An ongoing project at the moment is going through and
nailing the background lore for the wider world of the Frozen Skies setting. Part of this has included a series of recent
posts covering a revision of the Commonwealth and part of its military in the form
of the Royal Aero-Fleet. Plan to do a few more posts concerning the
Commonwealth, but realized that I haven’t written much about the most important
person in the Commonwealth: Queen Lothwyn II.
All Hail the Banrigh!
Banrigh (Queen) Lothwyn has been the Commonwealth’s
monarch since just after the end of the Great Darmonican War, having inherited
the crown following the death of her father King Alfred. Not only did she had
to contend with being the youngest ruler in Darmonica, she also had to get used
to a world at peace after growing up in one at war. Her coronation was seen as
a fresh start after thirty years of war, though her reign thus far has seen an
uneasy peace hold sway and tensions once again on the rise.
Though she doesn’t actually govern the Commonwealth she
has a lot of influence to direct policy, though she has rarely used this power.
Appearance
Lothwyn stands round 5’6” tall and is of slim build. She
has coal black hair with slate grey eyes and a pale complexion. On both arms
she has Celtic style blue spiral tattoos that run from her wrists up to her
shoulders.
Role
As the head of state of the Commonwealth, Lothwyn has
very little real power and performs a largely ceremonial role. The actual
day-to-day running of the Commonwealth is done by the government headed by the
Taoiseach (Leader or Prime Minister), though he and his ministers are held
accountable by the Commonwealth’s parliament. Despite her ceremonial role,
Lothwyn remains the commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth’s military as well
as the ability to dismiss and appoint a new Taoiseach in addition to dissolving
parliament.
The Queen has a handful of other duties that include
giving Royal Assent to new legislation passed by parliament, thus making them
into law. She is advised by the Provost Court, a body made up of her vice-regal
representatives in various provinces and certain large towns. Depending on what
they represent, the members of the Court are called Provosts or Lord Provosts
and effectively act as mayors or state governors.
Use in Games
Given that she is the Commonwealth’s head of state, it is
very unlikely that the player characters will get to meet Queen Lothwyn unless
they’ve done a great service to the Commonwealth. It is more likely for Lothwyn
to be in the background, for example a town could turn out to see her visit and
thus provide a distraction for the characters to rob the town’s bank.
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