Imperial sodality
Overview
There are countless organisations in the Empire that have grown in influence and membership beyond the confines of a single nation. These groups and institutions are commonly referred to as sodalities. Most of them don't benefit from any formal recognition by the Imperial Senate, and those with subversive or criminal intent have every reason to avoid it. However, if a group wishes to wield power within the Imperial government, they must petition the Senate to pass a motion to recognise them as an Imperial sodality.
To be recognised in this way, a fellowship must have a clear statement as to its purpose, and a known symbol that represents the sodality. This is a constitutional vote, as the creation of a new Imperial sodality can have significant ramifications. This means it is only possible to create a new sodality when there is an occupant of the Throne who can ratify the vote.
A new Imperial title is automatically created when a sodality is recognised by the Senate. It is a mistake to assume the title-holder is "in charge" of the sodality: it would be unconstitutional to create an Imperial title that had any power of that kind. Rather, the position is expected to be a mouthpiece for the sodality, with the responsibility to represent their sodales' views to other parts of the Empire, to recruit new members, and to advance the sodality's goals and the members' interests. Unless explicitly stated otherwise in the Senate motion, the title is traditionally named, "Speaker for the sodality".
In most cases, anyone can be part of a sodality, but to be recognised as a voting member requires a casting of the Autumn ritual, Mark of Fellowship. Like Arcane Mark this ritual places an enduring magical mark on the target character which can be perceived with magical detection. A character can only have one such Mark of Fellowship in place at a given time. Other than the Throne, an individual citizen can only ever be a voting member of a single Imperial sodality at once.
Role within the Empire
There are countless sodalities in the Empire that do not have and would not benefit from the formal legal status of Imperial sodality. These organisations are free to set their own rules and to do as they please within the limits of the law. Becoming an Imperial sodality is onerous, and brings significant restrictions that most groups eschew.
Imperial sodalities exist to allow the Senate to create new bodies of state, ones that have responsibility for a distinct area of concern. Just as the Imperial Conclave is charged with oversight of magic across the Empire, the Senate can create a new Imperial sodality to promote specific goals. Once that has happened, then the Senate can use further motions to grant legal powers to the sodality to enable it to better discharge its responsibilities.
A sodality only becomes an Imperial sodality when its existence is formally recognised with a Senate motion that explicitly names the sodality and lists its goals. The goals enumerated in the Senate motion must encapsulate the sodality's purpose. To ensure that the purpose is clear a sodality is expected to provide up to three statements, in a similar format to those adopted by the orders of the Imperial Conclave.
All Senate motions are subject to scrutiny by the Constitutional Court who study the wording to ensure that it is compatible with Imperial law and the Imperial Constitution. The Court pay special attention to the enumerated goals of any sodality and are likely to reject anything that is overly long or broad or which tramples on the responsibilities of an established part of the Imperial government or even another sodality.
For example, a sodality that was created with three goals; "to support the Empire, to help citizens prosper, and to promote Virtue" would be instantly rejected as being far too broad. The Constitutional Court expects every citizen to pursue goals such as these, they don't express anything about the purpose of this sodality. Likewise a sodality that claimed that its goal was "to ensure the sound use of magic in the Empire" would be rejected because that is the responsibility of the Imperial Conclave.
These checks are important, because a sodality's purpose is crucial to any legal powers that the Imperial Senate might grant with a subsequent motion. If the Senate creates an Imperial title whose responsibility was to organise message-runners on the battlefield, they could choose to have a sodality appoint that title. That decision would be constitutional, if the sodality existed to facilitate communication between the field marshal and their allies in battles. It wouldn't be constitutional if the sodality's purpose was to boost trade with foreign nations.
Sessions
A sodality must be in session to wield its powers. If a sodality has one or more legal powers that they can exercise, then the Imperial civil service will arrange a meeting for members of the sodality and publish the time and location of this session in advance of each summit. By default, the session will take place in the Senate chamber, if scheduling allows. The sodality can only wield any legal powers they possess during this session, and only if there is a civil servant present to notarise the outcome.
The speaker of the sodality can ensure there is a chair for the session, if one is needed. A civil servant must be present, but they are only required to attend for sufficient time for the sodality to enact any legal powers they hold. If the sodality do not discharge their legal business in a timely manner, taking any formal votes first and after an appropriate amount of discussion, then the civil servant is under no obligation to remain present.
A formal session of a sodality is only scheduled if there is a legal power that the sodality could wield. This happens automatically whenever a sodality is due to elect their speaker or other Imperial title they control, at the coming summit. If a sodality has been granted legal powers they can use at every summit, then the civil service will ensure that there is always at least one session scheduled. A sodality may meet where and when they choose, but the time and location of a formal session of any Imperial sodality, is set by the civil service, just as it is for the Imperial Senate.
Participation
Any Imperial citizen who is a member of a sodality, or is a civil servant, is free to enter the chamber and speak therein while the sodality is in session. The sodality is free to permit citizens who are not otherwise eligible to enter and to speak if they chose to do so. Such guests may be asked to be quiet at any point, and treated as unwelcome guest if they refuse.
In addition, the right of witness ensures that every member of the Imperial Synod is entitled to observe the session. To facilitate this, the Senate building has a large viewing gallery that runs alongside the main chamber. If the civil service are forced to schedule the session in another location, the sodality is required to ensure that members of the Synod have sufficient physical access to the chamber to witness the proceedings.
The well worn path for any sodality to elect a position or to vote on the legal use of a power is to grant each member one vote and to conduct a vote using the approach employed by the Navarr. For an election, each candidate is usually granted a few minutes to make their case, then those present move to stand behind their preferred candidate for the position. Citizens are free to move until the Overseer of Imperial Elections calls time, allowing individuals and groups to move to coalesce support where it appears to be most effective.
To use a legal power ceded to the sodality by the Imperial Senate, a citizen would present the case for the proposal and another would make the case against. Once each had had an opportunity to state their position and answer any questions, members of the sodality would move to stand behind either candidate to indicate their support.
Limitations
The most common power that the Senate can grant to an Imperial sodality is the ability to appoint an Imperial title, either one that already exists and is being modified or a new Imperial title is being created. Usually, such titles are arranged in close cooperation with a sodality, but there is no legal requirement for that to happen. If the Imperial Senate finds the appointment of a title burdensome for any reason, they can use a Senate motion to empower an appropriate Imperial sodality to appoint that title if they chose.
An Imperial title that is appointed by vote of a sodality must either be appointed on an annual basis on a set date or have tenure. An important title, like the sodality's speaker or their equivalent, cannot have tenure. The title must be revocable by the General Assembly and the Assembly of Nine - it is not possible to have an Imperial sodality elect a title that can be revoked by a national assembly, though the Senate could opt to allow an appropriate Virtue assembly to revoke a title appointed by a relevant sodality.
In theory it is possible for the Imperial Senate to divest one or more legal powers to an Imperial sodality. For example, the Imperial Senate could choose to given an Imperial sodality the power to instruct the civil service to conduct historical research. Any legal power that that the Imperial Senate could exercise that could be vetoed by the Imperial Synod can still be vetoed even if it the power is ceded to an Imperial sodality to enact.
Joining a Sodality
- Any Imperial citizen may join a sodality at any time by being the recipient of the Mark of Fellowship
- The Throne is automatically considered to be a member of all Imperial sodalities
- Citizens may use the ritual to change sodality at any time
- New characters cannot choose to start in a sodality, player-characters can only join a sodality in play
A sodality can recognise the contributions of any citizen, but to be a full voting of an Imperial sodality, a citizen must be the recipient of the Autumn ritual Mark of Fellowship. This ritual places an enduring magical mark on the target character which can be perceived only with magical detection. The mark takes the form of the sodality's symbol and it allows the Imperial civil service to keep accurate records for each sodality of which citizens are eligible to cast a legal vote.
If a citizen is the recipient of a second Mark of Fellowship, it will overwrite the first mark. Thus an individual citizen can only be a voting member of a single Imperial sodality at any given time. This restriction of the magic is deliberate and reflects the legal powers that an Imperial sodality can wield. Just as a citizen can only be part of one nation, one Conclave order, one Synod Virtue Assembly at any given time, so they can only wield power in a single sodality at once.
Citizens may change sodality at any time, but a person who changes sodality cannot vote in the new sodality, if they were a member of a different sodality when that sodality conducted an official vote in the last year. The most common official vote is the election for a new speaker, but you would not be eligible in any votes if you were previously eligible to vote when the sodality you were part of conducted a vote at any of the previous three summits. Attempting to vote in a sodality when you are not eligible is electoral fraud and can carry harsh penalties.
The Throne holds a unique position in the Imperial constitution which states that "Whenever the Throne sits in the great councils laid out in this constitution, then their voice shall carry the greatest weight." An Imperial sodality legally meets the definition of "a great council" and as such, the Throne is always considered to be a member of any sodality. While few empresses or emperors have the time to be attending a session of a sodality, legally they are able to do so, and they are able to speak and vote as a full member of the sodality, with or without an appropriate Mark of Fellowship.
The civil service keep records of who is a member of which sodalities and publish a list of members who have indicated that they are attending Anvil in the Hub.
It is theoretically possible for the Imperial Senate to limit who can legally join an Imperial sodality. Any attempt to limit who is eligible to join automatically attracts considerable scrutiny by the Constitutional Court - there is an inherent assumption that any such attempt is an unconstitutional attempt to control who can be a member of the sodality. Such limits would only pass scrutiny where they identify a group of citizens who could not reasonably contribute to the goals of the sodality.
Extent
The existence and purpose of an Imperial sodality is broadcast throughout the Empire, to ensure that every citizen has the opportunity to join if they wish. Under normal circumstances, the only NPCs who will join a sodality are those who are genuinely interested in advancing the sodality's official goals. It will be rare for any of these NPCs to attend Anvil. Instead, in common with other Imperial NPCs, they will look to the citizens at Anvil for leadership and guidance. NPCs will only work against such leadership if they have good reason to believe it conflicts with the sodality's stated goals.
Upkeep
- The cost to the Imperial treasury is four thrones per season per sodality
The civil service are required by law to keep careful records of which citizens are members of an Imperial sodality so that they can support the sodality's ability to elect a speaker and enact any other legal powers they have. The more sodalities that exist, the more expensive this operation becomes. By default, the upkeep for each sodality is four thrones a season.
An opportunity to grant an existing Imperial sodality additional new legal powers or abilities may explicitly include an increase in the sodality's upkeep to reflect the benefits.
Existing Sodalities
There are currently a number of organisations or groups that could be considered a sodality, such as the Anvil Library, the New Scions of Atun or similar. In some cases some of these organisations have been created very recently using the most recent version of the rules, which required the creation of a title, but didn't allow members to elect the titular head of their own organisation.
We want to encourage any of the following existing organisations that want to be treated as Imperial sodalities to make the transition if they want to do so.
- Anvil Hospital
- Anvil Library
- Artisans' Guild
- Imperial Gathering of Hunters
- Imperial Auxiliaries
- Magpies
- New Scions of Atun
To support the implementation of the new rules, we would encourage any of these groups that want to become Imperial sodalities to meet and discuss the matter at the coming event. If the organisation does want to become an Imperial sodality and can agree on a set of goals, then they can email us at any point up to two weeks before the last event in 2025 with a description of their symbol and a concise statement of their goals. Once we have a constitutionally valid set of goals for a sodality, we will provide one or more suitably worded administrative motions for the Imperial Senate to decide whether to confirm their status as an Imperial sodality.
The Speaker for the Senate has invited any members of the listed groups who wish to ask questions about becoming an Imperial Sodality to approach them. In addition to being available in the Hub throughout summits, they will be available in the Senate building for half an hour at the following times at the Winter Solstice 386YE, to discuss the matter specifically:
- Immediately after the Senate session on Friday evening
- 10:30am Sunday morning
Benefits and Costs
- The new rules will make it easier for Imperial sodalities to play a role in political conflict in the game
- They will also make it easier for plot writers to create plot that targets the new sodalities
- Imperial sodalities cannot restrict who can join the sodality
- The new rules should suit some existing sodalities more than others, so existing sodalities are welcome to remain exactly as they are now if they wish
The new rules are intended to enable sodalities to take part in the political PvP conflict that takes place in Empire. They allow a sodality to appoint Imperial titles, and potentially to wield power in the game. It raises the profile of the sodality and makes it a more complete part of the setting. That means it is more likely to be the subject of plot created by our plot team. These are all clear advantages for any players who want their sodality to have those benefits.
These changes may not suit every sodality however. The majority of plot that is created in Empire is deliberately written to provoke or encourage political conflict in the game. Our plot is written to make player character's lives more challenging - so any plot we create for an Imperial sodality is likely to make trouble for them. If a sodality doesn't want our plot team causing trouble for them, then that is a disadvantage of becoming an Imperial sodality.
Once a sodality has legal power it can wield in the game, then characters may choose to join it for political reasons, not because they wish to further the sodality's goals. Such political manoeuvres are part and parcel of Empire as a game. We want Imperial sodalities to be a source of politics and intrigue in the game. If a sodality doesn't want to be politicised in that way, then that is a clear drawback of the new rules that cannot be avoided.
We hope that some of the existing sodalities will chose to become Imperial sodalities - with the benefits and drawbacks there of - and some will opt to remain as they are - as non-Imperial sodalities. Any group that wants to avoid the significant implications involved in becoming an Imperial sodality is welcome to remain as they are now.
Former Sodalities
The Silent Bell were recognised as an Imperial sodality in the early years of the reign of Emperor Nicovar. They were officially disbanded in 210YE, in the aftermath of Nicovar's fall, but have continued to operate in an unofficial capacity ever since.
Creation and Dissolution of a Sodality
- The Empire can dissolve existing sodalities or create new ones with a constitutional vote of the Senate
- Senate can create any number of sodalities, but each new sodality has an upkeep of four thrones a season
The Empire can create new sodalities and dissolve existing ones at any time by a constitutional vote of the Senate. If a sodality is dissolved, than any Imperial titles that are appointed by that sodality that are not explicitly resigned to new appointment methods are abrogated.
A newly created sodality must have a clear statement as to its purpose, and a symbol, similar to those possessed by existing sodalities and orders, that is used with the Mark of Fellowship ritual.