MONARCHY SIMULATOR

WORLD OVERVIEW

The continent of Solaran is a vast, politically layered land divided into five distinct kingdoms, each with its own culture, geography, and ruling family. Together, these five kingdoms form the Solaran Empire, governed at its highest level by the Imperial Family, who rule from the imperial capital at the heart of the continent. The Emperor and Empress hold absolute authority over all lands, all peoples, and all crowns beneath them. Every king and queen in the five kingdoms bends the knee to the Imperial Throne.

This world is grounded in historical realism. There is no magic, no mystical force, no fantastical creature. What exists here is politics, ambition, bloodlines, war, diplomacy, intrigue, and the very human hunger for power.

THE IMPERIAL FAMILY

At the pinnacle of Solaran stands the Imperial Family. The Emperor is the supreme ruler of the entire empire. He is served by an Empress, who is his official consort and the mother of the legitimate imperial heirs, and he may keep any number of imperial concubines. A concubine who earns exceptional favour from the Emperor may be elevated in rank to the point where even foreign queens treat her with deference. The Empress, however, remains the highest-ranked woman in all of Solaran, second only to the Emperor himself.

Imperial children born of the Empress are the legitimate heirs of the empire. They are called Imperial Princes and Imperial Princesses. Even a reigning king or queen of one of the five kingdoms is expected to show respect and courtesy toward imperial children, regardless of the imperial child's age or temperament. An imperial child of ten is still outranked by a king of forty. This is not custom. This is law.

Children of concubines are acknowledged imperial offspring but occupy a lower standing than children of the Empress. They are still of imperial blood and are treated with considerable respect, but they do not hold the same weight as legitimate heirs.

The Imperial Heir is the designated successor to the throne, typically the firstborn son of the Empress. If no such heir exists, succession politics become one of the most volatile forces in the empire.

The imperial capital, Arvona, sits at the geographic and political center of Solaran. It is a city unlike any other on the continent, a monument to imperial power and centuries of dominance.

IMPERIAL HIERARCHY (Highest to Lowest)

• Emperor
• Empress
• Imperial Heir
• Imperial Princes and Princesses (born of Empress)
• Highly Favoured Imperial Concubines (elevated rank) whom are called Imperial Noble Concubine
• Imperial Concubines (standard rank) Children of Imperial Concubines
• Imperial Court Officials and Advisors

Below the imperial tier come the five kingdoms and their internal hierarchies.

THE FIVE KINGDOMS

Each of the five kingdoms occupies a distinct region of the Solaran continent. They each have their own culture, economy, military traditions, and political personality. Every kingdom is ruled by a royal family headed by a King and Queen, but they all answer to the Imperial Throne.

1. KINGDOM OF CALVARA

Located in the northern reaches of Solaran, Calvara is defined by its cold climate, dense forests, and fierce military tradition. The people of Calvara are known for their endurance and discipline. Their economy is built on timber, iron mining, and a powerful standing army. The royal family of Calvara has a long history of producing distinguished military commanders, and their kingdom has historically served as the empire's northern shield against outside threats. Relations with the imperial throne have generally been loyal but occasionally strained due to Calvara's strong regional pride.

2. KINGDOM OF SERANO

Serano occupies the western coastline of Solaran, giving it dominance over sea trade and naval power. It is the wealthiest of the five kingdoms, with bustling port cities, merchant guilds, and a cosmopolitan culture shaped by centuries of contact with peoples beyond the continent. The royal family of Serano tends to be politically shrewd and commercially minded. Their wealth makes them influential, but it also makes them a target of imperial scrutiny. Where Calvara gives soldiers, Serano gives gold and ships.

3. KINGDOM OF DURAS

Situated in the sun-drenched south, Duras is an agricultural powerhouse. Its fertile plains produce grain, wine, and livestock that feed much of the continent. The people of Duras are known for their warmth, their elaborate court festivals, and their deeply ingrained traditions around family honour. The royal family of Duras is one of the oldest in Solaran, and they take tremendous pride in their lineage. They are fond of intermarriage diplomacy and have historically tried to place their children close to the imperial court.

4. KINGDOM OF VARETH

Vareth lies in the eastern interior of Solaran, a landlocked kingdom of rolling hills, ancient cities, and a deeply scholarly culture. Vareth is known for producing the empire's finest scholars, judges, and imperial administrators. Their royal family has long maintained close ties to the imperial bureaucracy, and many of the empire's most influential court officials and legal minds originate from Vareth. They wield soft power expertly and are often underestimated by kingdoms that value military might.

5. KINGDOM OF MAREN

Maren occupies the rugged southeastern terrain of Solaran, a kingdom of mountains, passes, and fiercely independent highland communities. Maren is the smallest of the five kingdoms by population but commands significant strategic value due to its mountain passes, which control overland trade routes to the east. The royal family of Maren is known for being proud, sometimes volatile, and deeply protective of their autonomy. Their relationship with the imperial throne is the most complicated of the five, historically marked by both rebellion and reconciliation.

KINGDOM HIERARCHY (Each Kingdom, Highest to Lowest)

• King and Queen
• Crown Prince/ Crown Princess
• Royal Princes and Princesses
• Duke and Duchess
• Marquis and Marchioness
• Count and Countess
• Viscount and Viscountess
• Baron and Baroness
• Knight
• Landed Gentry and Minor Officials
• Merchants and Skilled Tradespeople
• Farmers, Labourers, and Commoners Serfs and the Destitute

HIERARCHY ACROSS THE EMPIRE (How It Works in Practice)

The Emperor outranks every living person in Solaran without exception. His word is law, his favour is power, and his displeasure can end dynasties.

The Empress outranks every king and queen in the five kingdoms. A king in his own court is a sovereign. In the presence of the Empress, he is a subject.

Imperial children, even the youngest, outrank the royal families of the five kingdoms in formal and court settings. A royal prince from Calvara must show deference to an imperial princess, even if that princess is a child and he is a grown man. This is one of the most visible reminders of the imperial order's supremacy.

A highly elevated imperial concubine may, by the Emperor's formal decree, be granted a rank that places her above a foreign queen in protocol. This is rare but not unheard of, and when it occurs it sends political ripples across the entire continent.

Royal families do not address imperial family members casually. Specific titles and forms of address are used. Failure to observe these protocols is considered a grave insult, and in extreme cases, a political provocation.

IMPERIAL COURT CULTURE

The imperial court at Arvona is the most sophisticated and dangerous social environment in Solaran. Every word spoken there carries weight. Alliances are built and destroyed over the seating arrangement at a banquet. The Emperor may be surrounded by advisors, ministers, generals, and foreign dignitaries at any given time, but ultimate authority rests with him alone.

Audience with the Emperor is not granted freely. Even a king must formally request an imperial audience and may be made to wait. Being summoned by the Emperor, on the other hand, is non-negotiable.

The imperial court observes strict ceremonial rules. Bowing, forms of address, gift-giving, the order in which people may speak, where one is permitted to stand, all of it is codified. To navigate the imperial court well is a skill that takes years. To navigate it poorly can cost a kingdom.

THE IMPERIAL ACADEMY

Located in the heart of Arvona, the Zephyr Academy is the most prestigious institution of learning in all of Solaran. Named after the first Emperor of the unified empire, Zephyr I, the academy serves as the educational ground for the empire's highest-born children. Imperial children, royal children from all five kingdoms, and the children of noble families of Baron rank and above are eligible for admission. No child of common birth, merchant family, or minor gentry may enter its gates. Education among the lower classes is neither sponsored nor encouraged by the empire. Literacy among commoners exists but is not widespread, and formal schooling is considered a privilege of blood.

The academy operates on a residential basis. Students live within the academy grounds during their years of study, which typically span from age twelve to eighteen. This means that from a young age, the future rulers, consorts, generals, and administrators of Solaran are educated side by side.

The curriculum covers statecraft, history of the empire and its predecessor states, military theory, etiquette and court protocol, languages, economics, rhetoric, and the law of the empire. Imperial children receive an additional private curriculum in imperial governance that is not available to royal or noble students.

Social hierarchy is strictly observed within the academy. Imperial students are given separate premium quarters and are addressed with their full imperial titles by both staff and fellow students at all times. Royal students are afforded their own section of the residential wing. Noble students occupy the remainder. Even in a shared classroom, the seating order reflects rank.

The Zephyr Academy produces not only rulers but the empire's most influential minds. To say one attended the Zephyr Academy is, across all five kingdoms, a statement of birth, power, and consequence.

CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

• THE EMPRESS SELECTION

When the Emperor comes of age or when the imperial throne requires a new Empress, a formal process known as the Imperial Consort Selection is initiated. Candidates must be legitimate princesses born to a royal family of the five kingdoms, daughters of a marquis or above from within the five kingdoms, between the ages of eighteen and twenty, unmarried and without prior betrothal, and of documented noble birth with no scandal attached to their family name.

Candidates are presented at the imperial court in Arvona during a designated selection season, typically lasting several months. They are assessed not only on appearance but on education, temperament, political acumen, language ability, and their family's standing with the imperial throne. The Emperor has final say, but imperial advisors and the Empress Dowager, if living, hold considerable informal influence.

A candidate who is not chosen but conducted herself with grace may still be elevated through marriage to a high-ranking imperial official or noble, which is considered an honourable outcome. A candidate whose family pushed her forward aggressively and she was still rejected carries a social disadvantage for some years.

It is considered deeply irregular, though not entirely without precedent, for the Emperor to take a concubine as Empress. It has happened but is historically viewed with suspicion by the five kingdoms, who see the selection process as their primary channel of influence into the imperial family.

• IMPERIAL PRINCESS AGENCY

Unlike royal princesses, who are almost always married off as diplomatic instruments, imperial princesses born to the Empress hold a unique legal privilege in Solaran. Upon reaching adulthood at eighteen, an imperial princess may formally petition the Emperor to remain unmarried. If granted, she is given her own imperial residence, a household staff, an annual allowance funded by the imperial treasury, and a rank that she retains for life. She is still subject to the Emperor's authority but cannot be compelled into marriage against her stated will if she has been granted the unmarried privilege.

In practice, many imperial princesses are married to kings of the five kingdoms. Such a marriage is considered the highest honour a kingdom can receive, as it binds the royal bloodline directly to the imperial line. A king married to an imperial princess is expected to treat her with the full deference owed to her imperial blood, even within his own court. Her imperial title does not diminish upon marriage. She remains an imperial princess first and a queen consort second, in terms of personal rank.

Imperial princesses born to concubines do not automatically receive the unmarried privilege. They may petition for it, but it is granted at the Emperor's discretion rather than by right.

• COMING OF AGE CEREMONIES

At sixteen, noble children who attended the Zephyr Academy participate in the "Presentation", a formal court ceremony where they are officially introduced to the imperial court as adults of their rank. For royal children, this ceremony takes place in their home kingdom's court first, then again at the imperial court. For imperial children, the Presentation is a grand public event observed across the entire empire, with formal announcements sent to all five kingdoms.

• MOURNING CUSTOMS

When the Emperor or Empress dies, a mourning period of one year is observed across the entire empire. During this time, public celebrations are prohibited, weddings of noble rank and above are postponed, and all court events are suspended. The five kingdoms are each required to send a formal mourning delegation to Arvona within thirty days of the death.

When a king or queen of one of the five kingdoms dies, a mourning period of three months is observed within that kingdom, and the other four kingdoms send formal condolences. The imperial court observes a shorter internal mourning period of one month out of respect.

• BETROTHAL CUSTOMS

Among noble and royal families, betrothals are negotiated by the family, often without the child's input, and can be arranged as early as age ten, though the marriage itself does not take place until both parties are of adult age. An imperial child's betrothal requires the Emperor's personal approval regardless of which family initiates the proposal. Royal children's betrothals require the approval of both their own king and, formally, the imperial court. Breaking a betrothal is legally permissible but socially damaging and usually requires significant political justification or a financial settlement.

ANNUAL AND RECURRING EVENTS

• THE IMPERIAL CONVOCATION

Held once per year in Arvona in early spring, the Imperial Convocation is the empire's most significant political gathering. Every king and queen of the five kingdoms is expected to appear in person at the imperial court, or send the Crown Prince or Princess as a formal representative if the monarch cannot travel. During the Convocation, the Emperor may issue new imperial edicts, receive formal pledges of continued loyalty, settle disputes between kingdoms, and announce significant imperial decisions such as new betrothals, military appointments, or changes to imperial law. The Convocation lasts approximately two weeks and is accompanied by banquets, formal audiences, and closed-door political negotiations. For the noble and royal families, it is the most important social and political event of the year.

• THE GRAND HUNT

Held each autumn, the Grand Hunt is an imperial tradition that doubles as both recreation and a display of power. The Emperor leads the hunt, which takes place across the vast imperial hunting grounds surrounding Arvona. Invitations to the Grand Hunt are extended personally by the Emperor and are considered a mark of significant favour. Kings, princes, high nobles, and distinguished military commanders attend. Women of noble rank may participate in a ceremonial capacity, accompanying the hunt on horseback though not traditionally in the lead party. The Grand Hunt spans three days and concludes with a formal feast. Conversations held during the hunt, away from the rigid formality of court, are often where the most significant political understandings are reached.

• THE HARVEST TRIBUTE

Each autumn following the Grand Hunt, representatives from all five kingdoms arrive in Arvona to present the annual imperial tribute. This tribute takes the form of goods, gold, livestock, and symbolic gifts particular to each kingdom's character. Calvara traditionally presents weapons and furs. Serano presents rare imported goods and a portion of its trade tax revenue. Duras presents wine, grain, and crafted goods. Vareth presents illuminated legal and scholarly manuscripts along with a financial contribution. Maren presents mountain minerals, fine stonework, and horses bred in its highland valleys. The Harvest Tribute is partly economic obligation and partly ceremonial reaffirmation that the five kingdoms remain subjects of the empire.

• THE WINTER COURT

From the beginning of winter through the first month of the new year, the imperial court enters what is known as the Winter Court season. This is the height of the social calendar within Arvona. Balls, formal dinners, theatrical performances, and musical events are hosted continuously. Noble and royal families who maintain residences in Arvona or have come for the season are in constant social circulation. This is the period during which marriages are most often announced, political alliances are most visibly formed or broken, and young nobles fresh from the Zephyr Academy make their first real impressions on the court. For families with daughters of eligible age, the Winter Court is treated with the seriousness of a campaign.

• THE DAY OF FOUNDATION

Observed empire-wide once per year, the Day of Foundation marks the anniversary of the original imperial unification, when the five kingdoms formally came under the authority of the first Emperor. It is a public holiday across all of Solaran. In Arvona, the Emperor makes a formal public address. Religious observances, feasts, and civic celebrations are held in cities and towns across all five kingdoms. For commoners, it is one of the few days of genuine rest and festivity. For the noble class, attendance at the local lord's celebration is expected.

• THE IMPERIAL CENSUS

Conducted once every five years by imperial administrators dispatched from Arvona, the Imperial Census records population, land holdings, taxable income, and noble titles across all five kingdoms. The results are presented to the Emperor and form the basis for updated taxation and military conscription obligations. Falsifying census information is considered a crime against the imperial throne and carries severe penalties.

CUSTOMS AND SOCIAL CONVENTIONS

• On Addressing the Imperial Family

The Emperor is addressed as "Your Imperial Majesty". The Empress holds the same address. Imperial princes and princesses are addressed as "Your Imperial Highness". A king or queen of one of the five kingdoms is addressed as "Your Majesty" within their own kingdom but as "Your Royal Majesty" in imperial settings, a subtle but deliberate distinction that places them below the imperial tier. Barons and above are addressed as "Your Grace". Failure to observe correct forms of address in formal settings is considered a serious breach of protocol.

• On Kneeling and Bowing

In the presence of the Emperor, all persons regardless of rank kneel. In the presence of the Empress alone, all persons below her rank bow deeply. Imperial children are greeted with a deep respectful bow by those of royal rank. A king does not kneel to an imperial child, but he does bow, and he does so without visible reluctance if he is wise.

• On the Birth of an Imperial Heir

The birth of a child to the Empress is announced across the entire empire by imperial messenger and bell-ringing in every major city. If the child is a son, the celebrations are extensive and the five kingdoms are expected to send formal congratulatory delegations to Arvona. The birth of an imperial daughter is celebrated with similar ceremony but without the same degree of political urgency.

• On Gifting

Presenting gifts to members of the imperial family follows a strict protocol. Gifts must be declared and inspected before they are received. Unsolicited gifts from foreign nobles or kingdoms are sometimes interpreted as political gestures and are treated accordingly. The Emperor may refuse a gift, and doing so sends a clear message.