Imperial Authority
The Imperial Authority in the strict sense refers to the ten people in the line of succession to the Emperor of the Empyrium, as well as the Emperor themselves. It forms the oligarchy which manages the wider instrumental body of the Empyrium also known as the Imperial Authority, responsible for the managing of the Imperial System, the Border Force, and more recently the Unified Navy of the Empyrium. All of their identities and personal information are kept secret, even from each other, and never show their faces to anyone. They reside on Alkid, the traditional capital world of the collective.
The Oligarchy
There are a total of 11 members in the Imperial Authority:
| # | Role | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Emperor of the Empyrium | Head of state of the Empyrium. Holds the absolute prerogative over all the Empyrium but in practice this is restricted to system worlds |
| 2 | The Grand Vizier to the Emperor | Right-hand person to the Emperor. Manages the affairs of the Emperor and exercises their will. |
| 3 | The Junior Vizier to the Emperor | Secretary to the Grand Vizier. Highest ranking official permitted to make public appearances. |
| 4 | High Representative of Alkid | High Representative of the Alkid System. |
| 5 | Junior Representative of Alkid | Junior Representative of the Alkid System. |
| 6 | Lord Regent of Alkid | Represents the planet of Alkid themselves in lieu of the Emperor, who is the legal ruler. |
| 7-11 | Governor-General of the Collective of the Free Systems (GCFS) | Represents the interests of worlds not governed by the Imperial System - the so-called "free worlds." |
| 7-11 | Chancellor of the Imperial Authority (GSA) | Manages the affairs of the oligarchy itself and represents it as a whole, engages with public voices to hold the Authority accountable |
| 7-11 | General Secretary of the Border Force (GSB) | Oversees the operations of the Empyrean Border Force, and is consequentially responsible for external trade |
| 7-11 | General Secretary of the Imperial Investigation Bureau (GSIB) | Manages the affairs of the IIB, the Empyrium "police" that maintains internal security. |
| 7-11 | General Secretary of the Extraterritorial Relations Committee (GSE) | Heads the ERC, the committee responsible for dialogue with extraterritorial nations with a role in galactic politics. |
These eleven positions all constitute the immediate line of succession to the Emperor, meaning if the Emperor were to die or abdicate, the occupiers of each role would also change. However, this only applies between roles 1-6 - roles 7-11 are all of equal stature and do not command a higher authority than each other. Instead, the order of succession to the Lord Regent of Alkid is defined by an election between the last five, and the position of whoever becomes the new Lord Regent of Alkid is left vacant for a new member. So, if the Emperer died/abdicated, the grand vizier ascends to the role. The Junior Vizier would become the new Grand Vizier, and the High Representative of Alkid becomes the new Junior Vizier and so forth. Then, the GCFS, GSA, GSB, GSIB and GSE all compete for the role of the new Lord Regent of Alkid, and a new member joins the hierarchy through the final vacancy.
The Authority
The Imperial System
The Imperial System refers to the way in which the Authority directly governs 39 of the 62 systems in the Empyrium. These systems, known as system worlds, are marked by relative deprivation, instances of poverty, and low prosperity, and as such the Authority controls their access to freedom of speech and press, and plan their economy. This is done to ensure these systems can survive on their own without further intervention, while also protecting them from exploitation by other worlds. In other words, from the Imperial standpoint, the worlds under their control need it lest they be led astray and fall into a worser state. Information control of Imperial System worlds is so strict that rich planets are unaware of what "atrocities" occur - if there are any at all. Thus, there is a degree of skepticism amidst their acceptance of the System, seeing it as benevolent dictatorship to nurture new worlds to future prosperity. Imperial System worlds thus do not show much animosity towards their controllers, but to the richer free worlds often in charge of sector-to-sector governance. One exception is Eos, whom many of the Imperial System worlds admire as a model "free world" given their willingness to give charity, which the Imperial System does permit. Some have argued that the System indeed serves to protect worlds under its suzerainty from the power and influence of the free worlds until they themselves prosper.
