The Marches leadership

Agriculture is the basis of political leadership in the Marches, and power is vested in those who work the land.

Anyone who owns farmland has the right to call themselves a yeoman, and only they have a voice in Marcher politics. Any yeoman can choose to follow another, becoming a part of their Household, and the leader of a Household is known as its Steward. Owning farmland is considered a great responsibility; it is the duty of the yeoman to ensure the best interests of everyone who lives and works on it.

In times past, a Household would be responsible for the defence of all the members’ lands, so it was practical for members to live near each other. In modern times this requirement is less important, thanks the the existence of the Imperial armies, and the lands claimed by a Household may be scattered throughout a March. Smaller Households often swear loyalty to larger ones, partly to further cooperation between Households and partly to increase their political power.

The steward whose Household controls the largest amount of land - including that controlled by any smaller Households sworn to 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 the strength of that support in terms of their yearly income from the land. This number reflects not just the actual physical size of the combined farmland their Household controls, but also its value as estimated by the Imperial Civil Service. 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...