Edinburgh Offices
From Changeling Venue
Though the sovereign changes with every turn of the seasons, and Edinburgh has often lacked a formalised government, there are certain posts that have usually been filled by members of the Freehold, regardless of which season is in power. All offer opportunities for personal profit and advantage, in addition to the sometimes onerous - or even lethally dangerous - duties they entail.
Several have traditionally operated on a tax-farming basis: the holder is required to provide a certain quantity of resources to the freehold, with any excess gained while in pursuit of his duties becoming his to keep... and any short-fall having to come from his own pocket, or be explained in detail. In more recent - and dangerous - times, this practice has periodically fallen into abeyance.
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Major Offices
These positions in Edinburgh are almost always filled, though they have often been acquired through intrigue rather than merit.
- Castellan: Charged with the care of the area covered by the Maze, the Castellan has often been seen as either a courtier or a gangster running a protection racket. Responsible for aiding new arrivals in the location of suitable hideouts and Hollows in the In-Between and Maze and also for tracking down threats that penetrate the defences, the Castellan can be a friend to all or an exploitative racketeer menacing residents' homes and livelihoods. Certainly, the city's history records stories of Castellans near as widely loathed and feared as the Gentry from whom their territory was protected by the Maze, though others have gone down in folklore as great benefactors and philanthropists caring for Hedge-torn new arrivals and Wyrd-touched invalids.
- City-Warder: Responsible for attempting to monitor (and in theory contain or keep out) threats within that portion of the mortal city of Edinburgh not covered by the Maze, the City-Warder's position is the newest of the major offices, only having arisen within the past 250 years as Edinburgh spread across the lower land around Castle Rock. Over the course of its history the post has varied widely in role and responsibilities. Nowadays, it is as likely to involve dealing with encroaching members of the Raiding Clans as it is to permit the profitable harvesting of goblin fruit.
- Ministry of Keys: Often seen as the dullest and least dangerous of the major posts, the Gate-keepers can in fact be among the best-informed of all Lost. Knowledge of the city's Doors and Gateways can be used for public good or personal gain with equal ease.
- Warden of the Outer Marches: The March-Warden is tasked with attempting to defend the Freehold against external threats. It is his duty to monitor the activities and politics of the Raiding Clans beyond the city's bounds, and to try to forestall serious attacks upon the freehold. In the process, considerable personal power and profit can be gained through exploitation of Hedge resources and alliances with the Clans... though more than a few Warders have disappeared while performing their duties.
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Minor Offices
Now more rarely filled, and lacking the authority and prestige of the four senior posts, these offices have still from time to time played prominent roles in the history of the freehold.
- Ministry of Cartography: As the Gate-keepers map entrances to the city's Hedge, so the Cartographer and his staff are supposed to attempt to maintain up-to-date knowledge of the shifts and changes in the Maze. Given the never-ending and often dangerous nature of the task, the Ministry has long struggled to maintain interest in its work, and past Ministers have often been accused of searching for the secrets of the Maze instead of maintaining useful maps for the freehold's members.
- Marshal of the Freehold: The official leader of the freehold's armed forces, the Marshal is the individual responsible for ensuring that the city is provided with active defences to complement the passive protection of the Maze and the diplomatic and police work of the City-Warder and March-Warden. However, lacking authority to wage war or initiate policy on his own terms, and with a region-wide decline in the population of "civilised" Lost from whom troops might be drawn, the Marshalate has been left vacant for much of the modern era.
- Ministry of Market and Trod: Once a major power in the freehold, with extensive holdings in the previously-separate port of Leith and with rights to supervise the operation of a regular market and the passage of commercial goods into and out of the city (taxing them in return for the right to operate behind the defences of the Maze), the post is often now seen as redundant. With the absorption of Leith by Edinburgh and the final collapse of most other Lost holds in Scotland, it has been argued that only tradition or optimism might justify the continuation of this Ministry.
- Ministries of the Seasons: Ashen, Emerald, Crimson and Onyx Ministers have in the past been appointed by sovereigns (or demanded by members of the Courts) to formally represent their particular seasons' interests within the councils of the Changing Throne. Particularly in light of the seasonal rotation of supreme rule, such posts are often regarded as redundant, but they have appeared in times of strife and as honorifics for noteworthy individuals even when the population of the freehold has been comparatively low. On very rare occasions (usually prompted by heavy pressure from the Raiding Clans), a "Minister of Glass" has been appointed to represent those not adhering to one of the seasonal courts.
- Ministry of Seers: Though the most famous Lost to have originated in Scotland, "True" Thomas of Erceldoune, is best known as a prophet, precious few since him have demonstrated comparable oracular ability. Still, the freehold hosts a library of predictions and has in the past granted apparently-reliable seers formal positions in order to retain their services.
| Freehold of Edinburgh | |
|---|---|
| General: | Edinburgh (VSS) • Who's Who • Offices • Services • Rumors |
| Places: | Oldcastle • The In-Between • The Maze • The Innocent Railway |
| Bramblethorne Manor • Tantallon Castle | |
| Other: | Scotland • Domain Info |
