Watcher of Ratibor's Torch
Overview
The Watcher of Ratibor's Torch is an Imperial title created by the Imperial Senate during the Summer Solstice 384YE following a proposal put forward by Beagan Locular di Temeschwar.
Responsibilities
The Watcher of Ratibor's Torch oversees Ratibor's Gate in Temeschwar. The Watcher is expected to oversee the tending of the flame and give regular sermons to the congregation that the tomb draws. In respect to the building’s history as a prison, they are expected to provide counsel to citizens that may find themselves afoul of Imperial Law and to the victims of crime, and to offer advice to virtuous criminals on the matter of clemency. They are also expected to act as a point of contact for citizens interested in the history of Ratibor, the founding of Temeschwar, and associated subjects. If Ratibor's Gate were to be threatened, it would be the responsibility of the Watcher to face those threats; likewise should any opportunity related to the Gate arise the Watcher would decide how to respond.
Powers
A Portion of Liao
The number of pilgrims drawn to the Gate sees the Watcher provided with 15 doses of liao by each season by the civil service, to be used as they see fit.
Donations to the Gate
Ratibor's Gate draws pilgrims from across the League and beyond, primarily those dedicated to Ambition and Vigilance. Some visitors choose to pay the extra fee that allows them to spend the night in one of the old cells with a portion of that income going towards the Watcher. The Watcher of Ratibor's Torch receives 6 crowns and 15 rings each season from these fees.
Appointment
The Watcher is a League national title appointed by judgement of the League national assembly.
The Watcher is appointed during the Autumn Equinox each year. They can be revoked by the General Assembly, the League National Assembly, and the Assembly of the Nine.
| Summit | Elected | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn Equinox 386YE | Vitore Van Temeschwar | 114 Votes |
| Autumn Equinox 385YE | Vitore Van Temeschwar | 243 Votes |
| Autumn Equinox 384YE | Valentina von Temeshwar | 132 Votes |
Recent Elections
This title is currently held by Vitore Van Temeschwar; it will be reelected at Autumn Equinox 387YE. The table to the right shows the citizens who have been elected to hold this title in the years since Empress Britta died.
Ratibor's Gate
The entrance to the old prison now bears a red plaque that reads “commissioned, built, and paid for by the Crimson Reaper Cartel, the Sea Wolf Mercenary Company, and Estella “the Wanderer” Krazentia Callabrese von Temeschwar in 384YE, we invite all who have Ambition to seek inspiration from Boyar Ratibor’s example here”. The plaque bears the symbols of the Cartas and individuals that contributed: the stylised wolf head of the Sea Wolves; the Skulls of the Crimson Reapers; and the constellation of the Wanderer.
The old prison courtyard, commonly referred to as the "Court of Enduring Flame" since the Spring Equinox 385YE, has been covered with a vaulted roof to create a sheltered nave. On the old courtyard walls there are murals of key moments in the history of Temeschwar and Ratibor’s life in which he experienced the perfidy of the Vyig. At the centre of the nave is a great red brazier, tended by those who visit the tomb, and visitors are encouraged to stand before it and loudly declare their ambitions to those assembled. Behind the brazier is a great mural of Ratibor surrounded by the frostbitten bodies of the Vyig that died during the night of a thousand torches.
Many of the old prison cells, once civil servant’s offices, have been converted back to facsimiles of cells that contain facts about life in the old prison. For a small fee, visitors can spend a little time in a cell to meditate on their ambitions and bask in the aura of the tomb.
The two towers that flank the prison’s barbican are embossed with great white granite torches that are brightly lit at night with red glow-stones. Lightstones imported from the mountains of Karov cause the lights to flicker like heatless flames, casting stark shadows that dance across the prisons’ walls. These are later additions to the structure, however. Following the conescration of the site, strange flames now burn in the heart of the old prison.
Anyone who has a suitable phys-rep is free to roleplay that their lamp, lantern, or torch has been lit from one of those at Ratibor's Gate. LED lights are appropriate phys-reps for such flames. They don't detect as magical or spiritual, and they don't seem to have any other peculiar properties, and any light lit from these secondary sources functions as normal.
The site is still lit internally by flickering torches, and the exterior gates are flanked by old iron torches that give the place a particularly menacing air. Since the consecration, not one of those torches has gone out through natural means. No wind has extinguished them, they even continue to burn (albeit fitfully) during rain storms and blizzards. They can be extinguished intentionally (although it takes a little more effort than normal), and when removed from the vicinity of the Gate they return to normal. Other than this peculiar quality, they seem to be perfectly normal fire... almost. When someone lights their own torch, lantern, or lamp from one of the torches, the flame likewise becomes very hard to put out. People have carried lights lit in Temeschwar throughout the League and beyond; they're not as durable as lightstones in that they still seem to require air, and are quenched in water, but otherwise they are at least as useful as that magical mineral.
It has rapidly become a custom for those who intend to seek out a threat, literally or metaphorically, to begin by making a pilgrimage to the prison and lighting a lamp or torch from the miraculous flames there, to guide them on their upcoming task.