In theory, the throne of the Empress of Wanisin (o Hakrodeklo il Mitradzho Ksreskézon, "the King of the Ksreskézaian Empire") is permanently vacant. It is held in eternal custodianship by the Slokdtabai on the authority of the Divine Mandate of Alestea, which is a passage from Book II of the Thirteen Books of Kowako. In practice the title was first used directly by Sampo I and has been adopted by every Empress since.
In the Thirteen Books, Kona Tuktanga reserved exclusive authority over defining a line of succession for the leadership of the Fire Temple. At the time she did really not expect for it to outlive her; already Illera was in the grip of its namesake Plague. Much of the texts were devoted to defining how her ideal society would function, however, and this included a description of the virtues of a good leader, as well as instructions on how to govern effectively. This advice has been compared to Machiavelli's Il Principe (The Prince), though mostly unfavourably—Kona's knowledge of history came mostly through the lens of theatre, and was in many places unduly romantic.
The confirmation of the first empress was the only time a claim to the throne was made based on temple pecking order. Of Kowako's inner circle of four, two had died as a result of a duel over control of the group, and the third, Súlevía Ekñedkh'lesa, Kowako's protégé, died en route to the planet. The first actual Empress Regent was the fourth member of this circle, and the least likely; Kona's favourite, Keroa Shentegdía. Initially passed over due to her lack of previous authority, she was ultimately elected by consensus of the crew of the Haplina once it became evident her vision for Wanisin eclipsed that of the next likely candidate, who was of worthier character but had been disliked by Kowako.
As is often noted, Klíto XVII's reign was considered largely a disappointment: though her efforts to build the ideal Alestéan society were persistent and innovative, she did not display the character of the ideal übermensch, and was urged to designate a successor more worthy of the title, using her authority as Kowako's designated replacement to extend the line. This became known as the simeio nouektion (siméo núekhtíon), or method of amendment. In Klíto's vision, designated successors were to be authorized by the sitting Senators in a confirmation hearing where they were compelled to give consent on pain of ostracization.
Once confirmed, the empress regent would then be entitled to coronation, which was officiated by the Lereí Stillúbekwía, or high priestess, of the cult of Alestéa. Initially, this was also Klíto, but thereafter it was to be a separate position. The new empress regent would be anointed with a lead-based pigment similar to ceruse, dressed in the new regalia Klíto had commissioned to replace the old artefacts lost on Illera, and then kiss the mummified right hand of Ekhessa Salnúkzoa, which the Alestéans had cut off and stolen as they left. By this process, the coronated woman would be empowered by the three roles she was inheriting: the role of First Slokdtaba, the role of Ksreskézaian Imperator, and the role of Commander-in-Chief of the Lilitic fleet.
The empress regent title was only ever conveyed once in this manner. The chosen leader, Gegloko I was very popular, but when it came time for her to pass on the title to her own protégé, the aristocracy objected to her choice: Klíto's firstborn daughter. The idea of a monarchic dynasty was very much desirable—for that was how Ksreskézo had been ruled since time immemorial—but the prospect of it being founded on the bloodline of a weaver with no charisma was an offence to the legacy of Kowako. To solve this problem, Gegloko turned to the second book again, and designed a ritual, a kosa il a mútsha (the Kiss of the Flame) based on Kowako's own description of how she received divine inspiration. By stepping into a sacred white fire and emerging unharmed, an anointed candidate could be proven to possess Rilessa, or deservingness, were it ever in doubt. With rilessa obtained from the Kiss, the candidate need not stand before the Senate and receive consensus; moreover, because it was a divine mandate, the candidate would be empowered to be the empress in her own right, not merely regent. Almost without exception, the Kiss has since been used in preference to senatorial confirmation. Thus, one need only obtain the consent of whomever controls the temple housing the flame in order to obtain rilessa.
With the regency no longer a proxy role, other forms of succession became theoretically acceptable, most importantly primogeniture and right of conquest, although Wanisinese legal canon had no formal position on either. Significantly, the eleventh book of Kowako included rules for resolving virtually any dispute by a duel to the death, a custom the Alestéans had adopted before even reaching Wanisin. One of the possible outcomes explicitly mentioned was transfer of property and titles to the victor. In 2191, rilessa was obtained by a duel for the first time, when Alestéa Wemnohida Antàn fought and slew Sampo II. After, she stood before the Senate and demanded their consent, sparking a brief constitutional crisis. They ultimately gave it, but with the provision that future regicides could be vetoed if the duel had not been sanctioned by the Senate in advance. After her coronation, she struck down the provision and replaced everyone who had endorsed it.
Less than a century later, after two successive empresses committed treason, the right of conquest was used as justification for the ascension of Akhezría Gazdattía Saskarebezría, who had no claim by blood or flame, but had laid siege to the rebelling mountain fortress of Zokipolla and defeated the forces of the traitor empresses there. Significantly, Akhezría was already Minister of Power, and therefore the seniormost member of the Senate.
The last of the ancient criteria to be validated was primogeniture. Direct inheritance finally occurred when Wemnana was coronated in 4107, but she had also been Gegloko III's designated successor, so it had not been a case of lex incognita. When Gegloko III passed without issue or successor, however, it did fall to the Senate to elect and confirm a replacement. Using Gegloko I and Tevopina as templates, several merit-based claims were brought forward by lesser nobles, but they were all seen as selfishly motivated and incompatible with the responsibilities of the state, and found little support in the Senate. None of these claimants were allowed access to the sacred flame, either, as it was under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Faith at the time, who was a deeply cynical woman. In the end, with the reigning Minister of Power uninterested in taking the job for herself and no other viable candidates in sight, the she put the question of trying primogeniture to a vote, nominating Alestea Dashro, the eldest living granddaughter of the first empress, for the job. Alestea III would then be confirmed through the kiss of the flame as had been her mother, Sampo II. Although she was popular at the time, historians look dimly upon this reign, and it is often now used as an argument against the suitability of primogeniture; at the very least, it confirmed the fears of those who had doubted the suitability of Klíto XVII's blood for the basis of an imperial dynasty.
In a strange repeat of history, a period of turmoil after the death of the empress Moilea II left a power vaccuum in 10692: all the scions of the apical Hakri in Sur'daro had been slain in a series of brisk vendettas, leaving the halls of Sabta Palace nearly empty. This made primogeniture a risky affair, as the remaining suitable nominees were from long-dormant bloodlines, and most had abandoned their titles and names for more secure positions in lesser families. The seats in the Senate were occupied by nobodies, sometimes women who had been third or fourth in the chain of command a year earlier. The acting Minister of Power, Chousea Vedtia il Mildridi Kostelan was well aware that she and her colleagues were out of place, and on her own initiative began to research the long-suppressed original text of the Thirteen Books. She was won over by Kowako's description of the ideal leader, but recognised Wanisinese history had frequently failed to deliver such an empress, and when it succeeded, it generally did so rather inefficiently.
The Senate could not legally pass legislation on its own, though, so through careful interpretation of the rules with the Ministry of Purity, they actively sought out an absentee empress, who would once again prove to be an Alestea from the house of Dashro. Alestea IV did little government work, which suited the senators just fine as they fought amongst themselves to set the parameters for alternative methods for electing an empress. Gracefully, she would abdicate in favour of this process as soon as it was settled, over two centuries later.
The Succession Act of 10902 mainly focused on the ritual of the Kiss of the Flame. Legal access to it would no longer be granted freely—not that it ever really had been, in practice—but instead, only to applicants who completed one of several paths to candidacy. Designated heirs, conquerors, and the victors of officially-sanctioned and well-witnessed duels would still be permitted, but assassins, senior cabinet members, and automatic inheritance were deemed insufficient. Foremost among the new forms of selection, the Ministries of Ambition, Discipline, Power, Wisdom, Purity, and Mystery would be allowed to each nominate a single outsider whom they could prove had the temperament and capacity to lead in accordance with the Thirteen Books. Different requirements were set for each: Ambition was expected to nominate the most successful merchant, Mystery was expected to provide a nominee who had a unique spiritual connection to the goddess Alestea, et cetera. Some of the ministries would go on to seek out eligible ekeli for training, while others received unsolicited inquiries before the act was even passed into law. In all cases, the nominees would be expected to give a speech before the Senate and be judged in an approval vote, with the winner or winners then allowed to step into the sacred white flame.
While the Kiss of the Flame was almost always seen as a guarantee once access was granted to the shrine, there have been incidents where it "rejected" candidates. Moilea III (r. 12012–12019) and Klito XIX (r. 12020–12030) were both confirmed by Senates that had seen several women burnt to death by the normally lukewarm blaze as they whittled down the list of acceptable nominees. The fire also rejected the designated successor of the Illeran-born Setora II in 16000, at the height of Wanisin's efforts to obtain independence from LIYAL. In light of these anomalies, it is little wonder that the Senate accepted Gegloko I's invention at the cost of their own ceremonial authority to reject a candidate, as it seems the truly execrable and hated aspirants have little hope of petitioning the Goddess for her favour.
Historical criteria
In the Thirteen Books, Kona Tuktanga reserved exclusive authority over defining a line of succession for the leadership of the Fire Temple. At the time she did really not expect for it to outlive her; already Illera was in the grip of its namesake Plague. Much of the texts were devoted to defining how her ideal society would function, however, and this included a description of the virtues of a good leader, as well as instructions on how to govern effectively. This advice has been compared to Machiavelli's Il Principe (The Prince), though mostly unfavourably—Kona's knowledge of history came mostly through the lens of theatre, and was in many places unduly romantic.
The confirmation of the first empress was the only time a claim to the throne was made based on temple pecking order. Of Kowako's inner circle of four, two had died as a result of a duel over control of the group, and the third, Súlevía Ekñedkh'lesa, Kowako's protégé, died en route to the planet. The first actual Empress Regent was the fourth member of this circle, and the least likely; Kona's favourite, Keroa Shentegdía. Initially passed over due to her lack of previous authority, she was ultimately elected by consensus of the crew of the Haplina once it became evident her vision for Wanisin eclipsed that of the next likely candidate, who was of worthier character but had been disliked by Kowako.
As is often noted, Klíto XVII's reign was considered largely a disappointment: though her efforts to build the ideal Alestéan society were persistent and innovative, she did not display the character of the ideal übermensch, and was urged to designate a successor more worthy of the title, using her authority as Kowako's designated replacement to extend the line. This became known as the simeio nouektion (siméo núekhtíon), or method of amendment. In Klíto's vision, designated successors were to be authorized by the sitting Senators in a confirmation hearing where they were compelled to give consent on pain of ostracization.
Once confirmed, the empress regent would then be entitled to coronation, which was officiated by the Lereí Stillúbekwía, or high priestess, of the cult of Alestéa. Initially, this was also Klíto, but thereafter it was to be a separate position. The new empress regent would be anointed with a lead-based pigment similar to ceruse, dressed in the new regalia Klíto had commissioned to replace the old artefacts lost on Illera, and then kiss the mummified right hand of Ekhessa Salnúkzoa, which the Alestéans had cut off and stolen as they left. By this process, the coronated woman would be empowered by the three roles she was inheriting: the role of First Slokdtaba, the role of Ksreskézaian Imperator, and the role of Commander-in-Chief of the Lilitic fleet.
The empress regent title was only ever conveyed once in this manner. The chosen leader, Gegloko I was very popular, but when it came time for her to pass on the title to her own protégé, the aristocracy objected to her choice: Klíto's firstborn daughter. The idea of a monarchic dynasty was very much desirable—for that was how Ksreskézo had been ruled since time immemorial—but the prospect of it being founded on the bloodline of a weaver with no charisma was an offence to the legacy of Kowako. To solve this problem, Gegloko turned to the second book again, and designed a ritual, a kosa il a mútsha (the Kiss of the Flame) based on Kowako's own description of how she received divine inspiration. By stepping into a sacred white fire and emerging unharmed, an anointed candidate could be proven to possess Rilessa, or deservingness, were it ever in doubt. With rilessa obtained from the Kiss, the candidate need not stand before the Senate and receive consensus; moreover, because it was a divine mandate, the candidate would be empowered to be the empress in her own right, not merely regent. Almost without exception, the Kiss has since been used in preference to senatorial confirmation. Thus, one need only obtain the consent of whomever controls the temple housing the flame in order to obtain rilessa.
With the regency no longer a proxy role, other forms of succession became theoretically acceptable, most importantly primogeniture and right of conquest, although Wanisinese legal canon had no formal position on either. Significantly, the eleventh book of Kowako included rules for resolving virtually any dispute by a duel to the death, a custom the Alestéans had adopted before even reaching Wanisin. One of the possible outcomes explicitly mentioned was transfer of property and titles to the victor. In 2191, rilessa was obtained by a duel for the first time, when Alestéa Wemnohida Antàn fought and slew Sampo II. After, she stood before the Senate and demanded their consent, sparking a brief constitutional crisis. They ultimately gave it, but with the provision that future regicides could be vetoed if the duel had not been sanctioned by the Senate in advance. After her coronation, she struck down the provision and replaced everyone who had endorsed it.
Less than a century later, after two successive empresses committed treason, the right of conquest was used as justification for the ascension of Akhezría Gazdattía Saskarebezría, who had no claim by blood or flame, but had laid siege to the rebelling mountain fortress of Zokipolla and defeated the forces of the traitor empresses there. Significantly, Akhezría was already Minister of Power, and therefore the seniormost member of the Senate.
The last of the ancient criteria to be validated was primogeniture. Direct inheritance finally occurred when Wemnana was coronated in 4107, but she had also been Gegloko III's designated successor, so it had not been a case of lex incognita. When Gegloko III passed without issue or successor, however, it did fall to the Senate to elect and confirm a replacement. Using Gegloko I and Tevopina as templates, several merit-based claims were brought forward by lesser nobles, but they were all seen as selfishly motivated and incompatible with the responsibilities of the state, and found little support in the Senate. None of these claimants were allowed access to the sacred flame, either, as it was under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Faith at the time, who was a deeply cynical woman. In the end, with the reigning Minister of Power uninterested in taking the job for herself and no other viable candidates in sight, the she put the question of trying primogeniture to a vote, nominating Alestea Dashro, the eldest living granddaughter of the first empress, for the job. Alestea III would then be confirmed through the kiss of the flame as had been her mother, Sampo II. Although she was popular at the time, historians look dimly upon this reign, and it is often now used as an argument against the suitability of primogeniture; at the very least, it confirmed the fears of those who had doubted the suitability of Klíto XVII's blood for the basis of an imperial dynasty.
Reform of 10902
In a strange repeat of history, a period of turmoil after the death of the empress Moilea II left a power vaccuum in 10692: all the scions of the apical Hakri in Sur'daro had been slain in a series of brisk vendettas, leaving the halls of Sabta Palace nearly empty. This made primogeniture a risky affair, as the remaining suitable nominees were from long-dormant bloodlines, and most had abandoned their titles and names for more secure positions in lesser families. The seats in the Senate were occupied by nobodies, sometimes women who had been third or fourth in the chain of command a year earlier. The acting Minister of Power, Chousea Vedtia il Mildridi Kostelan was well aware that she and her colleagues were out of place, and on her own initiative began to research the long-suppressed original text of the Thirteen Books. She was won over by Kowako's description of the ideal leader, but recognised Wanisinese history had frequently failed to deliver such an empress, and when it succeeded, it generally did so rather inefficiently.
The Senate could not legally pass legislation on its own, though, so through careful interpretation of the rules with the Ministry of Purity, they actively sought out an absentee empress, who would once again prove to be an Alestea from the house of Dashro. Alestea IV did little government work, which suited the senators just fine as they fought amongst themselves to set the parameters for alternative methods for electing an empress. Gracefully, she would abdicate in favour of this process as soon as it was settled, over two centuries later.
The Succession Act of 10902 mainly focused on the ritual of the Kiss of the Flame. Legal access to it would no longer be granted freely—not that it ever really had been, in practice—but instead, only to applicants who completed one of several paths to candidacy. Designated heirs, conquerors, and the victors of officially-sanctioned and well-witnessed duels would still be permitted, but assassins, senior cabinet members, and automatic inheritance were deemed insufficient. Foremost among the new forms of selection, the Ministries of Ambition, Discipline, Power, Wisdom, Purity, and Mystery would be allowed to each nominate a single outsider whom they could prove had the temperament and capacity to lead in accordance with the Thirteen Books. Different requirements were set for each: Ambition was expected to nominate the most successful merchant, Mystery was expected to provide a nominee who had a unique spiritual connection to the goddess Alestea, et cetera. Some of the ministries would go on to seek out eligible ekeli for training, while others received unsolicited inquiries before the act was even passed into law. In all cases, the nominees would be expected to give a speech before the Senate and be judged in an approval vote, with the winner or winners then allowed to step into the sacred white flame.
While the Kiss of the Flame was almost always seen as a guarantee once access was granted to the shrine, there have been incidents where it "rejected" candidates. Moilea III (r. 12012–12019) and Klito XIX (r. 12020–12030) were both confirmed by Senates that had seen several women burnt to death by the normally lukewarm blaze as they whittled down the list of acceptable nominees. The fire also rejected the designated successor of the Illeran-born Setora II in 16000, at the height of Wanisin's efforts to obtain independence from LIYAL. In light of these anomalies, it is little wonder that the Senate accepted Gegloko I's invention at the cost of their own ceremonial authority to reject a candidate, as it seems the truly execrable and hated aspirants have little hope of petitioning the Goddess for her favour.
