Nova Liber

Nova Liber is quite diverse with many species from the old world intermingling and co-existing in relative harmony. People from all walks of life find themselves drawn to the promise of the frontier—some seeking fortune, others fleeing their past, and many simply hoping for a fresh start away from the rigid hierarchies of the old world.
The majority of the populations residing within Nova Liber are Human, Elven, Dwarven, with many minority populations able to be found throughout the city. This has led to the vast majority of official and higher positions of power being made up of these larger population groups. While this may create tensions in many old world cities and settlements, Nova Liber has so far avoided the worst of these unfortunate circumstances.

The governmental structure of Nova Liber is, like many other frontier city-states, a unique blend of individualistic ideals that thrive in the new world, and those that are hold overs of old world heritage. Overall the system that governs Nova Liber is a hybrid oligarchic-representative. Often cited as a republic, the strong presence of permanent seats for specific families and individuals makes others call it a Mixed Council Republic while others call it simply Oligarchic rule. The typical citizen of Nova Liber finds the question of names to be largely academic and concerns themselves more with the practical function of the government.
 

The Council of Nova Liber

The main governmental body of Nova Liber is the Council, located in the Gem Quarter’s Hall of Gems. The council is made up of two different groups of councilors. The oldest and most esteemed group are known as the ‘Inheritors’ or ‘Inherited Seats’. These council members are almost universally the descendants of the first traders and settlers that established Nova Liber in the early days of discovery on Kho’as. Each council seat is passed down from generation to generation, as each holder appoints an heir to the seat and typically only relinquishes said seat upon death or incapacitation. New inherited seats can very rarely be awarded to individuals that the Council recognizes as having aided or supported the city in some grand fashion. Even then, awarding a new inherited seat is a contentious process with the last two instances occurring almost 50 years apart. Holding an Inherited Seat is considered to be a very prestigious honor among the populace of Nova Liber, and the families that hold them are treated almost as minor nobility, despite their claims to eschew such titles.

In sharp contrast to the Inheritors, the remaining councilors are known as the ‘Elected’ or ‘Elected Seats’. These councilors are citizen representatives and their seats are democratically selected by citizens every year. These seats, unlike their counterparts, can change hands swiftly and dramatically alter dynamics within the Council. Yet even with this shift, the movement tends to be between established candidates who can muster enough support from powerful factions and guilds within Nova Liber. There is no specified term limit for an elected councilman, so in theory an Elected Seat can stay within the council Indefinitely. It is however extremely rare for an individual to hold their seat for any extended period of time. With only one year to fulfill promises made on the campaign trail, political grid lock, and the ever turbulent flow of factionalism in the city, the expected tenure of an elected official is only one to three years before yielding the spot to another contender.

Within the Hall of Gems lie the grand chambers where the Council of Nova Liber goes about deciding policy for the city. There is no designated speaker or formal chairman to control the flow of discussions within the council chambers. Instead the council goes by seniority when deciding who gets to voice their opinion first and set the agenda of the day. Theoretically this can include any council seat to be the most senior and therefore give priority to anyone no matter if Inherited or Elected. However, due to the fact that Inherited Seats have no limit to the time they can hold office, and are filled by the more established families and individuals, it has exclusively been an Inherited Seat that has set the agenda for the Council. This leads to further accusations of pure Oligarchic rule from outside observers. Not surprisingly, the Inheritors claim that this helps make their famed ‘Long View’ possible when planning policy for Nova Liber’s long term future. If the most senior councilor passes on the opportunity to speak first, or if they are absent for that session, the next senior council member takes their place and the cycle continues until the agenda is set. This again leads to the Inherited Seats being favored to speak first, but in rare instances the privilege has trickled down to Elected Seats.

Once the most senior councilor has had their say, discussion flows from there with a deliberated issue often spiraling out in unexpected directions. Citizens and outsiders alike often view this process as on the brink of chaos, but somehow it surprisingly works. Despite this semblance of disorder, policy does get pushed through and day-to-day governance runs relatively smoothly with committees often doing much if not all of the heavy lifting as directed by the full council.

 

Committees

Committees are the backbone and basic units of the Nova Liber government. They organize and run everything from trade, infrastructure, defense, justice, etc. Each committee is chaired by councilors who have taken a particular interest in the subject matter at hand or are nominated by consensus by their peers. Typically each committee is made up of roughly a dozen councilors based on expertise, interest, and political backing. While there is no rule against it, it is usually customary to have the committees balanced with equal parts Inherited and Elected Seats. Being part of a committee is seen as a low risk low reward opportunity unless there is a major issue that needs to be sorted. If the issue the committee is created to handle is one of extreme urgency, then those who are within that committee can potentially see their popularity or influence rise if the committee succeeds. Inversely if the committee fails in their task then its members could be subject to extreme censure from both the council and the populace.

Once the committee is formed, the first order of business is to coordinate the support staff for the committee. These staffers usually belong to a specific councilor's entourage or circle of advisors and thus can be quite diverse themselves. These include-

• Aides who coordinate the committee’s work.
• Scribes and Clerks who maintain records, draft proposals, transcribe hearings.
• Financial Liaisons who track expenditures and requisitions from the city treasury.
• Guild Liaisons who are not a part of every committee support staff but can be useful as direct lines to guild leaders and resources.

The next step after creating the support infrastructure for the committee is to discuss the need for a proper investigation and if the need for field teams are necessary. Seniority still dictates who gets to initiate discussions much like in the council chamber, but is less emphasized in the more informal settings of the committee room. Known details are usually brought up first with several scribes in the committee room marking down every detail for future use. This may be a lengthy task as during this process many relevant documents, manifests, treaties, etc can be brought forth to gain a clearer picture. After everything that is currently known about the issue has been analyzed, the committee determines the best course of action. Often this involves the creation of domestic and/or field teams to gather more information. These teams typically are headed by either a chief aide or a lead agent respectively. These teams gather more information closer to the heart of the issue whether that lie within or without of the city. Teams made to work within the city are usually comprised of the same staff members that support the committee but with more authority to go about their tasks. In the case of issues outside of the city such as banditry, wildlife, or unruly crowds, standard field teams are comprised of-

• 1 Lead Agent (appointed by the committee or selected from trusted field personnel)
• 1–2 Logistics Coordinators (direct liaisons to the committee to ensure communications are reliably kept)
• 2–4 Field Specialists (e.g., engineers, agricultural advisors, market evaluators)
• 2–6 Guards (typically Southern Guards, depending on mission, Northern Guards may be selected)
• 1–2 Runners/Messengers (usually recruited from Guard Precincts)
• 1–2 Junior Clerks or Scribes (selected from non-essential staff personnel)

Rarely are these teams meant to solve the actual problem itself but rather report directly to the committee on what is happening with more detailed information. Fast communication can be critical for many issues, so the runner/messengers are often the first to return to the city with preliminary reports that allow for quick course corrections or escalations if needed. Once a full investigation has been completed, the committee deliberates and drafts a formal proposal to bring before the council at large. This process can sometimes involve weeks of revisions and careful negotiation as both agenda and compromise can factor heavily in finding a solution that the council will accept and support. After a proposal has been submitted, it needs only a simple majority vote from councilors on hand to pass both in the committee chambers and in the proper council chambers.

It is also not uncommon for a committee to last longer then the members who comprise it. While Inherited Seats don’t have to fear this nearly as much as their Elected peers, it nevertheless is a potential issue that is taken into account before any committee is formed. There are also those committees that are technically never disbanded due to there always being a need for their existence. These include committees for trade, commerce, infrastructure, and defense to name a few. Councilors frequently rotate in and out of these semi permanent committees and bring with them instability and fresh ideas in equal measure. As with the council system as a whole, Nova Liber seems to benefit from this controlled chaos of management in what can only be described as a uniquely frontier trait.

 

Factions

Even amongst other frontier city-states, Nova Liber’s political factions are highly mercurial and shifting at a rapid pace. This might appear highly disorganized to the outside, but is in fact an extension of the equally dynamic government system. With the Inherited Seats providing a stable foundation, and the Elected Seats allowing ideas new and old to flourish, political groups are a multi-purpose tool that provides an avenue for both efficient administration and backstabbing. While one councilor may align heavily with one faction or another, this does not necessarily mean they are loyal or bound to that particular group. Those with more experience and ambition within the council typically can belong to several factions at once, playing them against each other or temporarily brokering a coalition for mutual benefit. These shifting political sands mean that those who become too complacent are the ones who are often left behind choking on the dust of other more industrious councilors.

   

Elections

Elections in Nova Liber are a constant cycle of activity, with very few weeks passing without some level of campaigning happening. The entire month of Tessis is set aside for the purpose of prospective candidates to plan, enter, and campaign their candidacy for that year's election. This is meant to give all citizens and councilors a period of time where they can focus on the elections. However even with this set aside month, candidate announcements and initial campaigning begins well before Tessis which gives rise to rumors, alliances, and wagers often times months in advance of the actual elections. This month long endeavor is informally referred to as the ‘Tearing of Tessis’ amongst the political class and tends to be a time of both great excitement and extreme stress for those with both Inherited and Elected seats. The process of election month is thus-

• Days 1-9 Preparation Period (time for current and would be candidates to prepare themselves and their allies for the months turmoil)
• Days 10-19 Nomination Period (the official time to put forth ones name for the position of an Elected Seat)
• Days 20-39 Campaigning Period (campaigns are officially running against each other with rallies, speeches, and gatherings being common occurrences on the island)

Once the month of Tessis is over and the first day of Ambressis begins, only then would votes be cast in support of the candidates. For the first week any land owner, or holder of government positions would be able to market their support by listing their favored five candidates on the official ballots located at the Hall of Gems. The second week would see another round of voting where only five candidates out of eight would remain per district. The third week would begin with the announcements of the winners from week two, and would end with the final tally of support for those candidates. The final week sees the acceptance ceremony of the new councilors with each one making an appearance at the Hall of Gems. Afterwards the newly minted councilors would return to their elector districts and host their own celebrations with their peers.

Selecting how many Elected Seats exist has and will always be a contentious issue within the council and amongst the populace. Initially when the Elected Seats were first established in the year 57AOC, there were only three seats per district. The original districts numbered four in total; the Silver and Iron districts, and the Gem and Driftwood quarters. This meant twelve seats versus the, at the time, twenty-nine Inherited Seats. This initial number sat poorly with much of the population at the time and was one of the main causes for the city wide civil war known as the War of the Bloody Streets. This conflict within the city lasted for nearly six months and saw hundreds dead as citizens and council supporters tore each other apart after a brutal deadlock within the council caused several prominent factions to arm themselves. The war only came to an end when the sitting council at the time agreed to parley with the other warring factions. What followed was a month long event where negotiations were held and violence was barely held back at multiple instances, with many more instances erupting inside the Hall of Gems. Eventually a compromise was struck with many concessions being handed to the populist parties. The amount of Elected Seats per district were increased to five from three and another district was formally created bringing the total amount of Elected Seats to twenty-five. While this was still shy of being equal to the Inherited Seats, it was enough to end the conflict and allow for arms to be laid down. The amount of Elected Seats stayed at twenty-five for close to a century until more seats and districts needed to be created to match the slow but purposeful increase of Inherited Seats.