Weirdling Assembly
The "ruling" "council" of Fatehpur. Scare quotes intentional. It consists of the 50 people who have the most votes delegated to them by citizens. Its main function is settling disputes and creating general laws (but only a few). The leader of the council (the person with the most delegated votes) is also the nominal Head of Security.
Vote Delegation
Every citizen has a number of votes based on his rank. But since most citizens are way too busy to vote on every matter, they delegate their votes to someone else of their choosing. In principle, this is a free choice, but in practice it ends up being a patron/client relationship (like ancient Rome). Except that there is a pyramid--each person tends to delegate their ranks to someone of the next level up, who in turn delegates their votes (and all the votes that were delegated to them) further up the chain. But not all of them. And not all the way up--those of Master rank or above tend to only delegate votes out of disinterest, not necessity. In exchange for someone's votes, the patron promises to support the client in disputes. Vote delegation is revokable, and revocation campaigns are a common dirty trick.
Current Leadership
The current Head of Assembly is Hieronimous sur Golai, the gwerin archmage head of Information Sciences (see Fatehpur). Close behind him is his (semi-estranged) wife Brinmar sur Pelam, archmage and head of Life Sciences. The third archmage of the city, Mind-Seeker, refuses to become a patron and so is not part of the assembly. But his right-hand...person...the mkhulu Master Kfthis, is the third point of the triad. Together, the three of them make up a significant majority of all votes and can push through most resolutions. If they agree, which they rarely do. Especially Brinmar and Hiero.
Citizen Ranks
| Rank Name | Arcane Casting Potential | Votes | Number of citizens at that rank (approximate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citizen | At least cantrips (or equivalent) | 1 | Roughly 40% of the population, including surrounding areas |
| Apprentice | At least 1st level spells (or equivalent) | 2 | Roughly 10% of the population |
| Journeyman | At least 3rd level spells (or equivalent) | 3 | Roughly 5% of the population |
| Adept | At least 5th level spells (or equivalent) | 4 | Roughly 0.5% of the population |
| Master | At least 6th level spells (or equivalent) | 5 | About 15 (~0.1% of the population) |
| Archmage | At least 7th level spells (or equivalent) | 10 | 3 |
| Rank Name | Other Casting Potential | Votes | Number of citizens at that rank (approximate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acolyte | At least cantrips (or equivalent) | 0* | Roughly 10% of the population |
| Initiate | At least 1st level spells (or equivalent) | 1 | Roughly 5% of the population |
| Dedicant | At least 3rd level spells (or equivalent) | 2 | Roughly 1% of the population |
| Speaker | At least 5th level spells (or equivalent) | 3 | About 10 |
Yes, this is discriminatory. And note that all together, that only makes up ~70% of the population. The rest have the appellation "Property". And have no voting rights and must be overseen by a citizen, who is responsible for their acts and has (nearly) unlimited power over them. They're not slaves, but close. Acolytes are not voting citizens, but have all the other rights of citizens.
For people with powers that don't neatly fit the mold, the examiners (at the docks and land entrances to the city) judge based on the displayed power, assigning it an equivalency-rating. At any time a person can challenge for higher rank. If they fail, they lose a rank. But that's rare.
