#—most decorated commanders / the archivist / prolific high priests & priestesses) are key and valued players in ensuring a prosperous empir

[lilflowerpot]

I've been loving your worldbuilding/culture/science stuff— and I haven't even watched VLD. I just found your stuff incredibly neat. I think you mentioned that someone can rise to being Emperor from any of the Three Pillars of Galran society— except for the Archivist. Is the Archivist barred from being the Imperial Consort as well, or is the path available for them? Has there ever been Emperors/Empresses that rose to the position from the Druids side of things?

imperial societal structure | duties of the imperial consort | kral zera eligibility

I'm pleased to know that you're enjoying my worldbuilding(!!!) despite not having watched the show lmao

Though there have been monarchs from all three pillars of imperial society since the Empire's formation under Brodar, of the 33 to have triumphed at the Kral Zera and ascended the Imperial throne, the overwhelming majority have done so via the military sphere, with only 7 successful candidates ascending via the State, and a mere 4 via the Church.

((and I do think it's worth mentioning that though the Druidic Church's primary doctrine is an amalgamation of Druae & D’iijac—the two most prevalent belief systems from Daibazaal's desertous phenotypes, Kyx & Byal respectively—the Church as a whole practices complete religious freedom so long as to do so does not violate imperial law, meaning eligibility for the Kral Zera is not restricted only to High Priests/Priestesses of the galra's most prevalent faith, but anyone holding an equal rank in any alternative religious sect))

Interestingly, though the Church has produced the lowest numbers of monarchs, it’s also produced the least unsuccessful candidates! Some believe this to be due to Sa favouring her blessed few, and so ensuring their triumph, whereas others argue for a somewhat less romantic notion: that druidic quintessence-manipulation is exceedingly difficult to counter, especially when participating in a battle-royale, and so the victory of a skilled druidic combatant is a foregone conclusion.

As for the Archivist becoming the Imperial Consort, though it’s never before occurred, there's no explicit rule barring them from serving both roles; it would, however, be discouraged by,,, pretty much everyone? Both positions are a HUGE commitment, and between serving as the Conduit of Sa, and the secondary Head of State, the Archivist/Consort would end up so thinly spread that they’d rarely see their Emperor/lover in an unofficial capacity. As you can imagine, the kind of pressure that would come with maintaining both roles would take an incredible toll on not only them as an individual, but their relationship too... and unhappy/lonely galra are seldom the strong leaders a demanding institution such as the Empire requires.