The Flotilla

The Flotilla is Melora’s confederation of maritime republics. Republic delegates convene aboard ships, usually in the holding waters off Kassara, and never establish the assembly within the city. No harbor becomes Melora’s permanent seat. When the sitting ends, the vessels disperse and the common government ceases to exist until delegates gather again.

Each sitting elects its own Speaker by a show of hands. The same vote can remove the Speaker before the business is finished. The office manages debate and represents only the sitting that granted it authority; it does not command the republics or carry an independent mandate between assemblies.

An agreement requires two decisions. A sitting adopts a measure, then a later sitting must confirm it before the measure binds the confederation. Republic elections may replace the delegates between those votes. The delay makes Melora slow to commit, but confirmation by two differently composed assemblies gives a common rule greater durability than a single harbor’s promise.

The Flotilla’s jurisdiction is limited to navigation across the shallows, the fleet levies owed by each republic, quarantine seasons, and standing terms with Caelor. Taxation, local law, harbor administration, and every matter outside that delegation remain with the republics. Its collective seal is valid only for the external acts entrusted to it.

Caelor cooperates with the Flotilla because Meloran fleets and marine knowledge serve the wider Dawnward sea. The arrangement is an alliance, not vassalage: Caelor gains a counterparty for common maritime obligations but no authority inside the republics. Quickener licensing remains outside any stable settlement. It returns in elections and at successive sittings without acquiring the two confirmations needed for a common rule.