As almost any city leader can tell you, CITY SEATS have been a thorn in
their sides for quite a while. To combat this, we've released several
changes to city governments, allowing for more flexible and
role-appropriate governments for the great cities of Achaea!

- House-appointed seats have been removed, and all individuals who held
them have been moved to normal elected seats. House influence remains as
a general indication of a house's activity, but no longer has any other
direct effect.

- City governments can now be configured to be THEOCRACTIC or
DEMOCRATIC. In a theocracy, city council members cannot be contested,
council members do not control the mortal leader (e.g. the Caliph of
Shallam) of the city, and the mortal leader does not get to designate
patronage of the city. Instead, the city's patron(s) control all of
these details themselves. Current city governments, with a couple
exceptions, are democratic.

- City governments can be toggled to support either seven-seat councils
(which is the current status quo) or five-seat councils. Note that
conversion from seven- to five-seat councils requires there be no more
than five current council members.

- If a player is a citizen of a city, the POLITICS command will list the
details of the city's governmental status.

The change to house-appointed seats has taken place automatically. City
leaders wishing to modify either of the governmental styles must speak
with their city's patron to discuss the possibility of change. Note that
the final decision rests in the hands of the patron.

As always, if any bugs are encountered with these changes, please file a
BUG report with as much information as possible!

Penned by My hand on the 9th of Scarlatan, in the year 545 AF.