Editing Shattered Sun (section)

====''The Patriarchy''====
Copesa is also a veritable model of self-sustainable government to many of the other villages in the Twilight. By and large, the people of the village are ruled by a small group of elder men selected by their peers. While matters such as the economy and social affairs are usually left to the people themselves, a sort of common law which most of the villagers grow up to understand, major matters such as diplomacy and military issues are left to these elders. One of the only acknowledged weakness of this system is that the size of this council tends to fluctuate over the years: elders tend to die off over time; there’s usually not a similar number of elders to take up the mantle from generation to generation; there’s sometimes not many who the villagers see fit to lead the village; so forth and so on. Regardless of this bit of chaos in order, the system works for the most part.

The makeup of the council is usually based around the needs of the village at any given time. If the village is at war with a City, it will usually feature a number of former warriors and experts in the use of the Innerlight. In times of economic strife, there will be entrepreneurs in all sorts of fields available. In times of great prosperity, there will be members of a number of vocations to keep the prosperity going. In terrible famines, farmers and hunters will be present in the council. While there is always the issue of popularity and rhetoric within the elders’ politics, people who can address the village’s needs generally trump the best public speakers in the selection of the council.