Member of a sodality
Overview
Like the Conclave or the Senate, each sodality must conduct its official business at a formal session, where matters are discussed and votes are cast. Members of a sodality have the right to attend every session, to vote, and to raise issues to the agenda. A citizen can only be a member of a single Imperial sodality at once.
Joining a Sodality
- Any Imperial citizen may join a sodality at any time by being the recipient of the Mark of Fellowship
- 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 member 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 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 near impossible 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 unconstutional attempt to control who can be a member of the sodality. Such limits would only pass scrutity where they exclude a group of citizens who could not possibly contribute to the goals of the sodality.
The Throne
- The Throne is automatically considered to be a member of all Imperial sodalities they are eligible to join
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 they are legally able to join. 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.
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.