governs the general affairs of Kingdom through royal decrees, pronouncements, and rescripts directed to the heads of the four branches of the royal administration, and must assent to all enactments of the three branches of the legislature for them to obtain the force of law. All Altlandic subjects have the right of final personal appeal to His Majesty in all cases at law, civil and criminal, and he may issue decrees of outlawry against persons or groups within the realm. He reserves to himself the power to declare and make war, and is the supreme commander of the armed forces, all of whose members take a personal oath of loyalty to him as well as to the nation. He also has the privilege of confirming the selection of archbishops, bishops, and mitred abbots, as well as the heads of the three royal universities and the two royal military academies.

The Arch-Chancellor coordinates the activities of the four branches of the administeration and formulated general governmental policies and procedures. These functions were exercised directly by His Altlandic Majesty from 264 until the beginning of 300, when Sir Alexander Alexicot , the hero of the Restoration, was appointed to the office. From 1 September 301 until 1 March 302, the King once again took this office upon himself, then handed it back to Sir Alexamder, who has exercised it during the kings years of seclusion at St. Victor.

This officer of state is the sovereign's chief counsellor on foreign policy and oversees the nation's diplomatic relations and foreign representation. His is also responsible for foregin intelligence gathering and external trade relations. He is senior member of the government.

This officer of state is the sovereign's chief counsellor on financial, economic, and budgetary policy, and oversees the preparation of the budget, the collection of revenues through general and particular levies, dues, and tariffs, the regulation of banking, and the issuance and protection of the currency.

This officer of state is the sovereign's chief counsellor on the protection of the kingdom's peace through the maintenance of strong defense forces (army and navy, each of which has its own ancillary units) and the exercise of the police power (Guards: royal, domestic, and coastal). He advises the sovereign on matters pertaining to the criminal law and oversees its enforcement, including the exaction of penalties and punishments. He functions as deputy supreme commander, under the sovereign, in times of war. He is also in charge of the trained bands of civilians who constitute the National Home Defense Force and regulates the private possession of arms.

This officer of state is the sovereign's chief counsellor on domestic policy and oversees the following governmental functions: the administration of royal and other government property, including parks and reservations; the health, education, and welfare of the general populace; transportation (including tourism), communication (including the post), and public works; manufacture and internal commerce; research, invention, and patents; the establishment and enforcement of commercial standards and weights and measures, the preservation and promotion of Altlandic culture, and the government's relations with religious and charitable entities. He oversees the administration of the royal courts and advises the sovereign on matters pertaining to the civil law.

This officer of state is the sovereign's chief counsellor on the administration of the Kingdom's overseas territories, particularly The Protectorate of Afrazure Altlandique, but also including the Crown Colony of Port Marie and the Principality of the United Provinces of Disonda. He is also charged with promoting Altland's claim to the Glaciarian settlement at Fort Capital.

Each of these officers of state is assisted by numerous departments headed by officers bearing a great variety of titles and answerable directly to their Chancellors.

Composition: Divided into two branches, Temporal and Spiritual, which meet both jointly and separately, depending upon the nature of legislation being considered. The Chamber of Lords Temporal is composed of all titled persons actually exercising governmental authority or holding more than twelve hides (1440 acres) of land with tenants or 24 hides (2880 acres) of land without tenants. At the present time, 856 persons throughout the realm are qualified to sit, but only a small fraction, about 300, actually do so. The Chamber of Lords Spiritual is composed of all archbishops, bishops, mitred abbots, and heads of other specified religious and charitable corporations. Presently there are about 240 members, nearly all of whom actually participate in deliberations.

Sessions and Competence: Summoned into session as needed by writ of either his Majesty the King or the Premier Lord (currently His Grace, the Duke of Belterra), the two branches of the House of Nobles sit jointly to enact laws pertaining to the rights, privileges, and authority of the governing and land-holding nobility and of ecclesiastical and charitable entities, as well as to regulate that portion of the national national budget supplied by them. The Chamber of Lords Temporal sits separately to deal with foreign affairs and war, and to advise the Sovereign on other matters temporal. The Chamber of Lords Spiritual may be convoked separately by writ of the Archbishop of Midlburgh to regulate the existence and activities of religious and charitable entities. When the House of Nobles is not sitting, the interests of the members are represented to the Sovereign by the Council of Lords, headed by the Premier Lord, with the rest of its membership elected anew from among the House immediately before it adjourns. Sessions of the whole House or of the Chamber of Lords Temporal alone are held in the Great Hall of Midlburgh Castle. Meetings of the Chamber of Lords Spititual alone are held in the hall of the palace of the Archbishop of Midlburgh. None of these meetings is open to non-members. Enactments do not obtain the force of law without the consent of the Sovereign, although those not in conflict with existing law and directly affecting only the affairs and activities of the members may be implemented extra-legally by the general consent of the members without royal approbation.

Composition: Four representatives of the governmental administrations of each of the sixteen provinces, joined by two representatives of each major city, one from each other chartered city or town, and one from each other coporate body with assests in excess of an amount specified in the royal writ summoning of each session. The heads of universities and of national federations of guilds and trade associations are always included in the writ. At the last session there were 128 members representing provincial and municipal administrations, 15 representing universities and technical institutes, 36 representing guilds and trade associations, and 96 representing other corporations with assets exceeding ¶120,000,000 (the amount fixed in the writ), producing together a total of 275 members.

Sessions and Competence: The membership, once assembled, elect a President and other officers from among their number who serve for the duration of the session. The House of Delegates may enact legislation dealing with the status and activities of those administrative and corporate bodies which its members represent, together with those aspects of the national budget which are funded by levies on the revenues of these bodies. At the close of each session a Council of Delegates is elected to represent the interests of the members to the Sovereign in the interim until the next session. Sessions are normally held in the Guildhall of Midlburgh. Enactments do not obtain the force of law without the consent of the Sovereign, although, as in the case of the House of Nobles, those not in conflict with existing law and directly affecting only the affairs and activities of the members may be implemented extra-legally by the general consent of the members without royal approbation.

Composition: All Altlanders of both sexes who do not qualify for membership in the House of Nobles and who have attained the age of 21 years become members of an electoral "band" of another 100 such persons who meet locally to elect a deputy to regional bodies composed of 100 such deputies; these regional bodies within each province meet to elect two of their number to represent them in the provincial capital, where these in turn elect a number of representatives from among their own membership in proportion to the population of the province, such that the resulting total number of delegates nation-wide equals one for every 24,000 enfranchised inhabitants of the land. At the last session, this resulted in an Assembly with 760 members.

Sessions and Competence: The Assembly gathers every three years to enact civil and criminal laws governing the entire populace except the clergy and landed nobility and regulating that portion of the national budget derived from general levies. The Assembly holds its sessions in the Folkshaus, an edifice in Midlburgh built for the purpose. Enactments of the Assembly do not obtain the force of law without the royal consent and require the concurrence of either the House of Nobles or the House of Delegates in those instances when such laws which would materially affect the interests of the Lords Temporal or Spiritual or of those entities represented in the House of Delegates. At the close of each session, the Assembly elects a Standing Committee composed of five percent of its membership to represent the interests of the people to the Sovereign between sessions.

The Altlandic judiciary is a complex and ever-changing reality. Courts are of four kinds, and exist at three levels:

Royal: These courts exercise jurisdiction over high crimes (treason, lèse majesté), all crimes involving nobility above the rank of viscount, royal officials, and royal property, as well as crimes committed within the armed forces. Felony cases are heard by panels of three judges, misdemeanor cases by a single judge. Juries are not used. Proof of guilt is required beyond a reasonable doubt, and strict standards of evidence are applied. Judges are appointed for life terms by the sovereign upon the advice of the Chancellor for the Common Weal and the Lord Chief Justice.

Provincial: These excercise jurisdiction over all crimes committed against provincial laws or involving the persons or property of provincial governing authorities. Felony cases are heard by three-judge panels; the few misdemeanor cases tried at this level are conducted by a single judge. Juries are not routinely used in criminal courts of the first instance in most provinces. The burden of proof and the standards of evidence must match those in the royal courts or verdicts are likely to be overturned upon appeal. Judges are appointed by means and for terms determined by provincial law, which varies widely.

Local: These courts, presided over by the local nobility or their appointees within the boundaries of their own lands or by locally appointed magistrates in incorporated cities and towns, try felony and misdemeanor offenses against the common law or local statutes. Juries are used in some jurisdictions when requested by defendants; in others, cases are always heard by the local lord or an appointed magistrate alone.

Peculiarities: A verdict of "not proven" is sometimes rendered, which permits the reintroduction of the case if further evidence of guilt is uncovered. A verdict of "guilty but not punishable" may be rendered in instances when, in the opinion of the court, the infliction of the customary or statutory punishment would be unjust or would not promote the common good. A number of provincial and local courts have also rendered such verdicts. In cases of acquittal, defendants' defense costs are borne by the prosecuting authority, which may also be required to pay other just compensation to the acquitted defendant as assessed by the court.

Royal: Appointed by the sovereign through the Chancellor for the Common Weal, these courts hear civil cases brought within a jurisdiction exactly corresponding to that of the royal criminal courts, and in cases in which the litigants come from different provinces. Cases involving money or property in excess of ¶ 24,000 are heard by three-judge panels, others by a single judge. Juries are not used. Cases are decided on the basis of a preponderance of the evidence.

Provincial: Appointed by the provincial governments, these courts hear civil cases brought within a jurisdiction exactly corresponding to that of the provincial criminal courts, and in cases in which the litigants come from different localities within the province or in which the value of the money or property involved exceeds ¶4000. Cases involving money or property in excess of ¶ 24,000 are heard by three-judge panels, others by a single judge. Juries are not used. Cases are decided on the basis of a preponderance of the evidence.

Local: Constituted variously by local governing authorities, these courts decide minor financial and property disputes and tort cases when all litigants come from within the locality.

Peculiarities: In the royal courts and in most other jurisdictions, unsuccessful palintiffs are required to pay the legal fees of the defendants in the suit. In royal courts, neutral "assessors" employed by the court determine the urgency of cases and set their place on the dockets; they also advise timely out-of-court settlements in suits in which they judge the case of the plaintiff to be weak.

Royal: Divided into criminal and civil jurisdiction, with courts sitting in each Quadrant (each composed of four provinces), these courts constitute the first instance of each Altlandic subject's right of personal appeal to the sovereign. Further appeal of the decisions of the Quadrant Courts is possible to His Majesty's High Court, presided over by the Lord Chief Justice, in Midlburgh's Palace of Justice. Decisions of this Court are revocable only through personal and direct appeal to the sovereign, who seldom revokes his High Court's decision. The sovereign, as chief magistrate, also has the powers of Pardon and Mitigation.

Provincial: Modeled on the royal appellate courts, provincial appellate courts sit in various subdivisions of each province according to provincial custom and law, with a high appellate court sitting in each provincial capital. These have appellate jurisdiction over cases decided in lower provincial courts. Appeal from their decisions may be made to the Royal appellate courts by defendants in capital felony cases and by litigants in civil cases involving amounts over ¶240,000. The Lords of the various provinces, as chief magistrates, have the powers of Pardon and Mitigation.

Popular: Defendants and litigants in the local courts within the provinces of Norrik, Montemar, Riksfildar, Estgorth, Swonferd, Nijmork, Jergendol, Havnkyst, Suthbirg, and Belterra have the right of appeal to popular "moots" consisting of all the enfranchised inhabitants of the jurisdiction who are willing to attend the moot. Decisions of local lords and magistrates by be overturned by a two-thirds vote of the such a moot. In all other provinces, appeal from the decisions of the local courts is to the appellate courts of the province.

The ecclesiastical courts of the Church of Altland exercise criminal and civil jurisdiction over all matters involving defendants or litigants who are clerics or members of religious orders and over persons who have claimed permanent sanctuary on ecclesiastical property. They also exercise jurisdiction over members of the established church in matters involving sexual morality (except rape), marriage, and family life. Similar courts, though fewer in number, exercise similar jurisdiction over the clergy. property, and adherents of the Reformed Cruisian Church, while the nation's tiny Federist minority fall under the similar juridiction of three rabbincal tribunals (sitting in Midlburg, Cita Sperança, and Flores).

Like the secular courts, the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of Altland are established on three levels:

Ordinary's Courts, which are the courts of first instance and sit in the see cities, in the monasteries of mitered abbots or landed abbesses, and in the curiae of non-monastic orders, male and female. Appeal from these courts is had to Archepiscopal Courts, which sit in the see cities of the four ecclesiastical provinces: Midlburgh, Flores, Calopia, and Sigesburgh. Final appeal may be made to The High Court of Convocation, which sits each year in Komdn from the beginning of the Octave of the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter until its business is terminated. The church courts of first jurisdiction for Reformed Christians are the thirty local "Presbytery Courts," above them the three "Classis Courts," and finally, as court of last appeal, the "National Tribunal of the Reformed Churches." Appeals from the three rabbinical courts are occasionally accepted by the Chief Rabbi of Altland, who resides in Cita Sperança. In the case of unbelievers or persons who otherwise adhere to none of the three chief religions of the realm, jurisdiction over morals, marriage, and family matters rests in the hands of the secular magistrates.