Merchant-Boyar of the Stinking Market
Overview
The Merchant-Boyar of the Stinking Market is an Imperial title created by the Senate in Winter 383YE to oversee the Stinking Market following the conquest of Ossium. The position of Merchant-Boyar is a sinecure and a ministry, producing a steady stream of income and allowing the holder to purchase forest resources in bulk. The Stinking Market is in the former Druj town of Orieb in Drownbark Forest, Ossium.
Responsibilities
The Merchant-Boyar has no particular responsibilities; they simply receive an income from the Market and are able to purchase bargains from wagon-raiders who bring their goods there. If the Stinking Market were to be threatened in any way, it would be the responsibility of the Merchant-Boyar to deal with those threats.
Powers
Regular Income
The Merchant-Boyar gains custodianship of a sinecure. Each season they receive 11 crowns from wagon raiders who make use of the Market to sell their goods.
Ministry
| Total Money Spent | Production |
| 7 Crowns | 12 random measures of forest resources |
| 17 Crowns | 24 random measures of forest resources |
| 30 Crowns | 36 random measures of forest resources |
The Stinking Market also functions as a ministry - the Merchant-Boyar can purchase resources from the wagon-raiders who bring their goods for sale. The Merchant-Boyar 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.
Appointment
The title is selected by unanimous decision of the Varushkan senators at the Winter Solstice. If a unanimous decision cannot be reached, the title may be appointed by the Imperial Senate instead.
The title can be held by any Varushkan citizen. The Merchant-Boyar serves until the next scheduled election. They can be revoked by the General Assembly, the Varushkan National Assembly, and by the Assembly of the Nine.
Stinking Market
Orieb in the Drownbark Forest has become something of a centre for wagon raider operations in southern and eastern Ossium. A makeshift commercial centre - called the stinking market has grown up in the shadow of the Palace of Orieb, where wagon raiders buy and sell supplies and trade valuable materials ripped out of the marshes and forests with the most ambitious traders. The market is not without its problems, however. Wagon raiders are a rowdy lot, and there have been reports of actual armed fracas around the market. The magistrates still have a limited presence in the more isolated parts of the territory, and there is some concern that it is only a matter of time before the rivalry between the groups spills over into the town itself, potentially with destructive consequences. Most of the buildings here are wood, and as Marchers say, even damp wood burns in a hot fire.
Expanding the Stinking Market
- The Senate have two options to upgrade the Stinking Market to improve the facilities
- Both expansions could be authorised with a single Senate motion or wayleave
The Market is somewhat rudimentary at this time. The civil service have identified the following opportunities that would be available once the method of appointment were defined.
A commission by either the Imperial Senate or Bearer of an Imperial Wayleave could invest in expanding the market, replacing the ramshackle hovels and encampments with sturdy stone buildings, and building a structure suitable for the civil service magistrates. This would require 10 wains of white granite, 20 crowns in labour, and take three months. At the end of it the market would become a magnet for traders from all over Ossium. The Merchant Boyar would gain an income of 16 crowns a season instead of 11, and would add a fourth level to the ministry allowing for the purchase of 48 total measures of forest resources for 46 crowns.
| Herbs of Ossium | Production |
| 7 crowns | 6 doses of marrowort, 10 random herbs |
| 16 crowns | 13 doses of marrowort, 20 random herbs |
| 30 crowns | 20 doses of marrowort, 30 random herbs |
| Smithy | Production |
| 7 crowns | 1 Oakheart Shield |
| 9 crowns | 1 Wardensweave Scale |
| 21 crowns | 1 Ironbound Axe |
| 26 crowns | 1 Winterborn Warmail |
| 35 crowns | 1 Woodcutter's Axe |
As well as expanding the market itself, a smithy and armoury could be added, allowing the wagon raiders and sell swords to arm and armour themselves more appropriately for the dangers of the marshes and forests of eastern Ossium and the western Mallum. This would require a commission, costing 10 wains of mithril, 20 crowns in labour costs, and take three months to complete. The Merchant-boyar would gain two additional tracks for their ministry allowing them purchase some of the magic weapons and armour useful to Varushka's opportunists and mercenaries, and additional herbs gathered from the eastern forests.
These two improvements could be made with a single motion which would require only a single commission slot. The overall cost would be the total combined costs of the two options but it would take only three months to complete.
| Summit | Elected |
|---|---|
| Winter Solstice 385YE | Dorys Delgorokov |
| Winter Solstice 384YE | Krasivit Buhkova |
| Spring Equinox 384YE | Konstantin Rabovich Bolotnikov |
Recent Elections
This title is vacant and will be reelected at the next summit. The table to the right shows the citizens who have been elected to hold this title in the years since Empress Britta died.