Castellan of Spiral Castle

The heraldry of House deCassilon.

Overview

The title of Castellan of Spiral Castle is an Imperial title appointed by the people of Dawn.

Built in pre-Imperial times, Spiral Castle stands in the centre of a small weirwood forest, at the heart of a strong Summer regio . The Earl of Spiral Castle has always been an Enchanter, and usually possessed of a strong changeling lineage. The household is controlled by the Cassilon family, and many of the nobles who live there are descendants of Empress Richilde. During the height of the Sun Queen's reign, the Imperial Senate agreed to a request that the resources of Spiral Castle be dedicated to the support and upkeep of the armies of the Empire, and of Dawn in particular.

The title of Castellan was created to allow the somewhat insular inhabitants of the castle to fulfil their duties without having to spend too much time away from their castle. When Imperial armies are not in need of emergency supplies, the nobles and yeomen of Spiral Castle tend to their weirwood groves, practice their magic, hawking and hunting, and commune with the Eternals of the Summer Realm. Over the centuries, they have drifted further and further away from Imperial concerns, and some members of the Imperial Synod have expressed concerns over whether they are entirely human any more.

After the death of Emperor Hugh in 368YE, the inhabitants of Spiral Castle abruptly withdrew from contact with the Empire, shrouding their woodland behind a wall of swirling mist. Attempts to make contact have so far been ignored, and attempts to penetrate the mist have left explorers disoriented, emerging from the mists very close to where they entered them after hours of stumbling through hostile woodlands.

In Summer 379YE, following a challenge by the eternal Barien, the heroes of Dawn recovered the Equine rod and convinced the nobles of Spiral Castle to bring down the walls of mist and rejoin the Empire.

Responsibilities

The Castellan is responsible for directing the efforts of Spiral Castle to provide emergency resupply of armies based in Weirwater. They have the final say on which army will benefit from the Castle's bounty. They are also expected to represent the nobles of Spiral Castle in their dealings with the outside world - which primarily means keeping them at arm's length and discouraging visitors.

Powers

Resupply

Each season the inhabitants of Spiral Castle could perform emergency resupply on a single Imperial army. The army needs to spend the entire season in Weirwater, and then recovers 500 strength (in addition to the natural resupply the army receives). They could not benefit from any other emergency resupply while at Spiral Castle.

The army received this emergency resupply as long as the region of Weirmoor was in Imperial hands.

Seat on the Bourse

The Castellan of Spiral Castle had a seat on the Bourse, and was able to attend the private auction.

Bounty of Golden Apples

In Winter 379YE, the inhabitants of Spiral Castle declared their intention to provide the Castellan with three golden apples from their private orchards. Going forward, this valuable vis will be received by the Castellan each season.

Selection

Before the inhabitants of Spiral Castle withdrew behind their wall of enchanted mists, this title was appointed during the Summer Solstice. The Castellan of Spiral Castle was appointed by citizens of Dawn who control military units. The larger the military unit an individual had, the more votes they could allocate in support to a candidate. The voting was handled by the civil servants in the Bourse.

Only a Dawnish character was able to hold the title. It was traditional for a yeoman to hold the title, but there was no legal requirement that this be the case.

Removal

The Castellan of Spiral Castle was appointed every year. It could not be revoked by any Assembly of the Imperial Synod.

The Title in Play

The role does not provide additional information about events in the Empire, nor allow the player holding it to request special reports or downtime actions. These details are assumed to be below the abstraction layer. The title holder is encouraged to create their own stories about their activities within reasonable limits and to get involved in events appropriate to their title during the game, but they do not have any powers beyond those explicitly listed in the section on powers.

These details exist partly to provide context and character to the role - and partly to allow our writers to use the title as a plot hook. Plot that involves the position will be rare - but all the campaign positions in Empire have these details to create the potential for it to happen.

Spiral Castle represented a source of weirwood that was entirely dedicated to a single purpose - resupplying armies. As a consequence, the weirwood provided by the woodlands around the castle had an enhanced effect. If Spiral Castle were decommissioned, the woodlands would produce no more than around sixteen wains a season at best.