Custodian of the Assayer's Guild
Overview
The Custodian of the Assayer's Guild is an Imperial title awarded to a League citizen. It is a national position appointed through the Bourse.
The Custodian is responsible for checking the weights and measures used by the Temeschwari assayers. The position is largely ceremonial, but it puts the Custodian (and their agents) in an excellent position to deal directly with League and Varushkan miners who have struck rich seams of ore in the mountains.
Early attempts were made to keep this position solely in the control of the citizens of Temeschwar, but merchants in the other League cities asserted that the decisions made by the Custodian directly impacted their businesses, and the election was left as pan-League.
During the Summer of 385YE, the completion of the Iron Roads saw an influx of Varushkan metals passing through Delev Market in Karov, providing additional opportunities to purchase goods.
Responsibilities
The Custodian is expected to ensure that the weights and measures used by the assayers of Temeschwar - and by extension, the rest of the League - are maintained and untampered with. The close contact with miners, smelters and assayers all over the League allows ample opportunity for the Custodian to acquire supplies of rare metals at bargain prices, and it is expected they will make those metals available to their cousins in the League - at an appropriate profit, of course.
Powers
| Assayers of Temeschwar | |
| 12 crowns | 8 green iron, 4 orichalcum, 4 weltsilver |
| 30 crowns | 16 green iron, 8 orichalcum, 8 weltsilver |
| 64 crowns | 32 green iron, 16 orichalcum, 16 weltsilver |
| Delev Market | |
| 7 crowns | 6 weltsilver, 4 orichalcum, 2 green iron |
| 17 crowns | 12 weltsilver, 8 orichalcum, 4 green iron |
| 30 crowns | 18 weltsilver, 12 orichalcum, 6 green iron |
Ministry
As a ministry, the title of Custodian of the Assayer's Guild allows the holder to purchase quantities of special materials at a set price. The Custodian makes their decision how much money to spend during downtime from their character page. Money is removed from, and resources are placed into, the character's inventory when the downtime is processed.
The Delev Market stream represents the ability to buy additional metal from Varushkan traders, and remains available as long as the Iron Roads continue to support the transportation of valuable materials easily through Karov.
The DeCourcey Deal
In Spring 380YE, the Ducal House de Courcey of the Iron Confederacy agreed a trade deal that greatly bolstered the position's access to rare metals. As long as the trade deal remains in place, the position offers an additional four ingots of green iron and an additional two ingots of orichalcum, in the manner of a sinecure. The benefit remains as long as the trade deal continues to be honoured; either House de Courcey or the Custodian may choose to end it at any time. Obviously, if war were to break out between the Empire and the Iron Confederacy, the trade deal would immediately be terminated.
Appointment
This title is appointed during the Spring Equinox. The Custodian of the Assayer's Guild is chosen by citizens of the League who control business personal resources. The larger the business an individual has, the more votes they can allocate in support to a candidate. The voting is handled by the civil servants in the Bourse.
Only a League character may hold this title. They do not receive a seat on the Bourse. As a title in the Bourse, they cannot be revoked by the Imperial Synod.
The Title in Play
The role does not provide additional information about events in the Empire, nor allow the player holding it to request special reports or downtime actions. These details are assumed to be below the abstraction layer. The title holder is encouraged to create their own stories about their activities within reasonable limits and to get involved in events appropriate to their title during the game, but they do not have any powers beyond those explicitly listed in the section on powers.
These details exist partly to provide context and character to the role - and partly to allow our writers to use the title as a plot hook. Plot that involves the position will be rare - but all the campaign positions in Empire have these details to create the potential for it to happen.
| Summit | Elected | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Spring Equinox 386YE | Marcus Von Temeschwar | 466 Votes |
| Spring Equinox 385YE | Marcus Von Temeschwar | 152 Votes |
| Spring Equinox 384YE | Ricardo Almieda Desmondo di Tasetto | 86 Votes |
| Winter Solstice 383YE | Marcus Von Temeschwar | 48 Votes |
| Spring Equinox 383YE | Giustiniano Del Giorno | 58 Votes |
| Spring Equinox 382YE | Johan van den Berghe | |
| Spring Equinox 381YE | Claus Friedrich von Holberg | |
| Spring Equinox 380YE | Marat Jaroslav | |
| Spring Equinox 379YE | Dieter Angelovic | |
| Spring Equinox 378YE | Dieter Angelovic |
Recent Elections
This title is currently held by Marcus Von Temeschwar; it will be reelected at Spring Equinox 387YE. The table to the right shows the citizens who have been elected to hold this title in the years since Empress Britta died.