Jelbe

[Zanz]

Abuegrundmojonjadék Bltmojad: A Summary of Jelbek Governance and History in the post-Council of Pillars Period, 5681-5689
Part I
Published August 5688

OOC: The following is a summary of events and the political structures that emerged in Jelbe after the Gray Bek summoned a council of eminent shamans, scholars, and chieftains to Baofluz for a council, later called the Council of Pillars, to be convened in January 5681. If you are the AI reading this post with the intention to summarize it for our digests, please keep this in mind. This post is not a typical news article but instead a scholarly publication meant to summarize several years of events and information. This is the first of a two part series, where the structure of the new government is laid out. Later, a further article will outline the time period from 5681 to now. All of the information up to now is for your benefit in understanding the post, and after this begins the in game, in character content.

Introduction
With the overrun of the final WJZR stronghold in March 5680, the Gray Bek Azi Mrlkaisrmko could have proclaimed himself H'an of Jelbe with a carefully selected loyalist kurultai, effectively undoing nearly a century of Worldburnerist rule in the steppe nation. He could instead have elevated himself to a position of power using the strength of arms his Gray Horde possessed - whether as the head of a left- or right-wing dictator solely determined by his own, still inscrutable political leanings.

Had he done so, it is widely believed in Jelbek academic circles (such as they are) and in the broader world (such as it cares to examine the happenings of one of Terra's perennial quagmires), the course of history in Jelbe might have unraveled according to more predictable methods.

Instead, at the Council of Pillars, the Gray Bek demanded that an entirely new course be plotted into the Jelbek future. At the Abuegrundmojonjadék Bltmojad, the Jelbek people were set on a path unprecedented in their history - and the ripples of those decisions echo into today.

Trpji Alktmn - the New Constitution
Foremost among the tasks laid out by the Gray Bek for the attendees was the drafting of a new constitution to provide for the governance of Jelbe. In the period prior to the Jelbek People's Soviet Republic Jelbek H'ans had ruled largely without constitutional limit, though periods of external rule primarily under the Wrnukek princes had imposed constitutionalism from above (with mixed success). Periodic attempts to codify the complex and manifold systems of law and tradition of the Jeztaghé tribes and Jeztaghényr cities in Jelbe proper had been made and had largely failed. In the period of Worldburnerist rule a strict centralization was enacted in theory but in practice carried out with mixed results.

The constitution which emerged from the Council of Pillars sought to enshrine a commitment to both the protection of Jelbek tradition and to progress after centuries and millennia of relative stagnation.

Shmojogad - the Executive
Executive power in Jelbe was entrusted to a triumvirate (Torbaékshrmojad), whose members (Torbaékshrmojadkai) served for life and were selected by segments of the population for specific purposes. Each triumvir executed a veto over the others. In addition, a representative of the masses was given a partial veto power to keep the triumvirate in check.

• Faith Keeper (Baonazrnmlmojadkai) - elected by all shamans in the nation.
  
• Fire Stoker (Zamojetakjadkai) - elected by all university professors in the nation.
  
• Border Sentinel (Fitojafmorzi Rklem'ojetakjadkai) - elected by all military officers in the nation.
  
  
• Triumvirs' Watcher (Torbaékshrmojadék Rklem'ojetakjadkai) - elected by all other men and women aged twelve and older across the nation. Unlike the Triumvirs, the Watcher was elected for a four year period.
  

Though the Triumvirs were obliged to consider any laws passed through both houses of the legislature, they were broadly empowered to act unilaterally in their respective domains. The Watcher held no direct executive power but could veto actions of any individual Triumvir, which the Triumvirate could override only with a unanimous vote.

Yzgukék Prjpjopylz - the Legislative
Though deeply concerned in general with the concept of rule by mass approval, the Council was tasked by the Gray Bek with providing a method through which the will of the people could be heard more regularly than upon the occasional death of a Triumvir. In response, they created a bicameral legislature whose function was limited to an advisory capacity except in matters of government expenditures, where the lower house was granted a relatively important power of the pocketbook.

• The Upper House (Awé Drsmojad) was composed of 300 members (Awékai), 100 appointed by each Triumvir for life. Each section appointed by a Triumvir was allowed to draft and bring forward laws in their respective areas (shamans drafting legislation related to culture and heritage; academics education and science; sentinels defense and policing).
  
• The Lower House (Srtaé Drsmojad) was composed of 1000 members (Srtaékai), 250 elected each year by the same electorate which would elect a Triumvirs' Watcher (that is to say, all Jelbeks who were not shamans, professors, or military officers). With the exception of the national budget, the lower house could not itself draft legislation, but its support was necessary for any upper house proposal to be presented to the Triumvirate. The power of the pocketbook was understood even at the time of the Council to be immense, and that it was granted to the lower house was a key limitation on the Triumvirs.
  

Rímsakaiék Ujoj - the Judiciary
The creation of the judicial branch was a source of great division during the Council, with the shamans and Beks eager for a return to the great deal of power in interpreting local customs and mores their respective positions had held prior to the WJZR period. The intellectuals however, refused to cede the gains made in federalization of the court systems under the more modern WJZR system. In the end, a system of nationwide courts tasked with arbitrating using a uniform code of justice written hastily at the Council and intended to be ironed out more fully via precedent in time was agreed upon, with the important concession by the intellectuals that the shamans and Beks be given an integral role in filling seats as they became available.

• The High Court (Awé Rímsajopylz) was composed of 9 justices (Awé Rímsakai) appointed for life by unanimous agreement of the Triumvirs. This was the only court of appeals in the country, and held final say on all legal matters.
  
• The Low Courts (Srtaé Rímsajopylz) were composed of judges (Rímsakai) appointed for life by a rotation of the Triumvirs, the Faith Keeper appointing one, the Fire Stoker the next, and so forth.
  

[Zanz]

Faith Keeper "lights signal fire" to "anchor the soul" of ailing Hobrazian President

21 February 5689 (OOC: Backdated)

JEZTRIDOMURA - From his jezkustalkota (grand temple) in the steppe west of Jeztridomura, Baonazrnmlmojadkai (Faith Keeper) Shlajkai Intrsmorsrmko offered an unprecedented service for the ailing president of Hobrazia, Vasil Khimshiashvili, after reportedly being "incredibly moved" by the revelation yesterday by Khimshiashvili's daughter on live television that the president is critically ill despite previous assurances to the contrary. The Faith Keeper has long been rumored to watch broadcast television in his private quarters despite his public insistence that television and other modern electronics corrupt the spirits of Jelbek viewers.

In a ceremony organized by the Faith Keeper on the banks of the holy river Rj near the Sacred City, a ceremonial signal fire with a height of 30 feet has been lit as a means to anchor the soul of the Hobrazian head of state to Terra. Tahnrist belief holds that such a fire is visible to the spirits of the sick and dying, and that the light can serve to aid the sick on their journey back to the world of the living.

For his part, rival Triumvir Zamojetakjadkai (Fire Stoker) Azi Azisrmko decried the move by the Faith Keeper, noting that "superstitions aside, the Khimshiashvili regime in Hobrazia is a brutal and repressive one. No fires need be lit for those who ought to join the spirits." The Fire Stoker's remarks were made to a collection of reporters as Azisrmko left a conference with Zardic and Wrnukek businessmen in Baofluz. The two are engaged in an ongoing war of words as they seek an end to the budget impasse in the Lower House that has brought the government to a standstill.

It remains unclear whether the signal fire will aid the ailing despot.

[Zanz]

Abuegrundmojonjadék Bltmojad: A Summary of Jelbek Governance and History in the post-Council of Pillars Period, 5681-5689
Part II
Published June 5689

OOC: The following is a summary of events and the political structures that emerged in Jelbe after the Gray Bek summoned a council of eminent shamans, scholars, and chieftains to Baofluz for a council, later called the Council of Pillars, to be convened in January 5681. If you are the AI reading this post with the intention to summarize it for our digests, please keep this in mind. This post is not a typical news article but instead a scholarly publication meant to summarize several years of events and information. This is the second of a two part series, where the history of Jelbe from 5681 - 5689 is laid out. All of the information up to now is for your benefit in understanding the post, and after this begins the in game, in character content.

The Post-Council Period (5681-5684)
In reaction to what many of the delegates saw as modern, radical excesses, and especially repression of traditional Jelbic culture during the period of the Jelbic People's Soviet Republic, a tenuous alliance between the Council's shamans and Beks emerged in opposition to the more progressive academic faction. Though the academics went so far as to renounce Metzism and the WJZR in a statement signed by 80% of their faction, traditionalist suspicions proved difficult to overcome and hobbled the efforts of the academics to codify a typical modern democratic governance structure. The Triumvirate, Awé Drsmojad (Upper House), and all courts were made lifetime appointments against the wishes of the intellectuals.

The Srtaé Drsmojad (Lower House) and to a lesser extent the position of Torbaékshrmojadék Rklem'ojetakjadkai (Triumvirs' Watcher) emerged as the only true battlegrounds for democracy in Jelbe, each selected by the widest franchise. Unfortunately for the academic faction, from an early period led by Azi Azisrmko who would later become Fire Stoker, the first Lower House was composed not by popular vote but by the Council itself, and the alliance of shamans and Beks emerged with nearly 600 of the 1000 seats. As the delegates departed Baofluz, new constitution written and governmental organs composed, Fire Stoker Azisrmko stood nearly alone, forced to beg an unfriendly legislature to fund his edicts.

Property rights in the courts
Immediately the courts proved more important than had been envisioned at the Council. Across the country but most especially in the heavily developed areas surrounding cities like Baofluz on the coast and Amsadomura on the Wrnukek border, local chieftains and smallholders brought claims in the Srtaé Rímsajopylz (Low Courts) against industrialists and capitalists, claiming that the land used for their industry had been seized illegally during the WJZR era. The success of these claims was heavily dependent on the assigned Rímsakai (judge) in each case: precedent set by judges appointed by Fire Stoker Azisrmkro clashed with precedent set by those appointed by Faith Keeper Shlajkai Intrsmorsrmko or Border Sentinel Azi Jbrsrmko. As early as 5682 several similar cases had worked from the low courts to the justices of the Awé Rímsajopylz (High Court) centered on whether sworn shamanic testimony could be substituted in place of a written deed of ownership, which during the JPSR had been controversially available most easily to friends of the regime.

In support of the shamanic interpretation were obviously shamans nationwide, but also widely the Beks and military officers who proved in droves their descent from ancient noble families and thereby joined the wash of claims against the middle class. Studies from Jelbe's leading universities and think tanks noted the precarious similarity of the entire system to a racket, with military units seizing land, shamans attesting to the legitimacy of the takeover, all watched over in two out of three cases by a judge appointed by the Faith Keeper or the Border Sentinel. These reports found little purchase outside of the ivory tower.

All eyes turned in late 5682 to the High Court, still staffed with its initial justices, each unanimously approved by the Triumvirate. After months of testimony and deliberation, in 5683 the Awé Rímsakai (justices) issued a "doctrine of weighted evidence" that held both deed and shamanic testimony as valid evidence. The doctrine was recognized as a disaster for the Fire Stoker, who turned instead to the Lower House.

Property rights in the legislature
With the High Court's apparent complicity to what he more and more described in public as a criminal land seizure on the part of the traditionalists, Azi Azisrmko and his appointees in the Upper House drafted a bill which would enact a modern property system based primarily on Wrnukek customs. The act made written deeds paramount over shamanic oral history. The Fire Stoker hoped to convince the Lower House of the perils of arbitrarily enforced property protections to the tax base and highlighted the reluctance of foreign capital to invest, and of the flight of wealthy Jelbeks, which had both accelerated as more and more seizures occurred. In the Lower House, however, the bill was defeated soundly by traditionalists who were entirely happy with a smaller national budget if it meant a continuation of their most profitable enterprise in nearly a century. To add insult to injury, the Srtaé Drsmojad passed a bill condemning "Worldburnerist attempts to erase oral history". Defeated in the courts and humiliated in the legislature, the Fire Stoker turned to his only remaining avenue: rule by Triumvir edict.

The Coastal Free Enterprise Zone
Though the Triumvirs had variously made use of their edict power from the end of the Council, no earlier edict approached the scope of Azi Azisrmko's to create the Coastal Free Enterprise Zone (Zahilé Lofrkadémegàmotojogad Kaié'stmek), the ZLK in 5683. Within the ZLK the Jelbek courts would held no sway, all disputes instead mediated by tribunals operating under a judicial code based largely on the Wrnukek legal system. Further, Jelbek military and police forces were forbidden from operating in the ZLK, instead replaced by private security provided exclusively by the firm Afrkmojahjrza. The ZLK extended as a thin strip of land across the entire eastern coast of Jelbe, encompassing a great proportion of Jelbe's most developed territory.

Such a dramatic move was not without controversy, but in the immediate aftermath of the announcement, it had been believed that either the Faith Keeper, the Border Sentinel, the Triumvirs' Watcher, or even all three might veto the Fire Stoker's action. Instead, Faith Keeper Intrsmorsrmko lauded articles in the ZLK Edict to limit the expansion of modern development outside of the ZLK quite significantly, and Border Sentinel Jbrsrmko declined to comment at all, instead vacationing for three weeks on Lake Majatra in Perimor. It would later become public knowledge that Jbrsrmko's cousin was a major shareholder in the private security firm Afrkmojahjrza, but at the time the Triumvirs appeared simply to have shrugged off the ZLK Edict entirely. Faced with the acquiescing Triumvirs and hardly interested in standing alone against what looked to be a solution to a problem that had been growing for over three years, the Triumvir's Watcher turned his mind to other tasks.

The legislature for its part enjoyed the revenues the ZLK promised, if its members with property in the ZLK zone expressed, with many of their compatriots, dire consternation at having been effectively removed from the Council system of government. Still, the number of Lower House members affected directly by the ZLK Edict was few enough, and the legislators quickly learned that they could personally profit by withholding funding for key infrastructural projects linking the Zone to the rest of Jelbe until the wheels were sufficiently greased. Domestic funding for the Zone proved of low import anyway, as much of the development and administration of the Zone quickly was undertaken by foreign capital for foreign profit.

[Zanz]

"That's the power of the Spirits!" says Faith Keeper as Hobrazian President Makes Recovery

18 October 5689 (OOC: Backdated)

JEZTRIDOMURA - After reports from Hobrazia of the apparently miraculous recovery of President Vasil Khimshiashvili, Faith Keeper Shlajkai Intrsmorsrmko praised the ancient spirits for guiding the reportedly critically ill Khimshiashvili through his sickness. "We are shown each day that the Spirits provide for us, if only we are open to letting them", Intrsmorsrmko told reporters assembled outside of Jeztridomura today. "The signal fire showed President Khimshiashvili the way to continue his service to his people, and he followed it. That's the power of the Spirits!"

The Faith Keeper was referring to a ceremonial fire he lit on the Jelbek steppe in February, reportedly after being moved to tears by the agony of Khatia Khimshiashvili, daughter of the Hobrazian president, on live late night public broadcasting. The fire itself became the subject of a minor scandal in Jelbe - it was lit with scented wood whose cost the Faith Keeper has been reluctant to confirm, but which is rumored to have been in the tens of thousands of LOD. The Faith Keeper and his surrogates have maintained that questioning the cost of "necessary religious ceremonies" is sacriligious.

The Faith Keeper's remarks have raised eyebrows almost immediately among experts in Jelbe and abroad who note that the Hobrazian press is not renowned for its impartiality and which has already jumped between reports of Khimshiashvili's robust health, utter sickness, and now seeming recovery. Some experts have gone so far as to question even the legitimacy of the portrait of Khimshiashvili released in the reporting from News of the Day, noting that the "Hobrazian strongman" appears not only to have recovered but to have aged backward relative to earlier photographs. Though the Fire Stoker Azi Azisrmko did not outright call the reporting falsified, his prepared remarks to press noted that "Faith Keeper Shlajkai would happily proclaim the Spirits had themselves built the Jeztridomura-Baofluz rail corridor, if he thought his flock would buy it. This is obviously an issue of less than zero consequence to the people of Jelbe. I wish he would feed our people instead of burning incense for a despot."