copyright © 2005-2006 Dennis Paul Himes
The contents of this page are preliminary. They won't become canonical until the first version of the Tale of Tifa Walbatnuwa Siina is up. - DPH
Throughout its history the SSildifian Empire was ruled by a dotala, which I translate as "emperor". The emperor's power waxed and waned during this time, but he was always the most powerful asit in the empire in theory and usually in practice as well. The first emperor was Neetta SSildifuwa. When he died his oldest sister's oldest son became emperor. When he in turn died his oldest sister's oldest son became emperor. This continued until the fifth emporer, Neettifa Susfuwa, established the Succession Council, which, besides choosing the next emperor when the office became vacant, standardized and became the final authority on other offices of the royal family, the most important of which was the wainu.
The Succession Council consisted of five asiit, representing five important institutions in the early empire. One was from the Seepomo Academy, one from the military, one from the Shipbuilders' Guild, one from the DDyauwee family of Pottapo, and one from the city of Yeepo, the original imperial capital. These five institutions appointed members of the council throughout the history of the empire, even after the capital moved to Xaulbato.
The wainu was the nubile female member of the royal family who was first by the following rules of precedence:
Daughters took precedence over mothers.
Older sisters and their
descendents took precedence over
younger sisters and their
descendents.
The only exception to these rules occurred when a wainu became pregnant. A pregnant wainu remained wainu until the birth of the child, even if an asu with higher precedence became nubile during the pregnancy.
Typically the oldest daughter of a wainu became the new wainu when she first went into heat.
A wainisisu was simply a former wainu. A wainisisu could become wainu again, if, for instance, a wainu becomes a wainisisu because her oldest daughter becomes nubile, and then that daughter dies before any other daughters also become nubile.
The suyeu was the asu who would become wainu if all living wainus and wainisisus were to suddenly die. The suyeu was typically the younger sister of the wainu, although she was often an aunt or cousin.
A dotala, or "emperor" ruled for life. When an emperor died the Succession Council met and chose a new one. By law, the council could choose any male in the royal family, but in fact it followed certain conventions. These conventions became more entrenched as the years went by, at least until the end of the empire, when the flouting of these conventions led to the Succession Crisis and civil war.
Before the Succession Crisis, however, the Succession Council used the following rules of precedence (listed in order of importance).
An asa whose mother was a wainu had precedence over one who wasn't. This applies to the status of the mother at the time the asa was born. If his mother was not a wainu at the time of his birth, then it didn't matter if she had been one earlier or became one later. Because of this rule, younger brothers sometimes had precedence over older brothers.
Asaa in younger generations than the previous emperor had precedence over asaa in the same or older generations. Among younger generations older generations had precedence and among older generations younger ones did. For example, if the previous emperor was in the 10th generation after SSildifu Nomifuwu, the precedence would be 11th, 12th, 13th, etc. followed by 10th, 9th, 8th, etc.
Older brothers took precedence over younger brothers.
Descendents of older sisters took precedence over descendents of younger sisters.
In the older days of the empire the Succession Council would sometimes bend these rules if they thought another asa was more fit to rule. Later they would only bend them only if the would-be emperor were severly handicapped.
Dotaledda was never an official title. The dotaledda was simply the asa who could be expected to become the new emperor when the current emperor died. It could never be made official because the Succession Council could always, in theory at least, choose any asa in the royal family.
Links