I like it, only I strongly disagree about Philippa. You present a very idealistic interpretation of her actions. Nowhere she claimed or indicated that the wanted an egalitarian state. Does she want to rule? Sure. Does she recognize any kind of binding law, human or divine? No way in hell. Rational-legal leadership, where authority is based on laws and institutions above individuals, sounds like a limitation on leader, not a total dictatorship where the leader is the one who writes all the laws.
I value Philippa because she is a HERO in an Ancient Greek sense, not somebody who goes beyond a call of duty, as we understand it now, but a person who commits extraordinary acts of any kind (good or evil, does not matter), of great magnitude, and thus is not bound by any mortal law. Philippa walks over every law and rule, pisses on any divine right, betrays trust and enslaves a person she supposedly protects. (As I believe) she unleashes a curse to save time, and thus endangers thousands of lives. Her bid for a council is not for a sake of common good, and protection of all, as our international law are. For her it is a way to influence as many people as possible. She is more akin to a mad scientist bent on world domination.
She is not a ruler, btw, but a state official who conspired against and betrayed her sovereign, Saskia. No group of people, either in Redania or Vergen, consider her worthy of leadership. She lost her influence in Redania, and can't really rule in Vergen unless she controls Saskia. She manipulates events and people behind the scene, but it does not make a leader.
She is magnificent in her purely amoral, crystalline way to do things. But what would happen if she manages to reach her goal? Will she be benevolent and good for the land, or will she become an ultimate tyrant? I don't really know.
