<strong>Ryan</strong> <strong>Bailey</strong> (<strong>order</strong> <strong>#2639004</strong>) 1THE SOLAR DELIBERATIVEDELIBERATIVE LAWA simple majority vote by the Solar Deliberators is allthat’s required to rat<strong>if</strong>y a bill and make it law across theRealm. The Solar Queen Merela still possesses veto powerover the Deliberative’s laws, a concession made to end thecivil war out of which the Realm was born. That veto canbe overridden by a two-thirds majority vote, however, andMerela seldom bothers anymore in matters supported by theHierophant and his circle. The Hierophant can usually callin enough favors to have the veto undone.Once a law is passed, the various <strong>br</strong>anches of theMinistries of Order serve to enforce that law in the Realm’smany prefectures. Realm tributaries, on the other hand,may choose to apply the law or not at the discretion of theirSolar rulers.Most laws passed by the Deliberative have little bearingon the day-to-day lives of Exalted, especially the Solars,as they are excluded from the laws effects in many cases.Several laws, the so-called Accords, bear special mention,though, as they do govern the behavior of even the Realm’sLawgivers.THE ACCORD OF CLEAR GLASSThe Deliberative passed the first Clear Glass Accordduring the Shining Reflection Era, and a revised ClearGlass Accord was one of the first proposals the Hierophant<strong>br</strong>ought forth to be rat<strong>if</strong>ied by the Second Deliberative duringthe Long Silence period. The Accord of Clear Glass isa collection of laws describing the minimum standards ofmortal living permitted in Creation’s principalities. Amongother amenities, the Accord outlaws slavery and mandatesa minimum level of education and medical care be madeavailable to all mortal principality citizens.While the Accord of Clear Glass guarantees freedomand medical care, it doesn’t guarantee education. It merelyensures the opportunity for education. Solars may not outlawliteracy, and they must make a good-faith attempt to providesources of education to the populace. Mortals are not punishedfor illiteracy, though.Solars who violate the Clear Glass Accord can be subjectto fines and, in some cases, the involuntary re-class<strong>if</strong>icationof a prefecture as a tributary, the revocation of voting rights,and subsequent unilateral military action should the newtributary ruler not adhere to tributary restrictions.THE MANDALA ACCORDThe Mandala Accord guarantees fair reincarnation asthe Deliberative defines it. Many mortals think of the MandalaAccord as affecting them, and it does, but it actuallyapplies to Yu-Shan’s Department of Abstract Matters—spec<strong>if</strong>ically Taru-Han and her staff. By Solar law, approvedby the Unconquered Sun himself, the gods responsible forreincarnation must sw<strong>if</strong>tly and diligently ensure positivereincarnation to mortals who died or lived hard lives in theservice of the Deliberative.As a document, the Mandala Accord is long, baroque andconstantly amended, as the Deliberative regularly redefinesthe parameters that make someone eligible for a favoredreincarnation. While the core of the document remains unchanged,the fickle favor of Creation’s Lawgivers has stuffedit with much pointless flock. For example, women with silverhair and green eyes who die between the ages of 60 and 80have received favorable consideration over <strong>br</strong>own-hairedwomen for two centuries, because a young Solar wishedfavorable recommendation for all who remind her of hermother. This sort of thing is normal, and the Deliberativeusually allows such minor clauses without incident, votingthem out when it’s next convenient. The average duration ofa pointless Mandala clause is two centuries, though a few dosurvive the original document’s drafting. As a result of thispractice, “Mandala clause” has entered Deliberator slang.It refers to any pointless, essentially harmless law includedto humor a young Deliberator.THE MINISTRIES OF ORDERThe Ministries of Order is a collective term used to describethe bureaucracy that governs the Realm. Made up ofthousands of Dragon-Blooded and hundreds of thousands ofmortal employees, the Ministries institute the Deliberative’slaws and policies and maintain the Realm’s infrastructure.From the Ministry of Transportation to the Ministry ofEducation and Proper Childcare, from the Ministry ofRealm Peacekeepers to the Ministry of Civic Informationand Administrative Necessities, the various Ministries ofOrder make up the face of the Deliberative to the commonfolk of the Creation.THE ARMY OF THE DELIBERATIVEAs mentioned earlier, “the Army of the Deliberative”is a specialized term predating the Second DeliberativeEra (dating back to the Unfurling Horizon Era, in fact).It refers to all the armed forces controlled by Exalts loyalto the Deliberative, even <strong>if</strong> those armies aren’t under theDeliberative’s direct control. The armed forces directly underDeliberative control are usually called the DeliberativeSentinel Forces. Those forces follow the same pattern oforganization as most principality armed forces, though.47
48<strong>Ryan</strong> <strong>Bailey</strong> (<strong>order</strong> <strong>#2639004</strong>) 1
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