Historical research

The Empire has been in existence for nearly four hundred years; human civillization stretches back much further than that. The recent settlements by Dawn and the Highborn were proceeded by centuries of orc barbarian chaos and before that the Bay of Catazarr area was home to the sprawling kingdoms that were the ancestors of Navarr, Wintermark, Urizen and Varushka. Any given scholar today knows only a part of the epic history of humankind.

There are no Imperial Archives - no secret libraries maintained by the civil service. Instead, there are libraries, archives, records stores and similar across the Empire. There are scores across the Empire - even the Navarr Stridings carry books and scrolls with them in their wagons. Every Wintermark hall keeps a tally of judgement stretching back generations. Every Dawnish house keeps records of it's most glorious members. Each Highborn chapter records the deeds of it's worthy scions, every Urizen spire maintains libraries both arcane and more mundane in nature. The Marchers have memories written and oral that stretch back to the times before there were any Marchers, while the Varushkan Wise Ones and Cabalists maintain written records and keep the rich tradition of stories and cautionary tales alive from generation to generation. The tribes of the Brass Coast maintain family archives the first scrolls of which were carried with the exiled Founders when they left Highguard. The League cities build white granite libraries dedicated to the history of the city-folk and jealously guard the personal histories of guilds and grudges and debts owed. While the Imperial Orcs are new to the Empire, their cultural drive to education and their reverence of the written word have already begun amassing records, books and scrolls.

There are millions of documents in the Empire. Once upon a time, hundreds of years were spent copying tomes and collecting documents together ... and then Nicovar the Mad burnt them down. Recreating these Imperial Archives would cost millions of thrones and take centuries. The closest the Empire has to an Imperial archive at the moment is the great mass of writing that is spread across the entire Empire.

Commissioning a Research Project

Finding specific information in the decentralised Imperial memory is a daunting and expensive task. Teams of people must spread out across the Empire to seek out lore buried in any of the countless personal libraries. The civil service has a team of librarians with great experience of these searches so the most effective way to uncover information about the past is for the Imperial Senate to commission a research project from the civil service.

A single research project costs 5 Thrones, and the civil service has the resources to perform up to five research projects each season.

Because of their experience the civil service can usually give an estimate of how likely they are to find some information. On occasion, they will have information easily accessible in which case no research project is required and no cost is assessed. Sometimes the project will be so massive in scale that the costs will be considerably higher.

Once the project is complete, the civil service provides a report summarizing their findings. This is usually given to a named individual, although it may also be made available to any Imperial scholar who asks through public dissemination.