Western Alliance of Towns
All the towns in the Western Alliance were once part of the Aurobin-dô Kingdom. During the Second Invasion War, the Aurobinian king summoned every member of the Royal Arms to South Aurobin. As it turned out, the troops were being called to Aurobin City to protect the castle, not to the front lines to assist the helpless towns. When word got out about this, the city of Brahmin started rebellion. The city refused to send anymore troops, supplies, or even pay taxes until the king was doing his duty to protect his subjects. As the war wore on with no change in strategy, other towns joined the secession.
By the end of the war, little was left of Aurobin Kingdom that wasn’t destroyed or part of the Western Alliance. Members from each town convened in Brahmin to discuss the transition from short-term rebellion to long-term stability, which included forming a new political system.
The Western Alliance of Towns is managed by a senate that convenes in Brahmin. Each town in the Alliance has between one and three senators, based on population. The senators have residences in both their home towns and in Brahmin; they alternate between them every three months. At home, the senators generally enjoy high social positions, although they are forbidden from holding any other formal office.
Corruption among senators is extremely uncommon, but not entirely unheard of. Since recent history shows what can result from abuses of power, convictions of such are generally met with capital punishment.
Unitarians & Isocrats
Over the years, the various ideologies of senators and other political officials have coalesced into two main political parties: the Unitarians and the Isocrats. Whereas the Isocrats support an isolationist approach with respect to surrounding areas, the Unitarians believe that the Western Alliance should reunite with Aurobin City and South Aurobin in pursuance of a stronger unified government on the order of what once was. Although the two parties are in stark opposition, discourse remains civil, and each side is willing to made the occasional concession to the other. For example, while Isocrats hold fast to trade embargoes with Aurobin City, they are willing to bend to Unitarians on the issue of trade with South Aurobin. Isocrats currently hold a slight majority in the senate.
- Dhomas Addler – Uni-Vaisya, minority leader