Grafas

A grafas, plural grafasikut, literally meaning "count" or "duke" in Murese, was the title afforded to the leader of a sienaimiestas or "" of Mure. The title's origins could be traced to the last days of the Long Defeat and the dawn of the Murese Premodernity period, in which the Black Sith slowly began to transition from a migratory tribal culture to a more sedentary. This affected change was evidenced on account of their final defeat of the Predorate of Mure in  and subsequent occupation of its city-states.

The title of grafas was not a hereditary position in the Black Sith society, but was rather viewed as the rightful property of the strongest, most powerful in the city. As the Black Sith placed great importance on merit and believed the role of the weak was to serve the interests of the strong (a concept they called teznchwayat or "just rule" ), any individual belonging to the city, if possessed of enough raw power and ability to stake a legitimate claim, could challenge the presiding grafas to. Such fights were always duels to the death, as it was believed that death was the proper punishment for those proven unfit to rule the Black Sith people through failure to defend their throne or inability to support their claim.

As grafasikut who sought to ignore such claimants soon found themselves run out of their cities by their subjects and the religious authorities alike, such duels were considered sacred obligations. These events required a group of unbiased witnesses and religious observers to be present to discourage foul play and oversee proceedings, and eventually evolved into spectacles held in vast s for the entertainment of the general citizenry. Towards the late Murese Premodernity period, gambling on the outcome of such fights became a lucrative affair and common practice.

With the consolidation of the various sienaimiestasikut under the banner of the Murese Empire, the grafasikut were granted seats in the Imperial legislative advisory body, the Qabbrat, which served the Daritha in drawing up legislation and overseeing disputes between Imperial vassals.