Commission
Overview
The Senate has the power to commission important projects or great works of construction that will benefit the Empire. Any Imperial citizen can make use of mithril, weirwood or white granite they have purchased to improve a resource they own. But regardless of how much wealth they possess, no citizen can recruit their own army or simply order the construction of a great work - this requires the power of commission.
Most commissions automatically result in the creation of a new Imperial title - for example raising a new army causes the creation of a new Imperial general - creating this title is an integral part of the commission and does not require a second motion to be considered by the Senate.
Creating a New Commission
The following pages describe the current library of known commissions distilled from the ledgers maintained by the Imperial civil service. We will maintain this list with any new forms of commissions that develop in play.
Military Commissions
Civilian Commissions
Costing
Any commission that is proposed by a senator will be costed by the civil service, so that the Senate can make an informed decision on whether to pass the motion. The civil service use extensive ledgers of known costs based on the desired outcome - so they can cost any request for something that has been built before - or a variation thereof - provided the citizen makes clear what they want the commission to do. Where the desired outcome is not stated or not clear then the costing takes longer as the civil service are forced to guess what the proposer wanted.
Most costs are defined in terms of the number of wains of mithril, weirwood and white granite which are required to complete the construction. Costings will also state any ongoing upkeep costs as well as the time and money required to complete the construction. Civil servants are present during the construction of the commission, so it is not possible to construct anything other than the commission approved by the Senate.
It is possible to request something that has never been constructed before, but such a construction may not be physically possible and the costing is likely to take much longer, as much as a year. The civil service have to do extensive research to look into the practicality of the request and use day magic to make predictions of the materials required.
The civil service try to provide costings to any citizen who requests them, but if they are unusually busy then they will prioritize requests for costs which are linked to a motion that has actually been proposed.
Necessary Details
Whenever a new commission is being created several important details need to be communicated to the Civil Service.
- Name
- Location
- Cost
- Nature
- Imperial Title
The commission itself will need a name, so that it can be clearly identified in Imperial Records.
The necessary details include the rough location where the commission is to be raised or built - usually the territory and region are sufficient.
Some commissions have a standard cost for mithril, weirwood and white granite, for example a new Imperial army requires 250 wains of mithril, so this detail is fixed. If the commission can be of variable size, then the necessary details include what Bourse materials will be used to complete the commission.
A sinecure is a very general term, only marginally more specific than a word like "building" or "construction". It is used by the Empire to describe any construction designed to produce a fixed income. The civil service need to have a clear idea of the nature of any commission that is being built, where that is not clear. A concise overview on the nature and purpose of a commission may be relevant to the Senate's decision to pass a motion; a more detailed description can be provided to the civil service later.
Commissions that result in the creation of a new Imperial title also require the necessary details for the new title.The position will need a name. If the Imperial title bears any particular duties or responsibilities then this is particularly important information.
Limitations
Imperial Titles
The approval of the Imperial Senate is required to approve the commission of any significant construction. Because of the great costs involved in creating a structure using mithril, weirwood, or white granite, most commissions are built to provide important practical benefits. If these benefits require administration or oversight by a citizen then the constitution mandates that a suitable Imperial title be created and a citizen with no other Imperial title be appointed to the position.
As a result of these rules laid down at the dawn of the Empire the Constitutional Court does not allow the Senate to authorize a commission that would provide tangible benefits to an individual citizen without creating an Imperial title to be responsible for the commission and any benefits or powers it provides.
No subsidy
Senate motions that involve commissions must set a budget allocated from the Imperial treasury to fund the construction. It is not uncommon for the budget allocated to be zero - a sign that the Senate will allow a commission to proceed but does not wish to support it - but it cannot require funds be provided to the Imperial treasury in return for permitting a commission to proceed.
Domestic affairs
All commissions, with the exception of spy networks, can only be constructed in a region controlled by the Empire.
Oversight
If the Senate passes a commission, then the member of the Senate that proposed the motion is then responsible for overseeing the project. Any funds allocated from the treasury are given directly to the proposer to use for the completion of the commission. The citizen remains responsible for the commission and legally empowered to authorize it, even if they lose their position in the Senate during that time. The only way a commission overseer can be changed is if the citizen dies or is excommunicated; only then is Senate legally permitted to pass a motion to assign one of their number to complete the project.
A character can go about spending their funds as they see fit, and can delegate some or all of the responsibility to others, but they are ultimately considered to be responsible for ensuring the project is completed.
Opportunities
Opportunities are seeded into the game from plot. Opportunities are usually commissions; often they will circumvent or exceed the regular play balanced rules for determining the outcome of a commission.
A commission opportunity must be proposed by a senator to be voted on as any normal commission, but it may provide the ability to do something at reduced cost, or in a way that could not normally be achieved. The nature of the plot will normally dictate what benefits the opportunity provides, as well as what information is available on those benefits.
Improvements and Repairs
In addition to new commissions, the Senate may also pass motions to upgrade or improve existing commissions. In the case of armies and fortifications they can also pass motions to expend the resources needed to return the army to full strength or repair the fortification. These motions follow the same processes used for new commissions.
Administration
Any players whose character who has used the power of commission, should put the documents representing the wains of mithril, weirwood and white granite that they are committing to their project in the bag that they hand in at the end of the event. They should then email Profound Decisions to make us aware that they want to pay for a commission. We will remove the money or resources from their inventory as soon as we are aware that you wish to make a payment. If anything is removed from your inventory by us that you did not wish to use in this way then please let us know as quickly as possible.
Please do not include a note when you hand in your wains as it is impossible to process these notes at the point where your bag is processed.
Lapsed Commissions
In the event that no payments have been made against a construction for a period of one year, a motion will lapse and will no longer be considered under construction. A payment is considered to be at least one season's worth of the required materials. It requires fresh authorisation by the Imperial Senate to restart a lapsed commission, and may require a fresh costing from the civil service.
At this time, there are no lapsed motions of commission.