Draft:Civil Service
The Civil Service shall serve The Throne and the people, and be bound in oaths of loyalty to the Empire. They will be civil in their dealings and treat each citizen by their virtues, without prejudice or favour regardless of wealth, nationality or title. They will choose amongst them those who will serve as magistrates, to ensure the law is a friend to no-one but instead the servant and the master of all.
The Imperial ConstitutionOverview
The Imperial Civil Service was established at the birth of the Empire but the roles and responsibilities were not codified until later, during the reign of Emperor Giovanni. Every member of the Service swears an oath to carry out their duties honestly and without favour to any party. As such, they do not vote in any elections, allowing citizens to trust the information and advice they provide is as fair and accurate as possible.
The civil servants who attend Anvil are generally based at the Civil Service Hub, located roughly at the centre of Anvil. However, their work takes them across various parts of Anvil, as is outlined here.
All civil servants are NPC only positions. Their role is to enable the game to run effectively - providing dependable sources of information and preventing players from being bogged down in administration or bureaucracy. The roles are intended to be incorruptible, so that players can trust what the information implicitly. Profound Decisions will never run plot in Empire involving the corruption of magistrates or other civil servants.
Institutional Civil Servants
These civil servants are linked to specific Imperial Institutions to ensure their smooth operation, and can be found at Anvil performing their respective roles over the course of each summit. In most cases a specific title exists, linked to each of the five great houses of the Empire, e.g. the Speaker for the Senate. Though such offices are always referred to in the singular, in practice there are usually multiple civil servants assigned specific to each role.
Speaker for the Senate
The Speaker for the Senate comprises those civil servants appointed to oversee the business of the Imperial Senate. The Speaker chairs all sessions of the Senate to ensure they are orderly, timely and effective. They are responsible for accepting motions from senators and creating the agenda for each session, including any addresses that are to be made.
The Speaker is the best in-character point of contact for queries about Senate motions, commissions, creation of new Imperial titles, and advice on how the Senate is run.
The office of Speaker is expected to maintain the following records:
- A list of all motions brought before Senate, the wording, their proposers, and the seconders.
- Whether or not each motion was passed, failed or withdrawn.
- Any disbursement from the Imperial treasury that was approved for the motion.
- A list of all announcements made before Senate.
- The location of a suitable a suitable pro-forma for Senate motions.
| Character | Crew Member |
| John of Meade | Harry Harrold |
| Rialta di Regario | Amy Woodhead |
| Alys Dyer | Amy Mason |
Tribune of the Synod
| Character | Crew Member |
| Almodis Bolholt | Vikiy Myers |
| Tall Billie Dipper | Matt Kazmierczak |
| Kiersten Grimmrsdottir | Harriette Westmacott-Verran |
| Maria Alexandrovna Kabanova | Sonja Hammes |
| Leonardo i Del'Toro i Riqueza | Jonathan Kidger |
| Orva Pirittasdottir | Kirsty Horne |
The Tribune of the Synod comprises those civil servants appointed to oversee the business of the Imperial Synod. The Tribune is responsible for accepting and registering Judgements raised by priests, and recording and announcing the votes of members of the Synod. It is also the Tribune who disburses the True Liao to the Throne, the winner of the lot in the Public auction, and the doses awarded by the Gatekeepers.
As the Synod holds no formal sessions, the Tribune is based solely within the Hub. They are able to answer queries relating to appointment to Synod titles, the raising of and voting for Judgements, as well the opportunities and powers available to the Synod.
The Tribune is expected to maintain the following records:
- The set of all judgements raised by the Synod at the summit.
- Votes made by Synod priests on judgements.
- Appointments by assemblies of the Synod.
- Definitive wordings for any mandates that have been assessed by the Civil Service.
- Rewardings made from the Virtue fund to the priests who raised the corresponding Judgements
- The names of those who are to receive visions of past lives
- The location of a suitable pro forma for Synod Judgements
Herald of the Council
| Character | Crew Member |
| Ekaterijna Nadyovna Gremani | Sam Sulkin |
| Verus Gorolfson | Ben Woodhead |
The Herald of the Council comprises those civil servants appointed to oversee the business of the Military Council. The Herald chairs all official meetings, the Muster and all regular sessions of the Military Council to ensure they are orderly, timely and effective. They are responsible for creating the agenda for each session, accepting any addresses that are to be made.
The Herald is well-placed to answer any queries relating to the operation of the Military Council and how best to bring matters before it. They provide information on the disposition of the Empire's military forces to the Imperial generals at the start of the muster.
The Herald is expected to maintain the following records:
- The disposition and strength of the Empire's armies and fortifications.
- The battle opportunities chosen by the military council
- Which nations are taking the field for each battle.
- The field marshal commanding each battle.
- The orders given by generals to their armies.
- Any pardons issued by the Military Council.
- Any distribution of spoils of war made by the Military Council.
Agent of the Bourse
| Character | Crew Member | Role |
| Marta Kovar | Elinor Kershaw | Agent of the Bourse |
| Rialta di Regario | Amy Woodhead | Auctioneer |
The Agent of the Bourse comprises those civil servants appointed to oversee the business of the Imperial Bourse. They organise the election of all National Bourse Titles recording the votes cast and identifying each winner. They also arrange and oversee the Auction of the Seats and the auction of a dose of True Liao. The Agent is responsible for issuing Bourse certificates for weirwood, mithril and white granite to new seat holders when they win an auction or election.
The Agent is best-placed to answer questions relating to any Bourse titles, either auctioned or elected, as well as questions about the current state of Bourse seats.
The Agent is expected to maintain the following records:
- Appointments by the Auction of Seats including who is appointed and how much was paid.
- Appointments by the Tally of Votes including who is appointed, the total winning votes and the winning margin.
- Values of any small quantities of Bourse resources auctioned at each summit.
- The winning bid for the dose of True Liao auctioned via the Bourse.
Prefect of the Conclave
Elections (left).
| Character | Crew Member |
| Khaytanus Everwatch | James Littlewood |
| Casiphea of Basilisk's Rest | Clare Selley |
| Merlot | Paul Wilder |
The civil servants who serve the Imperial Conclave oversee its sessions in the Hall of Worlds. They accept Declarations made in advance of each session, create the agenda, and ensure each session is run in a timely, efficient and orderly fashion. They are also responsible for taking the crystal mana required to speak in Conclave, which is then added to the Conclave vaults and disbursed to Grandmasters of each Order.
The Prefect is available in the Hub in advance of each session to receive Declarations for the Agenda, as well as to answer procedural questions on how things might be brought before Conclave.
The Prefect is expected to maintain the following records:
- Appointments to Imperial titles.
- Addresses made on each day, and who made each one
- Declarations made on each day, who made each one, and whether or not it passed
- The Strengths of each order at each Conclave session
- The contents of each Order's Vault at the beginning and end of the Summit
Constitutional Court
La Salle (right) discuss matters of state.
Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court is composed of a number of magistrates and Civil Servants whose job is to ensure that the motions passed by the Imperial Senate can be implemented in accordance with the Imperial Constitution. Members of the Court have a number of their own responsibilities, particularly the Auditor of the Imperial Treasury, who is responsible for ensuring the Master of the Imperial Mint receives a report on the accounts of the Imperial Treasury each summit. These Civil Servants sometimes attend sessions of the Senate to provide important further context on the opportunities and powers available to it.
| Name | Title | Crew Name |
| Abraham | Magistrate | Matt Pennington |
| Gerard La Salle | Auditor of the Imperial Treasury | Graeme Jamieson |
| Leontes the Scribe | Imperial Archivist | Andy Rafferty |
| Stanislav Karkovich | Chief Magistrate | Jon Creek |
Member of the Constitutional Court
Non-Institutional Civil Servants
Though the roles of these Civil Servants is not necessarily tied to one of the official bodies of state, they attend Anvil to serve their respective functions.
Secretariat of the Civil Service
The Secretariat of the Civil Service constitutes a small number of civil servants who oversee the appointment of various Civil Service roles and the day-to-day operation of the Service. At Anvil, when not facilitating the needs of the Civil Service as a whole, they usually fill other roles in line with their specialisms.
The Secretariat includes the role of Cultural Liaison, a specialist civil servant who interfaces directly with the egregores of each nation and the Civil Service as a whole to ensure that all Imperial citizens, especially those new to Anvil, have access to the support they need.
| Name | Crew Name | Role |
| Kaya | Clare Evans | Cultural Liaison |
| Leonardo i Del'Toro i Riqueza | Jonathan Kidger | Secretary General |
Clare Evans is Head of Player Support, and Jonathan Kidger is Head of the Civil Service team. The above roles exist in-character to reflect the support offered to these teams out-of-character - neither position provides any relevant in-character powers that will be relevant during an event.
Overseer of Imperial Elections
The Overseer of Imperial Elections is responsible for administering the appointment for all Imperial titles not managed by another office of the Civil Service, and ensuring all elections adhere to the strictures of Imperial Law. This includes, but is not limited to, elections for Senators and Generals each summit.
The Overseer can be approached with queries as to the methods of appointment and the practicalities of elections via any method, particularly those not covered by other offices.
| Name | Crew Name |
| Merlot | Paul Wilder |
The Overseer is expected to keep the following records:
- Results of elections to the Senate
- Results of elections by the Senate
- Results of appointments of generals and admirals of the Military Council
- Other appointments made by the Bourse
- The list of current Imperial title holders
- The list of changes from the last summit's list of current Imperial title holders
Imperial Magistracy
These civil servants co-ordinate the militia and are responsible for administering trials and Imperial justice, including collecting fines where necessary. They are primarily based in the Hub, although trials are often conducted in other locations. The Magistrates can be approached to answer any queries relating to Imperial Law, as well as to offer advice on how to bring about civil claims.
The Magistracy, especially the Chief Magistrate, are also responsible for assisting in the creation of Imperial Favours.
| Magistrate | Crew Name | Specialism |
| Stanislav Karkovich | Jon Creek | Chief Magistrate, Criminal & Religious law |
| Adam | John Kearney | Religious Law |
| Avedon de Remourics | Oliver Facey | Criminal & Religious Law |
| Grimmer Reinholz | Martin Verran | General |
| John Cooper | Richard Squires | General |
| Nihm Farkas | Sophie Earnshaw | General |
| Zofia Justynova Garnovska | Christi Scarborough | General |
The Magistracy also publishes the Court Report following each summit that details all trials and their outcome.
Division for the Preparation of True Liao
These Civil Servants take instruction from those individuals awarded or in possession of True Liao. Where individuals seek to use the True Liao to have visions of their past lives, it is the responsibility of these Civil Servants to interview them to explain the process, and then to administer to the ceremony after the True Liao has been suitably prepared.
They aim to make themselves available to all potential visionaries for interviews and discussions at the Hub - both on the Saturday night of each summit as well as at 1:30pm on the Sunday.
| Name | Crew Name |
| Barak of Haros | David Sheridan |
| Walt Scriber | Ian Horne |
These Civil Servants are also responsible for keeping records of which citizens are due to receive visions of their Past Lives, which are published in the Hub. The Civil Service does not record the details of previous Visions - the responsibility for this lies with the Seer of the Gateway.
War Scouts & Prognosticators
The Military Council employs a variety of individuals to discern the nature of the various opportunities available to the Empire, either in clash of armies or in battles through the Sentinel Gate. War Scouts have first-hand experience in fighting and gaining intelligence about barbarian units, whilst the Prognosticators employ powerful divination magic to assess the disposition of both barbarian and Imperial forces. Other bodies of the Civil Service also employ Prognosticators within their own areas.
At Anvil summits, the War Scouts maintain a post adjacent to the Sentinel Gate in order to advise on known Conjunctions where the heroes of the Empire might engage barbarian forces, and the strategies and tactics of the Empire's foes.
| Name | Role | Crew Name |
| Orn Eidrmutr | War Scout | David Henderson |
| Tirsa i Duran i Guerra | War Scout | Katherine Catchpole-Simmons |
| Will of Overton | War Scout | Andy Connell |
| Atraxes | Prognosticator | Tom Hancocks |
The Academy
The Imperial Academy at Anvil runs various activities for the younger heroes of the Empire. A list of dedicated Academy staff can be found here.