The Kestran Empire is modeled after the Holy Roman Empire. This means that while nominally it is one entity, it is composed of various city states, kingdoms, principalities, bishoprics, and other generally convoluted units each of which has some degree of autonomy. There are no (relevant) countries outside of Kestra, the empire is bordered by sparsely inhabited or uninhabited wilderness to the north and west, an ocean to the east, and impassible mountains to the south. As a result, while much of Ashes was outward focused, this setting is focused heavily on internal dynamics. Don’t worry, this makes things more rather than less complicated.
The Empire is ruled by an emperor, who is the secular ruler of all of Kestra, responsible for enforcing the empire’s laws, maintaining its unity, and protecting it from harm. The noble family of Kestra is the Orcish house Royal Family of Seyres, which traces its lineage back to the Exalted Ruler, who unified the fragmented polities bringing about the beginning of the Imperial age. The role does not go to the eldest, rather the current king designates a heir apparent, usually one of the younger members of his family. In this way the crown usually skips a generation, and emperors often rule for most of their adult life.
Though the emperor and royal family is still very powerful, Kestra has become more democratic over the past century. The legislative branch is composed of those elected from across the empire and creates laws. The Chancellor is the most powerful elected position, and it is elected by a majority vote of representatives.
There are four major political parties in Kestra. The Gold Party is aligned with the church, and believe imperial law should be influenced by the will of Serenae, Korrodin, and the Saints. The Blue Party Is most popular in the eastern regions of the empire, and promotes Laissez faire policy. It is most popular amongst merchants, the emerging middle class, but also rural communities who wish to see local traditions triumph over imperial mandates. The Green Party is mostly concentrated in urban areas and is considered to be the political wing of the Knights of the Court Below. It promotes high social spending and populist policies. The Red Party is the monarchist party of Kestra, and promotes legalism, standardized imperial policy and preserving the integrity of the empire.
Historically the four parties have mostly stood by their own goals one party has never won a majority. The parties opportunistically work together when convenient but have not historically formed larger coalitions. The result has been fairly moderate if slow and unresponsive policy, leaving local governments ample room to set their own rules. As you may have guessed by my use of the term ‘historically’ this has recently changed.
Aymerich Bescond rose to prominence in the Gold party in the aftermath of the Obratan Riots in spite of not having any ties to the church. In spite of opposition from several factions within the church, he proves wildly popular amongst the Gold Parties base solidifying him, at least for the time being, as the dominant force within the party. In a dramatic move, the Blue party through full support behind him in the weeks leading up to the last years elections. As the sources of his funding are blurry, conspiracy theories speculate that they may have supported him earlier. Bescond won the Chancellorship and has ruled an admittedly rocky coalition between the Gold and Blue party for the past year leading to him becoming the second most powerful person in the Empire, behind only the Emperor himself.
The emperor while still healthy and active is late enough in years that thoughts of succession linger. His reign was one of moderation, preferring to leave much of the administration to elected officials while focusing on promoting unity and harmony within the empire. One of his granddaughters, a well liked but non-political known for her coordination of the imperial charity funds, was the crown prince for the past decades, and was expected to take the throne upon the Emperors speculated abdication. However, in a time of increased political instability, the ascension of a moderate to the throne grew unpopular, as more within the Red party pushed for more decisive leadership.
In the aftermath of the election of the Chancellor, there was a reshuffling within the royal family. The heir apparent resigned stating a desire to focus fully on charity work, and her cousin Emielien Seyres was uppointed the new crown prince. The new crown prince is a former military officer and active political speaker. After earning renown amongst the military as a war hero during the Vogorno Incident, he pushed to reimagine the emperor as a ’steward of the people,’ and a ’leader from the front.’ His more meritocratic image and the unprecedented power of the Blue-Gold Coalition has led to whispers of the possibility of a Green-Red counter-coalition, something utterly unthinkable just years ago.
As a result of all above (which I promise I will not quiz you about) the political situation in Kestra is in an unstable state of flux, and twists and turn emerge every day publicized in daily newspapers. While this story is NOT a political thriller, and the politics will be something that will take the background, I have included it because (1) I am a political science major and I obviously have problems with not being able to help myself and (2) it will hopefully help flesh out the world and let you understand both the world your character finds themself in, and the context for the situations which will unfold.