The High Curia

The Crown in Council

The High Curia is the senior governing council of Leoneth. It brings together the Queen, the great lords of the realm, and representatives of institutions upon which the kingdom depends. The Queen rules in her own right: the council does not replace her sovereignty. Its members nevertheless bring established authorities and privileges to the royal table.

Seats of the High Curia

The Curia consists of the following offices and representatives:

Seat	Place within the realm
The Queen of Leoneth	Sovereign of the kingdom
Five realm lords	The great territorial lordships
Circle of Tides	Stewardship of the living sea, represented by the Tidespeaker
College of Temptation	The arts, creative instruction, and cultural expression
Fisher Knights	The head of the knightly order
Salvager’s Guild	Represented by its Guildmaster; Crown-chartered sovereignty over salvage law, Stockyards, trade arbitration, and associated revenues
Vicariate of the Wounded King	The Grand Preceptor; public education, royal preparation, archives, administration, and the Register of Nobility
Stormwrought adviser	The Queen’s magical counselor and possible protector; whether this office has a formal vote remains undecided

The five realm lords sit on the High Curia. The fourteen independent lords of the Northern Marches do not each hold a permanent seat here; their collective representation belongs to the wider Estates of Leoneth.

Royal Authority and Ancient Privilege

Leoneth’s Queen is no mere figurehead. The High Curia serves the Crown in the work of government, even as its constituent houses and institutions possess customs, duties, and rights that cannot simply be ignored.

The precise division of powers, voting customs, and procedures of the council have not yet been established.

The Choosing of a Queen

The crown is not inherited automatically and noble birth is not required. Any sufficiently capable girl of Léoneth may pass the examinations for the Vicariate’s royal academy, although noble daughters are more common among its pupils. Students must remain exemplary. Marriage requires a student to leave and ends a graduate’s royal eligibility; unmarried alumnae remain eligible throughout their lives.

The reigning Queen chooses her successor among eligible women. The Queen herself may not marry, being wed to the realm and symbolically to the Fisher King, but may take consorts. She may abdicate. The Crown can grant lands and ennoble others, so a common-born Queen may choose to elevate her family.

The precise sacred rites of accession and the procedure for a Queen lost without a designated successor remain undecided.

The Tidespeaker at Court

The Circle of Tides sends a Tidespeaker, chosen by the consensus of its seven Speakers assembled as the Confluence. The Tidespeaker may be one of the seven or another entrusted druid. They are not the Circle’s ruler and cannot pledge its support beyond the mandate collectively granted.

This can make the Circle’s voice at court frustratingly slow to its more hierarchical neighbors. Read about the Confluence and the seven Orders.

The Salvager’s Guild at Court

The Salvager’s Guild sits on the High Curia as a Crown-chartered commercial and salvage authority, not merely as a trade association. Its Stockyard ledgers, Factors, and Ironclad enforcers regulate lawful wreck recovery and the circulation of recovered goods. The Guild also collects taxes owed to the Crown and arbitrates trade disputes.

Guildmaster Tharos Velcrum currently occupies the Guild’s High Curia seat by virtue of office. The Guildmaster is appointed by the Court of Proprietors, the Guild’s shareholder-governed board, rather than by the Queen. Guild shares can be bought and sold, and each share carries one vote in the Court. The Guildmaster commands the professional hierarchy, with Yardmasters responsible for the principal Stockyard in each major city.

The Guild’s charter grants it sovereignty of operation within its designated sphere, subject to the Crown’s overarching sovereignty. Its representative therefore brings the voice of an institution administering real commercial, fiscal, and enforcement powers—not simply the preferences of merchants. Guild prosperity and royal revenues are closely connected, though their priorities may not always coincide.

The Vicariate at Court

The Vicariate of the Wounded King is a state-supported monastic order devoted to the Fisher King through education, scholarship, recordkeeping, and civil service. Its monasteries are neither austere nor extravagant. It oversees common education and the royal academy, preserves official history and the Register of Nobility, and advises the Crown on precedent. The arts fall within the separate sphere of the College of Temptation.

The Vicariate maintains two senior offices: the Archimandrite, its spiritual and monastic head, and the Grand Preceptor, who directs its public responsibilities and holds the High Curia seat. The Queen grants noble status and land; the Vicariate records and attests those decisions, but does not itself confer nobility. The appointment methods for the two senior offices remain to be established.

Beyond the Curia

The High Curia should not be confused with the Estates of Leoneth, the broader representative institution of the kingdom. The Curia attends the Crown’s ongoing government; the Estates gather a wider range of territorial and institutional voices.