Tranquility: Leadership and The City of Mandate

The Leadership

Tranquility is ruled by a non-hereditary King who is elected by

the Keeper’s Council, consisting of all of the land owners across 

the province. Membership in the Council is hereditary only, meaning

 that a first generation land owner may NOT be a part of the Council,

 but her child would be. Likewise, a Council member who becomes 

bereft of lands will remain on the Council until their death, but their

 voting rights are adjusted accordingly.
The theory behind this arrangement is that the Elves who rule the 

Celestial Empire view any system created by the short-lived humans 

as inherently unstable, they wish to focus human effort on multi-generational

 goals, versus a short term focus. This also makes disruptive power

 struggles in the Council less feasible as it is not possible to gain or

 lose membership in the Council in the span of a generation.
While this has created stability, innovation has suffered, but this

 is not a concern to the Celestial Empire which has taken a dim 

view of change in general.

The City of Mandate

Mandate is the largest city in Tranquility, boasting over 10,000 

inhabitants making it the largest Imperial city near the northern 

border. It is built on the remains of an even older city, and utilizes

 the cyclopean walls of its predecessor for protection, which is 

fortunate as the city itself lies in the middle of a plain, bi-sected by a river.
Given that Tranquility itself relies heavily on agricultural endeavors, 

as well as mining in the Dragon’s Spine, centers of higher learning in 

Mandate are somewhat lacking.
The Empire does maintain a small college to provide business and 

administrative education to members of various guilds as well as 

Council family members, but anything else such as art or history 

are seen as unnecessary distractions.