(Originally posted on December 17, 2014.  Only covers Legends of Windemere for a bit, but it was still interesting.)

Castle Araluen from Ranger’s Apprentice

For being one of the major areas of events in Legends of Windemere, Hero’s Gate isn’t a Sister City.  It’s decently sized with a profitable port and farmlands, but it’s actually a fisherman/farmer village that grew over the years.  So it still has a simple Mayor and guards system.  One man makes the rules with the help of a council and is elected every two years.

This isn’t to say there isn’t anything special in Hero’s Gate.  The Paladin Council has influence over the city because it is a few days journey from Rodillen.  This gives them an outpost to keep an eye on the other town and there has been a high level of undead activity around the city ever since the Great Cataclysm.  Any laws and influence that the Paladin Council has is restricted to those pertaining to defenses, undead, religious issues, and magic.  All other areas are off-limits to them because they are not a tax-funded organization.

That’s really it for Hero’s Gate and you’ll see that it really doesn’t come up.  A reason for this is because Legends of Windemere doesn’t really delve into the politics of the world.  I have a few future series that will examine the inner workings of certain groups like the Chaos Elves and the Dawn Fangs.  Yet, I’m rather content to leave the politics of the world in the background.  These systems may come into play if/when I need them, which is why I have them written down somewhere.  Maybe it’s because I’m tired of there always being a political story within other genres and I’m sick of the topic in general.  My stories are designed to be escapism and fun, so that’s probably why the nitty gritty of the world doesn’t get pulled in.