The Marches leadership

Agriculture is the basis of political leadership in the Marches, and power is vested in those who work the land. The Marcher Households are groups of yeomen who have given loyalty to each other. They are led by one of their own, chosen by themselves. This leader, is called their Steward and that title is appropriate for both men and women.

Leading a territory

The steward whose Household controls the largest amount of land - including that controlled by any smaller Households who declare their support for them - is declared the Warden of that March (or territory, as the Imperial Civil Service term them).

It is the responsibility of the Warden to lead the March's army, and appoint an Imperial Senator for the territory. It is rare for a Warden to declare themselves as Senator. The common feeling is that Imperial business creates demands on a Warden’s time that prevent them properly managing their Household or the folk who have sworn allegiance to them.

The Warden may be looked-to as the defacto leader of a March, but the situation is rarely that cut-and-dried in a Nation regularly troubled by enduring grudges and inter-Household feuding. The Warden is expected to serve the interests of the March and those who live there.

The competition to become the Warden of a March can be very fierce. The larger Households in a March compete with one another to have the largest number of landowners under their banner, and as with so much else in the Marches the results of these selections have caused bitter feuds and sometimes open conflict.

The traditional method of determining an Warden is for every interested yeoman to gather together in an open space. Each steward in turn then either declares themselves a candidate for Warden, or declares their support for another steward, along with their yearly income from the land as estimated by the Imperial Civil Service. This number reflects not just the actual physical size of the combined farmland their Household controls, but also its quality. The candidate with the largest support becomes Warden. These meetings tend to be rowdy affairs, with much barracking and the occasional insult. At any time before the winner is declared, a steward may interrupt proceedings to change their mind about who they are supporting, especially when it looks as if they might be backing a loser yet still have the chance to switch allegiance to a winner.

Merchants, miners, craftsmen, priests and the like are forced to rely on neighbouring Households to speak for them in the political process. Over recent years, there has been growing dissatisfaction in some quarters about this arrangement, but it represents one of the oldest traditions of the Marches and is unlikely to be changed any time soon – attempting to do so could well split the Nation in a disastrous civil war.

I think there is still some argument here...