Most Deinar nations have a similar oligarchic government which consists of a legislative council of elders with a twin executive (effectively consuls). One consul is elected by the council, and the other is a governor appointed by the Emperor. Each consul can veto actions of the council. Members of the council (Elders or Toza) are appointed by the consuls; they must be Torrai, and in some nations are traditionally drawn mainly from certain hereditary families.Hālian wrote:who is the empress (or emperor) of Zaral? Also, what sort of government does Arran have?
The Imperial government was created when Zaral conquered Arran at the conclusion of the Deinar World War in 842 CE. The Deinar Emperor was also Imperial Governor of Zaral, and therefore permanent consul of the Zaral council of elders. The Diadem, which is the Torrai council of elders (each warrior caste also has such a council), serves as a board of admiralty and a cabinet for the Emperor, and can appoint or impeach the Emperor, but is not itself a legislative body.
In 1199 the Axis Pact was signed between the three Sister Worlds, which created a new supreme government, the Axis Assembly. This was a legislative body with delegates sent from each of the Sister Worlds based on population, with triple consuls (one from each Sister World). As you can imagine, Deinar with the largest population always had the majority of delegates, but each of the consuls had veto power, and so not much got done.
At the conclusion of the Splinter Wars in 1402, First Loroi Emperor Loremark dissolved the Axis Assembly and created a new Imperial Senate, in which the Emperor was permanent consul (the other still being elected by the senate).
In 1557 the Loroi Union replaced the Imperial Senate with the new Union Assembly, which operates in some ways similar to the old Axis Assembly. The Union Assembly has two consuls, one appointed by the Loroi Emperor, and one elected by the Assembly. Loremark appointed herself the Loroi consul, but subsequent emperors have since delegated the post. The second consul is by custom never Loroi, though the full Assembly (including the Loroi delegates) votes for the selection.
Zaral is still the seat of the Loroi Imperial government, so the long-winded answer to your first question is that Emperor Greywind is the Imperial Governor of Zaral, and therefore still one of the consuls of the ruling council of elders of Zaral (though there is a lieutenant governor who fulfills her duties most of the time).
Arran is governed by a similar council of elders, though it is larger and more Byzantine in its complexities and procedures than most, as Arran still upholds many ancient traditions in its current government. The Imperial Governor or Arran is always appointed from among Zaral candidates as a reminder that Arran is technically a vassal of Zaral, but otherwise Arran functions according to its own laws and customs.