The Loud Silence
The Loud Silence
The Loud Silence refers to a period of several months, during which Imperial citizens of the old Empire of the Eternal Dawn flocked in their thousands to Mount Tumnore in order to be part of the Constitutional Congress called by Empress Rialla ux-Rihad II. Hundreds of millions of sentients actually participated in the Congress via the MESH, leading some sociological and historical commentators to remark that the Constitition represents the widest cross-section of sentient beliefs ever charted in Iluvauromeni history.
During this period, the Empire of the Eternal Dawn ceased to be, and was revealed to be, in actuality, a transitional state with the Commonality the planned eventual result. Among those in on the 'secret' were the Imperial Guild of Sociology and those closest to the Imperial Family. Si Ling I and his consort, physicist, chemist, and computer scientist Bao Ling I were present at the Congress, and are widely held to have been amongst the strongest proponents of many of the more radical additions of freedoms granted to the people by the people.
The Constitition begins in similar fashion to the defunct US Constition; however, the document itself is vastly different, utilizing broad strokes and generalizations rather than specific directives outside of the political structure itself.
At the Congress, Rialla ux-Rihad I, current Empress of the Commonality, was forced to accept the enshrinement of a constitutional monarchy; her loud objections were overruled by the voice of the people. Dutifully, she continues in the role today, but still occasionally voices discontent at the situation. It is believed she intends to abdicate at a later date, when the climate is better suited to a total democracy; contrastingly, Semir-randil, her consort, was a loud proponent of the continuation of the monarchy in it's old and original form; there does not appear to be any significant difficulty in their relationship because of this, however. The powerful Imperial Guild of Sociology, it must be said, had a strong hand in much of the constitution; their eventual input was significant, with the phrasing and idealism of much of the areas of the document dealing with personal freedoms coming from their numerous members (including Bao Ling and Semir-randil).
