Urizen leadership

Hard to get across, but these guys are a bit like “secret masters” in that they don’t so much want to rule directly as to make sure that the people who are ruling are either like them or do what they “advise.” But they’re not secret, they live next door and wander around your town making suggestions about improvements. Harry called them “public masters.”

The Spire is the basic unit of the Urizen population. Spires tend to specialise – a given Spire might be known for its fine craftsmanship, the beauty and artistry of its musicians, its dedication to martial affairs, or its mastery of one or more spheres of magical power. In Urizen, political power is roughly analogous to magical power. It is a nation lead by its wizards. Every citizen is encouraged to learn a little magic, whether it is practical spellcasting or superior craftsmanship, but it is mastery of the lore of the Realms that underlies ritual magic which is the highest calling.

Each Spire is governed by a Council. The wisest and most educated wizard generally takes the position of Arbiter to resolve disputes and guide the rest of the Council. Councils regularly co-operate with their neighbours, but there is history of conflict between Spires whose Councils differ on political, social or idealogical grounds. Such disputes are almost always settled through debate, or through arbitration by a third party. It is very rare for Urizen Spires to conflict militarily.

Many Urizen are passionate about politics. The ways in which humans interact socially fascinate them – being able to debate competing points of view and achieve consensus is seen as a high art form that sets humans apart from and superior to animals. It also makes civilised people superior to barbaric people who practice brute force approaches to leadership. The Imperial Senate is held up as a great triumph of the Empire by the Urizen, although they are often disappointed by the way the other Nations choose to exploit the Senate, especially how they pick their Senators.

If there is a unifying political movement in Urizen it is the idea that the rest of the Empire could solve all their problems if the people would just listen to Urizen for a few hours. Their superior education and perspective mean that they could resolve most political divisions. Senators are selected by circles of wizards. The circle that has the highest understanding of the Realms selects one of their number to represent their territory.

I think this is defined by totalling all the ranks of Realm Lore possessed by a group of wizards. The group with the highest number of ranks wins. There needs to be an IC way of doing this.

At the end of the day, Urizen dreams of a perfect society. They want to share that dream with the Empire, partly by example and partly through education. While different Spires disagree on what constitutes the perfect society, they broadly agree it should involve the largest amount of happiness for the largest number of people. The most common belief is that the wisest and most educated should lead by example, and that wizards who have the greatest understanding of the cosmos and the greatest personal power should shepherd their fellow humans for the good of all. It’s just a pity that nobody else in the Empire sees it like that.