The Regent

This is the standing protocol of the Regency: what the office is, how the seat is assumed, what the Regent may do and in what form, and where the office ends. Like every protocol on these pages, it is drawn from two places only: the written governance law of the realm, and the recorded acts of those who have actually held the seat. Two people have held it, Ayrsarro Whisperwind as Acting Regent and Beric Emberwave as Acting and then standing Regent, and every rule below traces to something one of them did in open play. The scenes are all readable in the Roleplay Log.

Why "Regent" and not "King"? Because the thrones above the office belong to the Celestials, and no mortal wears a crown that outranks the gods. But in every function that matters to mortal life, policy, justice, war, trade, and command of the realm's officers, the Regent rules as a king rules. The realm calls its Mortal King the Regent, and the name is a daily reminder of who truly holds ultimate power.

The Regency has been held three ways on the record, and each has its form.

The Rotating Regency

When the seat stands vacant, the realm does not leave it empty. Acting Regents hold it in rotation, by tenor, so the realm always has a mortal head. Precedent: January 12, 2026, when Ayrsarro Whisperwind assumed the seat before the assembled council: "It is my privilege to serve you all as Regent until such time my tenor finishes and someone else assumes the mantle."

Acting designation by the Hand

The next holder in the rotation is designated by the Hand, publicly, with a set start. Precedent: January 26, 2026: "Starting Sunday you will be Acting Regent. The Realm should know."

The standing Regent

The rotation ends when the Small Council elects a Regent. The Hand convenes and seals the vote, and the Celestials anoint. Precedent: February 16, 2026, the unanimous election of Beric Emberwave, sealed by the Hand: "Making Lord Beric Emberwave, the Regent of the Realm." Note the conduct required of the candidate: when the motion was first raised, he recused himself. "I cannot second this vote myself, my position as Regent during this proceeding would render that a conflict of interest."

Realm law is administered by the Regent, and crimes against the realm are tried before him (Law & Order). The full judicial form was set at the trial of Duke Reginald Sunpeak, March 2 to 5, 2026, and it binds every realm trial after it:

• The Regent sits as judge, visibly neutral. Black attire, no house sigil, only the Regency's. "This court convenes not in anger, nor in spectacle, but in duty." "If the Duke is guilty, the law will bind him. If he is not, the law will protect him."
• The Hand administers the courtroom. The Regent judges; the Hand runs the room. "Lady Hand, the court is in session."
• Charges are read formally, and the accused always answers. "You will have the opportunity to answer these charges, and the court will hear the evidence presented before any judgment is passed." Threats are contempt, from anyone: "No member of this council may act without explicit permission."
• Council votes are advisory, never binding. The council is polled charge by charge, and the Regent weighs the votes, but the verdict is his alone. "I shall hear each of your Guilty or Not Guilty votes and take them into consideration on my final verdicts."
• Deliberation is taken, not rushed. A week was declared. And before judgment, the Regent knelt alone before the Thrones of the Gods: "Justice must be stronger than anger, and wiser than pride."
• The Hand hears the verdict first; the people are summoned openly. The Court Bells rang and criers went to every establishment. "The people deserved to know."
• Verdict is delivered per charge, and sentence is law. "Power does not grant immunity. But justice will not be twisted into vengeance." "This is MY word. This is LAW."
• The verdict is owned before the gods. The Regent reported his mercy to the Celestial Court in person and stood for their judgment of it, without excuse.

The Regent declares war, instantly when evidence demands it, through the Marshal. May 11, 2026, on proof of the attack on Sunpeak: "Marshall, move our forces. We are at war."

The ladder of escalation comes first. The record shows every rung used in order before the sword: summons, envoys as a show of force, the Regent's Decree, labor conscription, Royal Embargo, declaration of dereliction and suspension of patronage, and only then arms. A defiant power is given one chance to stand down: "Stand down. Retract this declaration, and we will discuss your grievances as allies of the realm."

The Regent dictates the peace. June 8, 2026: six unconditional articles delivered to the enemy's envoy under seal, territorial restoration, magical withdrawal on a deadline, front-loaded reparations, ley line prohibition under joint oversight, surrender of relics, and surrender-for-trial with reaffirmed oaths. "These terms will not be revised."

The Regent shares the risk he orders. He personally flew the evacuation of Redcking, loaded the wounded with his own arms, and held the ground until the last civilians were out. And force inside his own hall answers to him alone: an armed platoon that interrupted judgment was ordered down, "By order of the Regent. That supersedes any directive you've been given," and removed when it refused.

This is the sharpest boundary in the office, and the record is explicit on both sides of it.

The Regent may

• Grant royal commissions and Cabinet offices of the mortal Crown. Precedent: the Royal Architect, commissioned February 19, 2026 to restore the Water Gardens.
• Nominate to the Large Council and mortal offices. Precedent, May 3, 2026: "We have the power to nominate her Master of Spies on the Large Council, mortal appointments."
• Endorse and advocate candidates for Small Council seats. Precedent, July 7, 2026: "I absolutely support Ammon's claim of you to seneschal," and equally, "I will not endorse Loche for seneschal." Endorsement, in both directions, is the whole of his part.
• Petition the Celestials to remove a Small Council member. Precedent, March 23, 2026, at Celestial Court: "we do need to request you remove the ArchMage from the seat of Grand Seer... We ask of your wisdom and guidance." The request was the Regent's; the decision stayed with the gods.
• Delegate law enforcement under Crown authority, through the Marshal's command. Precedent, April 13, 2026.

The Regent may not

• Confer a Small Council seat. In his own words, February 19, 2026: "I cannot bestow the title on you directly myself, that is for the Celestials, but I am offering my advocacy for you." And May 3: a mortal nomination "won't have Divine Blessing" until the Hand carries it to the gods. The full appointment procedure lives in the Small Council Appointments protocol.
• Strip a Small Council seat. Removal is petitioned to the Celestials, never taken by the throne's own hand.
• Reach into the military chain's appointments. Confirmed in open council, March 16, 2026: "It is the purview of the Marshall to assign positions of council at his command."

• Mortal problems are solved by mortal hands first. "I do not believe the Gods need bothered. It should not look favorably upon us if we need to call upon them at our first real problem." And declining divine aid in wartime: "The Realm will stand, and it will stand by mortal hands first."
• The Regent reports to the Celestial Court and owns his decisions before it, the mercy verdict laid open to divine judgment without excuse (March 23, 2026).
• A Celestial decree spoken by the Hand binds the Regent absolutely. He may disagree in private; he cannot refute it. April 13, 2026: "it is beyond my authority to deny it."
• When the gods command the Regent himself, he goes. The Phoenix's command sent the Regent from his own throne on a two-month expedition; the realm held in his officers' hands, because the offices held.
• He may counsel the gods, humbly, and accept their will. Pleading mercy for a fallen enemy before the Phoenix: "I would rather be optimistic and foolish than cold and unmerciful," followed by "YOUR will will be done."

• Cannot command the Hand of the Crown. (Governance.)
• Cannot direct House Sunflare. (Governance.)
• Cannot confer, strip, or deny a Small Council seat; may only nominate, endorse, advocate, and petition.
• Cannot refute a Celestial decree spoken by the Hand.
• Cannot override a Head of House within their domestic authority, including family and marriage. On the record even in crisis: "I will not override your judgment, family is family." And in courtship: the courtesy of declaring intentions to a Head of House is paid even by the Crown.
• Cannot use the office for his own house or heart without recusal.
• Holds the seat at the Council's confidence and the Celestials' pleasure. A vote of no confidence can be called, but the vote alone does not end a Regency: it is presented to the Celestial Throne, and the Regent falls only when the Celestials accept the removal. What the gods anoint, only the gods un-anoint. The gods may also remove a Regent by their own will, at any time, for any reason. (Governance; Positions of Power.)

Every rule on this page is drawn from the realm's published law and its recorded play.

• The Governance of the Rookery Isles: the Regent's powers, election and anointment, and the critical limits.
• Positions of Power: the price of the crown.
• Law & Order: realm law administered by the Regent; trials before the Regent final.
• Small Council Appointments: the appointment boundary and the lanes principle.
• Roleplay Log: the scenes of January 12, 19, 21, and 26; February 2, 9, 16, 19, and 26; March 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, and 23; April 13 and 23; May 3, 9, 11 to 14, and 21; June 8; and July 7, 2026, where every precedent above was set.