Imperial Palace

The great palace of Altdorf is a massive, very elaborate building standing near the middle of the great city. The palace is home to both the infamous Reiksguard household guards, and the great Emperor Karl Franz himself. The Imperial palace is a vast building, easily the largest in the city. The Emperor’s court is always filled with nobility from across the Empire, and is a hotbed of political intrigue, social manoeuvring, and hedonistic frivolity. Foremost on the political side is the Council of State, a group formed from the noble families of the most ancient lineage. Though the Council has no constitutional authority, it advises the Emperor on all matters of state. The Grand Theogonist is always a member of this council, and is behind many of the more urgent suggestions – not for nothing is the head of Sigmar’s priesthood regarded as the most powerful man in the Empire. The Elector Counts, though physically distant from the politics of Altdorf, employ their own council of representatives. The Prime Estates, as this council is known, act as a check on the Emperor’s powers – they study the Imperial edicts, tax levies and so on, reporting their findings back to the Electors. Should an Imperial proclamation be regarded as undesirable, impractical, or just plain foolish, the Electors can simply refuse to enforce it. Even the strongest Emperor is helpless in the face of unified defiance from the Elector Counts.