Xanadu

Xanadu is a multi-colored team alliance which was formed on October 22, 2008.

Government
His Majesty, Khagan and King of Xanaduv Founder and Patron of the House of Gergaslan, Overlord of the fiefdoms surrounding the river Alph, Commander of the Navy of the Sunless Sea, Chancellor of the Confederacy of Morduksvene, Friend to Presbyter John, Mordecai McGilicuddy

Her Majesty, Beloved Monarch and Queen of Xanadu Founder and Patroness of the House of the Zafiros Escarchados Empress of the Kingdom of Saturn and its surrounding territories Goddess of the Dawn La Princesa Pingüina Linda Queen Aurora the Compassionate

1) Government Structure
1.1 The government shall be composed of the King and Queen (the Monarchy) as the leaders and titular heads of the alliance; the Yassa comprised of three members, who shall act as the legislative and judicial arms of government with the Monarchy; and the Kurultai comprised of four Viziers, who shall act as the management arm of government with the Monarchy.

2) Royal Appointments
2.1 The Monarchy shall be appointed after a discussion and voting period by the members of the Yassa. The Yassa may take no less than two days, and no longer than five days, to reach a decision on the position. The vote must be unanimous by all Yassa members, unless a decision cannot be reached in the time frame, in which case a 100% minus one vote will satisfy instead.

2.2 A vote shall be held twice a year, ending on the night before the Summer and Winter Solstices, in which all alliance members ranked Gentleman/Lady or higher vote to grant the King and Queen another 6 months as leader of the Alliance. If the Monarchy receives at least 50% of the vote or more in their favour, they retain the position for another term. In the case that more than 50% of the alliance vote against the King and Queen, the Yassa will then immediately remove the King and Queen of their positions and all associated powers, and appoint a new King and Queen to replace them.

3) Yassa
3.1 The Yassa shall be elected by the members of the alliance every four months, with elections occurring at the beginning of February, June and October each year. Any member with the rank of Baron or higher may nominate themselves to stand for the Yassa elections, and all members ranked Gentleman/Lady or higher are eligible to vote in the elections, with the exception that the Monarchy is not eligible to nominate nor to vote in the elections.

3.2 A four day nomination period, followed by a six day candidate question and answer period ,shall be held at the end of the month prior to each Election from the 20th to the 30th. The election shall then be held from the 1st to the 5th of the month, with the current Yassa remaining in place until elections are complete and the hand-over occurs.

4) Kurultai
4.1 The Kurultai shall be composed of members of Knight rank or higher, appointed by the Monarchy to positions as defined in this section, and approved by a majority vote of the Yassa. The Monarchy may change the appointment of a Vizier at any time by announcing the new appointment on the forum and adjusting the member masks. New Kurultai positions may be created, or existing positions removed, by legislation passed in the Yassa to define the position in this section or remove an existing definition.

4.2 During times of special need such as times of war, the Monarchy may establish temporary Kurultai positions for up to 4 weeks, by announcing legislation to define the positions responsibility and authority and when the position shall expire. This shall not require a vote in the Yassa, although the Yassa may vote at any time to amend or suspend the temporary position, if they feel it is not in the best interests of the alliance.

4.3 Vizier of Fire (VoF) -Responsible for the management of the alliance military structure via the House system in conjunction with the Princes and Princesses, during times of peace and war, and management of the overall battle strategy and co-ordination of members during times of conflict. -Authorised to issue military orders to any member, to respond to any defensive war situation as allowed under the rules in this charter, or any offensive war situation as formally approved and announced by the Monarchy.

4.4 Vizier of Water (VoW) -Responsible for the management of finance activities, internal aid, and tech dealing, via the House system in conjunction with the Princes and Princesses. -Authorised to issue orders to any member to carry out finance activities as defined in this charter, appoints and oversees the operation of Bank nations, and is responsible for maintaining the nation game guides information kept on the forum.

4.5 Vizier of Earth (VoE) -Responsible for the management of trade, mentoring, and recruiting, via the House system in conjunction with the Princes and Princesses. Runs the monthly alliance competitions between the Houses and awards the winners. -Authorised to issue orders to any member to carry out domestic affairs activities as defined in this charter, appoints and oversees the mentoring corps, and is responsible for maintaining the Xanadu roster on the forums.

4.6 Vizier of Air (VoA) -Responsible for the management of relationships with other alliances, in conjunction with the House system and Princes and Princesses. -Authorised to issue orders to any member to carry out diplomatic corps activities as defined in this charter, and oversees all aspects of diplomatic corps.

5) Limits of Authority
5.1 The Yassa shall vote with the Monarchy on all legislative decisions made by the alliance, with the exception of War or Peace declarations, and all decisions made by Yassa votes shall be binding on all alliance members.

5.2 The Monarchy, Kurultai, and Yassa may propose legislation for consideration, and all proposals shall require a 100% minus one majority vote, with the exception of Royal Appointments as defined above.

5.3 The Monarchy alone shall make decisions regarding Declarations of War or Peace by the alliance, although the Monarchy must consult with all Yassa members before making such decisions and consider their input on the matter.

5.4 In the interest of expediency, all votes must be cast within 36 hours of any piece of legislation being called to a vote.

1) House Structure
1.1 Houses shall be established of up to 25 members per House, led by a Prince or Princess and assisted by one or two Dukes or Duchesses. Princes and Princesses shall be appointed by the Monarchy, and the Monarchy may change these appointments at any time at their discretion. Princess and Princesses may appoint their own Duke(s) or Duchess(es) from the members within their House, and may change this appointment at any time as they see fit.

1.2 New Houses may be created by decree of the Monarchy to accommodate for alliance growth, and members will then be called upon to voluntarily join the new House, or members shall be re-assigned by the Monarchy if there are not enough volunteers to make up at least 10 members. In cases of extreme decline in membership, the Monarchy may act to merge existing Houses together as a last resort to prevent Houses dropping below a minimum 10 members.

1.3 Princes and Princesses are responsible for the management of all members within their House, with the assistance of the Kurultai, and are also responsible for the morale and activity of members within their House, and may undertake activities as they see fit to maintain these within their House.

1.4 Each House will have an official team color, with all House member nations residing in that color sphere. Official team color will be decided upon the founding of any given House, and can only be changed by a 75% majority vote of all active House members.

2) Member Rankings
2.1 Members shall be assigned a rank according to the length of time they have been an alliance member or the number of members they have recruited for the alliance. Higher ranks shall have more access to government, military and foreign affairs areas of the forum than lower rank members. They shall also be given authority over lesser ranks of their same House. Once a member has completed the requirements for promotion, they will automatically be promoted.

2.2 All new members shall receive the rank of Serf upon joining. Members automatically move up in rank upon fulfilling the requirements that earn them the next rank. -Membership for one month, 50 forum posts, or one recruited member as a Serf earns the rank of Gentleman (Lady). -Two months, 200 forum posts, or five members recruited as a Gentleman (Lady) earns the rank of Knight. -Three months or five members recruited as a Knight earns the rank of Baron (Baroness). -Four months or ten members recruited as a Baron (Baroness) earns the rank of Count (Countess). -Six months or ten members recruited as a Count (Countess) earns the rank of Margrave (Marchioness).

2.3 The Monarchy may promote any member to any rank at any time for exemplary service to the alliance.

2.4 The Monarchy may unanimously decide to demote any member at their discretion. If a demoted member feels the demotion was unjust, they may appeal to the Yassa. The Yassa can only overturn the Monarchy's decision by a unanimous vote.

3) House Management
3.1 The Prince or Princess and Duke or Duchess of each House are responsible for the Mentoring of nations within their House, with the assistance of the Vizer of Earth, both in guiding members new to the game as to how best to manage their nations with the assistance of the nation game guides on the forum, and guiding members newly joined the alliance in understanding how the alliance works and where information can be found on the forum.

3.2 The Vizier of Earth shall assist the Princes and Princesses to establish Trade Rings in their house for resource trading, and shall maintain a list of all trade rings to facilitate members joining trade rings in other Houses.

3.3 The Vizier of Fire shall assist the Princes and Princesses to establish military Squads in their house, for management of members during military actions, and shall maintain a list of all Houses Squads and members’ NS levels with the assistance of the Princes and Princesses. The Vizier of Fire shall also hold at least two randomly timed military activity checks each month, by posting a topic in each House, which each House member must post in to confirm their activity.

4) House Competitions
4.1 The Vizier of Earth shall give out awards to the House that achieves the highest in one of the alliance benchmarks listed below every month. This shall entitle the House to bragging rights consummate to their achievement over the rest of the alliance Houses. The Vizier of Water shall maintain lists with information provided by each Prince or Princess to track benchmark progress.

4.2 Every 3 months at the Summer & Winter Solstice celebrations, and at the Vernal and Autumnal equinox in between, the House that has won the most awards in the last 3 months shall be awarded a prize, with the Prince or Princess and Duke or Duchess of the winning house receiving an alliance Medal and a $15 million cash prize, and the members of the House each receiving a Medal.

4.2 The benchmarks for the monthly awards shall be: -Highest overall Nation Strength gain for the House in the past month. -Highest average Nation Strength gain for the House in the past month. -Most number of members recruited directly into the House in the past month. -Highest percentage of all finance transactions completed in the past month. -Fastest overall response to military activity checks in the past month.

1) Member Recruitment
1.1 New members wishing to join the alliance must post an application topic on the forum, using the template approved by the Yassa. This will include questions on the applicants nation and alliance history, general questions about the game and the alliance, as well as questions about the player themselves and their interests in the game. Upon submission of an application, applicants must change their ingame AA to "Xanadu Applicant."

1.2 Following a 24 hour minimum assessment period--during which time the applicant will be assessed by the Kurultai, the Princes and Princesses, and the Monarchy--the applicant may be accepted as long as no one has posted an objection. In the event that any objection is posted, the Monarchy and Kurultai will make the final decision on the application by 2/3 majority after a maximum of three days deliberation.

1.3 Once approved, the applicant will be sent a randomly generated password in game which they must post in their application topic, to ensure the person being masked is the owner of the nation listed in the application. They will then be masked and assigned to the House their recruiter is in, or masked and assigned a House to join if they didn't list a recruiter.

1.4 Nations currently in an offensive or defensive war, nations on another alliance's Permanent-ZI list, or nations previously expelled from the alliance, are not eligible to apply to join the alliance. Nations in defensive wars only may be allowed to change their AA to “Xanadu Applicant” and be granted protection from future attacks whilst waiting until the current wars expire. Only the Monarchy may grant such an exception to nations in defensive wars, and they cannot be formally accepted as a member until their wars expire.

2) General Member Rules
2.1 Whilst a member of the alliance, all players are expected to treat their fellow alliance members with respect, both on the alliance forums and on other forums or IRC channels. Members are also expected to act with good grace at all times towards officials of foreign alliances, especially in public forum areas and on IRC.

2.2 Derogatory statements regarding sexual orientation, religion, race, or gender, are inappropriate and unbefitting a member of Xanadu. Profanity, obscenity, and vulgarity will not be tolerated either.

2.3 Members shall act at all times for the good of the alliance, and shall not seek to cause harm to befall the alliance or its members, whether via intentional or reckless conduct. This includes but is not limited to: plotting to harm members of the alliance, passing member-only information to people outside the alliance, or game related actions that cause serious repercussions for the alliance.

2.4 Members must have a current forum account with member mask, and be using “Xanadu” as their AA in game, to be classified as a member of the alliance. Whilst a member of Xanadu, it is not permitted to hold a member level forum account on another alliance forum for any reason.

2.5 Any member wishing to depart from Xanadu must inform the government by posting in the appropriate forum and removing "Xanadu" from their ingame AA.

3) Military Rules of Conduct
3.1 Members are not permitted to declare war on or use spy missions against another nation in the game, inside or outside the alliance, affiliated or unaffiliated, without prior permission or orders from the Vizier of Fire authorising such action. When official orders are given by the Vizier of Fire to launch attacks on another nation, it is expected all member shall comply with the orders, as soon as possible and without question.

3.2 When unaligned nations attack an alliance member, the Vizier of Fire shall approve a course of action as appropriate to respond to the threat. This shall not require approval of the Monarchy although the Monarchy may overrule the Vizier’s response if it is not appropriate for the situation. When aligned nations attack an alliance member, only the Monarchy may approve the course of action to respond to the threat. All nations are required to report any attacks on their nation in the appropriate forum as soon as possible, and may not launch counter-attacks on the nation until approved.

4) Judicial Process & Rules
4.1 When members break alliance rules, they may be charged with an offence and a trial held to determine guilt and render punishment if appropriate. When a member is charged with an offence, the Yassa and the Monarchy shall serve as judges in conducting the trial and determining a finding of guilt or innocence. If a member of the Yassa or Monarchy presents the case against the accused, they are exempt from judge status.

4.2 A trial is started when formal charges are posted against a member in the appropriate forum, listing the offence they are charged with and quoting the sections of the Charter they have broken, as well as any evidence pertaining to the charge. The member will then be given 48 hours to respond to the charges and plead innocent or guilty. If the accused pleads guilty the trial will move immediately to the sentencing phase and punishment will be applied as appropriate.

4.3 If the accused pleads innocent they shall have 5 days during which they may present evidence in their defence, and during which the Yassa and Monarchy may question them on the evidence and listen to further evidence provided by the prosecution. At the end of this period the Yassa and Monarchy shall consider their verdict and announce the accused as having been found innocent or guilty of the charges, and the trial shall then move to the sentencing phase. A guilty verdict may only be reached by a 100% minus one majority vote.

4.4 A member may be charged with the following Minor Offences and punished within the stated guidelines if found guilty: --Engaging in conduct unbecoming of an alliance member in a public forum or IRC channel, towards other alliance members of foreign alliance officials, to the extent that the conduct was intentional, sustained, and extremely inappropriate. Punishment: Formal Warn and possible loss of Forum and/or IRC permission privileges for up to two weeks for serious offences. Three or more offences in the space of a one month period shall result in the charge being upgraded. --Refusal to obey orders from the Monarchy, a Vizier, a Yassa member, or your Prince or Princess or Duke or Duchess, where the order is within the bounds of this charter and correctly issued to the member via a forum post or ingame PM and forum posting. Punishment: Formal Warn. Three or more offences in the space of a one month period shall result in the charge being upgraded. --Attacking or spying on an unaligned nation without permission. Punishment: Formal Warn, a fine equal to $3 million or one month’s tax payment for the member, whichever is greater. Two or more offences in the space of a three month period shall result in the charge being upgraded. --Attacking or spying on an aligned nation without permission. Punishment:Formal Warn, a fine equal to $3 million or one month’s tax payment for the nation, whichever is greater, and enforcement of 150% reps payment to the nation attacked. Two or more offences in the space of a six month period shall result in the charge being upgraded.

4.5 A member may be charged with the following Capital Offences and punished within the stated guidelines if found guilty: --Repeatedly breaking the laws of the Alliance resulting from a Minor Offence being upgraded, or receiving more than 5 formal warns in any 6 month period. Punishment: A fine equal to $9 million or three month’s tax payment for the nation, whichever is greater, shall be made to write a formal apology to the alliance posted on the forum consisting of at least 100 words, and any further Minor or Capital offences in the next three month period shall result in the members immediate expulsion from the alliance. --Engaging in conduct that causes extreme harm or danger to the alliance or its members, as outlined in Section 3, Clause 2; any actions which would be defined as Treason against the alliance, its members or its government; or any actions which would be defined as seeking serious harm to befall a signed ally of the alliance. Punishment: Expulsion from the Alliance and may be sentenced to ZI or Permanent-ZI at the discretion of the Yassa and Monarchy.

4.6 Any member or any unaligned nation in the game who attacks alliance members causing serious damage in excess of $30 million, launches nuclear attacks on alliance members, carries out spy attacks against alliance members with the intent of destroying nukes, money, infra or tech, or who persistently seeks to cause harm to the alliance through other methods, may be charged with endangering the safety of the alliance and sentenced to Permanent-ZI by the alliance for a period of 3 to 6 months or until they delete their nation, at the discretion of the Yassa and Monarchy.

4.7 A public list of all ZI and Permanent-ZI targets shall be maintained on the forum listing the nation’s details, the charges and a summary of the evidence, and the period of their punishment. The Minister of Defence may authorise any member to engage a ZI or Permanent-ZI listed target at any time upon request. This shall not require approval of the Monarchy although the Monarchy may overrule the Ministers response if it is not appropriate for the situation.

5) Special Government Rules
5.1 In the event that a member of the Yassa or Kurultai goes on a leave of absence due to personal or RL reasons, they shall appoint a replacement for themselves if the Leave consists of no more than two weeks. Should their Leave last longer than two weeks, they shall be asked to step down from their position and their replacement shall be found through normal alliance procedures. If a member of the Monarchy goes on Leave for two weeks or less, the other member of the Monarchy shall fulfill their duties during that time to the best of his or her ability.

5.2 In the event that a member of the Yassa resigns from their position or is expelled, emergency elections shall take place, beginning immediately with a nomination period of 24 hours, a questioning period of 24 hours, and a voting period of 24 hours.

5.3 Any member accused of an offence against the charter shall have their mask immediately changed to that of “Court Defender” and shall have restricted access to the forums. All accusations must be posted in full in the appropriate forum before such action shall take place, and shall not last longer than a period of one week.

5.4 In the event that a government member is charged with an offence, the Monarchy shall appoint a temporary replacement to serve the duration of the trial. Upon the conclusion of the trial, the temporary replacement shall be relieved of his or her duties. During the trial, the accused government member shall be treated in the same fashion as any other alliance member.

Signed into law this 22nd day of October, 2008
His Majesty, Khagan and King of Xanadu Founder and Patron of the House of Gergaslan, Overlord of the fiefdoms surrounding the river Alph, Commander of the Navy of the Sunless Sea, Chancellor of the Confederacy of Morduksvene, Friend to Presbyter John, Mordecai McGilicuddy

Her Majesty, Beloved Monarch and Queen of Xanadu Founder and Patroness of the House of the Zafiros Escarchados Empress of the Kingdom of Saturn and its surrounding territories Goddess of the Dawn La Princesa Pingüina Linda Queen Aurora the Compassionate