OK, so who actually runs these four states and three factions? How do they work? Well, we start by determining the representative authority, the person or group who is considered to be the center of the government (“The Decider” as one former President I'm annoyed I miss once called it).
The Guild-State of the Rose Brothers (self-perpetuating oligarchy): Rolling a 1 on 1d6 tells us that an elite council serves as the Guild-State's representative authority. I'm assuming that's either the council of paradigm shifters or the judge who determine whether someone joins that group. Probably the former, but we'll find out after we figure out everyone's representative authority.
Oleinik March (feudal technocracy): Here, we roll a 6 on 2d6 and discover the quite expected: the representative authority of Oleinik March is a single ruler, in this case the Marquis of Oleinik who rules directly.
Jermaine March (feudal technocracy): Jermaine March, on the other hand, is much less typical, as an 8 reveals that it is ruled by several councils. Huh. Don't know what to do with that yet. Maybe the marquesal contract was awarded to an administrative company?
TCI: We roll a 7: this nation is ruled by a ruler. Military? Corporate? I don't know yet . . .
charismatic dictator: Oh, look! It's a junta of some sort! (We rolled 6 on 1d6)
(vis)comital agents (feudal technocracy): They're governed by an elite council (we rolled 4). It's probably some sort of cell structure, naw that would actually be more like . . .
foreign agitators (captive state): . . . several councils (thanks to a roll of 10)! So this group will be the one organized into cells.
But what do these representative authorities do? And how much power do they have, really? We're gonna answer those questions in reverse order as we first determine what the division of power is like in each, and then will determine what kind of power the representative authorities have:
The Guild-State of the Rose Brothers: no division (rolled a 6), meaning that the elite council is certainly the Council of Innovating Masters. Said Council holds all the highest power in the Guild-State: executive, legislative, and judicial.
Oleinik March: 2-way division (rolled a 4), with the consular marquis holding executive and legislative power (rolled a 5)
Jermaine March: 2-way division (rolled a 3), with those councils holding executive and legislative power (rolled a 3)
TCI: 2-way division (rolled a 3), with the ruler holding executive and judicial authority (rolled a 1)
charismatic dictator: 2-way division (rolled a 4), with the junta holding legislative and judicial authority (sounds closer to a bunch of messiahs or a council of wise elders than a bunch of military generals . . .)
(vis)comital agents: 3-way division (rolled a 2), with the elite council holding legislative powers (rolled a 3)
foreign agitators: 3-way division (rolled a 2), with the various cells holding executive power (rolled a 1)
We've almost got the governments on this world sorted out! We just gotta figure out who holds the other kinds of power in each, if not the representative authority.
Oleinik March: Several councils hold judicial power (roll of 10). Let's call them teams of lawyers hired by the consular marquis of Oleinik to comb through the marquesal contract and determine what actions are or are not allowable under its terms and fine print.
Jermaine March: Ah! Here's the consular marquis of Jermaine, holding judicial authority (roll of a 6). I've two ideas about how to explain the situation in Jermaine March is constructed, and they aren't mutually exclusive. The consular marquis of Jermaine is a lawyer by training, not an administrator, so they outsourced the day-to-day running of their march to a corporation, reserving the right to place boundaries and limitations. They have also been seduced away by the adventurous possibilities open to one of marquesal rank and become more of an absentee ruler.
TCI: Several councils (roll of an 8) hold legislative authority. So far, I'm thinking this is a miltary outpost or militarized colony, but until I determine what other polities exist in the Bishop Sheumack system or its (vis)county, I don't think I can say too much about it.
charismatic dictator: A single ruler (roll of a 7) holds executive authority. Maybe this is the charismatic dictator, and they are merely a pawn of the council? The vulgate, the masses, follow him because of his charisma, but any real powerbroker knows that the council holds the actual power?
(vis)comital agents: Here's a surprising bit: the demos holds the executive power for this faction (roll of a 2) ~ the (vis)count doesn't want to take direct action, probably fearing over-committal of resources, disruption of the balance of powers, or contractual consequences, so while they have agents working towards unifying this fractured planet, those agents are limited to recruiting and encouraging natives of the world to act. Must be frustrating for those agents, by which I mean: PLOT. Several councils, on the other hand (roll of a 9), hold judicial authority. Let's say those are social and political scientists hired by the (vis)count to evaluate the success of these efforts.
foreign agitators: several councils hold judicial power (roll of a 10) ~ maybe there are two kinds of cells, the kind that actually works to achieve their ends, and another kind (the Inquisition) that investigates, infiltrates, and manipulates the cells to ensure ideological unity? And several councils hold legislative power, too (roll of an 8). This is one decentralized non-democratic group!
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