Politics of Lestaria
When it comes to the political hierarchy, there is one reigning force on each planet, and one group that makes executive choices when need be for the empire as a whole. The individual forces on each planet are called Guardian Councils, with each one having names such as The Guardian Council of Amieres. The head of the council is always the member of the Delta Six that speaks for the good of the planet as a whole.
The Delta Six, itself, is the de-facto authority to the Lestaria Empire, though its overall influence on the politics of the empire is not as major as people may think. Although it is not written in inter-planetary law, each member of the six is an immortal, so that they can best remember and reflect on the history of the empire and decide on what would be the greater good for everyone. However, this authority is rarely exerted to control the individual planets, as it is an unsaid rule that the Guardian Council of each planet understands the affairs of their planet the best. The most that the Delta Six handles is the distribution of Soul Stones, interplanetary trade and laws, empirical archives, and occasionally interplanetary affairs that cannot be handled between councils. They also serve as a tiebreaker for various affairs that the planetary councils may get stuck on.
One of the most famous, recent examples of this has to do with what happened to Maia’s status as one of the six planets. Since it had first been colonized and settled, the ecosystem had slowly eroded due to a number of factors. Rising sea levels and overfishing had caused the islands that covered the surface to shrink to the point where millions were being displaced. Efforts to stabilize the changes on the planet failed, and after a point, the Guardian Council of Maia decided to meet to see what to do. A tie formed between requesting more money for restoration efforts, and finally ending the restoration efforts and focusing on evacuating the citizens there until further restoration efforts seem feasible.
Overall, due to the size of the empire itself, its government became more and more decentralized. Other than the Guardian Councils and the Delta Six, planets are sectioned off through territories labeled by the name of the planet and a number, through 1-20. Thirty political officials are elected to serve for a small section of one territory, with one leader elected from each body of thirty to serve on the guardian council. The judicial system is one that is managed by the territory bodies as well, and while they are all subject to empirical law, some planets have different laws that only apply to the territories of a certain planet. However, for each territory on a planet, they all have identical laws.
The lowest court, Os Court, takes on civil and criminal cases, with a higher court called the Laos court that takes on any appeals from the lowest court. When that is debated, it moves onto the Alaos court, and if even that is disputed, then the issue is taken on by the Guardian Council, since disputes at that level call for a change in law, or even for a new law to be debated.
Law enforcement in the Lestaria Empire has had to prepare for the extremes due to the amount of powerful magic that ordinary people can access. There are two main forces of law enforcement: The Lestaria Enforcement Centre, and Planetary Forces. The Lestaria Enforcement Centre is much like an army, except rather than being assembled to prepare for war, it exists to take care of extreme circumstances, such as large-scale terrorism, treason, mass deaths or any other incidents that require the best of the best. The LEC reaches out to and recruits talented, loyal citizens to defend the integrity of the empire, along with the citizens that inhabit it. Their activity extends to all planets with no separation between territories, though there are subdivisions whose names remain classified from the general public. However, some of these divisions are generally known, such as an espionage division, and a division dedicated to protect important figures and take out anyone who threatens their lives.
The Planetary Forces, on the other hand, are often centralized to one planet, and serve to assist with day to day law enforcement, like robberies, smaller scale murders, and even parking tickets. They are titled after the planets: for example, the Maia Planetary Force serves to protect the citizens of Maia. Between each territory, there is an even amount of Planetary Force members to look out for the general public, with various leader positions open among these groups.
Finally, the social hierarchy of Lestaria is generally built on power and social class. For thousands of years, there did exist forms of discrimination against others simply for their traits. For example, there are many humans who possess animal-like traits, such as bunnies, cats, spiders, lizards, or even deep sea creatures, though those in the ocean and air tend to lean more animal than human. Not to mention, various mythical species make their homes in the Lestaria Empire, from mermaids, to giants that tower over homes, to small faeries that can fit in the palm of your hand. The debate over maintaining equal habitats between all species is at the forefront due to decreasing space, increasing infrastructure, and declining quality of life on colony planets, but otherwise societies have learned to co-exist and tolerate differences between one another.
When it comes to power, though, it is something that many will judge you over, not to mention one's social class. The values of the Lestaria Empire emphasize self-responsibility-- you are a person who makes your own life, so your circumstances are a result of your own actions. If you are weak, untalented with magic, it’s your own fault. If you are poor or struggling, you’re not trying hard enough to be successful. The poor and weak are blamed for their own circumstances and treated as lazy, while the rich and successful are applauded for their hard work despite any other circumstances. One is expected to prioritize everything about your health and safety, and as long as you work hard, you too can be great.
...At least, that’s how it used to be. In recent years, younger generations entering the workforce have been afflicted by the economic downturn of the past decade. There are many in their 20s that struggle to find jobs they can live on, and it is common to live in small apartments with five or so other people in order to afford the rent, though housing limits are being imposed in larger cities to combat this. Newly graduated adults that lack the right connections are often stuck in entry level jobs, or even doing cheap contracted labor. It’s become popular to apply to work for the Planetary Force and the LEC due to promising health insurance and decent salaries, although both are life-risking, especially the Planetary Force.
Because of this shift of misfortune in their young adult years, a large number of them are refusing the idea that they have earned their lack of opportunities, blaming the Lestaria Empire for failing to support their citizens in the face of an increasingly uncertain future. With the population booming beyond what can be realistically supported, not to mention the ecological decline of Maia, many people wait to see what the Delta Six may have in store to face these concerns. Whether they will turn their back on their citizens, or do whatever it takes to help them thrive.