Since I didn't feel like doing anything heavy today, I decided to go over one of my characters and elaborate on the concepts of the world, to flesh it out more. I'm trying to keep the profiles separate from the events of the books to a degree so that the plot doesn't shape who they are before the plot happens. I want them to be realistic, living people as much as they can be and then react to the plot as realistic, living people as they can be being created from some twenty-one year old punk's mind. The more history you give a character, the more human they become.
First up, the first character to appear in the novel. His role in the novel is quite small honestly, but I figure giving him a full history will flesh out the world much more than a blurb, as he's vital to the setting.
Alexander Maitland IV
Race: Human
Age: 39
Profession: Consul of the Republic of Uzinia, Wizard focused on Knowledge magics
Appearance: Ponytailed Brown hair in a well groomed matter. Magicked to not have a hair out of place. Clean shaven face, blemish-less face. Face barely shows age, hairline is perfect. High forehead, face at rest in a pretentious frown. Wears a long open faced blue robe with white frills on the outlines. It drags along the ground as he walks, but never seems to get filthy. Beneath is a fine white silk shirt and black pantaloons. He wears black leather boots that barely even seem to touch the ground as he walks.
Personality: Cold and calculating. Always pursues knowledge, must know everything. Knowing the unknown is his biggest motivator and lying is the biggest insult to him. Will do damn near anything to further his understanding of the world and the forces that make it turn.
History: Born to two wizard parents who themselves were a simple marriage of power. Despite having no true love for eachother, they cared deeply for Maitland, and wanted the best for him, pushing their son to follow in both of their footsteps, pushing his studies hard. He could read the common Uzinian language by the age of four and could decipher arcane runes by six. Strangely, the natural rebellion that comes with youth did not repel him to the lifestyle forced on him. If anything, his rebellion fed the curiosity that would fuel him later in life. He found himself spending his teenage years using what he was taught in adolescence to spy on both of his father, a man who served as Governor of Zagfey, and his mother, who did much to keep her husband's links to the higher ups strong, in hopes to one day grant the Elder Maitland the position of Consul. His magical eavesdropping, his parents kept woefully unaware too continued well into Maitland's twenties, inspired him to make his move into politics. His lust for further arcane study continued as well. As his father was beginning to gear up to make his bid for the seat after the natural death of the previous Consul, the younger Maitland quickly put a stop to it, threatening to expose his fathers various dirty secrets he had gathered if his father did not support to make the younger Maitland Consul instead. The father's dreams were dashed, but he agreed. He ascended to the seat of Consul by arranging the convenient deaths of his major political opponents, winning an unprecedented 90% of the vote in the election. This is typical of Uzinian politics, but it's usually enough to squeak by with a 55-65% victory. With the exceptional lead, he quickly sealed himself up in the Tower of Zagfey to further his studies in the tower's great library. Has mostly ignored the welfare of the country, choosing to release those who complain into the forest in a form that lacks the ability to complain further. Currently twelve years into his term, he has been a veritable expert in keeping his power, refusing to let anything, including plots against him, go unknown. The people of Uzinia don't see Consul Maitland's term ending any time soon.
Concept: Just expanding on the whole government system.
Uzinian Magocratic Consul- The position is considered indefinite, and can only be terminated on the holders death or a sucessful recall headed by all the other Magocratic senate members. They hold nearly absolute matters in anything involving the Uzinian state, although the power is rarely used. In the rare event that it is used, the Consul can only be overruled by a unanimous vote from the Senate. The position usually only sought after by most of it's candidates for possession of the grand library in the Tower of Zagfey, containing nearly all of the research on arcana in Uzinia's history, including the notebooks of past Consuls.
The position is a democratically elected one. Under the plain laws of the nation, anyone may run for the position, regardless of social status, race, gender, or magical skill. However, the chances of someone who the senate would view as an undesirable succeeding in acquiring the status of Consul is nil. When one does get bold enough to do it, they are quickly politely asked to reconsider running for the position. If their consideration does not fit in with the wishes of the Senate, something tragic usually befalls them, such as attacks by assassins, brain aneurysms, heart attacks, suicide, or in one rare case, old age, despite the victim only being the age of twenty four.
The voting process is a complex one, as all citizens have the right to cast a vote, including women after the strange campaign of Latonya Love in becoming Consul despite voting being an exclusively male right at the time. It has been said that she did not have the support of the people of her country, most of them still viewing a woman as unfit to control their country. But the thing about Uzinian politics, is that the voice of people, despite the country technically being a democracy, does not matter. If the common people voted for one candidate unanimously, their opinion would only amount to a grand total of 6% of the vote. The other 94% of the vote lies in the hands of the Senate, split between them, and not evenly. Senior Senator's vote would count far more than one who was just admitted into the Senate. The weight of one's vote in an election is commonly determined by the last Consul, who has a twice a decade duty to assign the weight of a Senator's vote. The victory of Love, combined with her threat towards the senate to incinerate any of them who doubted her ability to hold the position of Consul, begins to make a lot more sense in this regard.
The Senate itself is comprised up of thirty people, five from each of the six provinces of Uzinia; Zagfey, Morgenholm, Merton, Allbridge, Tashran, and Jana's Way. Each set of five consist of a master of each of the four disciplines of magic, and the governor of that region. The governor is nominated by the Consul himself, and confirmed by the senators of that province. It is legal under Uzinian law to become a senator with no magical skill, but it is not likely as new senators are chosen by existing ones, and as wizards, if they are dedicated to anything, they are dedicated to the tradition, especially when a tradition that keeps them in power.
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