Imperial Favour

The following information has been published with permission Ioseph of Phoenix Reach, Minister for Historical Research, in the Winter of 378 YE:

The Imperial Favours of Empress Britta

Having seen the mistakes of the previous three incumbents, the Empress Britta vowed openly not to repeat them. She had the courage to speak her mind, but she tempered this with the wisdom to select competent advisors, and give those advisors the freedom to act on behalf of the Empire. They often wielded this power on behalf of The Throne through use of the Imperial favour. By trusting her favour to reliable agents, Britta was able to successfully wield power in multiple houses simultaneously. While her primary focus for much of her reign was on the defence of the Empire's borders, and on liberating those territories lost to the barbarian, her representatives focused on bringing the Synod, Senate and Conclave to the service of the Empire.

The most common use of her favour during this time was to give one of her staunch supporters Maxwell Heshel di Temeschwar the authority to employ the Power of Veto. He employed this favour on three occasions in 374YE and 375YE to block attempts by Senators of the “old guard” from enacting self-serving or unpopular policies.

During this time she also made careful use of favour in the military council. By granting the Defender of the Empire to an ally, she could ensure that an incompetent general could be replaced before they could cause any damage to the ongoing campaign without having to take the Generalship herself.

On the “Final Favour”

Certain facts are incontrovertible. It can be stated with confidence that at the Winter Solstice 376YE Empress Britta did not have a favour in existence. Her final recorded favour had been used at the Autumn Equinox when Maxwell di Temeschwar excluded the Senator for Zenith for the duration of a vote regarding the emergency resupply of the Golden Axe. The charismatic senator had repeatedly derailed discussions of resupply to demand a review of spending on the armies given projected costs in Mithril and Weirwood of continued “total warfare.”

On the evening before the fateful conjunction that ushered in the State of Emergency of 377YE, the Empress summoned Magistrate Stanislav Karkovich to a private meeting. The only person in attendance apart from the Empress and the Magistrate was Garrack White-Walker. Unfortunately, the Empress' favoured Navarri messenger died during the disastrous conjunction the next day, killed while delivering the general order to retreat back through the Sentinel Gate. Empress Britta died the following day along with the majority of the Imperial court.

Magistrate Karkovich refuses to discuss what happened during that meeting, merely confirming that he was summoned in his “professional capacity.”

Speaker Origen confirmed the creation of a favour – and indeed announced it during the emergency Senate meeting following the fatal conjunction.

Apart from these facts, however, it is possible to engage in some informed conjecture. Civil servants do not gossip, but there are three main avenues of speculation regarding the likely candidates to have received the Imperial favour.

Firstly, there is a significant chance that whoever had the favour died with the Empress. In this eventuality, it is likely that the favour has been destroyed – it is very unlikely that the Thule orcs responsible for the massacre of Britta and her allies would recognise the importance of the document.

However, even if it was issued to one of her inner circle, it is possible that the recipient trusted the valuable document to another or concealed it somewhere and that it was not taken on the battlefield. For that matter, it is possible the power granted by the favour was intended specifically to prevent some stratagem being employed by the Empress' enemies while Imperial attention was focused on the northern battlefield.

The most common theory concerning the nature of Empress Britta’s final favour is that the Empress bestowed the power of Defender of the Empire, allowing one of her supporters to take command of one of the Imperial armies should it prove necessary.

The second theory is that the favour was entrusted to the Imperial Orcs. The Empress was an outspoken supporter of the orcs, and a public supporter of their “Grand Plan” to secure territory for their people. Adherents of this theory point to several private meetings between the Empress, the Imperial Orc egregore and the generals of the Summer Storm and Winter Sun that preceded her meeting with Magistrate Karkovich. Further investigation, however, confirms only that the main topic of discussion during these meetings was strategy for the coming seasons and tactics for the battle against the Thule.

The third theory is that the favour was issued to one of her Winterfolk supporters as a form of “payment” for past services. Conjecture suggests that it concerned the authority to use the Hand of the Chancellor for the benefit of a specific Hall in Hahnmark or Kallavesa. While this is the least common theory, and would be at odds with Britta's general dislike of favouritism or nepotism, those who support it point to the relative secrecy under which the Empress created and bestowed the favour. If this were true, it would most likely tarnish the reputation of a Throne who much of the general populace consider to be the epitome of Imperial virtue.