[Jazuela]

What about "So and so controls the city guards and can make life miserable for the people he doesn't like, until someone with influence gets in touch with so and so's boss and so and so gets the smack down."

Or how about

"So and so who controls the city guards TRIES to make life miserable for this one guy, who turns out to be a powerful mindbender and convinces so and so to take a flying leap off the shield wall and into a pack of hungry gith."

In short - in a permadeath game, there is ALWAYS someone more powerful than you. If you're the head honcho, SOMEONE will eventually become more powerful, and you will eventually cease to exist. That's part of why permadeath games appeal to that particular niche of players - because you're not stuck with the same bosses who have the same grudges against the same lower-class people for the entirety of your time playing the game. Sometimes you get to be the boss, sometimes someone else does. Sometimes you are the boss and get along swell with the minions, sometimes not. And sometimes you're a minion who gets along fine with the boss and sometimes not. It's up to you to roleplay a response to the situation, not just say "oh he's mean" and jump ship just because you can't handle conflict.