Basic Definition
Housed in the Canticulan city of Cenofan in an international district between the nations of Gamroa and Tymol, the Congress of Circlaria is a governing body of representatives, elected or appointed to serve on behalf of various Circlarian nations and entities, who vote to pass and enact laws and regulations in order to preserve the balance of power across the Circlarian Realm.
Establishment
Before February 1494 BCE was the Age of Conjurers, an age spanning thousands of years during which political power was centered around how well-versed one was with spellfire-crafting. The Ruling Conjurers had armies of spellcrafters and formed alliances with select groups of fellow Conjurers while opposing others. Conjurers and Conjurer-alliances were often in conflict with one another as they volleyed over land and maritime territory.
Between 1600 BCE and 1500 BCE, however, there grew a movement of Common People, a term for those not trained in spellfire crafting, and sympathetic Spellcrafters. These people believed in the separation of spellfire crafting and political power. This became the Mesolavian Movement, of which the Common People taking part vowed never to learn spellcrafting, as they sought to create new political power structures devoid utterly of the craft. These Common People were known as the Mesolavians, after which the movement was named. Conjurers and spellcrafters taking part in the movement vowed either to surrender their craft and take part at the bottom of the ladder of the Common People political structure, naming themselves the Aopotomosians, or to surrender their political positions to pursue solely spellcrafting, naming themselves Akarposians.
The Ruling Conjurers saw the Mesolavian Movement as illegitimate and a common nuisance, and began oppressing those found to be a part of it. In February 1494 BCE, the Mesolavians rose up and declared the "State of Mankind," a long statement calling out the Ruling Conjurers as "morally corrupt and invalid to govern." In response, the Ruling Conjurers cast aside their differences and joined forces to fight the Mesolavian class as a common enemy.
Over the next century, a long and brutal global conflict would ensue between the Mesolavians and Ruling Conjurers, resulting a massive loss of life. The two sides were stuck in a gridlock between the 1490s and 1420s BCE. However, beginning in the 1410s BCE, the Ruling Conjurers began to lose ground to the Mesolavians, as some of the Rulers refusing to surrender to the terms of the Mesolavians fled to Agridbea in the distant West. The Rulers as a whole took a last stand against the Mesolavians at the Castle of Budlapeyay in Tandeiyah, but ultimately surrendered to them in 1409 BCE.
Nearly all of the Ruling Conjurers signed a treaty with the Mesolavians, giving up their sovereignty and leading to the establishment of the Congress of Circlaria in January 1408 BCE. However, those Ruling Conjurers in Agridbea had established their Five Houses, upon the death of their Grandchancellor, and vowed never to join the treaty. Congress of Circlaria voted not to force them, as the territory of Agridbea was too rough and far-flung. Instead, the Congress voted to consider Agridbea the "Outlands," and encouraged anyone unhappy with the Congress as an establishment to relocate there. Meanwhile, the Congress since voted on laws adhering to the following principles: separation of spellfire-crafting and political power, the balance of power between the numerous Circlarian states, and the balance of power between the institutions of the Congress, itself.
Structure
Congress of Circlaria consists of three institutions: The Three Orders, the House of the Consuls, and the Hall of Adjudicators.
Tasked with the writing of the laws, the Three Orders consists of the House of Ordinators, the Common People Ambassadors' Assembly, and the Elector Class. The House of Ordinators consists of 25 Ordinators from each of the designated Five Regions: Remikra, Canticula, Ancondria, the Circlarian Ocean, and the Magnumarian Ocean. It is important to note that Ancondria as an official Region was not documented under the Congress of Circlaria until the year 1273.
Each Ordinator is a Spellcrafter having surrendered their spellcrafting licensure upon appointment to the Ordinator position. Each Ordinator is allowed to employ 11 Spellkeepers the main purpose of each of whom being to protect the said Ordinator. Furthermore, each Spellkeeper is mandated to employ a company of soldiers from the given Circlarian state of the said Ordinator's origin.
The House of Ordinators is the highest Order of the Three and has the final say in what becomes international law and what does not. Furthermore, it is the only Order of the Three mandated to assemble in person in its entirety in its official venue in the city of Cenofan, while the members of the other two Orders meet separately or in various groups as needed.
The Common People Ambassadors Assembly consists of one Ambassador from each registered political entity, where such Ambassador is appointed by the entity's Head of State and is subject to being unseated at any time by an opposing candidate elected by the entity's population. The Elector Class, the third Order, consists of two Electors from each entity appointed or elected, and subject to being unseated in the same fashion.
For every Congress of Circlaria election cycle, Electors and Ambassadors elect Ordinators as well as Consuls when their terms are due; then the Electors' terms end. During the term, laws and decisions are proposed first in the Ambassadors Assembly. Each measure that passes then proceeds to the House of Ordinators. If the measure passes the House of Ordinators, it becomes international law; and the sitting Pro-Consul is mandated to carry out the said law.
The Congress of Circlaria elects two Consuls, the Pro-Consul and the Ante-Consul, every 48 years to serve the highest execute role. The Pro-Consul is the most active one, mandated to issue orders based on laws passed by the House of Ordinators while acting on decisions made by the Hall of Adjudicators. The role of the Ante-Consul is to moderate or reverse the orders of the Pro-Consul when such orders are determined to be either unnecessary or concerning. Both the Pro-Consul and Ante-Consul are elected jointly in the same year, and are usually in party with one another. The term last 48 years, but the individual serving the Pro-Consul role as well as the individual serving the Ante-Consul role will usually not remain in said role for the entirety of the 48 years, either due to death or retirement. The Ruling Law of the Congress of Circlaria mandates, in that case, that the Office be succeeded as necessary during the 48-year term by a candidate appointed by the sitting Consul. It is important to note, though, that the previously-mentioned elections will always occur and will always override said appointment decisions when necessary.
The Hall of Adjudicators consists of nine Adjudicators from each of the Five Regions, totaling 45, who are appointed by the Pro-Consul and approved by the Three Orders. Adjudicator succession is purely hereditary along either patriarchal or matriarchal family lines. However, if either the incumbent retires or dies without a descendant available to succeed them, or the descendant is not willing to accept the said Adjudicator role, the position will become vacant, thus making necessary an appointment made by the said Pro-Consul.
Adjudicators are tasked with hearing statements and debates on policies disputed or questioned, as well as violations of Congress of Circlaria Law in order to determine resolutions or penalties. The Adjudicators also facilitate Congress of Circlaria elections and institute a meticulously-crafted, double-blind method of counting votes to ensure said vote-counting is not biased. Furthermore, Adjudicators also determine qualification decisions for those attaining desired levels of spellcrafter licensure under the Circlarian School of Spellfire-Crafting standards, a rigorous set of standards enacted by the Congress to ensure that spellfire is regulated and is separated utterly from any form of political power.
In terms of documentation and speech within its institutional venues, the Congress of Circlaria set the ancient language of Aerdyn as its official language from 1494 BCE until the year 1051 CE. In the year 1051 CE, the Congress voted to change its official language to Edoran, the official language of the Kingdom of the Great North.
Limits and Controversies
The primary agenda of the Congress of Circlaria, since 1408 BCE, has always been to preserve the balance of power between spellcrafters and the common people, to preserve the balance of power between the various nations and states in the Circlarian Realm, and to preserve the balance of power between the institutions within the Congress, itself. However, that does not necessarily mean that they take priority to act on concerns such as civil and human rights; and they only intervene when there is a perceived power imbalance that threatens the Congress, itself.
One example of this controversy was their response during the Lykian invasions of the landmass of Canticula between 1267 and 1287. Though their actions were imperialist in nature, the Lykians actually demonstrated strict reverence and respect for the Congress and the Circlarian School of Spellfire-Crafting standards, and in fact were seen as example-setters in that regard. Thus, the Congress voted not to act against the Lykians.
The year 1294, in contrast, saw the Chokian Republic invade the Kingdom of Redschni and attempt to overtake the Royal Family Estates. The issue here was that the agenda, though finalized by the President of the Republic, who was not a spellcrafter, was commanded by a Spellkeeper of one of the Ordinators; and the Royal Family was related by cousin to an Ordinator standing as a known opponent in the House of Ordinators Chamber to the one employing the said Spellkeeper. The Congress of Circlaria saw this agenda, therefore, as a threat to both the principle of the separation of political power and spellfire crafting as well as the balance of power between the Circlarian states, and voted to invade the Chokian Republic and split it into its numerous provinces.
Future: The Democratic Hierarchy
Though seen as a democratic institution with most of its positions filled by those elected by a democratic body, the Congress of Circlaria and its members are not elected directly by the common people of its member states per say. The electoral process, in other words, is hierarchical. Justification for this has always been that it would be nearly impossible to collect and count all said votes, since not all member entities in Circlaria are actually nations with fixed territorial borders.
There were two significant events where this exact issue became the source of hot controversy. The first was in the time period of 1199-1200, when the Office of the Consul was open for election for its 48-year term. The two candidates were Jon Ceruban, a traditionalist figure, and Albus Rego, a progressive figure. The official convention of the Common People Ambassadors Assembly and Elector Class narrowly favored the election of Ceruban, while popular sentiment clearly showed, through unofficial polls, favor toward Rego. The other event happened during the Consul election cycle of 1391-1392, during which the radically conservative Deon Mapatur ran against the moderately progressive Laria Niciltok. Mapatur officially won through the assembly process while the broad population favored Niciltok.
Numerous movements carrying numerous calls to abolish the electoral hierarchy and replace it with direct vote have sprung up over the years, and with increasing frequency. But thus far, these have been too loosely organized and too loosely coordinated to significantly impact the sentiment within the Three Orders, who continue to desire that the status quo hold sway.