Political Traditions
Barons, Baronesses and Baronites
When The Concord was signed, the Realms needed to incorporate their highest political positions with this new system. For the Baronies, this was more difficult than others, as the title of Baron, while elected, was a title for life. Given the chaotic time the the Baronies found themselves in, they decided to keep the title and grant it to their Senators. As such, each region of the Baronies has a Baron, Baroness or Baronite (masculine, feminine and gender-neutral) who serves the position for two years before requiring re-election.
Unlike other Realms Senators, these individuals have some additional powers.They are as follows:
- Elections for Realmic Deeds or Commissions within their region must have their results approved by the Baron. If they do not approve them, they must be re-elected.
- Elections for the Champion of the Realm must be approved by all the Barons of the Greenweald.
The Dark Vote
With the constant risk of corruption, destruction and failure seeping out of the Greenweald, the act of selecting a leader within the forest nation is not for the faint of heart. The tradition for electing the Baron, Baroness or Baronite of a Greenweald Region is as follows;
- The election should take place in the dark of night if possible.
- Only individuals who make their home in the region that is being elected are allowed to vote.
- Candidates must step forward, announce their name and home. They are not allowed to give a speech at this time. They must have done this ahead of time, now is the time of action. Each candidate will then take up a location that is distinct from the others to make voting easier.
- Each candidate lights and holds a candle that they have brought with them, symbolising the hopes they bring to the Baronies.
- All the voters will then move into the voting area, standing infront of the candidate they LEAST want to win. Each voter has one minute to make this choice.
- The Candidate who received the most votes extinguishes their own candle and is eliminated from the running for the position.
- That candidate joins everyone who voted for them and all the voters may vote again.
- This is completed until there is only one candidate remaining.
Always pragmatists, a lot of this theatre can be nullified if the circumstances call for it. With simply casting the negative vote with words or speech is valid in times of need.
Military Traditions
Baron's Writter
As foremost defender of the realm and responsible for marshalling both heroes and common soldiers, The Champion of the Baronies is no small burden to carry. But it is also a position of great ceremony. The Champions of the Baronies are Baronial protector and the arm of the highest seat in the Weald. As such there are two steps to take the title.
The first is a Candidate must be chosen by vote of the Barons, this is the Champion of the Baronies after all. The Baronies will decide upon a single candidate through popular vote, which can be drawn from any member of the Realm. If there is only one Barony, then its Baron will raise a candidate alone.
The second is approval by the Soldatenrat. Made up of the Ritter-Captains of the Weald. The Champion must be approved by the Council by popular vote, wherein they will be confirmed as the Champion of the Weald. If there are no Ritter-Captains, then this step will be skipped.
Over time as the Weald has gained armies, this method has remained the same for generals. Conceivably, it would also remain the same for Greenwealder Fleets.
Economic Traditions
The Reasonable Choice
All business endeavours in The Baronies must be considered against the abilities for the community to defend new areas of the forest while also extracting worth from the action. In order to keep this consideration at the forefront of concerns, Economic Elections within the Baronies are a popular vote, where the only individuals able to cast a vote are those with a Business, Farm or Military Investment. This grants both the perspective of those who would be defending the endeavour and those who have the best economic understanding.