[NOBLES] Erasing the Line - Politics

Here follows an excerpt from Thomas Moore’s Topia: An Account of the Nature of Human Civilisation.

Every child of our age and countless before us are aware of the Meritocrats. How could they not?  Whilst not divine, this council of 6 Major Draconic entities are nonetheless the final benevolent arbiters in almost all aspects of humanity guiding the development of all aspects of our civilisation. Such scope of responsibility means they must remain necessarily aloof, removed from the petty distractions of day to day administration and thus it is that they leave such matters to their representatives, the stewards. I here include for completeness, a taxonomy of the Meritocrats:

• Apophis, Male Brass Dragon, responsible for Agriculture and hospitality, based in Egypt but with dominion over Africa, South America and Eastern Europe.
• Apalala, Female Bronze Dragon, responsible for Transport and Logistics, based in Indonesia with dominion over Australasia.
• Quinglong- Female Silver Dragon, responsible for Entertainment and Espionage, based in China with dominion over East Asia. 
• Naga, Male Copper Dragon, responsible for Communication and Administration, Based in India but responsible for central Asia.
• Guivres, Female Golden Dragon, responsible for Banking, Based in France with dominion over Western Europe.
• Bolla Smok, unknown,  responsible for Magic, based in Prague with Dominion over Eastern Europe and the Middle East.*

*Bolla Smok alone among the Meritocrats chooses not to reveal his/her self to humanity, using only trusted proxies to rule the people.

Each of the Meritocrats are, of course, responsible for all activities within their respective specialties across all human lands but what many forget is that each are additionally responsible for all other forms governance within the areas they control. Whilst it is true that the Stewards are the face of regional governments, it could be said the Meritocrats are the brain. Civilians who are not affiliated to a Meritocrat are, of course, safe and equal members of society but in order to take any position of governance one must associate oneself to a Dragon, so that one is properly accountable for one’s actions. Such selfless and noble agents should be treated with respect and gratitude for their services but are discouraged from accepting gifts to avoid temptation towards corruption. They are recognizable by small emblematic tattoos of their patron upon their person.

It is worth noting at this juncture that both the Americas and the Russian lands do contain human settlements that are not subject to Meritocratic control. The Meritocratic realms of human kind retain an “open door” policy, offering them the chance should they wish to come and join the civilised world but it in recent centuries it has become a rarity. It is surmised that those who remain on the fringes of society do so by choice.

The only exception to this is the region of Australia which is retained by Apalala as a penal colony. Justice is meted out by each Meritocrat via their Stewards and agents (see chapter 7 True Justice for more details) but for now it is sufficient to acknowledge that once a sentence has been duly allocated, it is administered by Apalala’s agents.

As a minor note of clarification, I here acknowledge that whilst Prague is the centre of traditional magic, being as it is, the purview of Bolla Smok, most developments in magical technology are mostly attributed to Japan. It is no secret that the Meritocratic stance regarding such works is reticence lest they become unwieldy in the hands of the general population but many are not aware that following the flooding of London by the abortion of Nikola Tesla’s failed lightning railway it was deemed necessary to encourage the development of such new technologies in a location isolated from the mainland.

Sadly, even with these precautions, life within Meritocratic control is not without danger. In lesser-developed rural areas, monstrous creatures are still known to surface and terrorise isolated settlements and the recent proliferation of pestilence across the Middle East remains unsolved. That said, the population remains calm in the knowledge that the meritocrats will remedy the situation in good time. (See chapter 9 The Price of Perfection.)

After this brief introduction we will move on to Chapter 2: The Symbiosis of Sentience  wherein we discuss relations with the other sentient races as a result of the Sentient Accord which granted the right to roam Meritocratic lands to non human races. (A right not reciprocated by Elves or Dwarves.) We will examine its effect upon trade with the Dwarven strongholds of Canada, Greenland and Northwestern Europe before moving on to the Elvish amnesty which followed and its breach by the North American Pioneers. We will conclude with a direct comparison between the seclusion of the Orcish races to isolated mountainous territories and the halfling and gnomish integrations to human society.