Rotakan politics is a political system balances between three main components: The Emperor, the Chairs, and the Provinces. It makes up the backbone of the Empire's politics.

The Emperor/ess

Consisting of the Emperor(ess), his/her family, and political allies/organization. Both sexes have ruled the Empire at one point of another, but the current Emperor is male and his son is expected to succeed him, provided the boy can reign in his mis-adventures and take on actual responsibility.

The immaturity of the current crown is a source of enormous political intrigue, with some suggesting (very very quietly) that the next Emperor might end up falling outside the immediate Royal family.

While the Emperor is the most powerful political entity, and arguable the most powerful person in the world, they are hardly able to do anything they want. Their primary spheres of power revolve around execution and distribution:

The Military

The full might of the Empire's military is, of course, under the control of the Emperor. The Empire's army is generally considered equal to any two or three province armies combined.

There is one notable exception: Santonia. The sheer size of the Santonian province allows it to field it's own considerable military. While their military isn't quite the equal of the Empire's, the difference is considered a formality. Santonia could field a larger military just as the Emperor could draft more soldiers to match them. For either of them to try would create an arms race that neither side wants.

While the Emperor's military is an obvious source of power, it's usefulness is more as a deterrent and balance check on powers than any actual political power. "Do as I say or I will wipe your province off the map" would only work to commit political suicide.

It's the draft itself that constitutes the bulk of the Emperor's source of political power from the military. By leveraging the requirements of draft, the Emperor yields significant political power over the provinces. Not only can the Emperor dictate how many people are required per province and the length of stay within the military, but perhaps more importantly, he/she can dictate how those soldiers are trained. When, at the end of the draft, those individuals get sent home (assuming they don't choose to stay), the level of their training can change the balance of power between the provinces.

What the Emperor cannot do is choose who is included in the draft. It is quite possible for a province to send their poorest, weakest members.

It is also possible for the Emperor to use them as lance fodder.

Food Distribution

A significant portion of the Empire's bulk grain foods are produced by the slave colonies on Ionia. While the Emperor does not control the actual slave colonies nor their production (that's controlled by the Chairs), they do control the distribution of food.

This also ends up being a significant portion of political power over the provinces, who depend on this food to feed their populace.

While is is possible for a province to feed itself, it would require massive industrial shifts that would become very obvious to basically everyone. That, in turn, would prompt some very pointed investigations by both the Emperor and the Inquisitors. That's enough of a deterrent that no one has ever tried.

Law

The Emperor has the authority to legislate. However, in order for the legislation to become law, it must be ratified by a three quarters majority of the Chairs. This provides a significant check of balance for the Emperor.

Within the bounds of the existing law, though, it is the Emperors prerogative in how to enforce it. And so part of the Emperor's government is a vast system of judges overseen directly by the Emperor.

With one exception: the slave courts. This is a system of courts specifically designed to render judgement upon potential slaves. In order for someone to become a slave, they must first be judged by the Emperor's courts. The prisoner is then shipped off to the slave courts, who will either ratify the judgement or kick back the judgement (if they deem the offense not severe enough for a life of slavery). This ostensibly prevents abuse of the slave system, though it is arguable how well it works. In practice, political power is more likely to get the judgement rejected than an unfair ruling.

The Chairs

The Chairs are, roughly speaking, responsible for "procurement". Each Chair tends to have a single responsibility, or realm of dominion as they're sometimes called. This gives the chair absolute authority for the procurement of everything under their domain, even though the distribution of what they procure is left entirely in the hands of the Emperor(ess).

For instance, the Chair of Finance is responsible to handling the production of money. Every quarter, the Chair must decide how much money to inject into the economy. Too much, and they risk inflation (degrading their own wealth). Too little, and they risk political blowback, especially from the Emperor, as well as a chance to line their own pockets.

There are exceptions. The slave courts aren't technically procurement as much as they're filtering slaves. They still have a lot of power though.

No Chair owes allegiance to any province to prevent conflict of interests, although there do tend to be alliances, especially if the province is directly related to the production of what's being procured. For instance, the Caldonian province has a long history with the Chair of Arms.

Examples of Chairs:

• Chair of Finance: Responsible for the procurement of money.
• Chair of Arms: Responsible for the procurement of weapons.
• Chair of Bread: Responsible for managing slave colonies on Ionia, using them to procure the grains distributed by the Emperor to the provinces.
• Slave Courts: Only chair not called one. Responsible for ratifying the slaves sent to Ionia.
• Chair of Commerce: Responsible for taxation.