Sinecure

Overview

A sinecure is any Imperial title that provides the office holder with a fixed income. The return can take the form of money, herbs, materials for crafting items, mana crystals or even liao.

Sinecures are traditionally appointed for life.

Senate Commissions

The Imperial Senate may pass a motion for the construction of an establishment capable of producing wealth - money, herbs, resources or similar. This motion automatically results in the creation of a sinecure once the construction is complete.

It is also possible for the Senate to pass a motion to upgrade a sinecure, increasing the benefits that it provides.

Costs

• Materials: Variable (minimum 10 wains)
• Time: 3 months to construct per 50 wains of materials used
• Labour: 2 crowns per wain
• Upkeep: None

The more resources are devoted to constructing a sinecure, the greater the return. Under normal circumstances, the material required will be the one associated with upgrading an equivalent personal resource. For example, at least 10 wains of mithril is required to create a sinecure that produces mana crystals.

In addition to the wains required, it costs 2 crowns per wain to pay for labour and skills to complete the construction.

Wains	Money	Ingots	Herbs	Mana Crystals	Congregation
10	216 rings	12	18	9	6 liao, 12 votes
12	252 rings	14	21	10	7 liao, 14 votes
16	288 rings	16	24	12	8 liao, 16 votes
20	324 rings	18	27	13	9 liao, 18 votes
30	396 rings	20	30	15	10 liao, 20 votes
60	540 rings	30	45	22	15 liao, 30 votes
80	612 rings	34	51	25	17 liao, 34 votes
116	720 rings	40	60	30	20 liao, 40 votes

The table shows some standard costs and benefits for a range of sinecures. For example a sinecure created by the Senate using 20 wains of mithril could produce 13 mana crystals each season. There is no upper limit on how many wains can be used to construct a sinecure; provided at least 10 wains are used, then any amount can be spent to build it.

Limitations

It is not possible to create a sinecure which mimics the effects of a fleet or military unit, nor is it possible to create a sinecure which creates mithril, ilium, weirwood, or white granite.

A sinecure is very similar to a personal resource such as a farm or mine in that it provides a set amount of resources to the character who holds the position at the start of each event. Unlike a personal resource, however, the sinecure cannot be upgraded or diversified by its holder (only by senate motion) and there are no decisions to be made about what the position provides or how it does so. A sinecure that produces liao will not come with an option to sell that liao in downtime, a sinecure that produces green iron cannot be paid to produce more in the way a green iron mine could.

Sinecures are not affected by rituals that target a personal resource. A ritual that increases the production of a green iron mine will not affect a sinecure that produces green iron.

A sinecure that produces herbs will normally produce equal quantities of all herbs. It is possible to create a sinecure that produces a single herb, provided it is one that is commonly found in the area. As part of the necessary details, the senator can indicate what herbs they would like but the final decision about production is made by the game team.

Synod Votes

Any sinecure that produces liao also provides votes in the Imperial Synod. The flavour for such a sinecure almost invariably includes a group of faithful lay followers of the Way of some sort. The civil service evaluates this in the same way they would a congregation and assigns liao and votes in the Imperial Synod on that basis.

A sinecure that provide votes in the Imperial Synod has significant constitutional implications if the appointment of the sinecure is not made through the Synod. For example, the Guardian of Britta's Shrine was unconstitutional since it was appointed by the Senate but the title carried votes in the Synod. The magistrates would not have allowed this motion to pass in this form if they had noticed the situation at the time. If the sinecure were appointed by the Synod, then it would be constitutional.

A sinecure that provides votes in the Imperial Synod grants the holder of that title the legal powers and responsibilities of membership of the Synod. If the holder of the title is not already a member of the Synod, it automatically includes membership of all appropriate assemblies (the General Assembly, the appropriate National Assembly, and either the relevant Virtue Assembly or the Assembly of the Way).

The physical location of a sinecure that provides synod votes is not relevant to the assemblies that the owner is considered to belong to. A Navarr guide who maintains a cathedral in the Marches still wields their votes in the Navarr national assembly rather than the Marcher national assembly, even though the congregation of that cathedral are largely of Marcher nationality. Only the size of the congregation matters to the civil service, not its make-up.

A sinecure that provides votes in the Imperial Synod does not provide additional votes during the election of a Highborn senator. This could in theory lead to the odd situation where a Highborn citizen can vote in that election due to the possession of a sinecure, but has no votes. On the rare occasions that this has come up, the citizen can attend and participate in the interrogation of the candidates, but cannot cast any votes during the selection process.

Other Votes

It is no longer possible to create a sinecure that provides votes in a Bourse or Senate election, even where voting is determined by the size of a citizen's personal resource. After lengthy consideration, the Constitutional Court determined that sinecures that did this violated an important principle of presence, that an individual should be present to cast their vote.

Responsibility

Any citizen who is granted a sinecure is expected to be responsible for any problems that might beset the resources represented by the sinecure. For example, if Thule reavers are raiding the mines overseen by the Lady of the Upper Halls, then the Empire will expect that citizen to deal with the problem.

Recent Sinecures

This table includes all sinecures which have been appointed in recent times.

Name of Sinecure	Method of Appointment	Location	Output	Tenure
Brock's Toll	Tournament	Miaren, ???	Rings (324)	Year, Summer
Broken Shield Guardian	Senate, Imperial Orcs	Skarsind, Solvi	Herbs (18)	Lifetime
Bursar of the Imperial Academy	Senate, Imperial	No Structure	Rings (240)	Lifetime
Caretaker of New Dunhall	Senate, Wintermark	Hahnmark, Wood Heath	Rings (324)	Lifetime
Crow Keeper of the Rest	Synod, Wintermark	Kallavesa, Kallavesa Marsh	Liao (6), Votes (12)	Lifetime
Curator of the Printer's Guild Museum	Synod, Cardinal of Prosperity	Tassato, Tassato Mestra	Liao (6), Votes (12)	Lifetime
Curator of the White City Museum	Synod, Highguard	Bastion, Bastion Rounds	Liao (7), Votes (14)	Lifetime
Custodian of Glass Point Cove	Senate, The League	Sarvos, Uccelini	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime
Custodian of the Claw	Senate, Urizen	Morrow, Ravion	Mana Crystals (10)	Lifetime
Custodian of the Imperial War Memorial	Synod, Highguard	Casinea, Mareholm	Liao (6), Votes (12)	Lifetime
Custodian of the Starlight Drift	Senate, Urizen	Zenith, Occursion	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime
Custodian of the Storm Vault	Senate, Urizen	Zenith, Proceris	Mana Crystals (10)	Lifetime
Dean of Laroc Cathedral	Synod, Dawn	Astolat, Laroc	Liao (6), Votes (12)	Lifetime
Dean of Pilgrims	Senate, Imperial	Morrow, Ravion	Liao (18)	Lifetime
Dredgemaster of Feverwater	Senate, Navarr	Therunin, East Ashes	Crafting Materials (4), Historical Research	Year
Eternal Flame of Miaren	Senate, Navarr	Miaren, Serenael	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime
Gatekeeper of Falling Snow	Senate, Wintermark	Hahnmark, ???	Cerulean Mazzarine (12)	Lifetime
Gloaming Sentinel	Conclave	Miekarova, Srodkoja	Iridescent Gloaming (20)	Lifetime
Granger of the Golden Orchard	Senate, Navarr	Miaren, Serenael	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime
Grim Gardener	Senate, Varushka	Miekarova, Perumaki	Herbs (22)	Lifetime
Guardian of Britta's Shrine	Senate, Highguard	Necropolis, Coursmouth	N/A	Lifetime
Guardian of the Cairn	Senate, Wintermark	Skarsind, Skogei Glens	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime
Guardian of Dunfrith	Senate, Wintermark	Hahnmark, Wood Heath	Herbs (21)	Lifetime
Guardian of Giselle's Tomb	Synod, The League	Temeschwar, Hanuri	Liao (5), Votes (10)	Lifetime
Head Gardener of Urizen	Synod, Urizen	Zenith, Iteri	Herbs (22)	Year, Winter
Healer of Dawn	Senate, Dawn	Astolat, Laroc	Cerulean Mazzarine (18)	Lifetime
Herbalist of the Hearth	Senate, Wintermark	Hahnmark, Southridge	Herbs (21)	Lifetime
Jade Custodian	Senate, The League	Sarvos, Foracci	Mana Crystals (12)	Lifetime
Keeper of Aurelie's Garden	Tournament	Astolat, Grovesyard	Herbs (18)	Year, Autumn
Keeper of the Crystal Vale	Senate, Wintermark	Hahnmark, Southridge	Mana Crystals (10)	Lifetime
Keeper of the Dour Fens	Senate, The Marches	Bregasland, Gravenmarch	Mana Crystals (10)	Lifetime
Keeper of the Glorious Fountain	Senate, Urizen	Morrow, Peregro	Mana Crystals (10)	Lifetime
Keeper of the Golden Fields	Senate, The Marches	Mitwold, Golden Downs	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime
Keeper of the Memorial Gardens of Treji	Senate, Hercynia	Hercynia, The Glen of Shadows	Herbs (18)	Lifetime
Keeper of the Sapphire Stair	Senate, The League	Tassato, Cascatas	Rings (400)	Lifetime
Keeper of the Spice Gardens	Senate, Brass Coast	Feroz, Morajasse	Herbs (16)	Lifetime
Keeper of the Tower of the Fall	Senate, Urizen	Zenith, Occursion	Mana Crystals (10)	Lifetime
Master Apothecary	Senate, Wintermark	Hahnmark, Kalpamark	Herbs (21)	Lifetime
Master of the School of Exorcism	Senate, Highguard	Reikos, Tabernacle	Liao (6)	Lifetime
Mayor of Caricomare	Senate, Sarvos	Sarvos, Cigno	Rings (300), Sarvos Senator Votes (25)	Lifetime
Preceptor of the Skarsind College of Warcasting	Senate, Imperial Orcs	Skarsind, Estermark	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime
Shepherd of the Great Herd	Senate, Imperial Orcs	Skarsind, Estermark	Rings (216)	Lifetime
Signori d'Argento Vine Tender	Senate, The League	Sarvos, Foracci	Rings (216)	Lifetime
Spider's Tollkeep	Senate, Brass Coast and The League	Madruga, Torres and Sarvos, Trivento	Rings (320)	Lifetime
Storm Shaman	Senate, Imperial Orcs	Skarsind, Pakaanan's Pass	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime
Voice of Barbs	Synod, Navarr	Hercynia, Northpines	Liao (6), Votes (12)	Year, Winter
Watcher of Britta's Pool	Synod, Wintermark	Kallavesa, Kallavesa Marsh	Liao (9), Votes (18)	Lifetime
Weigher of Worth	Senate, Imperial Orcs	Skarsind, Gildermark	Mana Crystals (9)	Lifetime

Further Reading

Core Brief

• Senate session
• Senate motion
• Senate powers
• Senator

Additional Information

• Commission
• Senate address
• Senate announcement
• New Imperial titles
• Appointment by the Senate
• Appointments to the Senate
  • The Throne
  • Master of the Imperial Mint
  • Speaker for the Senate
  • Conscience of the Senate
• Imperial treasury
• OOC design