Tolu, and Its Ministry of Unity

Once the divine-eyed mage Mado Yua had subjugated the vast continent of Tolu under his rule, it was imperative that he install a system of government that could maintain his newfound political dominance. His careful planning over the proceeding years would eventually give rise to the Ministry of Unity, a governing body that endures to this day.  

The Elemental Castes

  Designed with the sole intent of ensuring the major regions of Tolu remain compliant with the vision of Mado Yua, The Ministry of Unity enforces the many doctrines he put into action. One of the main doctrines they make sure is followed is that of the Elemental Caste system. This is where each of the major nations of Tolu is forced to adhere to one aspect of manipulating magic, with every mage native to a region following a strict curriculum which monitors and controls what they can do.   This is done for several purposes, with Mado Yua reasoning that a population that is raised to religiously practice one form of magic will have great difficulty in learning to shrug off any bad habits in casting, a useful tactic so that any rebel movements that use magic will be severely hindered in terms of effectiveness. A trade-off for this lack of flexibility is a corresponding increase in that population's expertise with that specialization, giving Tolu access to some of the most potent elemental mages on Az. A third and less apparent, yet vitally important reason for implementing this caste system, is the psychological effect it has on the people of Tolu. By instituting a decree of "Elemental Harmony", Mado Yua has convinced the majority of Tolu's people that the caste system is a necessity to ensure the balance of the world is kept, causing them to follow the system with a religious fervor. This belief has a knock on effect on the Arcane Current, causing the excess soul-force to be directed towards Mado Yua himself, thereby increasing his already immense magical power.   As for the Castes themselves, they are arranged as follows;  

The Dragon's Maw region - Pyromancers

The Dragon's Horns region - Anemomancers and electromancers

The Dragon's Neck region - Geomancers

The Dragon's Claws region - Cryomancers

The Dragon's Tail region - Biomancers

The Dragon's Wake region - Hydromancers

  Key to note is that the mages of Hebaeme are not subject to this caste system, being taught extensively in multiple forms of using magic, thereby ensuring they can outmatch any of the other Tolu-born mages and make enforcement of Mado Yua's laws all the easier.  

Other Customs and Doctrines

  Aside from the Elemental Castes, The Ministry of Unity executes many other commands and sanctions laws at a macro and micro level for all of Tolu. One of the main ones include the numerous tithes that the constituent nations of Tolu must pay to the Ministry, ranging from a portion of all crop yields to various monetary taxes. Pushing propaganda related to the teachings of Mado Yua and his suppossed divinity are also high priorities for the Ministry of Unity, and invoking the penalties for blasphemy that follow as a result.  

Of The Serpent Dragons and Repression of Tolu

  Underappreciated by outsiders for its significance, the custom of exalting the serpent dragons of Tolu serves as a glaring example of how Mado Yua and his Ministry of Unity have homogenised the previous cultures of Tolu. Before Yua's rise to prominence, the serpent dragons of Tolu had an unpredictable relationship with many of Tolu's cultures, being revered as deities in some and reviled as demons in others. Since Yua was part of a culture of the former persuasion, when he eventually took control of Tolu he instigated a continent wide ban on hunting these animals, and proclaimed them the symbol of his dynasty.   While initially this proclamation would seem benign in its function, it would serve as a vehicle through which countless sub-cultures and communities face immense persecution. Since there were so many cultures that acted with hostility towards the serpent dragons, The Ministry of Unity could use this fact as an excuse to enact brutal crackdowns on communities. Then, they mitigated any backlash they would recieve by accusing such people of desecrating the symbol of Tolu, and by association, insulting Mado Yua, a line of reason that would become unquestionable once Yua performed his Divine Transfiguration. This strict rule has seen several genocides occur due to a perceived slight against the dragons, with one particular incident causing a chain of events to spiral out of control, resulting in the annihalation of some 30 million people across the region of what was once the Shān jiǎ Empire.   From the few mages and scholars who have escaped Tolu and spoke of its history, it is clear that such practices have resulted in one of the largest losses of unique cultural heritages in the history of Az, with hundreds of magical disciplines, writing systems and traditions being lost forever.  

Structure and Hierarchy

  Naturally, being the one who created the Ministry of Unity and the lord of Tolu, Mado Yua to this day is the de facto leader of the organization. However, since the events of the Presimer Landing, Yua has retreated to the upper reaches of the atmosphere of Az, laying dormant up until the present day while his grievous wound attempts to heal and only descending during times of dire importance.  

The Council of Heavenly Forms

  Commanding the Ministry in Yua's stead, the Council of Heavenly Forms is composed of the greatest mages in Hebaeme. All disciples of Yua, some even having studied directly under him while he walked among his people, each individual on the Council of Heavenly Forms are legendary figures who command vast sectors of Tolu's political structure. Positions include the Grand Administrators of finance, military, espionage, agriculture, law, education and infrastructure.  

The Tributory Envoys

  Precisely below the Council are the Tributory Envoys, a scaled down version of the previous position in the Ministry. Each major nation of Tolu has its own set of Tributory Envoys, having a very similar function and design to the Council of Heavenly Forms, with the Envoys acting as the direct authority over the region's function and only answering to the Council above them. For this fact, the positions within the Tributory Envoys mirror the ones within the Council of Heavenly Forms, with an Administrator for each sector of government. Hence, each Grand Administrator will have six Administrators serving directly under them.   All members on the Tributory Envoys are selected by the Council of Heavenly Forms, choosing individuals from the six regions who have shown great prowess in their respective field. A Tributory Envoy may keep their position for as long as they live, only being replaced if they are suspected of treacherous intent, begin to perform poorly or, of course, dying.  

The Provincial Delegates

  Further down the chain of command, The Provincial Delegates act as the columns that hold the Tributory Envoys up, splitting the administrative duty of the greater region up between themselves. Again, one can imagine that The Provincial Delegates behave how the Tributory Envoys do towards the Council of Heavenly Forms, performing statecraft at a condensed level to their superiors. Taking the structure of Tolu's military for example, the Grand Administrator acts as the main organizer of all military matters across the board, the Administrators of each nation take direct control of the combined forces of a single country, akin to a general. This means that each Provincial Delegate of military acts as the leading commander of a province's armed forces, directing their allotted forces in accordance with their general's orders.   Unlike the strict numerical structure of the Envoys, the number of Provincial Delegates in a nation varies wildly. Since there is a large discrepancy of both geographical and population size between these six great nations, one nation may have several more provinces than another. This is illustrated best by the two nations of the Dragon's Neck and Claws, with the former being the largest of all the great nations and having over thirty provinces, while the latter nation is the smallest of the bunch geographically and only has eleven provinces. Hence, The Administrators of the Dragon's Neck have some thirty-four Delegates serving beneath them, while the Claw's Administrator for each sector only have eleven.   Provincial Delegates are selected by the nation's Administrator, though usually these choices are reviewed by the Grand Administrator before they are accepted. Depending on the sector of government, Delegates who are chosen due to nepotism by the Administrator may be scrutinized or encouraged, with the Grand Administrators of finance and espionage having a very strong aversion to such practices (the reasoning being that loyalty to the family may overshadow loyalty to the government, thereby threatening the function of their system).  

Lower Ranks in The Ministry

  When discussing positions beneath the Provincial Delegates, it is important to know that the structure between provinces and the nations becomes highly variable, due to differing population densities within each. Some provinces can have extensive ranking structures that goes down to even the level of individual streets in larger cities. Other provinces across Tolu will have a looser structure, sometimes only going three or four positions down the hierarchy before the Ministry of Truth "officially" recognizes said province as properly represented.   The only common factor between these governing conventions is that important cities will usually have a "Senator" charged with governing a sector in that settlement, though often is the case where a group of senators will be tasked with overseeing several villages and towns, if they are sufficiently small enough.