Noes (Hwarone) Politics
|

|
Hwarone Parliament Building
(Courtesy of Snooze)

The politics of Noes on the surface appear to be very strange. Consider that aislings can become citizens of Noes. Citizens of Noes can then become officials in Hwarone City. Yet Hwarone and Noes are often at war with one another. This makes little sense and require some explanation.

Hwarone could be arguably described as a military state and has been in an endless series of wars with it's neighboring polities for centuries. Yet no territory changes hands and there never appears to be any real danger of any of the warring sides being conquered. These engagements appear to be more ritualistic than true warfare.

The Hwarone government is divided into two branches: Parliament and Military. All positions are permanent barring removal, resignation or advancement. These office holders also have the benefit of not needing a pass to enter Hwarone City like ordinary Noes citizens and guests.

Parliament:

The Hwarone Parliament is bicameral and consists of two chambers: the lower House of Delegates and the upper High Council.

House of Delegates: Delegates make up the House of Delegates. Delegates propose legislation which is then voted on by the High Council. They also have the power to impeach and remove members of the High Council. To become a Delegate one must have the support of three Noes citizens and make a payment of 100 million gold coins.

High Council: Councilors make up the High Council. The High Council votes on legislation proposed by the House of Delegates. They can also preside over trials and remove members of the military as well as manage wars. To become a Councilor one must have the support of five Noes citizens and make a payment of 100 million gold coins.

The High Council is also responsible for economic and war matters. They have the ability to set a mandatory tax for Noes citizens payable each double-moon up to a maximum of 10,000 standard gold coins. This revenue combined with as spoils of war goes into a treasury which can be used to import seven special items from abroad ('Hwarone Imports') for purchase by aislings. It costs 100 million to gold from the treasury to import one item for a limited time. These items are otherwise unobtainable.

Hwarone Import Items Hats Overcoats Pet Hwarone Blue Hood Blue Kerchief Blue Cloche Training Uniform Hwarone Blue Shirt Hwarone Blue Dress Bast Cat

Military:

The primary role of the military is to fight in the wars. There are three ranks that one can hold: Soldier, Captain and General.

_____Soldier: Noes citizens who have 200 war kills can become a soldier. Soldiers are somewhat similar to Respected Citizens in Mileth and Rucesion in that they have no uniform, title or specific powers but becoming one is required to advance to higher military ranks.

_____Captain: Soldiers who have 500 war kills and the support of one Delegate and one Councilor can become a Captain. Captains receive a uniform, formal title and the ability to remove soldiers. They also are responsible for enforcing Hwarone law and have the power of arrest.

_____General: Captains who have 1500 war kills and the support of two Delegates and two Councilors can become a General. Generals receive a uniform, formal title and the ability to remove soldiers and captains. They also are responsible for enforcing Hwarone law and have the power of arrest.

Hwarone Office Holder Uniforms
	Captain	General	Delegate	Councilor
Male
Female

Laws & Law Enforcement

Hwarone at one point had an extensive aisling drafted legal code. It has since been completely repealed by the so-called 'Cherry Blossom Accord'. At the present time Hwarone has almost no local laws and has effectively given up on any sort of law enforcement.

Captains and Generals are the nominal law enforcers of Hwarone and are empowered to arrest law breakers. A Hwarone arrest is a very weak power though as being arrested only sends an arrested aisling home and leaves a ((white)) mark on their legend. A Hwarone arrest does not detain an aisling like a Ranger arrest nor does it prevent them from physically accessing any territory.

((When Hwarone was released there was talk from one G.M. about possibly restricting access to the Medenia Caravan for characters arrested by Hwarone law enforcers. This never came to pass and a Hwarone arrest remains just a legend mark.))

The only real law in Hwarone currently is the Mundane Mandate ((Dark Ages Terms of Service)). Even this is rarely enforced by Hwarone. Per the Cherry Blossom Accord the Rangers have first priority in dealing with those aislings who violate the Mundane Mandate.

State of Noes / Hwarone Politics

Noes citizenship is very common. In fact it is common for there to be more Hwarone officials than officials of every other polity in Temuair combined plus Rangers and Knights.

Yet paradoxically the Hwarone political system is the least active of all. No legislation has been proposed for decades. Parliament has not formally sat for at least that long. Wars are rarely fought under aisling direction and the taxation and import systems have broken down.

This is not surprising though. The active aisling population has plunged from what it was when Hwarone City was first opened. From heights of over 1000 it is now rare to see more than 150 active aislings at any given time. The numbers of aislings needed, willing and able to fight in Hwarone's wars to make the rest of the system work are simply not there anymore.

One member of the High Council I spoke to, Snooze, also suggested that since all of the Hwarone imports had been 'discovered' there remains little incentive for mass aisling involvement in Hwarone's wars.

((Many of Hwarone's systems also appear bugged and/or knowledge of how they are supposed to function has been lost. One player with a character on the High Council (Giggles) spoke of money accumulated in the treasury simply vanishing; another mentioned they were unable to set the tax rate (Eco).))

The vast majority of modern day aislings spend almost all of their time in Temuair and not Medenia. It is not uncommon to be able to count the number of aislings in Medenia on fingers. With such a low population the need for local laws and law enforcement in Medenia has considerably diminished.