Changeling Politics

Demographics and Fae Feudalism

Concordia

Concordia, formally known as "The Empire of the Turtle", comprises the human geography of North and Central America, and is divided into several Kingdoms, each with their own King or Queen. Each Kingdom is divided in a few Duchies, in turn divided into multiple of Counties, and each of them is also divided in multiple Baronies.

The Empire has been ruled by the High King David ap Ard Ri ap Gwydion, bearer of the sword Caliburn, and his wife Faerilyth ni Eiluned, from his seat at Tara Nar. As a young sidhe, King David established the Parliament of Dreams to help give the commoners a voice as well as more clearly hear out the concerns of the landed gentry sidhe nobles. As they were both well into their Grump years, their adopted daughter Princess Lenore ni Dougal was hoping to inherit the throne. She's currently facing other parties for that position, among them Morwen, the High King's sister. As King David has gone missing, Queen Mab ni Fiona currently serves as regent of the Kingdom of Apples, and Morwen administrates the kingdom of Apples for her.

The Empire of the Turtle is divided in seven Kingdoms and one Fief: Kingdom of the Burning Sun, Kingdom of Willows, Kingdom of Northern Ice, Kingdom of Grass, Kingdom of Pacifica, Kingdom of the White Sand and Kingdom of Apples (where our chronicle takes place); plus the Fiefs of Bright Paradise.

The Kingdom of Apples The Kingdom of Apples covers a wide area on the East Coast of the United States of America. The area it takes up is roughly, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delware. Queen Mab ap Fiona rules the Kingdom, she is a well liked ruler who is has respect from Commoner and Sidhe alike. She combines Fiona Love and Passion with Seelie Loyalty makes her one of High King David's most loyal supporters. It's easy to see why High King David chose the Kingdom of Apples for his home.

The Kingdom of Apples is considered to be one of the wealthiest Kingdoms in Concordia, New York has been the center of fiction for years, comic books, TV shows, and Movies, all lending towards making New York the city people think of when they think of an American city, causing it to be a major source of glamour. The Fae of the Kingdom of Apples consider themselves the Core of Concordia, and being the phone of the High King's Court and the Parliament of Dreams it is the political center of the Changelings of North America.

Queen Mab controls a region roughly equal to 10 States. Under her, there are 4 Dukes each holding land roughly equal to 1 to 3 States. Under each duke, there will be 2 or 3 Counts, as well as another 3 to 5 Counts that hold their land directly from the king. Each Count will rarely control as much as an entire state, more often a half to a third of a state. Under each count, there will be 1 to 3 Barons, and a number of Barons that hold land directly from a Duke, or occasionally the Queen Mab. A Baron will hold territory equal to an important city or region. Finally, there are around a half a dozen "rogue" nobles (commoners or unseelie) that refuse to acknowledge the authority of the Kingdom of Apples.

Noble society hinges on a hierarchy in which rank and title determine one's position in the greater community. Respect is given to those of high rank and expected from those of low status. Almost every noble owes fealty to a higher noble within the feudal structure. Even the kings and queens of Concordia are vassals of High King David. Similarly, every noble is someone else's liege. Only squires, who occupy the bottom rung of the noble hierarchy, have no vassals, although they may exercise some limited dominion over the pages beneath them.

Commoners fall outside the strict hierarchy of noble society. Traditionalists regard them as little better than peasants, and therefore consider all commoners to be their subjects. In the aftermath of the Accordance War, a few commoners have attained noble rank and have thus integrated themselves into the noble hierarchy. Despite this, nobles consider "titled" commoners to be upstarts.

Note that each Noble will hold personal territory slightly larger than that of the noble of the next lower rank. Thus, a Duke will hold a good portion of an entire state as his personal domain, with a number of Barons directly under him to administer it. The Queen personally holds land equal to 2 States, administered by several Counts that owe her personal homage, and will hold an entire state still more directly, split amongst 8 Barons. To see the current Powerstructure in the Kingdom of Apples, click Here

The Following Table shows a Typical Changeling Kingdom: Knights and Squires are rarely "landed", and therefore do not figure into the above totals. Even if they do hold land, it will rarely be more than a single small freehold. Most Barons will have 1 to 4 Knights under them, while Counts will have 3 to 5, Dukes 5 to 7 and the King a dozen or so. Each noble will have an equal number of Squires, half of whom are "Knights in training", and half of whom are honored commoners, who are unlikely to advance further.

Most of the higher Nobility are Sidhe. 2/3 or all Dukes are Sidhe as are 1/2 of all lesser nobility, down to squires (who are about 2/3 commoners). Despite appearances, about half of the Sidhe have no rank at all (being scholars or independent).

Finally, each noble will have a total of about 40 commoners under them, 10 within their household, and another 30 or so scatter out within their Personal Domain. Nobles consider commoners to be lowly and tainted by the trappings of mortality. Commoners believe nobles to be arrogant and unfeeling, concerned only with power and status. Although some commoners and nobles may like and respect one another as individuals, the two classes of Kithain generally share a mutual distrust and dislike. The Treaty of Concord enforced the feudal system on commoners, but most of them still do not fully adhere to all of its strictures, privately rebelling against the more onerous duties relegated to them as "lower" Kithain. Most commoners pay lip service to local lords while reserving their own private opinions, considering themselves the equals of all nobles.

The Barons will have slightly less (30 or so), the Dukes and Kings more (60 and 100, respectively). All told, this makes about 2000 Commoners (the majority of which are Boggans, Nockers and Pooka), 300 Knights and Squires, and 50 Higher Nobles, for a total of 2350 Kith in the Kingdom of Apples. Throw in the Dauntain, the Nunnehi and the hidden Shadow Court, and the total reaches approximately 3,000.

There are Changelings in 1 out of every 20,000 people. Please note that this population is not evenly distributed amongst the human populous. Some areas will see much higher concentrations of kith, and other areas no kith at all. Given the unpredictable nature of the Chrysalis, as well as the amount of Changelings that become lost to bedlam/banality, the fluctuations worldwide range between 65,000 to 88,000 western-style kith in Europe, the Americas, and Australia.