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.

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

Total Money Spent	Production
12 Crowns	12 ingots of Green Iron , 6 ingots each of Orichalcum and Weltsilver
30 Crowns	20 ingots of Green Iron, 10 ingots each of Orichalcum and Weltsilver
64 Crowns	36 ingots of Green Iron, 18 ingots each of Orichalcum and Weltsilver

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.

Selection

This title is appointed during the Spring Equinox. The Custodian of the Assayer's Guild is appointed 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, and so only a League character may bid for the position. They do not receive a seat on the Bourse nor access to the private auction.

Removal

The Custodian of the Assayer's Guild is appointed every year. They cannot be revoked by any Assembly of the Imperial Synod.

History

• Dieter Angelovic von Temeschwar was appointed to the post of Custodian of the Assayer's Guild in Spring, 378YE.
• 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 produces 4 additional Green Iron and 2 additional Orichalcum if money is spend to purchase materials; this increase has already been included in the table above. This 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.

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.