Undermoot

Undermoots are occasional convenings of high-ranking dwarfs throughout the Dwarf Kingdom to modify the kingdom's royal line, succession mechanisms, and royal authorities. They typically take several years to resolve fully, and are frequently heated political events. There have been four Undermoots in the Thirteenth Age, most recently the Fourth Undermoot that that appointed the current Dwarf King.

In an Undermoot, appointees from the Low Councils of each of the Six Halls assess and interpret the state of the Kingdom's collective Story Furniture. Undermoots usually begin with a Sitting Census by the Archivemasters of the Hall of Archives, which conscripts census-takers to sit on every piece of relevant Story Furniture in regular use by citizens of the kingdom. Their Sitting tallies are then recorded in an appropriate set of Notary Furniture. Then, this Notary Furniture is used to furnish the Undermoot chamber, where appointed High Doges of the Six Halls convene to debate changes to the political structure of the kingdom.

The Undermoot rules by consensus of all sitting High Doges. As the Undermoot continues, dissenting Doges are forced to surrender their seats by increasing gluteal discomfort, expanding girth of neighboring Doges, or in some cases, by death. Doges are required to sit on Notary Furninture that reflects their political preferences and philosophy, so Doges with unpopular approaches are forced to pack themselves uncomfortably, while Doges with popular opinions may recline at leisure.

Once consensus is reached, all remaining sitting High Doges begin the construction of a new seat in the Canonical Sectional Sofa, which is then replicated and added to the replicas in caverns throughout the caverns, and becomes the law of the land.

Undermoots are usually triggered when the centennial Sitting Census results in Notary Furniture that clashes with the previous dynasty of Notary Furniture. In some cases, however, Undermoots can occur when large amounts of furniture are destroyed in natural disasters, warfare, or political mobiloclasty. In the Fourth Undermoot of the Thirteenth Age, the Undermoot was initiated following Peregrin Makkalis' excavation of a collection of Notary Ottomans in the Lost Archival Temple, though this ordering of events is contested by some scholars.