Nobility and Rule
Dwarven government is a strange thing, on examination. At first it seems so clear-cut: there is a king, petty nobles, mayors to oversee individual settlements, local law enforcement and overseers for various duties, and a set of laws, rigidly obeyed. It would appear to the casual observer that a dwarven kingdom is like a more orderly, underground facsimile of our human kingdoms. Such is far from the truth, however.
The human lands are set up in feudal fashion, with land as the unifying thread. To state simply: the king owns all the land, and grants fiefs to nobles below him. They in turn must fulfill obligations to him for the privilege of owning their own land. To meet those obligations, they in turn grant land to nobles below them who are bound to certain oaths. The matter continues down the line until one meets the lowest nobles who lord over landless peasants that must meet their own dues for the benefit of using land they do not own at all.
In the dwarven world, the concept of owning land is alien; what "land" is there to own? The community digs most of their homes from the solid rock, and what caverns they reclaim are rigidly divided for the community's benefit. This notion of debt and obligation does not work in a world where the whole must be considered before the individual. In human lands, the king's individual rights as sovereign trump the nation's rights to use land as would best suit the whole, but in the dwarven world the king would be mad to state that his authority granted him the right to do as he saw fit with the cities he ruled.
In the dwarven world, there are both hereditary and appointed nobles. Appointed nobles usually fulfill job duties within a given settlement, and may be replaced at the whim of the local lord or the community as a whole. A given community usually has a Mayor, elected as the most competent member of the community, who handles directing the community's overall goals and plans and appoints other officials to assist in governance. Most communities have: a Chief Architect who oversees expansion and modification of the tunnels and chambers; a Captain of the Guard or Sheriff who handles law enforcement and appoints guards to enforce the law (more established communities tend to have a Hammerer to aid in serious crimes) (ed: The hammerer will be discussed in greater detail in Crime and Punishment); a Minister of Labor who acts as a liaison between the Mayor and the leaders of the local clans to ensure that planned work from the government translates to actual performed labor from the relevant workers; a Quartermaster who oversees the supplies, stocks, and such of a community; a Militia Commander who oversees defense (and is typically aided by a Champion, a soldier of great repute; the Commander is usually a great leader or organizer while the Champion tends to be a veteran or skilled fighter that can train new recruits); and a Minister of Public Health who oversees the cleanliness of the fortress, the hygiene of its inhabitants, and the practice of medicine in the community. Technically all of these offices are considered minor nobility, though Mayoral elections are held once a year and every adult in good standing is allowed a vote (children and convicts currently serving sentences may not vote). The Mayor has the authority to appoint most every position here, but usually relies on the advice of the clan leaders and other advisors or currently serving officials before making a decision.
Hereditary titles are tied to a given settlement. The King will watch as a new settlement grows, and in due time a representative of the crown will decide the small community has grown enough to merit its official inclusion into the Kingdom proper (prior to this, the community is ruled by a Mayor and before that however the settlers see fit; in either case it is technically an autonomous entity). The clan leaders of the fledgling community will be given the chance to name one of their own as the official leader of the settlement, and this individual will become a Baron. Baronies are hereditary grants over a community, and as such the announcement is one of great honor. As a city grows and prospers the king may officially decree that the community, and by extension its noble leader, have become a greater source of pride and importance and thus warrant a higher rank.
Unlike in human feudal society, the rank of a noble has nothing to do with land grants. It is an honor, a gift of greater prestige, and a great source of pride for a clan and the descendants of the one chosen. At one point, in the distant past, the King was simply the first great leader to ascend in a settlement, and over time as more communities grew the king's importance grew as well. Hereditary nobles are of course expected to see to the prosperity of their settlement, and to that end tend to work with the Mayor and clan leaders to ensure the community grows and improves further.
Both Mayors and hereditary nobles take their work very seriously; having been chosen by their fellows, in one manner or another, to be the leaders and guides of their city they have serious work ahead of them. They have the authority to make laws and oversee the work and progress of the community, and do on occasion exercise this authority by making decrees and requests of the local labor. Disobedience towards these leaders is akin to insulting the very law and order which shapes and molds dwarven society itself, so even when their demands seem impossible or in vain, the matter is handled all the same.
The laws are sacred in the dwarven world; their attitude of building things to endure stretches to their very laws and governance, so it is rare for their nobles to do more than make temporary decrees and proclamations to handle a (real or perceived) problem. Though, in truth, any hereditary noble has the authority to pass new laws or revise old ones, they are loathe to do so unless it is painfully clear the old laws are ill suited, and will remain so indefinitely. Even Kings, with the power to change the laws governing an entire nation, act rarely lest they ruin what was carefully refined over the course of centuries.
Locally, the clan leaders handle carrying out the will of the nobles, and do their level best to ensure the whims of their superiors are carried. This approach of one dwarf being handed a duty and then seeking the right candidate for its assignment means that, at times, it isn't entirely clear who was to handle a task or is responsible. This makes for an awkward situation when the work isn't completed and justice must be served. It isn't uncommon for an unfortunate dwarf to be held accountable for a task or decree that they had no business dealing with at all, but the rigors of their society hold them responsible all the same.
((Next: Crime and Punishment))
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Topic: On the Nature of Dwarves (Read 37718 times)