GOVERNMENT
Within each Province, there are local forms of government to manage all aspects of that Province. All swear fealty to the Imperial courts, however, and the Emperor's word is absolute law.
Gushui is overseen by a King and Queen married pair. The King is responsible for Gushui as a whole, overseeing hunts and trade relations, while his wife the Queen is responsible for internal affairs within the province such as overseeing legal matters. Beneath the King and Queen are the Master Hunters, who each look after a city along with their spouse in a mirror of the King and Queen.
POLITICS
Gushui has a very strained relationship with the northern ends of the empire, seeing them as the reason the Gushui-ren struggle so much to provide food for their people. Heavy taxes from Sheng-gu prevent Gushui from trading consistently with other lands, making them reliant on the food grown within Sheng-gu and, to a lesser extent, other Provinces. The Empire, well aware that Gushui prefers independence, has kept Gushui on a tight leash in order to prevent them from seceding. This, in turn, has only soured attitudes towards the Imperial city, and many Gushui-ren are bitter about their treatment at the hands of their "more civilized" cousins in the north.
NOTABLE LAWS
Gushui has very strict one-child laws. Due to the lack of reliable sources of food, the Province can't afford to allow for multi-child homes without risking starvation. Because of the magic that permeates the land, any sapient being who dies of hunger in Gushui is transformed into a malicious, hungering skeleton, who grows larger and larger the more it attempts to gorge on everything in sight. Entire villages can be lost to these bone giants, who will then wander the tundra looking for whatever prey they can find. At a certain size, these bone giants become very hard to kill, and so the laws that are most important often have to do with the rationing of food. Anyone caught stealing food is charged as if they had attempted to commit mass murder, because of this terrifying reality.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The Empire has a somewhat tumultuous relationship with their neighboring countries, with only a few exceptions. Nhoplan has been fierce enemies with the southern Provinces for millenia, and the borders between Gushui and Nhoplan remain highly contested. To the north, the Province of Sheng-gu endures skirmishes with Muqin de liwu, though these altercations are far more guerilla style and sporadic than conflicts seen in the south.
Liwu: Enemy
Rulastinia: Ally
Nhoplan: Enemy
Veila Kaur: Somewhat hostile
Le'raana: To be determined