The Federacy

Aspects and General
The Federacy is composed of the Celestial Council, Assembly of Elders, and the Voice of the House. The Celestial Council is the arm of the government tasked with approving or disapproving policy and are served by the Arbiters. The Assembly of Editors are the executive arm of the Federacy and are task with carrying out governing decisions. They are also tasked with resolving any disagreements between the Celestial Council and the Voice of the House. The Voice, though singular, are the reprensentatives of all Houses in the Federacy. Their role is as informative as well as legislative. There is no direct judicial body, though the Celestial Council is typically called upon to provide adjudication.
 * High Aspect:  Keep things going smoothly: Everything has a process and sometimes the process has a process. 
 * Trouble Aspect: Innovation and Exploration brings way too much excitement. 
 * Aspect: There’s always a way for those who know how

Origin
The Bastion Federacy has existed for 900 years. People had spread over much of Bastion and the first job of the Bastion Federacy was to put them in contact with one another along with a healthy dose of polity. The Federacy had developed excellent guidelines of insuring that the various member states and cities were allowed to guide themselves except when it came to interaction beyond one’s boundaries; for that, complex rules of interaction eventually rose. For example, if an influential member of one House desires to marry a foreign influential House one or the other has to release all rights, privileges, wealth, and even citizenship. Thus a (relatively) benevolent representative bureaucracy was born of an organization which, initially, was an arbitration body but as the centuries rolled past they became the de facto uniting body of Bastion.

Nine hundred years later, the Bastion Federacy continues to thrive within it’s impressively huge mountain (Bastion is over 20 miles high by itself, the Dome was 25 miles high with a diameter at sea level of roughly 200 miles.

Arbiters
It’s quipped that it’s legal to go to war with another city in Bastion - if you want to file the paperwork. Arbiters became a respected profession because skilled ones could cut through red-tape but higher leveled ones who were Federacy sanctioned could actually make rulings and file the decisions. They are held in relatively high esteem and are considered agents of the Federal courts, holding the status of diplomats.

Federacy Interaction with The Houses and their Freedoms
The Federacy does not meddle in other governments' day to day affairs, but they are very effective at sharing human resource services in order to insure the highest opportunity for compliance. Essentially, they exported their bureaucratic methods to all other governments which gives enormous indirect influence.

That being said, the various Houses have a tremendous degree of freedom as long as it’s within their boundaries. When their practices infringe upon the care and well-being of others, well, the Federacy steps in and gives counsel. Which inevitably means forms, and filings, and council hearings. It’s all pretty intentional - and annoying - and has worked well for nearly a millenia.

Very few people grab land just to grab land. It’s just not a thing one does in Bastion. It’s discouraged, in fact - and takes way too much paperwork. So, if a city or some other large-land operation exists, it’s typically because they actually need the land. It’s odd, but it’s Bastion.