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WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!? WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!? |
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The Concord is an interchangeable term that refers to both empire of Calorum and the agreement between the six nations that created the empire. Following a brief breakdown following the death of Emperor Gustavo Uvano, the Concord was reinstated with Amethar of House Rocks as Emperor.
History[]
The Ravening War and Pax Calorum[]
The Concord was agreed upon after the great Ravening War, creating the Pax Calorum. It states that 20% of all nations' taxes, as well as 50% of their armies must go to support the Empire. These rules were enacted to ensure that no kingdom would have the strength to rise up and go to war with any other without every other nation being called by oaths sworn under the light of the Bulb to protect their allies.
To join the Concord, one must swear on the Book of Leaves (the Bulbian holy book) that they are a Bulbian. No oath of the Concord can be considered binding if a person is not Bulbian.
There is also a law within the Concord that does not permit monarchs to entreaty their wardships to end. It is implied that this means that arranging political marriages is against the law, likely to prevent a single family or nation from gaining more political power than others through these unions.
The Concordant Emperor[]
An Emperor now rules over all of Calorum as a somewhat democratic leader on the Concordant Throne in Comida. The first Concordant Emperor was Gustavo Uvano. As his health declined, Gustavo intended to name King Amethar of House Rocks as his successor, but he died before the official paperwork could be completed. The confusion over who would succeed Gustavo lead to a several months-long crisis that ended with Amethar being crowned Emperor.
Succeeding Emperors are not chosen by bloodlines like in the monarchies of the nations of Calorum, but is instead chosen by the previous Emperor, accompanied by a Grand Tournament. There are several legal restrictions on who is eligible to inherit the throne put in place by the Concord: candidates must be a sovereign ruler of one of the nations of Calorum; no child of an Emperor is eligible; no citizen of the Emperor's nation is eligible; and lastly, candidates must be physically present at the Grand Tourney in order to accept the position. However, all these legal restrictions can be bypassed if-- and only if-- an individual is nominated by the winner of the Grand Tournament's jousting competition.
There is also a council led by the Emporer called the Cornucopian Council. It’s members include each of the heads of state, as well as additional members that the Emperor chooses.
If, upon the Emperor's death, a successor has not been officially declared, the decision falls to the Bulbian Church and the Cornucopian Council to vote on. This does not invalidate a joust winner's nomination: the winner may participate in voting as a part of the Council on behalf of their nominee.
The Collapse of the Concord[]
The Grand Tournament was followed by the declaration of Gustavo Uvano that King Amethar Rocks was to succeed him as Emperor, though this decision was made in the presence of only Amethar, Sir Theobald Gumbar, and Lady Plumbeline Uvano. When later asked, following Gustavo's death, whom he had chosen as successor, Lady Uvano testified that he had chosen Senator Augustus Ciabatta of Ceresia, while Amethar pushed his own claim. Plumbeline was then asked to swear to her claim upon the Book of Leaves; her inability to do so proved that Senator Ciabatta was not, in fact, chosen as emperor. However, rather than being asked to prove his own claim, Amethar was instead forced to reveal that, prior to marrying Queen Caramelinda Rocks, he had married a woman from the Dairy Islands, a marriage that had never been annulled. Due to this, Amethar was declared to be an oath breaker, his daughters bastards, and he was immediately ex-communicated from the Bulbian Church. The Candian throne then passed to Duke Joren Jawbreaker. As Duke Jawbreaker was in open rebellion against the Concord, Candia as a whole was seen to be a rebel state.
Following this, and the overthrow of the Ceresian republic by Augustus Ciabatta to become Imperator, both Ceresia and the Bulbian Church saw the Concord as null since, as per the treaty that create it, it requires all signing parties to be functional. In effect, this was used by Ciabatta to launch an invasion and conquest of Candia, hoping to ensure his position as Imperator, and by Pontifex Belizabeth Brassica, who used it to launch a crusade of Candia under the Ramsian Doctrine, bringing Fructera and Vegetania into the war. Notably, neither the Meat Lands nor the Dairy Islands moved against Candia, the former likely refusing a Church call for crusade and the latter likely due to Duchess Primsy Coldbottle's alliance with House Rocks.
The decision to dissolve the Concord lead to some disputes among the invading parties, notably, Lady Plumbeline Uvano refused to commit Fructeran troops until the Concord's future was assured with her as emperor. Pontifex Belizabeth Brassica, however, wanted the Concord to remain dissolved past the purge of Candia as she wished to launch a crusade against the Meat Lands for their continued belief in traditional religions. Ciabatta, meanwhile, wished to conquer Candia and turn it into a Ceresian province.
The New Concord[]
Following the Seige of Castle Candy, which saw the deaths of Pontifex Brassica, Imperator Ciabatta, and Plumbeline Uvano, Amethar Rocks's claim to the Concordant throne was recognized by the Dairy Islands and, soon after, the rest of Calorum. The result was the revival of the Concord with Amethar of House Rocks as Emperor, with his daughter Saccharina of House Frostwhip ruling as Queen of Candia.
Trivia[]
- The first Concordant Emperor, Gustavo Uvano, who created the Concord is a grape. The name "Concord" is a reference to it being an agreement, as well as a reference to concord grapes.