Chevel Politics

Political Unity (of sorts!)

Many decades ago the chiefs of each tribe convened a meeting on the Feast of Samain to resolve the minor disputes ongoing at the time. Being warrior tribes the issues were settled in hand-to-hand combat. Finally all disputes were resolved and much raucous drinking and feasting followed. The aftermath of this historical meeting was the creation of a ‘new tribe’, the Chevellauni, which was to be essentially a conglomerate made up of leading men and women from each of the other tribes. Although initially not a tribe as such, it has since evolved into a pan-tribal community and is now the home of the Inner Council and the officially recognised King of Chevel, Cassichevelus. The Inner Council is made up of members from each of the other tribes, in most cases the tribal king or queen, consort, chief druid, or high-ranking warlord, and is headed by Sylurus, the king’s personal advisor. The Council’s purpose is to advise the King of Chevel on all matters so that he can make a decision or ruling on the issues at hand. This is by no means a democracy and no ‘votes’ are cast – the decision of Cassichevelus is final, the Inner Council is merely a conduit through which each tribe can voice its views and opinions in order to avoid inter-tribal wars. Generally this system seems to work satisfactorily, although some inter-tribal conflicts have proven unavoidable in the past. Except where the tribes inhabit neighbouring lands, such conflicts usually consist of torrents of verbal abuse at Inner Council meetings and the odd raid, involving the usual burning, raping and pillaging. Conflicts between neighbouring tribes, however, have resulted in full-blown war in the past. Such wars usually end with one tribe conceding defeat and presenting the victors with land or riches of sufficient value to prevent further bloodshed.