Imperial Order

An Imperial Order is an executive command from the Praetor Imperator of the Praetorian Empire that may be issued at any time without consent from the Hierophant. They may only be overturned by the Hierophant if he is backed by an Imperial Council, or if the Senate has a majority voting against it. Each Imperial Order is numbered and catalogued by its number for historical purposes.

An Imperial Order is most often used by the Imperator to bypass the Hierophant or Senate or other obstacle in order to further imperial interests (or their own personal interests). For fear of corruption in the already powerful office of Imperator, both the Hierophant and the Senate often work together to reign in the Imperator should an Imperial Order seem to be coming.

Imperial Order One: The Novum Imperium Order
The first Imperial Order simply decreed the Praetorian Empire to be a sovereign empire with the Sacred Federation of the Praetori as its hegemonic state. Specifically, it recognized the Empire as a sovereign state and the Federation as a semi-sovereign state under Imperial jurisdiction, a point which the Hierophant of the Federation contested heavily, claiming that the Federation was a sovereign state and that the Empire was a “sovereign entity which the Federation owed allegiance to”, but not a sovereign state. This battle between the Imperator and the Hierophant would lead to the next Imperial Order’s contents.

Imperial Order Two: The Hierophancy Order
This Order clarified the position between the Imperator and the Hierophant slightly, stating that the Sacred Federation was the hegemon of the Empire, and as its head of state, the Hierophant was to be considered a “fully autonomous vassal” of the Imperator. While the Hierophant objected to the idea of vassalage, the semantics argument passed and the compromise was accepted for the time.

Imperial Order Three: The Twin Tree Order
The Twin Tree Order gave formal imperial recognition to the two “branches” of government within the Sacred Federation: The Imperial Government, and the Episcopal Government. This formal recognition would mark progress forward in the strife between the Imperator and the Hierophant, but would also lead to more debates, as with the infamous Panem Omnis Edict.

Imperial Order Four: The First Pruning Order
The first of the so-called “pruning orders”, Imperial Order Four founded a new type of Order which focused on the separation of powers between the Episcopal and Imperial Governments. The Fourth Order came as a resolution to the Panem Omnis Edict, which had the Episcopal Government spending Imperial money without Imperial consent. The Fourth Order decreed that neither tree could use the other’s monetary assets without express permission from the appropriate level of authority.

Imperial Order Five: The Imperial Armada
The fifth Imperial Order established the Imperial Armada and set up the highest echelon of its hierarchy, with several High Admirals, Admirals in command of select critical fleets, being headed by a Chief Grand Admiral, who now is traditionally Admiral of the One Home Fleet. The Order gave the Chief Grand Admiral the power and authority to build up the armada as he sees fit and to go through whatever lengths needed to do so, while still recognizing the Imperator as Commander in Chief, a clause slipped into the Order to subtly further Imperial power in the Federation and in the Empire.

Imperial Order Six: The Imperial Legion
Imperial Order Six formally established the Imperial Legion, and erected the High Generals and the office of Supreme High General. The majority of the Order is almost copied from the Imperial Armada Order. The Supreme High General is traditionally the General of the Novus Karnas Garrison.

Imperial Order Seven: The War Council
This Order formally established the Imperial War Council, the first Imperial Council, which is staffed by the High Generals and High Admirals and co-presided over by the Supreme High General and Chief Grand Admiral, with the Imperator as the ceremonial head of the council.

Imperial Order Eight: The Ante Bellum Powers
“Ante Bellum” loosely meaning “start of war” or “war starting”, Imperial Order Eight gave the War Council the authority to declare a state of war among the states of the Praetorian Empire, under the following circumstances:

1) The nation in question must be considered an “imminent target” by the Imperator

2) The members of the War Council who may potentially be involved in a declared war on the target nation (which is nearly every member in almost every case) must vote in favor of declaration by a margin of 80%.

3) Both the Supreme High General and the Chief Grand Admiral must consent to declaration.