Editing User:Bill/Buckle Your Swash! (section)

===Political Hierarchies===

As far as anybody knows the divine right to rule was bestowed upon certain men at the beginning of time. Every faith acknowledges this as fact and the divine right manifests itself in the form of a nimbus of light and a healing touch. Some faiths attribute the divine right to the blessing of the royal family’s progenitor and others believe that the royal family is actually descended from their gods. The truth is unremembered and impossible to determine. The divine right normally passes from father to son,though in some cultures it passes from mother to daughter. Some stories are told of it passing to other family members not directly in the line of succession. There are even rumors of black rites that can be used to force the divine right to pass into specific people.

This makes the setting ripe for political intrigue of a most diabolical nature. Only by controlling the person who possess the mandate of heaven can the obedience of the people be assured. The common people, who believe in the righteousness of their gods, will not normally rebel against their divinely appointed rulers, making coups and other direct routes to power very difficult, if not impossible.

Being an adult king or queen is very dangerous after an heir is born. By killing the adult ruler the divine right will pass to the child and whoever can place themselves in the position of regent will shape the empire until they are of age to take over. Possibly longer if they can cultivate the dependency of the child and shield them from other influences.

Keeping all that in mind imagine a court made up of noble families bound by blood to the ruler, sorcerers, scholars, and clerics, all of whom are vying for influence over the regent or ruler. They conspire against each other at every turn attempting to improve their positions and place themselves to become regent when the king, queen, or current regent finally dies. This will be the political situation in any nation with a ruler sanctioned by divine right. In nations that do not, strength of arms, money, and charisma will also play a role.