Imperial transition

In the Empire, an imperial transition is the process which takes place after the resignation or death of a sitting emperor. This process begins by confirming the death of the sitting emperor due to natural causes, then the government establishes measures of natural mourning and elect and crown the new emperor to preserve the continuity of the Empire. It involves all the governmental institutions, including the Senate, High Council, the Imperial Commission and provincial governments. The new emperor, once all the confirmation and mourning procedures for the death of the previous emperor are completed, is chosen through the Electivate process by the Senate of the Empire from among the members of the Bassus-Cotta Family. The most recent imperial transition occurred in 2018, following the death of Alexander IV, where Gregorius IX was elected as emperor.

Background
Prior to 452, Imperium was a hereditary monarchy. All emperors were descendants of Magius, the founder of the Empire, and were regarded as gods because of their blood connection to him. The first succession occurred in year 0, when Magius ascended to Ether and her daughter Facticia became the sovereign of the empire. The first succession conflict occurred early in the history of the Empire, specifically after the death of Facticia in 14 AC, when her twin sons Magius Albus and Magius Nigrus fought each other to succeed their mother in the throne. After this conflict there were 8 peaceful successions to the imperial throne from father to son, all direct descendants of Magius.

The Dominate began in 452, when Titanius III became emperor by being the adopted son of Levitatus II, the last emperor to be a direct descendant of Magius. During the Dominate, the emperors had dictatorial powers and had the free power to choose who would succeed them on the throne. The councils of the religious (Hierophantarum), magical (Theurgarum) and political (Principum) powers joinly took the full power of the Empire as the High Council by having the power to decide who would be the emperor. The High Council was concerned that there would be anomalies in the emperor's election process (since then known as Electivate), so they designed a permanent protocol to follow in these situations.

Applying magical and religious concepts that were already in wide use in their time, they established a virtually infallible process to determine whether the death of a sitting emperor was natural or caused by murder / magic intervention. This process did not have a specific name until 1720, when the transition to the Constitutional monarchy occurred. It was through the II Imperial Law that the Senate of the Empire continued the use of these measures in the new form of government and gave it its current name.

Heart of Magius stops beating
The Heart of Magius is one of the jewels placed on the Emperor during his coronation, and the only one he must wear every day. This jewel consists of a necklace with a personalized medallion for the emperor that inside contains a golden gem marked with the coat of arms of the Empire. This gem transmits the emperor's vital signs to a device permanently monitored by the Imperial Guard to fastly identify whether the emperor is in need of medical assistance or has died.

When the Heart of Magius device stops beating it means that the emperor's heart has also stopped beating or that the jewel has moved from his chest. If the emperor is sleeping in his bedroom (that is locked by the Maior Domus to prevent intruders), the Imperial Guard immediately contacts the Maior Domus to open the door and verify if the emperor has died, the jewel has been stolen or is a false alarm.