Rulership

For every enclave of humanity, there is a ruler. The feudal model of governance has seen the Throne through its turbulent early age, on into its current form, replete with Kings, Dukes, Earls and Jarls, Knights and Thanes, Princesses and Emperors. The dogma of Benalus upholds the claims of the nobility and peerage in their right of rulership, and it is through a lifetime of training, and calling upon the wisdom of their noble ancestors running through their veins, that the caste nobility rule the outposts, capitals, towns and villages of the Throne.

But the position of Ruler is more than just a birthright; the governing of a province, the making of laws, sitting in judgment and guiding the fate of your settlement takes unfailing wisdom and a will of iron. Those lacking in either will find their holdings falling into ruin, or the rot of corruption setting in – or worse – heresy within your own walls.

THE MANOR

The city itself is the seat of power. Some rulers govern from manors in the countryside, some from palaces within towns, and others from wooden longhalls, but there must be a central focus for governance to arise. The Manor is the first stage of exerting control over a new settlement.

While most settlements in the Throne are long made stable and secure by forebearers, new settlements that take advantage of the natural resources of the frontier and make a new home for humanity in the ever expanding Throne of God on Earth are a primary goal. New settlements have many problems and challenges in order to find establishment and tame the land, and even established cities have old their own challenges in ambitious rivals and old tragedies.

GOVERNING VIRTUES

The city’s well-being and the Ruler’s toolbox for administrating the cares and concerns of his or her city are determined by three stats, called the city’s Virtues – Law, Commerce, and Orthodoxy. Each Virtue is broken up into three sub-categories, each with a different effect on the Ruler’s ability to maintain and exercise that control over the city.

The Ruler and their officers spend accumulated values of Law, Commerce and Orthodoxy in order to perform tasks that benefit their city or their position, and use these tools to solve problems throughout the city. Various buildings and construction projects, discussed below, help the city accumulate these resources.

LAW

Law is the city’s order and its ability to enforce the Ruler’s will when necessary, as well as the overall security of the city against internal and external threats.

SECURITY :
- The Ruler’s infrastructural ability to deploy forces, arrest troublemakers, prevent crime, and flexibly react to disturbances of the peace with effective counter-measures. Security affects how quickly Law is regained each Chapter.
ORDER :
- The general feeling of order, if not loyalty, within the city felt by its populace. The confidence the average resident has that the ruler will prevent crime and disaster, leading to overall better behavior of its inhabitants. Order affects the maximum amount of Law the city can generate.
FEAR :
- The overall Fear of the wrath of the Ruler’s regime. The feeling that the Ruler will know of transgressions with very little evidence and arrive to punish, as well that the Ruler should not be trifled with, causing dissenting elements to back down from conflict more easily. Fear passively reduces the accumulation of Corruption.

Law may be used for the following kinds of actions:

Action	Cost	Effect
Bodyguards	1	Guards become available for one hour to protect someone. They will respond to orders from the person who called them, the Marshal, and the Ruler.
Clap in Irons	2	Guards will attempt to seize a character, manacle them, and imprison them. Requires a Prison.
Summons	1	A messenger will be sent to all the cabins and inform the population that the town is summoned to gather at a specified location.
Messenger	1	A messenger will discretely pass a message to a specified target, or find and present a summons to a target.
Imprison	1	May turn over custody of a captured character to the prison. Requires that the Prison building has been constructed.
Bailiff	1	Send a tax collector/bounty huntress to collect a debt or taxes.
Service	3	Secure a position of honorable service for Gentry. Assign 1 Population of Gentry to Staff appropriate building or spend 1 to have them produce 1 Labor.
Raid	3	Raid one City Building by surprise during the Chapter and learn of their activities and any secret dealings occurring there. The building is treated as not Staffed this Downtime.
Enforcement	1	Institute a Muscle action this Chapter at a value of 3. This counts as Muscle 3 and can be spent more than once on the same action.
Lockdown	3	Guards prevent anyone without permission from attempting to leave the Forum, either for external scenes or for Streetwise.
Public Execution	1	Soldiers will assist as a public execution is performed during an Event, presided over by member of the Ruling Faction. If successful, 1 Reich Law is awarded.
Standards and Traditions	5	Reduce Gentry Decline by 1.
Edict	3 Reich Law	Pass a new law or edict and expect it to be obeyed by the citizens.
Patrol Roads	1 Reich Law	Roadwardens patrol and secure one Province worth of Roads during a Chapter. Travelers on this road do not need to make travel checks unless they enter unpatrolled Provinces.
Bloody Example	5 Reich Law	Soldiers will violently put down a Crippling Dissenting Faction, breaking them down to Severe.

COMMERCE

Commerce is the city’s financial health, and its ability to give prosperity to its residents, artisans and experts, as well as the strength of the city’s economy and its ability to bring resources to bear against all sorts of problems and emergencies that the practical world dreams up against them.

FINANCE

The amount of liquidity of resources the city can afford to maintain, in order to bring hard currency to bear against problems, but more importantly its ability to do so through the strength of a healthy and flexible market rather than permanent loss of resources. Finance affects how much Commerce is gained per Chapter.
TRADE
- - Trade is the city’s ongoing relationships with outside partners, which in turn affects its ability to manage scarcity of particular goods. These relationships make sure that no essential resource becomes so scarce as to send the economy into a crisis, and overall maintains stability in the city’s well-being. Trade affects the maximum amount of Commerce that can be accrued.

EFFICIENCY

- Efficiency Is the city’s ability to produce the things it needs without waste. Specialization, economy of scale, and regulations protect the city from the side-effects of its own commercial enterprises. Efficiency reduces the amount of Filth each Chapter.

Action	Cost	Effect
Arrange Transaction	1	Send a functionary who will negotiate and pay a reasonable price to a local trader for a 10 items commodities or common goods from the Treasury’s funds, or sell 10 goods to add their value as coin to the Treasury.
Renewal Projects	1+	Reduce Filth by a like amount.
Hazard Pay	2	Spend 2 Commerce for 1 Law by increasing the wages for city watchmen
Negotiate Shipping	2	Make an order for up to 10 uncommon items like incense or glass or 1 Supply item like Iron Beams to be paid for by and shipped to the Treasury by next Forum.
Relocate	2	Encourage the movement of 1 Population unit to an available location in the same or adjacent District.
Employ	3	Gainfully employ Merchants at a Commercial Building or spend 1 to have them produce 1 Labor.
Tail	1	Be notified when a specific character enters the Forum.
Sponsor	5	Grant 1 Influence to a Guild with a Guildhall in the District.
Rehabilitate	5	Outreach and training programs change 1 Population of Scum into Merchants.
Subsidies and Incentives	5	Reduce Merchant Decline by 1
Crew a Ship	3 Commerce	Provide one unit of Crew to a naval vessel for 1 Chapter. Must be spent from a Coastal District or from Reich Commerce.
Commercial Census	1 Reich Commerce	Learn the production outputs of one Province this Chapter.
Taxation	1 Reich Commerce	Switch the Province’s peasant villages from normal to harsh taxes, or back again.
Trade Summit	3 Reich Commerce	Arrange a meeting with a neighboring power to negotiate a loan for money or commodities.
Trade Route	3 Reich Commerce	Finalize a Trade Route based on an existing negotiation. Trade Routes attempt a single, specific transaction every Chapter until the deal is unexpectedly broken.
Backroom Deals	5 Reich Commerce	Reduce a Severe Dissenting Faction to Mild by making economic concessions, bribes and compromises.

ORTHODOXY

Orthodoxy is a measure of how well the city’s populace clings to the ideals of faith of Benalus and the Throne, as well as the general conservatism and deference shown by its people toward authority and the strength of the Church and its resources.

HOPE :
- A measure of the people’s ability to remain steadfast in the face of disaster and adversity. Wherever there is fear and evil, hope helps the city stay brave and strong in the face of it. Hope affects how much Orthodoxy is generated per Chapter.
FAITH :
- Faith is a measure of the confidence the people hold in the Church’s agents in the city, as well as their belief in the overall righteousness of the city’s rulership. Faith affects the maximum amount of Orthodoxy that the city can generate.
TRADITION :
- Tradition is the city’s institutional memory and its commitment to ritualized lifestyle, the observance of holidays and ceremonies, and the people’s tendency to act righteously without direct oversight. Tradition reduces amount of Heresy within the city each Chapter.

Action	Cost	Effect
Burial Rites	1	See that an individual is proper laid to rest in a local Graveyard, Necropolis or Ossuary.
Civic Prayer	1	During Convocation, a prayer can be called for the blessing of the city and its holy mission. If performed, gains 1 Reich Orthodoxy.
Civic Pride	2+	Spend Orthodoxy for Commerce, 2 for 1.
Ministration	1	Summon a Priest to perform Rank 1 or 2 Rites on your behalf. Requires a Church in the District staffed by a Priest of the appropriate Covenant.
Proper Rites	3	Reduce the Maleficorum in one District.
Cleanse Impurity	3	Reduce the severity of a disease outbreak in one District.
Festival	3	Temporarily prevent Dissent from worsening.
Exorcism	2	Drive out a Haunting from a location.
Chastize	1	Remove 1 Influence from a Guild that has a Guildhall in this District.
Serfdom	3	Tie Peasants to the land or to an agrarian building as Staff or spend 1 to have them produce 1 Labor.
Negotiate a Peace	5	Make peace with a Mild Dissenting faction.
Holy Mission	10	Reduce Peasant Decline by 1.
City-Wide Celebration	2 Reich Orthodoxy	Celebrate a local or foreign holiday at the game event with the city’s blessing. Once celebrants take part they do not suffer Despair this event.
Root out Heresy	5 Reich Orthodoxy	Summon the Inquisition seek out and destroy heresy within the city, and whoever gets in their way. Benalus help you.

INSTITUTIONAL VICE

Cities also have problems unique to their character, and are not without their flaws. The problems that arise within the city’s infrastructure, the rot that festers at their core, also plays a role in the shape the city takes. Unfortunately, certain forms of progress bring with them the stink of corruption, filth and malice as the price of doing business.

The Staff spends from these Vices to cause disasters and opposition to occur. The more they accumulate, the worse the events will be.

CORRUPTION

Corruption is the threat of scum, treason, crime and villainy within the city. The human element overcome by greed, contempt and malice, seeking its own selfish advantage at the expense of the state and its people, even while it is this same state and its people that devours itself from hunger and avarice.

SUBVERSION

The amount of willing contempt for authority within the populace, and how daring those who bear that contempt have become. Subversion affects how much Corruption is generated each Chapter.

SCORN

The feeling of disenfranchisement and deficiency within the city. How desperate people feel with their lot in life, and how much they blame those in power for their destitution. Scorn affects the maximum Corruption the city can generate.

ABUSE

The tendency and ease with which those in a position of authority abuse their position for personal gain, either by bribery, nepotism, simony, or other forms of institutional corruption that prevent right action from easily proceeding. Abuse removes Law each Chapter.

FILTH

Filth is the human excrement, waste, pollution, and vileness that comes as the cost of urban civilization. Filth increases naturally as the city increases, and is made worse when people live in close quarters to one another. Filth can be very dangerous for a city because disease outbreaks can remove great swaths of the populace in terrible plagues, while rats and other vermin can ruin stores of resources and food.

SPOIL

The tendency toward vileness, filth, disease, and vermin, usually due to waste. The more spoil produced by pollution causing enterprise like tanneries, foundries, and stockyards, the faster the city attracts the agents of disaster. Spoil affects how much Filth is generated in a Chapter.

SQUALOR

Squalor is a measure of the built up human and animal waste and pollution that acts as a spawning pit for vermin, lice, and how strongly it attracts the wicked spirits that cause disease through possession. Squalor affects the maximum Filth that can be generated.

DEGRADATION

Degradation is the cities proclivity toward waste, poor hygiene, and the resilience and virulence of the maladies that spawn here. Degradation reduces the amount of Commerce each chapter.

HERESY

Heresy is the presence of agents of heretical forces within the city, working against the aims of the Church to destabilize the region for its own ends. Unlike Corruption which represents those who would abuse the existing systems for their own gain or seek to exploit others for wealth, Heresy usually represents small groups or even individual people who are adherents to one of the heretical faiths, sometimes having been granted gifts by these dark powers, and also represents the vulnerability in the populace to such dangerous ideas through the presence of examples of godless behavior, making the people receptive to the suggestion to turn away from the Lord if approached.

BLASPHEMY
- Blasphemy is the amount of contact that heretical forces are making with the actual people of the city, able to spread their message to others and create converts and sympathizers to their positions. Blasphemy affects how much Heresy is generated in a Chapter.
GODLESSNESS
- Godlessness is the amount of people living lifestyles counter to the Church’s vision for humankind. Godlessness increases the maximum Heresy that can be generated. This value increases automatically based on the examples that the people have in their life.
  Godlessness increases +1 for each of the following in active characters:
  - - Each Circle rating of each Magician
    - Each Rank of Non-Benalian Priest, such as a Magus or Witch
    - Each Thrall of the Old Gods
    - Each Outspoken Heathen
DEPRAVITY
- Depravity is the city’s overall moral failing, and their tendency toward degenerate behavior and sin. Depravity reduces the amount of Orthodoxy each chapter.

OTHER FACTORS

There are other factors that affect the well-being of the city, described here.

Population

Population is one of the most important aspects of the city’s life. Population is the city’s lifeblood – the people who live, work, and dream of a better Stragosa. The Population is the total amount of people that live in the city as permanent residents or long-term visitors. When disasters happen and people of the city cannot be protected, people die and the Population dwindles. Every Chapter, the Population of the city also automatically increases based on the Gravity (discussed below), the amount of weight it exerts culturally and economically on the nearby area and the Throne at large. Population has several effects on the operations of the city.

Population breaks down into four broad demographics: Peasants, Merchants, Gentry, and Scum. Population is the total of all these differing people living in the city. Each unit of Population requires food each Chapter in order to live.

Food can be in the form of Rations or Perishables. Rations are excellent for packing off to distant places and to serve military troops, so most rulers tend to try to produce as many Perishables as they can in order to feed as many people that way as possible. See “The City” for more details on Perishables.

Population can be assigned by the Ruling Faction to Staff buildings and use their expertise to be productive. Population is generally expressed as a total of Assigned and Unassigned Population, such as:

Peasants – 15/18
Merchants – 5/8
Gentry – 3/3
Scum – 0/3

Peasants

Peasants make up the bulk of the human population, and come from rural areas where they do skillful, if menial, jobs. Peasants work on behalf of the local Ruler in exchange for protection from threats. They are capable of working rural buildings such as mines, farms, hunting lodges and logging camps, as well as other mostly menial positions.

Peasants are not paid, instead working for protection and to live a virtuous lifestyle in service to the Throne, paying taxes to the local Rulers in order for permission to work the land for themselves and their families

It costs Orthodoxy to assign them to positions, as the Church and other traditions guide them on how to live this lifestyle and where.

Merchants

Merchants work for payment in terms of coin or barter, doing work in exchange for these rewards. Merchants generally perform specialized trades selling their expertise and knowledge to make high quality goods or even simply to give advice to their customers. Merchants work in Commercial buildings such as shops, inns, and other houses of exchange.

It costs Commerce to assign them to positions, setting up the payment and fees to ensure that it is worth their while to work a particular position, and that the establishment is profitable enough to support these employees.

Gentry

Gentry, while lowborn, are those raised with and around the nobility. They hail from castles, fortresses, estates, and other places of noble authority, and act as the support network for the most important tasks that those of Highborn nobility must do as their duty to the Throne.

Gentry work out of service and duty to their nobility, having their needs provided for by their patrons instead of receiving more formal pay. Ensuring the authority and protection that these individuals need to live in service to their noble lords requires Law.

Scum

Scum are the criminal or subversive elements of the city. They are unable or unwilling to be productive members of society, and instead look out for themselves and their close associates with their own enterprise. These scum form gangs, cartels, smuggling rings, and other forms of illegal enterprise, profiting from the presence of law by being those clever or strong enough to ignore it.

Scum are made when Rulership fails. Death, poverty, disease and other factors all break up the support networks that units families and create orphans, unemployment, sickness and the need to find a way to survive that doesn’t rely on the failures of those they counted on. Scum cannot be assigned by Rulership into productive positions.

Population assigned to Staff a building will remain there indefinitely until the cost is paid again to send them to new work. Alternatively, they may be assigned to temporary work and grant one unit of Labor to any project that is desired.

GRAVITY

Gravity is a measure of the cultural pull that the city holds in the hearts and minds of the world – the effects of its unique culture, its fame and reputation abroad, and the draw of fascination that it has. Gravity affects how quickly new people come to the city to increase its population.

Gravity is specific to each Social Class, and is based upon the presence of different Virtues, considering the best individual District for each.

- Peasants: Every 10 Faith
- Merchants: Every 15 Trade
- Gentry: Every 20 Order

Every Chapter the amount of Faith, Trade, and Order of the best District for that Virtue are added to a pool. When that pool reaches the target number for that Social Class, a unit of that population comes to the city, the target number increases by 1 (referred to as Decline). Any extra carries over, and the process begins again. Certain factors in the city, such as the effects of some buildings and some Virtue and Vice effects, can reduce or increase Decline.

Over time crowding and competition slow the growth of cities that don’t take specific measures to work against it. Each Social Class maintains its own Decline totals in each District, and Decline remains even when Population is killed. Structures which help reduce Decline, such as Landmark buildings, do so in the District they are created.

As they arrive, the city Population will construct housing units in the city, individual families cropping up neighborhoods as needed. This will happen automatically and does not cost the city or characters any resources. Housing will always be built first in the District that has the highest Gravity for their demographic, then the next highest and so on. The District that population resides in determines which Magistrate may reach them through expenditures of Virtues.

Neighborhoods will always seek to be in less dense areas, so will choose empty lots first, and around a Well if one is available. If no empty lots are available in their favored district, new population will arrive in the district with the next best Gravity for their Class. If no empty lots remain, population density in existing Neighborhoods will increase and those buildings will become Slums. Slums are dirty and cramped and produce more problems for the city. If only Slums are available, density will increase again and Slums will become Hellholes, aggravating the problems.

If Neighborhoods are created in undesirable areas, moving the population requires either the Neighborhood be demolished (see The City for details on construction and demolition), which will disenfranchise them and create Scum, or spend 2 Commerce to assist them in relocating safely to the location of choice.

TREASURY

The amount of gathered materials such as wood, iron, leather, textiles, food, and gold that the city has acquired through taxation, and thus can be used in the construction of new projects. These are earned through the taxation of the land and individual taxation of citizens.

The Treasury is physically stored within the Manor, and under guard. Only the Master of Coin is permitted entry without the Permission of the Ruler.

DISSENT

A measure of the treachery and sedition within the city. Dissenting factions come in 3 levels, Mild, Severe, and Crippling, and always favor a certain kind of candidate to replace the current regime.

Mild Dissent: Disloyalty in emergency situations, mistrust of authority and disrespect, as well as minor acts of non-violent aggression against the ruling power, such as dereliction of duty or sabotage.

Severe Dissent: Active and open subversion of the ruling faction, which can include isolated incidents of violence, as well as lesser crimes such as smuggling, robbery, sabotage and an overall effort to undo and make weaker the authority of the Ruler.

Crippling Dissent: Open revolt, including violence, with every effort to overthrow the current regime. Many of the city’s resources might be damaged or made inoperable while Crippling Dissent is in effect.

The city can have multiple dissenting factions at once. For instance, it might have a Mild Dissent favoring the elevation of the Marshall of Stragosa to rulership, while also having a Severe Dissenting faction supporting the cleansing fire of an Inquisitorial Censure or even just Anarchy. Each Dissenting faction will take its own actions and has to be resolved separately.

Any member of the Ruling Faction (the positions described later in this section) may spend 5 Corruption to create (or empower) a Dissenting Faction that favors their own ascension (or an individual they specify), and should they seize power, the Dissenting Faction will support them after removing its rivals.

MALEFICORUM

Maleficorum measures the amount of concentrated evil and vile wickedness about in the city. Not all places suffer under the weight of curses, but some cities, such as Stragosa, are more accursed and bedeviled than any other in the known world, and it bears the heavy weight of countless years of tragedy and atrocity. The walls still howl the stories of the ancient crimes committed there, and more than any place in the world, it is haunted by monsters of all kinds.

Certain actions can exacerbate this, causing the creation or the calling forth of unknown horrors and new menaces.

THE CITY ITSELF

The City has a life all of its own, and it has its own character. That character will change as the city changes and grows. The city’s layout and the buildings that are made upon it help to give the city its unique aspects and provide it with unique problems and resources.

THE DISTRICT AND THE REICH

Each District contains 50 Lots which can be filled through construction. These will naturally fill up over time with housing and other buildings. Creating a new District requires 50 Labor, and 3 Reich Law, 3 Reich Commerce, and 3 Reich Orthodoxy. This creates another 50 Lots to use for the city. Once a District is mostly full of buildings, it also opens new Agent Slots that may be used by Organizations.

(Read more about Organizations)

Aside from taxing the land use of others, the effects of new construction are chiefly to create resources, Law, Commerce, Orthodoxy, that can be used to solve problems in the city or to support the Ruling Faction’s power. Since each building exists in some District, that District gets the Virtues (such as Order, Production, Hope, etc) that the building produces, and also inherits the Vices that it creates (Squalor, Abuse, Depravity, etc). These can be used by the Magistrate to deal with issues local to that area of town. Further, when problems arise they are often (though not always) centered around a specific area as well, such as a haunted building or an outbreak of disease. Each District has its own separate pool of these resources, and the city itself has its own pool.

The city’s resources are called Reich Virtues and they may be spent like normal Virtues but may affect any and all Districts, and may even affect areas of the countryside and neighboring communities within what is called “The Reich”, that is, as long as they swear allegiance to the Ruler and are in consecutive provinces. Some Virtue and Vice spends may only be achieved with these more powerful resources, and are notated as such.

The Reich Virtues are only ever fed by resources being sent from the District level to the city level, and from the contributions of the Ruling Council positions. This is an action executed by the District Magistrates in the case of Virtues, and the Staff in the case of Vices, and occurs at ratio of 1 per total Districts in the city. Thus, the larger the city grows, the more cooperation it requires to achieve these more powerful Virtues, and the city is more insulated from localized problems of Vices as well. The maximum of each Reich Virtue is the maximum of the corresponding Virtue in its best city District.

THE RULING FACTION

A city is ruled by a Ruler, but one person cannot fill every role; at least not with any true effectiveness. Trusted councilors, adjuncts, ministers and other important roles need to be filled. Each position has a special place in the operations of the city, and the city becomes more difficult to manage without their assistance. As well as the decisions that they help make on behalf of the city, most positions, while filled, also increase a Virtue on the city level.

Each position requires that that individual Staff a specific office within the Manor in order to gain the benefits of the position. A Reich only ever has one Ruling Faction and one Ruler. If another Manor is built and Staffed, it is then part of a different Reich.

THE RULER

The Ruler of a city is the direct proxy for the Emperor, by way of his caste nobility, true far and wide within the Throne. Acting as Ruler, they have full legal power to settle any dispute and create their own justice within the lands claimed by their Reich. The full resources of the city may be spent by the Ruler at will. The Ruler is also free to make decrees, which are less like established laws of the city and more like dire warnings of expected behavior given to the general public. The Ruler is the chief diplomatic officer of the city, and must interface with the Emperor’s Court on the city’s behalf. The acknowledgement and permission of the ruling noble line of the area (or the Emperor in the case of a direct Imperial Reichsgrafschaf) is necessary to maintain this position, and anyone claiming it by force must make their case to those powers for why they should take it. The nod of the of the mighty grants the Ruler the Gothic title of Graf, or adds it to their existing titles if they have others.

The Ruler Staffs the Throne Room of the Manor.

The Ruler has the following powers:

The Ruler may spend the Reich Law, Reich Commerce and Reich Orthodoxy resources.
The Ruler may draw from or add to the Treasury.
The Ruler may fill by appointment any position of the Ruling Faction.
The Ruler may spend a Downtime action to learn the state of Dissent, the Treasury, or the Vices of the city.
The Ruler raises every District’s Fear by their Intimidate, Tradition by their Liturgy, and Efficiency by their Mercantile.
The Ruler can collect taxes from their District Magistrates based on what their Districts earn.
The Ruler’s Morale is considered when weighing the reaction of the citizens of the city to controversial decisions, and this public sentiment is well known.

If the Ruler fails to appear in the City, each Chapter they do so increases Dissent by one level.

SENESCHAL

Often, though not always, the spouse or consort of the Ruler, the Seneschal of the city is the Ruler’s right hand. Chiefly their duties are to assist the Ruler in the administration of the city, and handle matters where they cannot. If the Ruler is absent, they may act as the Ruler in their stead in any capacity that the Ruler empowered them to do.

The Seneschal Staffs the Administratum of the Manor.

The Seneschal has the following powers:

The Seneschal may act as the Ruler when the Ruler is absent, or when empowered to do so by the Ruler, though they may not appoint any other positions.
The Seneschal can take charge of a single district as District Magistrate per Chapter, whether there is an existing Magistrate or not.
If the Ruler is absent, the Seneschal’s presence prevents the increase of Dissent. This works one Chapter before the Ruler appears again in the city.

MARSHAL

The Marshal is charged with the security of the city, both within and without. With the exception of the Ruler, they are the final say in matters military and security within the Reich. They direct food, armaments and other resources to the field armies that defend the city, route out trouble within from dissenting factions, disrupt criminal activity within the city, and overall make sure that the Ruler stays solvent and in power.

The Marshal Staffs the War Room of the Manor.

The Marshal has the following powers:

The Marshal may spend the Reich Law resource of the city to affect any District within it.
The Marshal may automatically see the current levels of Dissent in the city and to which factions they align.
The Marshal creates 1 Reich Law for each Intimidate they possess per Chapter.

MASTER OF COIN

The Master of Coin ensures that the city remains healthy in terms of its economic supremacy. They are in charge of making sure taxes are collected, the labor force of the city is organized and productive, and that the Trade Guilds abide by the city’s laws. They also act as a liaison for the Trade Guilds to the Ruler and coordinate with the Officers of given Trade Guilds on their cooperation with civic construction that requires their assistance to create.

The Master of Coin Staffs the Treasury of the Manor.

The Master of Coin has the following powers:

The Master of Coin may spend the Reich Commerce resource of the city to affect any District within it.
The Master of Coin may see the current state of the Treasury automatically.
The Master of Coin may remove or add coin and commodities from the Treasury at will.
The Master of Coin creates 1 Reich Commerce for each Mercantile they possess per Chapter.

EPARCH

The Eparch is the interface between the Clergy and the Ruling faction, charged with the maintaining of spiritual ordinance within the city as well as, on a more organizational and administrative level, seeing to the souls of those within the city. The Eparch coordinates the church with the Ruler so that both factions have a voice in their shared concerns, and so that the Ruler has a direct line to the people of the city. The people of the city’s attitude and morale affects many factors of its performance, and the Eparch is charge of interfacing with respected members of the public to help turn the Mood to the city’s purpose.

The Eparch Staffs the High Chancel of the Manor.

The Eparch of Stragosa has the following powers:

The Eparch may spend the Reich Orthodoxy resource of the city to affect any District within it.
The Eparch may automatically see the Vice levels of each District.
The Eparch knows the nature and severity of any ongoing Crises in their Reich.
The Eparch provides 1 Reich Orthodoxy for each Liturgy they possess per Chapter.

SPYMASTER

The Spymaster is the internal line of defense against treason and treachery within the city itself. Some Rulers do not feel the need to employ such an agent, while others only say they don’t while maintaining one in secret. In any case, the Spymaster’s ability to discover trouble is essential for Rulers whose control over the city is less than ironclad.

The Spymaster Staffs the Windowless Room of the Manor.

The Spymaster has the following powers:

The Spymaster may use their Streetwise action to “follow” a certain Virtue or Vice instead of a person, learning both how it is being spent, and the previous Chapter’s actions in that field.
If the Spymaster uses Streetwise to follow a member of the Ruling Faction, he may see the city factors that they see this Chapter, such as Dissent, Treasury and Vice.

MAGISTRATE

A Magistrate is a lesser position with the city’s hierarchy, though in many ways no less important. The city’s Virtues (and Vices) are produced by buildings and features local to a specific District within the city. The benefits and problems that these institutions create are created at the District level, and within each District, a single Magistrate is in charge of the safe-keeping and flourishing of their specific area of the city. Likewise, all of the Virtues such as Law, Commerce and Orthodoxy are produced there, and stay there for the use of the Magistrate unless they act to devote those resources upward to the Ruler and his inner council. Thus, a Magistrate left to their own devices may solve most of the problems of their home District without issue, but may be called upon to aid the rest of the city.

The District Magistrate has the following powers:

A Magistrate may spend Law, Commerce, or Orthodoxy from their District’s pool to affect anything within their own District.
A Magistrate may devote their own District’s Law, Commerce or Orthodoxy upward to the City’s Reich Virtues. Granting the city a point of Reich Virtue costs 1 for each total District, which can be paid by several Magistrates.
A Magistrate may give their District’s resources to another Magistrate at a rate of 1 for 1.
Magistrates may negotiate and collect taxes from those who build or operate in their District. A portion of this will be collected by the Ruler.

OUTSIDE THE CITY

Outside the city, space is abundant and it, too, can be used for construction. However, the land is rough, and usually needs to be developed, which can accomplish various benefits to the local population. As well, the effort can be made to create new Settlements, and once that is finished, a potential new city with its own Virtues, Vices, and Population can be created

The spaces outside the city are called Land Parcels. Deeds with the permission to build upon them can be granted as part of the starting goods of Highborn characters. It is customary for a new region to deal out the rights to settle and develop the surrounding land as a way to attract the mighty and wealthy to bring their resources to the region and have a stake in its future. As such, characters with the Highborn Perk who take Land Parcels as part of their starting package are those who have made such arrangements and are likely journeying to the region in part to see to that interest. Those who own the land have say over what happens there, and are technically not sovereign to the main city in the region unless they can be coerced to be. For this reason, the Ruler of the main settlement of the region will generally tend to make sure their own Reich is powerful before allowing others to develop ahead of them, or break up power blocs by handing out disconnected parcels.

Land Parcels are distributed by the Ruler to those with a claim on them. Claimants negotiate with the Ruler for which Parcels serve their needs best, but ultimately, they are entitled to one of them. Land Parcels have their own environment type, such as Forest, Hills, Mountains, and so on, and there may be Terrain based requirements of certain kinds of improvements. Land Parcels that are abandoned by their owner (the character leaves play without any legitimate of their line) escheat back to the Ruler.

LAND IMPROVEMENTS

Land Improvements add some feature to the land parcel that provides an advantage either to the one who owns it, or to the city at large, though the owner of the land may determine when and how it used, and what is taken in repayment for its use. Improvements work much like the construction of ordinary Buildings within the city, except that different sorts of things are produced.

Land Improvements

SPECIAL TERRAIN

Some Terrain have special features which add some element to the location. Once a location is explored for the first time, any such points of interest are revealed.

Feature	Effect
Natural Bridge	Roads may cross water. Only occurs near water.
Ancient Building	A certain building already stands here, long forgotten, but in good repair and ready to use.
Refuge	A cavern, defensible shelter, fallback point or some other feature makes this area very defensible. Military defending this area have 1 extra Fortification.
Landmark	This area has a particularly beautiful or mysterious feature, such as an elven ruin, a lake with purple water, a series of hot-springs, or a natural rock formation the shape of a lion. If this Land is built upon, Gravity increases by 1 for the Settlement, and for the City as well if a road is built.
Rich Resources	This site is particularly abundant in an appropriate Resource. Resources locations here generally are of much higher Quality than ordinary. See Gathering Skills for details.
River	The site has river access through a previously unknown tributary or canyon. It counts as a Coastline Terrain for buildings that require water, such as harbors.
Ruin	Ancient structures dot the area, and they can be torn down for resources or used as the foundation of new structures, reducing the cost for some buildings by half. However, ancient ruins come with ancient memories.
Cursed	The place is is the haunt of some wicked spirit, the site of same ancient evil, or perhaps the hunting ground of a terrible beast. Until the problem is resolved, any Settlements or Forces there will continually lose Population or Units to the tormentor there.

Civic Construction

Villages

One of the most important aspects of city management for the Rulership is the flow of new resources into the city, and this relies heavily on the peasants who serve the Ruler in exchange for the protection that she can offer. Each Province has five Resource locations at its disposal, and while some of these may be handled by individuals using their particular Skills in Farming, Mining, Hunting, and so on, it can also be settled as a Village for the extraction of the Ruler’s resources, assigning peasants to work the land as serfs. Villages keep some of what they gather, using it or trading it for the things they need to live their lives, and then give the Ruler 5 Supply Units of the appropriate type as taxes. The Ruler or Master of Coin may choose to impose harsher taxes than this if they choose to, retrieving 10 Supply unit per Chapter instead, but doing so may cause Dissent.

Roads

Roads connect one Province to another, making a maintained and agreed upon route through the wilderness. Once Roads are built in a Province it is assumed to have connecting Roads to any other Roads in adjacent provinces that have them. Roads make travel safer and faster. Armies using Provinces with roads can do so for 1 less Movement cost, and characters travelling such roads may do so with less risk.

Roads also may be patrolled by road wardens, mounted soldiers who keep travelers safe and maintain the roads in bad weather and adverse conditions. The Marshal and the Ruler may arrange to have these roads patrolled, and doing so means that anyone travelling those roads can do so at no travel risk, so long as they remain on patrolled roads. Patrolling all of the roads of a Reich can be costly, so most Rulers ask their vassals in nearby settlements to help pay some of these costs.

NEW SETTLEMENTS

Once a Province has been cleared for building by a military force, it gains its first empty District to build in. In order to assert control, this District will need either a Bureau or a Manor. If a Bureau is used, a Magistrate may Staff the building as normal. The settlement becomes part of the Reich of its parent city and it and any future districts it creates are counted as part of the Reich for the purposes of creating Reich Virtues. Such small parcels are generally operated by a Knight Protector as part of their duty to their Sovereign.

If a Manor is created, a Seneschal may act as a Magistrate per their normal powers of office, or a new Ruler may be declared. If a Ruler sits the Throne Room of the Manor, they may declare the new province its own independent Reich. Declaring a Reich requires that word be disseminated amongst the populace as a Rumor using Streetwise.

Generally, Rulers must be Highborn to have a claim to such land, but if they received the land as a grant from another noble, becoming Ruler elevates them to petty nobility. They generally form a first Tier Military Organization.