The Andari Federation began its existence as a loose commercial and defensive union of seven states on the coast of the Central Sea. The union expanded until a total of sixty-nine small nation-states were involved. At this time, in response to the needs of the expanded union, the Andari League became the Federation and the Federal Senate was established as the central authority.
Initially the Federal Senate was merely a peripatetic body to govern relations between the sixty-nine provinces, but over time Federal power increased, state power was eroded and the Senate was settled in the city of Caross, which was renamed Andaria in honour of its place at the centre of the new superpower. The President and the Federal Senate became the supreme power, with the State Governors and Senates assuming a lesser and largely advisory role.
The only body which now rivals the power of the Federal Senate is the Magisterium, the central judicial body. Originally based in the Senate Building in Andaria, the Magisterium moved its own seat to the second city of the Federation, Soria, in 10,117AH. The destruction of Soria greatly reduced the Magisterium's power, but it remains a force to be reckoned with.
The two great cities of the Federation represent the state's two strengths; where Caross was always a centre of trade, Soria was ever a military stronghold. Andaria remains the great seat of government and commerce and home of the foremost banking houses of Langara. For many years it was felt that the capital lacked defence, but the absence of military force saved it from bombardment during the Anubite assault. Jaffa troops did grave damage to the city and slew many of its citizens, but its buildings survived almost intact and it is now probably the largest and most populous settlement in Langara.
Soria, with its naval dockyards and military bases, was blasted by Anubis, to the great reduction of the Magisterium's power. Its rebuilding has been slow, but the Magisterium has not shifted its base of operations, stubbornly enforcing Andari law from the ruins of its old headquarters.
The bulk of the remaining armed forces are gathered at the border fortress of Brink that once guarded the frontier with Valeria. Although bombarded, Brink weathered the assault and became a rallying point after Caross was occupied.
The last of the great cities of the Federation is Vathri, in the good, green growing country of the Gap. With the growing import of Langara's agricultural base, this once provincial city has become a centre of wealth and population.
The Wall is Langara's greatest mountain range, splitting the Federation almost from north to south and then cutting east to separate the loyal states from the independent Southern States. It is split in the midst of its east-west arm by the low, agricultural plain known as the Gap.
The Senates are where state law is made. Members of a state senate are not elected; instead, all persons of senatorial rank may attend, address and vote in senate. To hold such rank, a person must possess a personal fortune of no less than L15,000 (in modern terms) and earn no less than L1,000 per annum. They must have no criminal record, have spoken in a Convocation General on no less than three occasions on three separate issues, and must hold, or have held, without disgrace, a post on the board of a public company, a seat on a public committee, a command rank in the military, a seat on a public tribunal or a magisterial post.
If a person meets all of the necessary criteria, they may at any time opt to devote the next year of their life to public service on the Senate. For this year they must suspend all professional activity; they may not engage in business or commerce and may engage in no financial transaction of greater moment than the weekly shopping; even major purchases of household goods are forbidden, and it is for this reason that a husband and wife are forbidden to serve in senate at the same time. For the year they receive a stipend equivalent to L500, but may draw no other salary.
The state senate debates on resolutions passed up from the convocation general of the state and drafted by the tribunal. These resolutions, if approved by the senate, are either passed into state law or redrafted and passed up to the Federal Senate as appropriate. The business of the State Senate is overseen by two Senatorial Proconsuls.
The Convocations General are the ultimate source of policy for the State Senates. They are open forums, at which any free Andari can speak their mind on any political issue. A Magisterial Tribunal organise the debate, producing schedules of speakers and issues to deter time-wasters. The tribunal also have responsibility for referring matters arising from the debate in the Convocation to the Senate in the form of resolutions.
The Tribunal consists of a Consular Tribune and two State Proconsuls. The Consular Tribune is appointed at a federal level to oversee the Convocation's business, while the Proconsuls are elected by the populace.
Each of the provincial states elects their own gubernatorial body, consisting of a Governor and two Proconsuls. The Governor is responsible for appointing an administration and overseeing the enacting of state and federal law within their province. Any citizen of Senatorial rank may stand for election as Governor, while Proconsuls are elected as magistrates.
The Federal Senate is an elected body. Any person of Senatorial rank can stand for election from any province, with as total of five hundred senators being returned at any one time. There is no balance of membership between the states, but federal legislation is solely generated from the resolutions passed up by the State Senates. The Andari Federation has no executive branch; the populace, via the Convocations General, are the source of Andari law.
As with the State Senators, a Federal Senator may conduct no business during their period of service. They are provided with a stipend of L750 per year, but this must be their only income until they stand down from the Senate. Federal Senators serve for a period of three years, beginning two months after the date of their election.
The Magisterium is the Andari judiciary, and probably the most powerful branch of the government. The magistrates are responsible for overseeing every aspect of legal enactment and enforcement and the senior members of the Magisterium also decide how legal statutes and case law are to be interpreted. Civil and criminal trials are supervised by junior magistrates, while their seniors take the magisterial throne in the case of appeals.
The senior members of the Magisterium are those who have devoted their lives to jurisprudence. Usually working their way through the ranks of the legal profession, candidates to fill the senior magisterial posts are selected by their future peers and approved by the Censors.
The Tribunes are the supreme arbiters of government activity. There are five Tribunes who form a council which scrutinises every act of government. In extreme circumstances, the Council has the power to appoint tribunals to investigate, question and even overrule any act of government, including the passing of statute law. These tribunals are formed of one Tribune, a Consul and a Proconsul and their activities once convened will be at the heart of Andari media attention.
In addition, there exists the office of the Tribune of Horse, who holds the rank of tribune, but is elected to fill a post on the High Command.
The five Tribunes also select candidates for the posts of Consular Tribune. These candidates are appointed subject to the approval of the Censors. The Consular Tribunes are federal magistrates dispatched to ensure good practice in the Convocations General.
The Praetors are the supreme jurists of the Federation. Each state has two Praetors, the Urban and the Peregrine, who together act as a court of appeal against the decisions of the lesser Jurists. A candidate for the praetorship must have formerly served their five year term as a Jurist without attracting complaint or censure.
The Magisterium also contains a number of short-term officers, elected by the populace and given basic training only. Their primary qualification is an attested good character. Like Senators, elected magistrates must possess a personal fortune of L15,000 and have an income of L1,000 before they set it aside to take office. They must have no criminal record and have never lost a civil suit, either as plaintiff or defender.
Consuls oversee the business of the Federal Senate. There are nine Consuls at any one time. A Consul is given a stipend of L600 for the year of their service.
Proconsuls are of two kinds; the State Proconsuls who sit on the tribunals of the Convocations General and the Senatorial Proconsuls who oversee the business of the State Senates. Each state returns two proconsuls of each kind in an annual election. The Proconsular stipend is L600 for their year of service.
The Censors are unusual, in that they are elected to oversee the activities of the Magisterium itself. There are two censors and their annual election is the most important civil occasion in the Andari federation. Their most important role is to approve the appointment of new senior magistrates, although they are also empowered to hear, at their discretion, appeals against a praetorian sentence or to command any magistrate to rescind a decision. The censorial stipend is L1,000 per year.
Jurists are upstanding citizens chosen by the Magisterium to oversee trials and civil cases with the assistance of a senior lawyer and - for criminal cases - a jury of seven citizens. Candidates for the post of Jurist are put forward once a year; any person 'without stain' - that is, free from criminal conviction, defeat in a civil suit or psychiatric committal - may be nominated if three similarly unblemished citizens propose them.
The Tribunes select five candidates from the many nominees (there are typically over two thousand nominations annually) from which shortlist the Censors select two new Jurists. Each Jurist serves for five years, earning an annual stipend of L100. This amount is in addition to their existing income, for Jurists are not required to abandon professional activities. In exchange for their stipend, the Jurist must make themselves available as required to take the throne.
The Magisterium is served by the massive, centralised police force known as the Praetorium, divided into twenty-five specialised divisions. The largest and most influential divisions of the Praetorium are Division 1 (Political Corruption), Division 2 (Homicide), Division 3 (Public Safety), Division 4 (Burglary), Division 5 (Fraud), Division 6 (Art Theft), Division 9 (Sexual Assault), Division 14 (Government Protection), Division 15 (Magisterial Protection) and Division 25 (Internal Affairs).
Each division has officers of two kinds, Quaestors and Lictors. Quaestors are trained investigators, who work in pairs to carry out in-depth investigations of criminal and civil offences. Lictors are enforcement officers; they operate in small squads to respond to threats to the public and to support Quaestors in arresting dangerous criminals. The Quaestors are seen as the senior branch of the Praetorium, although the Lictors have seven times as many staff.
Officers of either kind may belong to the uniformed or plain clothes force and follow the same promotion scheme: vigile, decuri, centuri, tribuni, subprefect and prefect. The Praetorium is organised and run by the Praetorian Tribunal, a group of three officers - the Praetorian Tribunes - promoted from the rank of prefect. The Tribunal always consists of at least one Quaestor and one Lictor.
Despite the name, the Praetorium does not answer to the Praetors, but a Praetor is the only magistrate who can order a Praetorian investigation. Others may request an intervention, but it is only the high jurists who may command the Praetorium into action. Once an investigation is underway, however, it may not be stopped by anyone but the Praetorian Tribunal.