Consideration" (Knetreka), "Study and data collection" (Tavenso), or "Deliberation" (Utrajalek). The general population had suffered immensely due to these deliberate delays, and wanted to ensure that the new government acted swiftly.
6. The Republic must conduct itself with good faith towards the people at all times, neither concealing nor distorting information which the people have a right to know.
The various priesthoods were notoriously secretive and rarely shared information with outsiders. On the occasions when information would be shared, it was often so blatantly false or distorted that few actually trusted their own leaders anymore.
7. The Republic will maintain sufficient transparency, checks and balances to power, and accountability at all times.
The priesthoods had weilded virtually unlimited power for generations, and the frequent occurences of dictators and tyrants made the situation highly unstable. As the Republic was to break from the past traditions of all three beliefs, as well as the system of the Hudrajel Empire, it was decided to include this requirement to prevent such occurrences in the future.
8. The Republic may not levy unjust taxes, fees for transactions, or engage in financial schemes intended to fill its treasury.
It was common practice among the city states to tax their citizens mercilessly, and also charge fees for every transaction they did with their governments, especially if those transactions were mandatory. The public so despised this practice that they forbade the new Republic from charging fees at all. The Court of Supreme Justice ruled in the year 3 that "fines and penalties" did not constitute fees.
The prohibition on "unjust taxes" was so vague that the Court of Supreme Justice ruled in the year 4 that the Republic was technically forbidden from collecting taxes directly from the public. This led to the system where the government of the Republic taxed the provincial governments, and left the actua duty of collecting such taxes to them. It would later rule that corporations, as artificial entities, were not protected from direct taxation by the Republic.
Various cities at different points in their histories taxed and collected fees for no real purpose, other than to build a large surplus in their treasuries "in case of need." This would eventually be spent on the self-aggrandizement of a tyrant.
9. The Republic guarantees the right of all people to exist, providing every citizen basic shelter, sustenance, and medical services as needed.
One of the issues raised by Mykentos in getting the public to rise up and overthrow their leaders was that their leaders did not actually care for their well being. MAny felt that this system would lead to the ruin of the economy, until the Court of Supreme Justice ruled in the year 6 that the word "basic" only included survival level needs. Anything beyond the needs for basic survival would be considered "additional expenses," and therefore not the responsibility of the Republic to provide. They cited a speech by Mykentos before the Assembly where he stated that "nowhere in the Republic shall a citizen be forced to live on the street, go hungry, or perish from a preventable illness."
10. The Republic will accept to hear petitions directly from the people, not only those which come through a functionary or representative.
Among the faults of the Hudrajel Empire which were inherited by the cities was that public petitions had to be directed through their appointed or elected representatives, who were free to disregard them as they saw fit. Petitions under the Republic would be delivered to the Assembly Scheduling Office, which was required by lay under the Charter of the Republic to schedule a hearing before the full Assembly as soon as possible. Such hearings were mandatory, and members who chose not to attend could be brought to the Assembly Hall by force. Public petition hearings were also considered "locked sessions," where members of the Assembly would literally be locked into the Hall and could not leave until a vote had been made on all petitions.
11. The Republic shall not infringe on the right of people to speak and shall defend those who may speak dissenting views.
In the year 5 this condition of the Great Charter received an unusual challenge in the form of a man calling for the dissolution of the Republic in the aftermath of the death of Mykentos. The crowd was so agitated by his statements that he had to be protected by troops from the Legion of Mykentos.
12. The Republic will guarantee the safety of the people from attack, not only by foreign elements, but from the rule of tyrants and civil disorders.
This one requirement alone would wreak more disaster on the Republic than any other. The Bablos Rebellion in the year 86 was headed by administrators who felt that the Republic had grown too large and should be divided. The public of those territories sent a petition to the Assembly citing this requirement of the Charter, including their interpretation of the situation as that of a tyrant attempting to force them to leave the Republic against the will of the people. The Court of SUpreme Justice would make two separate rulings on the petition following a request from the Assembly for legal opinions. First, they ruled that forcibly separating the citizens of a province from the Republic against their will was an act of tyranny. Secondly, the people were justified in taking up arms against such governments due to the "First Return COndition" of the Great Charter (below), and that such a situation would be considered civil disorder. Therefore, under the terms of the Great Charter, the Republic was required to accept the demands of the petition and dispatch forces to end the rebellion.
This condition would also be cited during the Fall of the Republic. Several provinces requested a review of the Charter of the Republic, as it had been amended and changed numerous times over the centuries and was becoming both archaic and confusing. To avoid a review the Heunos and Supreme Legislative Council issued a new Charter of the Republic consolidating all the alterations and changes into a single document. As the new document permanently enshrined the state of emergency declared by Mevos, three provinces would vote to establish the Second Triad, declaring that the Republic had violated the 12th Primary Condition and could therefore not be the legitimate government of the Republic. However, of the original members of the Second Triad, only Anatos would publicly declare their intention to adhere to the Great Charter, making the Triad equally illigitimate in the eyes of the people.
In return for these guarantees, the people will:
These would be referred to as the "Return Conditions," as it was understood that the public would only fulfill the obligations listed if the Republic upheld its own.
1. Pledge to defend the Republic, either in public debate, demonstrations, or through force of arms.
The 1st Return Condition is a pledge of loyalty dating back to the early Hudrajel Empire, and possibly earlier.
2. Agree to serve in either the civil administration, or the armed forces of the Republic for a period not exceeding 5 years.
Throughout its history the fuctioning of the Republic would depend largely on the services of these types of civil servants. Civil service could be anything from office filing, to working on one of the many government owned farms that provided food for public distribution. They could request a permanent staff position at the end of their five years of service. Being accepted for such a position was considered a great honor, as only those of the utmost integrity, dedication, and skill were chosen. Mykentos intended the Republic to replace the three belief systems, and saw the civil service of the Republic as its priests and acolytes, and with that in mind he made the requirements for acceptance extremely strict. These positions would remain unpaid positions, and no member of government was ever paid for their service as it was seen as devotion to the welfare of the public.
3. Agree to provide material support to the Republic, in the form of raw materials, financial support, food and labor, provided at no cost if available, so long as the Republic requests them for a specific project for the public good, and they are used for that project alone.
As the Republic could not impose direct taxes, all government projects were funded and supplied by public donation. However, the Charter of the Republic stipulated that if materials went missing during construction that the Republic would have to purchase replacement material at the publicly available price. Such misuse of materials would also be considered corruption under the Gruxa/Mykentos Act of the year 5, subject to capital punishment.
4. Agree to grant the right to the Republic to request or make copies of all knowledge maintained in our homes, temples, libraries, and institutions, to create and maintain a working library and institution of knowledge accessible to all people.
Vast amounts of documents and knowledge had simply been lost during the chaos of the Great War, and it was proposed very early that all remaining knowledge be collected, organized, and made available to the public. This material would be housed in the Hall of Knowledge in the Capital District, with copies made available by request.
5. Agree to allow the Republic to create and enforce a unified legal code, so long as the court system is headed only by those most versed in the letter and spirit of law and are free to make judgements without political interference.
6. Agree to follow building and construction guidelines established by the Republic, so long as those requirements are based on safety standards determined by experienced engineers.
7. Agree that there may be times of emergency when there is not sufficient time for public debate, but the Republic shall still be bound by the terms of this Charter to maintain transparency and not violate the rights of the people.
8. Agree to grant the Republic exclusive use of Farnalo Island on the River Erg, in the city of Entani, to construct a capital for the government, so long as the Republic understands that it does so on behalf of the people who may have free access to the island when desired.
9. Agree to grant the Republic additional land in the city of Entani and elsewhere as needed for the construction of additional government buildings and public works.
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