Item from Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
The Hundred Kingdoms' mechanism for choosing an Emperor — a political assembly at Vyene where a hundred lords vote on who should rule them all, usually achieving nothing.
The Congress of Lords is the Broken Empire's political endgame — the theoretical mechanism by which the Hundred Kingdoms could be united under a single Emperor. In practice, it has been a debating society for generations, each Congress ending without resolution because no lord would vote for anyone but himself. Jorg changes this. He arrives at the Congress with military strength, political alliances, the threat of the Dead King's army, and the simple argument that unification is no longer optional. The vote that makes him Emperor is the series' political climax — a teenager who started with a band of twelve criminals winning a continent through a combination of conquest and the uncomfortable truth that he was the only one willing to do what needed doing.
A grand political assembly held in Vyene's most impressive architecture. Every lord of the Hundred Kingdoms sends representatives. The proceedings are formal, theatrical, and historically inconclusive — the Congress has not produced an Emperor in living memory because no candidate could achieve consensus.
Also known as: The Congress, The Emperor's Vote