Power

Lately have I been thinking on the Lord of the Castle and his associations with those who serve him. As well as my own relationships with Mirtai and Nathan. The issue is how one obtains the authority to command others. Then, how that power is kept.

In both primitive and pinnacle societies dominion originally derives from coercion. That is, it belongs to the one who is strongest and who can physically defeat their challengers. But in some communities authority is elected and granted by the group to an individual who possesses (in their estimation) the most capable qualities to lead.

Viere embodied the first form and it persisted only until the moment I became more powerful than him. The Tribe I thought was of the second. But this was more accurate when the Regent actively led. The longer she does not wield power, the more likely that the structure of it will be susceptible to shifts. If it has not altered already.

Because there is a third way to win and preserve power. Fear management. A leader may have the strongest body, or the most able mind, but in this scenario they may not. With fear, authority mounts from the claim that the group is threatened and in danger from without --or even within. And only the leader or their inner circle possesses the means to protect the community from harm.

In the extreme, only the leader can identify the danger and anyone who questions that narrative is declared disloyal, even traitorous. This is an indicator of insecure leadership; power in paranoia.