Empire!- The Greater Salterri Imperium Charter

[lt_murgen]

Guys- I have been reworking the Salterri Imperium Charter and thought a thread for our ideas would be a good thing.


The Grand Charter of the Salterri Imperium

Preamble
The Salterri Imperium exists as a unified empire with the goal of bringing peace, order, and civilization to the world. All Regions, Provinces and Protectorates of the empire agree to a code of conduct to support those goals.


Leadership
{1} Loyalty to the Qzare is absolute. As ruler of the Imperium, the Qzare maintains ultimate authority over the empire. The Qzare agrees never to rule unilaterally without the input of the Senate unless necessary for the preservation of the Imperium.
{2} Regions under direct control of the Qzare shall be referred to as The Silver Throne. These regions shall retain their native leadership and traditional native methods of leader selection. Said leader is granted the Imperial Title of Provincial Governor and may use this title for all legal purposes. Traditional local titles for leadership may be retained and legally used, provided said titles explicitly called out in this treaty.
This essentially renames any region morph controls directly to ‘the Silver Throne’ for clarity sake
{3} Cohesive geographical unions consisting of 4 or more regions shall be called Provinces. These Provinces are bound to the Imperium by treaty or conquest. Provinces shall have full rights and responsibilities to maintain their native leadership and methods of selection. Leaders of such nations shall be granted the Imperial Title of Proconsul and may use this title for all legal purposes. Traditional local titles for leadership may be retained and legally used, provided said titles explicitly called out in this treaty.
If you are a greater vassal, you get to use the proconsul title and call your entire area a Province, if you want. If you want to stay a Kingdom, that works too. Kingdoms are not a title called out in the treaty.
{4} Non-cohesive geographical unions consisting of 1 or more regions shall be called Protectorates, or alternatively Prefects. These Protectorates are bound to the Imperium by treaty or conquest. Protectorates shall maintain their traditional methods of leadership unless formally objected to by the Qzare or a vote of the Senate. Leaders of such nations shall be granted the Imperial Prefect and may use this title for all legal purposes. Traditional local titles for leadership may be retained and legally used, provided said titles explicitly called out in this treaty.
If you are a lesser vassal, you are a Praetor of a Protectorate, and you have to get approval to keep your own rulership system

[lt_murgen]

Representation
The Senate
{1} The Senate shall be convened on a regular basis to debate the priorities, goals, and agendas of the Imperium and put to a vote said issues. The result of such votes shall be made law to the Imperium.
{2} Senators are to be selected by a method determined by the regional rulers, whether that be by vote or appointment. The Imperium shall not interfere in the method of Senatorial selection.
{3} Each region shall have one Senator and receive one vote in the Senate. Additionally, for every two regions under direct control of the Silver Throne, they shall receive an additional senator and vote.
{4} Each Proconsul shall also receive one vote.
{5} The Qzare shall receive no votes but does maintain veto power over any law passed by the Senate. The Senate may, however, override the Qzare's veto with a three quarters vote of the Senators.
In short, there will be a governmental body setup where each player has a voice to try to direct the Imperium. Each player has a number of votes equal to the number of regions he directly owns. A player with a Great Kingdom has 1 bonus vote. Morph gets a few more votes for the highlands. The vision is a small group of folks that the Qzare can use to pawn off tedious tasks and take the blame for unpopular decisions.

The Imperial Court
{1} Each regional ruler, Protectorate Preator, and Provincial ProConsul shall have the right to attend or send a duly appointed representative to the Comitatus Judex Primus, Court of the Chief Magistrate of the Salterri Imperium. Here, leaders may petition the Imperium or have grievances addressed.
{2} A tribunal of three Magistrates will hear the petitions and issue rulings on a timely basis.
{3} The Chief Magistrate of the Salterri Imperium shall be appointed by the Qzare, and serve a term of no less than 5 years.
{4} Two other Magistrates shall be chosen by the Imperial Senate from a candidate list of no more than two from each region. These candidates should be of good moral character and knowledgable in Imperial Law.
I doubt if the court is needed, but it could be a good place for roleplaying stuff if needed. For now, it remains background fluff

[lt_murgen]

Military

Military Obligations
{1} The territorial integrity of all provinces and protectorates is guaranteed by the Silver Throne.
{2} All provinces and protectorates are expected to maintain reasonable defensive forces proportional to their extent and population, including a navy.
{3} All military units shall follow the following naming convention, to assist in integration of disparate units from multiple sources. A Legion is defined as 1,000 armed and expertly trained soldiers or equivalent thereof. A Classis is defined as a grouping of naval ships capable of carrying a Legion as well as defending it while in transit.
{4} Should any region within the Imperium come under attack from outside, all provinces and protectorates are expected to contribute a reasonable number of troops to its defense at the request of its ruler, reasonable to be construed as all troops that can be made available without endangering the integrity of that subject.
{5} Provinces and protectorates are encouraged but not obliged to support foreign deployment of troops undertaken or endorsed by the Silver Throne.

Military Actions and Limitations
{1} No region will raise arms against another member of the Imperium, except in defense.
{2} Proconsuls and Prefects shall not raise unreasonable military forces and will voluntarily disband some or all of them upon request of the Qzare or a vote of the Senate.
{3} No region will militarily invade lands belonging to nations outside of the Imperium, except in times of war. With Senate approval, expiditionary forces can be sent to assist and encourage undeveloped regions to join the Imperium or to protect native unaligned peoples.
{4} No region shall sponsor privateers nor issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal without consent of the Senate.

I re-wrote the entire section based on Aedilreds ideas to keep it general. Also added a clause that lets people use military to civilize and subdue the natives.

[lt_murgen]

 
Faith and Religion
{1} The Imperium officially recognizes the Hailings of the Silver Sea as the official state religion for use in all Imperial ceremonies. Clergy of the Hailings of the Silver Sea are granted autonomy to move through all Imperium lands and spread their beliefs without hindrance.
{2} The State officially recognizes the Qzare as the bearer of the Silver Mandate and having divine favor to rule.
{3} Proconsuls and Prefects must adhere to a state approved faith for all public Imperial actions. Special dispensations may be given to leader who follows a regional religion with long standing traditions in the area.
{4} The Qzare and the Senate reserve the right to ban any religion determined to be detrimental to the Imperium.
{5} Regional rulers may petition the Courts to restrict the Hailings of the Silver Sea to a minority in a region where a conversion to a majority might cause civil unrest.
{6} The spreading of native faiths to other regions requires consent of the ruler of that region, the Prefect or Proconsul, and a full vote by the senate. At no time may any traditional faith be greater than a minority outside its home regions.
{7} No member of the Imperium may start or organize a new faith or religion without formal decree from the Senate.
{8} No member of the Imperium may spend more than 1/5 of its taxes in support of any religion without formal decree from the Senate.
{9) Missionaries from outside of the Imperium are denied entry to Imperial lands and are prohibited from spreading their faith anywhere within the Imperium without formal decree from the Senate

I dropped the Ascencion from endorsed religions. After what the Priory did, I think it made sense. I dropped the need for Proconsuls and Praetors to publically be part of the faith. That would cause issues with Celero and AQUA. Instead, they have to adhere to Hailings practices whenever doing Imperium business- proper rituals and blessings at official ceremonies and the like. What they worship in their own time is their business. I changed 6 to keep Kina in check- needs approval of entire senate to spread. I added 8 to stop anyone from raising their faith statistic (1/5 taxes = 1 action) without talking to the group first. I also removed the first line of 6 about native religions and essentially said that any religion needs Prefect or Proconsul approval

[lt_murgen]

Trade, Resources, & Technology
Imperial Provinces and Protectorates may make trade agreements as they see fit with the following requirements.
{1} If a region of the Imperium has need of a resource you can provide, you must offer the resource to that region before offering it to any nation outside of the Imperium.
{2} No trade agreements of any sort may be made with any nations declared to be an enemy of the Imperium.
{3} The Qzare and the Senate reserve the right to declare any technology a ‘state secret’ and forbid trade of it outside the Imperium.
{4} All acquired technologies are to be shared openly with all members of the Imperium, though recipients of the technologies may still be required to provide resources in payment for the technology.
{5} No ruling member of the Imperium or Senator shall support illegal acquisition of technology that violates existing Imperial Treaties.
I changed 3 from ‘you cannot trade technologies outside the Imperium’ to ‘the senate can declare some techs a state secret and not trade. I also added the ‘no theft’ rule, even though I really want to go around stealing technology…

[Aedilred]

OK - I'm looking at this mostly from a "realistic" perspective, both in terms of what actually happens and future projection.

It's worth bearing in mind that both charters were written by Rizban based on the way that he wanted the Imperium to work rather than the way it necessarily did - and also that his vision for the Imperium was rather more centralised and insular than everyone else's generally has been (which is one of the reasons the second one in particular was never adopted).

Leadership
4. We have generally (at my encouragement) used "Prefect" rather than "Praetor" for this title, and "Prefecture" as the default style for the region (although for internal constitutional terms, "protectorate" also works).

Other than that it seems mostly ok. As a lesser vassal I was infuriated by the "traditional ruler selection methods must meet with approval etc." clauses mostly for IC reasons because it seemed quite patronising so as with a couple of other things throughout that might be worth replacing with a veto rather than a "must give active permission".

The Senate
This is a nice fluff bit but has no practical effect at all in the game since we've never made use of it. I've also generally been under the impression from Morph's writings that the Senate is effectively the government of the Heartlands and turning it into a body for the whole Imperium is a fairly major change, both reducing the influence of the Heartlands over government and extending centralised power over everyone else. In any case the Senate as described is very small - only about thirty or forty people - and I think more than one senator per region would be wise.

In the charter for the KCS I allowed vassals to send representatives to my Senate-equivalent in a small, fixed number dependent on their size, to observe and speak so their interests were taken into account but they don't get a vote. That could be mimicked here by giving protectorates (say) three Senators each, Provinces six, and then each Heartlands region multiple Senators dependent on population (one per ten or twenty thousand, perhaps). That gives a Senate of a few hundred and the vassals still have a voice but it retains direct control only over the Heartlands regions.

(To an extent I think the Senate clause is the area that needs most input from Morph asit affects/changes his stuff most directly, and is also largely fluff-based, unless the Imperium is to adopt an OOC voting system for stuff, which I'm not sure would work given different activity rates from players. It's very "modern constitutional" as opposed to the enlightened absolutism we've so far enjoyed or even the traditional Roman-style constitution it's presumably seeking to emulate, and therefore I HATE IT I'm not sure it entirely does what it sets out to do).

The Imperial Court
Like the notes say I'm not sure what this is for exactly, but I don't have a problem with it as it stands. The Comitatus was originally a private ongoing IC discussion thread but that fell into disuse fairly quickly as it was too cumbersome compared to a private OOC thread, or indeed PMs.

Military
Bleeeergh. Micromanaging unit sizes of individual vassals is incredibly tedious and I think Rizban's estimates were a bit off anyway. I also think it's to everyone's advantage that vassals be allowed to judge what's appropriate in terms of their own military size and that the Qzare intervenes only where he thinks someone's about to imminently betray him or has been throwing their weight around inappropriately. I would be tempted to scrap the numerical requirements altogether and go with something along the lines of what I put in the KCS charter:

1. The territorial integrity of all provinces and protectorates is guaranteed by the Silver Throne.
2. All provinces and protectorates are expected to maintain reasonable defensive forces proportional to their extent and population, including a navy.
3. Should any region within the Imperium come under attack from outside, all provinces and protectorates are expected to contribute a reasonable number of troops to its defence at the request of its ruler, reasonable to be construed as all troops that can be made available without endangering the integrity of that subject.
4. Provinces and protectorates are encouraged but not obliged to support foreign deployment of troops undertaken or endorsed by the Silver Throne.
5. Military units shall not be deployed by provinces and protectorates contrary to the current foreign policy of the Silver Throne.
In any case the stationing of Imperial troops clause (Military Restrictions 1) is obsolete as troops under your control can't be stationed outside your own regions for more than a round at a time.

The rules on invading other regions have also been routinely ignored, mostly for purposes of conquest of unoccupied regions.

Religion
This is shortly to change anyway, and I'm not entirely sure what the religious future of the Imperium looks like (although I have a rough idea). Other than that it seems ok. What might be useful is a list of religions which are "recognised" as being ok to be acceptable for people to follow but not necessarily "approved" for proselytisation (with regard to existing members, LoF, Wyrm Below and Rism, I guess, plus whatever the western religions are, and then the state religions of any new members). The "traditional lands" clause is also a little vague, as I've found with the LoF - it has "long-standing traditions" in a few regions (including some the Imperium would rather it didn't) and as things stand it looks like I could spread it to Bor-Teire without hindrance but not to Vennland, which doesn't really work.

It might also be worth adding a list of religions that are specifically banned and should be re-converted or eradicated where minorities spring up. Specifically, Jaaku Na, but potentially others we don't like and with the possibility to add to it down the line.

Trade
(I know it's not up yet)
I think we've basically informally agreed that tribute doesn't happen any more but the Imperium gets dibs on one trading post in each region. Although I'm still sending tribute for some things, I guess until the trading posts get set up. I think prioritising internal trades with regard to import requirements and strategically important resources is probably a good idea, but at the same time trading out is also good because other people have stuff we don't and it would be nice to get it.

I'm convinced that the technology clause has been an active hindrance to us and is one of the main reasons our tech count is so dismal. I think I'd replace the "no trading techs" with the option for the Qzare to prohibit certain tech trades on a case-by-case basis. Obviously there are some techs we don't want traded and some people we don't want them traded to but I think the general presumption should from now on be "yes we can" rather than "nope nope nope". (Again, this is the way things have basically started to go).

[lt_murgen]

Leadership
***SNIP****

--I'm good with Prefect and Prefecture, as long as everyone else is.
--Change "only with assent" to "Unless the Qzare or Senate Forbids it"


The Senate
***SNIP***
--My thought on the senate was kind of based on AQUA senior council- they don't really do anything. But they give each region a voice directly to the ruler, and they provide a convienent scapegoat for the Qzare to avoid unpopular decisions. Again, more fluff than anything. But OOC with Morph gone, at least we can ask each other if one of us gets wants to do something wild or risky."



The Imperial Court
--Meh, it can be entirely fluff for all I care. I can see where Rizban was trying to use it to impeach the Qzare, maybe.



Military
*snip*
1. The territorial integrity of all provinces and protectorates is guaranteed by the Silver Throne.
2. All provinces and protectorates are expected to maintain reasonable defensive forces proportional to their extent and population, including a navy.
3. Should any region within the Imperium come under attack from outside, all provinces and protectorates are expected to contribute a reasonable number of troops to its defence at the request of its ruler, reasonable to be construed as all troops that can be made available without endangering the integrity of that subject.
4. Provinces and protectorates are encouraged but not obliged to support foreign deployment of troops undertaken or endorsed by the Silver Throne.
5. Military units shall not be deployed by provinces and protectorates contrary to the current foreign policy of the Silver Throne.

---if everyone else likes the less specific list, I am all for it.


Religion
**snip***
--I think it is important to have a state religion for formal events, but not require any leaders to swear to it. Hailings works for that.
--How about just dropping the first sentence of {6} and just say any religion in the Empire has to have permission from the ruler of the region, the Prefect or Proconsul (and drop the senate requirement). So if I want the CoK to spread outside of my regions, the other player has to agree.
--{7}{8}and {9} limit how much faith can grow in the Empire, since no new religions can come in, or be created, and no player can have 2 actions in a round to increase their faith without discussing it first.


Trade
I think I fixed most of your trade issues by saying we can declare something a state secret and not trade it. But we can trade other techs if we want. I put in a clause about not stealing techs, but I (OOC) really really really want to steal techs.....:smallmad:

[Logic]

Celero has no technologies that are counted as state secrets, and only one resource it counts as a national treasure (Griffons.) Though, I may be making a technological state secret or two soon.

Celero also presently possesses agents that prevent technology theft

At present, Griffons are shipped only to the Empire of the Dawn, and Celero would be loathe to give them to anyone outside the Imperium. In fact, a trading post for Griffons would be considered an act of War by Celero, as they are a protected species.

[Aedilred]

--I'm good with Prefect and Prefecture, as long as everyone else is.
--Change "only with assent" to "Unless the Qzare or Senate Forbids it"

--My thought on the senate was kind of based on AQUA senior council- they don't really do anything. But they give each region a voice directly to the ruler, and they provide a convienent scapegoat for the Qzare to avoid unpopular decisions. Again, more fluff than anything. But OOC with Morph gone, at least we can ask each other if one of us gets wants to do something wild or risky."

--Meh, it can be entirely fluff for all I care. I can see where Rizban was trying to use it to impeach the Qzare, maybe.


---if everyone else likes the less specific list, I am all for it.

--I think it is important to have a state religion for formal events, but not require any leaders to swear to it. Hailings works for that.
--How about just dropping the first sentence of {6} and just say any religion in the Empire has to have permission from the ruler of the region, the Prefect or Proconsul (and drop the senate requirement). So if I want the CoK to spread outside of my regions, the other player has to agree.
--{7}{8}and {9} limit how much faith can grow in the Empire, since no new religions can come in, or be created, and no player can have 2 actions in a round to increase their faith without discussing it first.
Sounds good to me. As I literally just edited into my previous post as you posted this one, it might also be worth adding a clause that some religions are specifically banned and minorities shouldn't be tolerated; even if we don't specify any at this point (although Jaaku Na would be a definite candidate) it gives us the opportunity to add them later.

I think it might also be worth including a clause that rulers can apply to have their religion recognised (thus giving the ability to void the rule against creating religions on a case-by-case basis) although presumably the other restrictions will remain on spreading it. As I hinted at, we are working towards a major violation of this rule anyway, but it's a big Imperial cooperation project so the rule against creating new religions can fairly safely be ignored.


Trade
I think I fixed most of your trade issues by saying we can declare something a state secret and not trade it. But we can trade other techs if we want. I put in a clause about not stealing techs, but I (OOC) really really really want to steal techs.....:smallmad:
Yup. I'm with you on stealing techs (I've been considering changing my agents to specialist tech thieves) and I don't think anyone would lose any sleep over that clause not being there. After all, we're big and important enough that we can do what we want and those foreign barbarians aren't doing anything useful with it anyway. On the other hand, it could be an entertaining IC thing if one of us does steal a tech, the owner complains, and the Qzare goes "well it can't have been us. Look, it says right here, stealing techs is prohibited" :smallcool:

[Morph Bark]

Small points: Faith 2 has "diving" rather than "divine". Point 3 could use an enter.

I went over all but Military, and it looks all good. The "no organizing faiths" thing was briefly considered to be altered (IC reason: to enable taxation of organizations), but that's easily dropped. As mentioned though, there are plans to create a new religion sometime soon to bring greater unity to Imperial lands, but we can get to that when we get to it with regards to the Charter stuff--or the Charter could simply be overruled on that part by the Qzare/Qzarina for that particular set of actions when they happen.

As for tech theft, word it like "illegal acquiring" instead. More nebulous and easily enables us to give one another some wiggle room. :smallwink:

[DurkBlanston]

I am happy with what is being done here but have no meaningful suggestions. Thank you. :smalltongue:

[lt_murgen]

Updated the charter with points raised to this point. Updates are in red. I am particularly proud of the weasel-wording of the trade note on tech theft. No ruler can be involved in stuff that violates treaties we have. So if someone else in the family steals from people we don't have tech treaties with, well, technically its not against the charter....

On the faith issue, I have no problem hand-waving that the Carmine Sea was granted permission from the Qzare and the Senate to undertake whatever Aedilred has cooking. But having a general rule is still good.

Also, I will start working on the treaty that binds Celero and AQUA to the Imperium. I'll post it here to keep it out of the actual Imperium thread.

[DurkBlanston]

I have adopted and pasted the new treaty into my Lands post. Here it is spoilered up and de-redded for anyone else who wants to add it

The Salterri Imperium: Agreement


The Grand Charter of the Salterri Imperium

Preamble
The Salterri Imperium exists as a unified empire with the goal of bringing peace, order, and civilization to the world. All Regions, Provinces and Protectorates of the empire agree to a code of conduct to support those goals.

Leadership
{1} Loyalty to the Qzare is absolute. As ruler of the Imperium, the Qzare maintains ultimate authority over the empire. The Qzare agrees never to rule unilaterally without the input of the Senate unless necessary for the preservation of the Imperium.
{2} Regions under direct control of the Qzare shall be referred to as The Silver Throne. These regions shall retain their native leadership and traditional native methods of leader selection. Said leader is granted the Imperial Title of Provincial Governor and may use this title for all legal purposes. Traditional local titles for leadership may be retained and legally used, provided said titles explicitly called out in this treaty.
{3} Cohesive geographical unions consisting of 4 or more regions shall be called Provinces. These Provinces are bound to the Imperium by treaty or conquest. Provinces shall have full rights and responsibilities to maintain their native leadership and methods of selection. Leaders of such nations shall be granted the Imperial Title of Proconsul and may use this title for all legal purposes. Traditional local titles for leadership may be retained and legally used, provided said titles explicitly called out in this treaty.
{4} Non-cohesive geographical unions consisting of 1 or more regions shall be called Protectorates or alternatively Prefects. These Protectorates are bound to the Imperium by treaty or conquest. Protectorates shall maintain their traditional methods of leadership unless formally objected to by the Qzare or a vote of the Senate. Leaders of such nations shall be granted the Imperial Prefect and may use this title for all legal purposes. Traditional local titles for leadership may be retained and legally used, provided said titles explicitly called out in this treaty.

The Senate
{1} The Senate shall be convened on a regular basis to debate the priorities, goals, and agendas of the Imperium and put to a vote said issues. The result of such votes shall be made law to the Imperium.
{2} Senators are to be selected by a method determined by the regional rulers, whether that be by vote or appointment. The Imperium shall not interfere in the method of Senatorial selection.
{3} Each region shall have one Senator and receive one vote in the Senate. Additionally, for every two regions under direct control of the Silver Throne, they shall receive an additional senator and vote.
{4} Each Proconsul shall also receive one vote.
{5} The Qzare shall receive no votes but does maintain veto power over any law passed by the Senate. The Senate may, however, override the Qzare's veto with a three quarters vote of the Senators.

The Imperial Court
{1} Each regional ruler, Protectorate Preator, and Provincial ProConsul shall have the right to attend or send a duly appointed representative to the Comitatus Judex Primus, Court of the Chief Magistrate of the Salterri Imperium. Here, leaders may petition the Imperium or have grievances addressed.
{2} A tribunal of three Magistrates will hear the petitions and issue rulings on a timely basis.
{3} The Chief Magistrate of the Salterri Imperium shall be appointed by the Qzare, and serve a term of no less than 5 years.
{4} Two other Magistrates shall be chosen by the Imperial Senate from a candidate list of no more than two from each region. These candidates should be of good moral character and knowledgable in Imperial Law.

Military

Military Obligations
{1} The territorial integrity of all provinces and protectorates is guaranteed by the Silver Throne.
{2} All provinces and protectorates are expected to maintain reasonable defensive forces proportional to their extent and population, including a navy.
{3} All military units shall follow the following naming convention, to assist in integration of disparate units from multiple sources. A Legion is defined as 1,000 armed and expertly trained soldiers or equivalent thereof. A Classis is defined as a grouping of naval ships capable of carrying a Legion as well as defending it while in transit.
{4} Should any region within the Imperium come under attack from outside, all provinces and protectorates are expected to contribute a reasonable number of troops to its defense at the request of its ruler, reasonable to be construed as all troops that can be made available without endangering the integrity of that subject.
{5} Provinces and protectorates are encouraged but not obliged to support foreign deployment of troops undertaken or endorsed by the Silver Throne.

Military Actions and Limitations
{1} No region will raise arms against another member of the Imperium, except in defense.
{2} Proconsuls and Prefects shall not raise unreasonable military forces and will voluntarily disband some or all of them upon request of the Qzare or a vote of the Senate.
{3} No region will militarily invade lands belonging to nations outside of the Imperium, except in times of war. With Senate approval, expiditionary forces can be sent to assist and encourage undeveloped regions to join the Imperium or to protect native unaligned peoples.
{4} No region shall sponsor privateers nor issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal without consent of the Senate.

Faith and Religion
{1} The Imperium officially recognizes the Hailings of the Silver Sea as the official state religion for use in all Imperial ceremonies. Clergy of the Hailings of the Silver Sea are granted autonomy to move through all Imperium lands and spread their beliefs without hindrance.
{2} The State officially recognizes the Qzare as the bearer of the Silver Mandate and having divine favor to rule.
{3} Proconsuls and Prefects must adhere to a state approved faith for all public Imperial actions. Special dispensations may be given to leader who follows a regional religion with long standing traditions in the area.
{4} The Qzare and the Senate reserve the right to ban any religion determined to be detrimental to the Imperium.
{5} Regional rulers may petition the Courts to restrict the Hailings of the Silver Sea to a minority in a region where a conversion to a majority might cause civil unrest.
{6} The spreading of native faiths to other regions requires consent of the ruler of that region, the Prefect or Proconsul, and a full vote by the senate. At no time may any traditional faith be greater than a minority outside its home regions.
{7} No member of the Imperium may start or organize a new faith or religion without formal decree from the Senate.
{8} No member of the Imperium may spend more than 1/5 of its taxes in support of any religion without formal decree from the Senate.
{9) Missionaries from outside of the Imperium are denied entry to Imperial lands and are prohibited from spreading their faith anywhere within the Imperium without formal decree from the Senate

Trade, Resources, & Technology
Imperial Provinces and Protectorates may make trade agreements as they see fit with the following requirements.
{1} If a region of the Imperium has need of a resource you can provide, you must offer the resource to that region before offering it to any nation outside of the Imperium.
{2} No trade agreements of any sort may be made with any nations declared to be an enemy of the Imperium.
{3} The Qzare and the Senate reserve the right to declare any technology a ‘state secret’ and forbid trade of it outside the Imperium.
{4} All acquired technologies are to be shared openly with all members of the Imperium, though recipients of the technologies may still be required to provide resources in payment for the technology.
{5} No ruling member of the Imperium or Senator shall support illegal acquisition of technology that violates existing Imperial Treaties.

[lt_murgen]

Imperial Unification Agreement

Celero will join the Salterri Imperium as the Kingdom of Celero, Prefecture of the Empire. Celero will retain its existing political structure and leadership.
Celero will retain control of the regions called Celero, Beregenia, and Propilonge.
Celero will relinquish control of Galomyr and the Sea of Glass to the Imperium to be re-distributed as the Qzare and the Senate sees fit.
Celero will be granted control of Nan Hai Nian, DongBo Dosi, collectively known as the Yong Prefecture, from the Caercian Consortium, in recognition of this agreement.
Celero will be granted control of Ri Chungang from the Silver Throne, in recognition of this agreement.
At the request of Queen Vera, Prefect of the Imperium, Celerese native Griffons shall be denoted as “Trade Secrets” and will not be traded outside of the Imperium, except as previously agreed.
Celero will review all existing trade agreements for conflict with existing Imperial rulings.
Celero will reserve 4 trading posts across the regions under its control. The Qzare and the Senate reserve the right to reward these trading posts as they see fit.
Celero comes in as a lesser vassal, but with 5 regions. As soon as they can, I think they can make themselves a greater vassal with this. I suspect that the three new regions will need stabilization. The trade agreement thing is more a reminder to check than anything else. The trading posts is a nice one-time payoff to the empire.



AQUA will join the Salterri Imperium as the Seaborne Confederacy (S.C.), Prefecture of the Empire. The S.C. will retain its existing political structure and leadership.
The S.C. will retain control of the regions called The Jeweled Cities and Tar.
The S.C. will be granted control of Galomyr and the Sea of Glass in recognition of this agreement
The Salterri Imperium will support the S.C. claim on Norvania, provided its native leadership is retained.
The S.C. will review all existing trade agreements for conflict with existing Imperial rulings.
The S.C. will reserve 4 trading posts across the regions under its control. The Qzare and the Senate reserve the right to reward these trading posts as they see fit.
The S.C. requests that the Children of Kina be deemed by the Qzare and the Senate as an ‘permitted religion.’ Any missionary activity within the boundaries of the Imperium will be approved by the Senate and the corresponding Prefect or Proconsul.
Given how scattered these islands are, it will be a while before AQUA (now S.C.) can become a greater vassal, I think.

[Logic]

Celero will be granted control of Nan Hai Nian, Dong Du Bosi, and Dong Nam Dosi in recognition of this agreement.
At the request of King* ?, Prefect of the Imperium, Celerese native Kingbirds** shall be denoted as “Trade Secrets” and will not be traded outside of the Imperium, except as previously agreed.
*Queen Vera
**Kingbirds should be replaced with "Griffons"

And as for becoming a Great Kingdom, doesn't one have to control 4 contiguous regions? Or did I miss a rules change?

[Aedilred]

*Queen Vera
**Kingbirds should be replaced with "Griffons"

And as for becoming a Great Kingdom, doesn't one have to control 4 contiguous regions? Or did I miss a rules change?
One does, although I don't think anyone could have serious objection to 130, 131, 90 and 91 being treated as contiguous regions for GK purposes since there's nothing interceding and they're fairly close to each other even if not strictly bordering.

I should point out that Dong Nam is not (currently) the Imperium's to give away, as it's just declared independence from Bordeux; however I imagine we would support an attempt to recover it. It might be that Ri Chugang was meant to be the other region on that list, but I'm not 100% sure what's been worked out with Durk and Morph.

As of this round start Novrania signed itself over to AQUA anyway, although it would probably be a good idea for AQUA to acknowledge that in this round's actions just to make it watertight (we don't want another City States/Jomani Kralstvo fiasco).

[lt_murgen]

One does, although I don't think anyone could have serious objection to 130, 131, 90 and 91 being treated as contiguous regions for GK purposes since there's nothing interceding and they're fairly close to each other even if not strictly bordering.

I should point out that Dong Nam is not (currently) the Imperium's to give away, as it's just declared independence from Bordeux; however I imagine we would support an attempt to recover it. It might be that Ri Chugang was meant to be the other region on that list, but I'm not 100% sure what's been worked out with Durk and Morph.

As of this round start Novrania signed itself over to AQUA anyway, although it would probably be a good idea for AQUA to acknowledge that in this round's actions just to make it watertight (we don't want another City States/Jomani Kralstvo fiasco).

I might have the wrong 3rd region.

I plan on taking an action to press the claim separate from the action to become a vassal. I just haven't put in my IC post yet.

[Logic]

One does, although I don't think anyone could have serious objection to 130, 131, 90 and 91 being treated as contiguous regions for GK purposes since there's nothing interceding and they're fairly close to each other even if not strictly bordering.

I should point out that Dong Nam is not (currently) the Imperium's to give away, as it's just declared independence from Bordeux; however I imagine we would support an attempt to recover it. It might be that Ri Chugang was meant to be the other region on that list, but I'm not 100% sure what's been worked out with Durk and Morph.

As of this round start Novrania signed itself over to AQUA anyway, although it would probably be a good idea for AQUA to acknowledge that in this round's actions just to make it watertight (we don't want another City States/Jomani Kralstvo fiasco).

Well, where is the most updated map that I might look at what realms my GK might be composed of?

[Aedilred]

Latest exploration results are not up (I'll poke Morph) but the ones we're currently looking at are 133-136 (133-135 are already under Imperial control although in two separate prefectures) and there was exploration to the west last round which should hopefully open up another region for colonisation. Latest map (sans exploration) is in the round opener. Durk has a better idea of The Plan than I do, I think; I haven't paid attention to all the specifics since I don't have any regions in that part of the world.

[DurkBlanston]

As I understand the plan I shall relinquish 134 and 135 (Nan Hai Nian and Dong Bu Dosi) currently the Yong Prefecture (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?351078-Empire!-The-Lands-of-Telluris-(the-fluff-beyond-the-crunch)&p=17969511#post17969511) and my own lesser vassal to Celero while Morph relinquishes 133 (Ri Chugang (http://gitp-empire.wikia.com/wiki/Ri_Chugang)) to Celero as well. Celero will then posses 6 regions (Celero, Bereginia, Propinlonge, Nan Hai Nian, Dong Bu Dosi, and Ri Chugang) and will expand either into the discovered western region next round, explore south, or attempt to get Dong Nam Dosi (136) since it has rebelled from the KSM. With whichever final piece Celero does add it will be able to form a GK in the Far West.

AQUA meanwhile has already received administration of 131 Novrania in the round opener, will confirm this round, and shall have Celero relinquish the Sea of Glass (130) and Galomyr (90) to it's administration putting AQUA at 6 regions (JC, Tar, Bloomenwald, Galomyr, Sea of Glass, and Novrania) and should conceivably be able to form a GK out of 90, 91, 130, and 131

Edit: And this is the most updated map although Cas-Teire which isn't important to this but exists isn't on there. http://i.imgur.com/VzS0g5B.jpg

[lt_murgen]

Updated the new agreement with comments up to this point, in red.