Synod

The Synod is the body of state responsible for religious matters. Its membership is every player character with a congregation.

The structure of the Synod is covered on the public wiki. This page focuses on the work and processes followed by the Synod department of the Civil Service team.

In-character, the Synod team is the Tribune of the Synod.

Pre-event work

Before each event, we produce the following documents:

The Assembly Lists, which show all Members of the Synod pre-booked for that event, split out by Assembly
The Mandate List, which shows all available mandates available that event
The Synod Titles List, which shows all titles appointed through the Synod & their occupants, and also lists all titles up for appointment

These documents are produced via Google Docs and then converted to PDF for printing in Preston prior to the event starting.

Producing the lists

The most complicated is the Assembly Lists. This first requires accessing the "Voting Rights - Synod" from the "Data" tab of the PD database (if you don't have access, you can ask Jonathan to get this sorted for you). There's a Google Sheet that does most of the heavy lifting for us (which at some point could be improved even further with macros). You can use the previous event's Google Docs as a template for this event, just make sure you update everything.

Paste the data from the database into the Google Sheet
Do a quick sense-check - is there anything out of place?
- very high or very low vote strengths
- members of Plot crew with votes unless specifically warned ahead of time
Using the pivot tables, sort each Virtue Assembly:
- By Nation in Ascending order
- By Name in Ascending order
Copy and paste each Assembly list into a Google Doc and format it
- Split over 2 pages as necessary
- At the top of each Assembly list, in bold and larger letters, put the name of the Assembly
- At the bottom-right of each page, put the name of the Assembly and, if more than one page, the page number in brackets
- Where you have to go over 2 pages, keep each nation onto one page
Do the same for National Assemblies
Also export the total voting strength, greater majority threshold and number of priests for each Assembly into two tables, one for Virtue and one for National (with General as the "total" line for each)

The Mandate List requires going through every single Wind of Fortune and finding any mandates presented. We group them by Wind of Fortune they appear in. We don't capture the effects of the mandates, just:

The text (which includes the cost) - this is critical to get exactly right
Who submitted the wording, if it was done by a player
What Assembly/Assemblies the mandate is for
Whether it competes with any other mandate

For the Synod Titles List, take the one from the previous event. Update it with all changes to incumbents, and add/remove titles from the list as needed. Then using the database, identify all titles up for election and list them along with how they're elected.

Pre-event printing

This is normally handled by Jonathan, but anyone could do it. All the below printing should be onto vellum as it's for IC use.

Assembly Lists - 6 copies for each Virtue Assembly (2 for each Cardinal, 2 for the voting books, 1 for the primacy book, 1 for the wall), 1 copy of each National Assembly (for the primacy book) and 2 copies for the National Assemblies with dedicated tiles (currently Highguard, League and Wintermark)
Synod Titles Lists - 2 copies, one duplex (for the book) and one simplex (for the wall)
Mandate List - 3 copies, 1 for the main desk and 2 for the citizen's writing desk
Judgement Sheets - print more as needed to top up supplies. General Assembly goes through the most, followed by some of the National Assemblies
Voting Sheets - we should have about 500 for each event (c. 250 judgements with 2 sheets each), so generally print 500 unless we have a notable leftover from previous events
Other notices - these currently include:
- Lectures and Assembly Change posters - confirm how different lectures will have changed Virtue Assembly membership, and highlight which elections people cannot vote in if they've moved assembly
- Virtue Fund posters - confirm total amount in Virtue Fund as at start of event, list donations from previous event, etc.

At-event prep

At the event, we need to get everything ready before time-in. That includes:

Setting up the assembly boards on the Judgement wall
- Put up all the assembly board headers
  - 10 National Assemblies in the Hub Annex
  - 8 Virtue Assemblies, Assembly of Nine, and two sets of General Assembly (one for judgements needing greater majorities and the other for everything else) in the main Hub
- Put a stock of blank judgement sheets for each Assembly on the relevant board

Putting up notices
- Virtue Assembly lists in the main Hub, along with the assembly totals
- Synod Titles list in the main Hub
- Other notices wherever they fit

Prepping the voting books
- Empty the two voting folders - "Book 1" and "Book 2"
- In the front of each, place one copy of each of the Virtue Assembly lists, plus a totals sheet
- Empty the "Competed" folders as well

Prepping the primacy folder
- Remove any previous lists or totals
- In the front, place one copy of each of the Virtue Assembly lists, a copy of each of the National Assembly lists, and a totals sheet
- Stock the folder with 5-20 blank voting sheets

Preparing initial judgements
- Judgements 1 & 2 - Appointments for the two Cardinals up for regular election this event
- Judgement 3 - Rewarding for True Liao
- Judgements 4+ - anything else due to be raised by the Tribune, such as -
  - Vacant Cardinal titles
  - Any Veto hanging over from the previous event
  - Any Recognitions that were upheld with a greater majority by a Virtue Assembly at the previous event
  - Any Synod-appointed titles subject to Challenge at the previous event
- Ensure voting sheets are prepped and put in the voting books
- Get the judgements up on the wall, unless there's a good reason not to (e.g. controversial veto wording), at which point put those up at time-in

Preparing part-filled judgements for titles up for election
- Use the Synod Titles document and match the list of titles up for election
- Prepping these ahead of time saves a lot of time during the event and helps us avoid duplication

During the Event

During the event, Synod is open during the following times (known as scrutiny periods):

Friday	18:00-22:00
Saturday	10:00-14:00
	15:00-18:00
	19:00-22:00
Sunday	10:00-14:00

Outside of these times, unless there are pressing reasons otherwise, we should not accept new judgements or accept any votes.

Whilst Synod is open there are two "queues" we manage - the Judgement queue and the Voting queue.

Judgement queue

The Judgement queue leads up to the main desk. This queue is for:

Submitting new judgements
Asking to be added to an Appointment (standing as a candidate for that election)
Invoking any other Synod powers
Asking queries

At time-in on Friday, there is often a queue of 10-50 people that forms, but at most other times this queue is short, rarely more than 3 people.

Submitting new judgements

A Member of the Synod may submit a single Judgement each event for a single Assembly that they are a member of. They should bring to us a completed Judgement Sheet. If they haven't got one, help them find them (they're on the wall, next to the sign for that Assembly). If they have one but haven't completed it, help them complete it -

After "The Synod Member" they should write their name
After "Seeks a judgement of" we need the type of Judgement as per the list on the wiki
The main box should be completed with the text of their Judgement
The majority type (lesser/greater) is driven by the type of Judgement
The bottom-left space is for a short form of the date (e.g. Su So 387YE = Summer Solstice 387YE)
The top-right space is for the closing time. These are the end of the scrutiny periods as in the table above - 2pm, 6pm and 10pm each day. They must pick a time that's at least 3 hours away.
Finally the judgement number goes in the top-left. Fill this bit in last - ideally we will have numbered voting sheets available which will tell you what the next number is.

Validate the judgement before accepting it. Important considerations include -

Is the judgement technically valid? For instance, we should reject a Recognition put into a National Assembly, or the Dawnish Assembly calling a Marcher to Inquisition.
Is the judgement legible? If the text is quite small or the handwriting is difficult to read, then we should offer to assist them - either rewriting it ourselves, finding them someone else to do that, etc.
Relatedly, is the judgement not too long? If the words go outside the box, or it's all crammed together affecting readability, then we should advise it's too long for us to accept and ask them to rewrite it.
Does the wording breach any conduct rules? For instance, it misgenders someone, is an act of OC bullying, or contains unacceptable themes. If this is the case, we cannot accept it. Explain what's wrong with it and OC ask them to change it. If the breach is serious, refer to the team leader or a member of the Conduct team instead.

Once the judgement has been accepted, tell the Member the judgement number - at this point they can leave. Complete two voting sheets - one for each book, and pass these across to the voting desk (it's customary to ring a bell or say "ding" when you do this). Stamp the completed Judgement sheet with the horse stamp to show it's been accepted, initial the bottom-left, and put it up on the relevant wall.

Appointments

Appointments are the judgement type that are how the Synod does elections.

If someone wants to stand for a Synod-elected title (with the exception of Gatekeeper and Imperial Chaplain Consular, which are done by decision of a Cardinal instead), check whether it's already up on the wall by checking the main list in the green folder. If it's not up yet, it will probably be in the pre-prepared stack, unless we didn't know it was up for election or only became vacant at the event, at which point you'll have to prepare it from scratch. If it's up on the wall, go get it or ask the player to do this for you.

Appointments are raised by the Tribune, so for the "Synod Member" section, cross out "Member" and write "Tribune" instead. If you're completing a new sheet, add it into the list in the green folder. If you're doing a pre-prepared sheet, write the new judgement number into the folder.

Do a cursory check that the PC is eligible for the title (for example, if it's a Dawnish title, sense-check that they're Dawnish). Ask them for their name and write it in the box on the judgement sheet, numbering each as you go. Try to ensure the name is as clear as possible - ask for a full name if you need to.

Confirm the judgement number to the candidate and state that they're on the list.

If this is a new judgement sheet or pre-prepared sheet, also complete two voting sheets. Add the candidate's name to the voting sheets as well before passing these over to the voting table. If the voting sheets are already in the book, write a quick note for the voting table confirming the judgement number and the name of the candidate, then pass it to them.

Put the judgement (back) on the wall.

Other powers

The main two powers are -

Extend Scrutiny - a power of the Cardinals, each Cardinal title can do it once per event. They can extend scrutiny on any Judgement not raised by the Tribune that has not already closed. They pick a new end time for the judgement. Update the judgement sheet. Write a note for the voting table. Put the sheet back on the wall. Ring the bell and announce what's just happened, and invite the Cardinal to explain. If possible, get a message to the PC whose judgement has just been extended.

Custodian of Virtue - a power of the Throne, unlimited. They can pick any Judgement or Judgements that haven't closed yet that currently need a Lesser Majority to pass, and make them need a Greater Majority instead. Update the judgement sheet. Put the sheet back on the wall. Ring the bell and annouce what's just happened, and invite the Throne to explain. If possible, get a message to the PC whose judgement has just been affected.

No PC should take down a judgement sheet from the wall without being told to by the Tribune.

Voting queue

Members will line up to cast their votes. They should, ideally, have sorted their votes into ascending numerical order to make everyone's lives easier.

Call for the next voter
Locate them in the Virtue Assembly lists by asking for their virtue, nation and name as needed
Identify the number of votes they have. You may wish to write down name/virtue/votes on a scrap of paper
Ask the voter for the number of the next judgement they wish to vote on
Write their name, virtue assembly and voting strength in the relevant columns under In Favour or Against (or under the name of their chosen candidate)
Repeat steps 3-5 until they have voted on everything they care to
Thank them and go back to step 1