Amarr Prime - The Imperial Succession Committee today announced the inclusion of House Khanid in the Championship Trials, in a development that will be shocking to some but perhaps not too surprising to keen observers of Amarr politics. While not intended as the focus of the announcement by the Succession Committee, the revelation that King Khanid II is now formally considered a Royal Heir with all the rights that entails has been seized upon as the most dramatic aspect of the released rules of succession.
Previously styled as Lord Councillor Garkeh Khanid, for purposes of the Amarr Privy Council and Imperial Court, the sovereign of the Khanid Kingdom will now take the title Royal Heir, and the Khanid Family is restored as a Royal House of the Amarr Empire in the fullest sense. While imperial officials are remaining tight-lipped as to the reasoning, the decision has been ratified by Orders in Privy Council and a Decree to the Faithful from the Theology Council. The Court Chamberlain is believed to have assented on behalf of the Throne, a procedure that is reported to have been agreed to only after a conclave of the closed Privy Council attended by High Chaplain Kalefa Sufrin an-Kador of the Emperor Family.
Besides serving as a public confirmation of Garkeh Khanid's restoration to the status of Royal Heir, the Succession Committee's announcement sets out the basic framework by which the Championship Trials of the Imperial Succession will proceed. Each Royal Heir will select candidate champions, who will assemble teams of retainers and in the course of the Championship Trials establish their right to fight as personal champions on behalf of their respective Royal Heirs. Following this, there will be a series of combats to establish the final two contenders among the Royal Heirs late this year. The final series of Championship Trial matches between the champions of the final two Royal Heirs will then take place in early YC118.
While the details of each round of the Championship Trials are being kept confidential for now, the basic framework allows for candidate champions to begin declaring themselves formally to each of the six Royal Heirs that have now been confirmed as eligible for ascension to the ultimate position of power in the Amarr Empire.