a guide to politics v1: other universe edition

Or, in short terms, gryphons.

First off, you might have guessed from the incredibly complicated name of "Kryfona Kingdom" that yes, the Kryfona Kingdom is indeed run by a king. Occasionally there are also queens (to date, exactly one -- Kghyilda Svariyantina in the 1600s), but because the title of "head monarch" is usually (or at one point, was) handed down to grandchildren thanks to inheritance, this has not happened often.

Anyways, before we actually get down to the political part, let's take a moment to note that post-1902, the "king" is sometimes just a king in name only. Since the unfortunate reign of Yhurtienaid Qailenid from 1900 to 1902 which almost ripped the Kingdom apart, the king is actually elected when the last heir to the throne dies. This happened in the case of Tyeri Awaseq (son of Xeriren Awaseq, the guy after Qailenid), who resigned in 1987. Since he had no heirs, a public election was held in which Ghrodinh Iodalosku won by a pretty commanding margin. Ghrodinh is the first "not-king."

THE KING

Now, to the actual political part. The chain of government begins with the king or not-king who happens to be incumbent at that particular time. Because the Kryfona have always had a king and the king has historically been given all the power, the king generally has the final say in the Kingdom's affairs even in this modern day and age. The king has a couple of particular powers that stand out though. For example, if need be, he can call elections even when it is not an election year (such as in 1965 during the Yaraan Crisis), he can formally dissolve entire provinces (as with South Vyfarla after the reign of Qailenid) and he can formally kick out the entirety of his cabinet if he really wants to. He can also declare war without having to have it approved by the Parliament; this was the result of several Kryfona successes in wars that the king declared but which nobody wanted.

Beyond his special powers and having total control over the Kingdom for the most part, the king is also responsible for making sure his Parliament does not totally fuck everyone over. This happens a lot -- and there's a reason for this, which we're about to get in to.

THE GOVERNMENT
Just below the king, there's the government itself, which the king basically controls. While the king only appoints everybody in the central government (which corresponds to the US government's executive branch basically) and the rest is the work of the Royal Court and Parliament, he can pretty much tell them to do anything that is deemed within reason by the courts, and they have to do it. More than a few kings have blown their governments up completely unintentionally through doing this.

The Royal Court is extremely uninteresting, by the way. Vastly more political is the Parliament of the Kryfona, or Kryfonsparliszaiye (literally, Gryphon's Parliament).


The Kryfonsparliszaiye is probably the most fractured part of the Kryfona government humanly imaginable. Since the 1920s, the venue has been a continuous battleground for the betterment of Kryfona society, and in recent years it's only gotten worse. Originally the only two factions were the Rauyalisim and the Lauyalisim, the latter usually controlling the 81 seat Parliszaiye. However, in recent years the Parliszaiye has shattered into a mesmerizing array of parties.

Presently, the parties which hold seats are:

• The United Kryfona Party (UKP). Holding 25 seats out of 81 possible, they are by a decent margin the largest party in the Parliszaiye as of 2014. They mostly stand for freedom and equality, hence the "United." They are also supportive of Tuszkean and Yaraan rights, which have been a touchy subject in Kryfona society since the Yaraan Crisis in the mid 60s. Despite being founded in 1956, they still do not hold any ties to the royal family, nor has there ever been a prominent UKP politician.
  
  
• The Rauyalisim Kryfona. At 17 seats, they are the second largest party in the Parliszaiye, and the longest living one. The modern Royalist Party was founded in 1731, with the start of H.N. Tyxefone's reign. They support the king, but only the king, and generally wish to do away with the government as a whole beyond the King and Parliament. The party has lost a significant amount of political sway since its heyday, but it continues to be larger than its rival, the Lauyalisim.
  
  
• The Lauyalisim Kryfona. They hold 13 seats and sit at the midway mark for the parties that exist in the Parliszaiye. The Loyalist Party is a lot like the Rauyalisim, except instead of simply supporting the king, the Loyalists are supportive of the whole royal family and government. The current king, Ghrodinh Iodalosku, is generally considered to be a Loyalist.
  
  
• The Party of Tuszke and the Yaraan Kryfon's Movement. The two parties hold 12 seats apiece for a total of 24 seats in all. While the two parties are different, and aim for different goals (the Tuszkeans desire outright independence, the Yaraans only desire sovereignty), they form E Voldszane Alzanca -- the Secessionist Alliance -- and are actually the second most powerful entity in the Parliszaiye.
  
  
• The Aryela Party. While they hold only two seats as of 2014, they are one of the most active parties in the Kryfona Kingdom and have expanded exponentially since their founding in 1985.
  

Usually the Parliament finds a way to get shit done when it really needs to get it done, but beyond that it's an essentially useless political entity.

Below them is local government, which for Kryfona is fairly straightforward and falls to the provinces and then the cities for more specific things such as law enforcement and taxes.
The provinces and major cities of the Kryfona Kingdom.