Thornsinger

Overview

The Thornsinger is an Imperial title created by the Senate during the Winter Solstice 384YE. Thornsong House, a grand hospital in Therunin, created by this commission formed part of the response to Darian Numbers call to the Assembly of Prosperity to look for opportunities to increase the Prosperity of the inhabitants of the territory.

During the Winter Solstice 386YE, several covens of Navarr came together to shroud Thornsong House. This paused research, stopped the Thornsinger from being able to purchase herbs and potions, and protected it from being destroyed by the Druj for as long as the shroud persists.

Responsibilities

The Thornsinger has a responsibility to oversee and guide the research. In addition, if Thornsong House or those who train, rest, or study there were to be threatened in any way, it would be the responsibility of the Thornsinger to deal with those threats.

Powers

Guide the Apothecaries

The Thornsinger can guide the herb masters of the Empire in expanding their mastery of herb lore. The Thornsinger is presented with three potential avenues of investigation that can be pursued over the coming year. The Thornsinger has the power to announce which one to focus on in the Imperial Senate. The Navarr will work with their allies to pursue this research, and will take at least a year. Magic is not able to speed this process up.

Wealth of the Bayou

The Gardens of Song
7 crowns	4 each of doses of true vervain and marrowort, and 8 doses of random herbs
17 crowns	8 each of doses of true vervain and marrowort, and 17 doses of random herbs
30 crowns	12 each of doses of true vervain and marrowort, and 26 doses of random herbs
46 crowns	16 each of doses of true vervain and marrowort, and 35 doses of random herbs
65 crowns	20 each of doses of true vervain and marrowort, and 44 doses of random herbs

The Hand of the Healer
7 crowns	1 Sovereign Specific, 1 Maledict's Medicament, 1 Tranquil Nostrum, 1 Anodyne Analgesic, 2 Elixir Vitae
17 crowns	2 Sovereign Specific, 2 Maledict's Medicament, 2 Tranquil Nostrum, 2 Anodyne Analgesic, 2 Elixir Vitae
30 crowns	3 Sovereign Specific, 3 Maledict's Medicament, 3 Tranquil Nostrum, 2 Anodyne Analgesic, 3 Elixir Vitae, 2 Ossean Solution
46 crowns	4 Sovereign Specific, 4 Maledict's Medicament, 4 Tranquil Nostrum, 3 Anodyne Analgesic, 4 Elixir Vitae, 2 Ossean Solution
65 crowns	5 Sovereign Specific, 5 Maledict's Medicament, 5 Tranquil Nostrum, 3 Anodyne Analgesic, 5 Elixir Vitae, 3 Ossean Solution

Thornsong House also functions as a ministry - the Thornsinger has access to two different purchase tracks allowing them to purchase healing herbs and medicinal potions from those who make the hospital their home. The Thornsinger makes their decision on 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

This title is appointed during the Autumn Equinox each year. The Thornsinger is appointed by citizens of Navarr who control the herb garden personal resources through the Tally of the Votes. The more improved a herb garden an individual controls, the more votes they can allocate in support of a candidate. The voting is handled by the civil servants in the Bourse.

Only a citizen of Navarr may hold the title. They do not receive a seat on the Bourse. As a title appointed through the Bourse they cannot be revoked by the Imperial Synod.

Orinn Embracing Fold, Thornsinger

Summit	Elected	Votes
Autumn Equinox 387YE	Orinn Embracing Fold	271 Votes
Autumn Equinox 386YE	Wren Dappledgrove	345 Votes

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.

Thornsong House

Thornsong House is composed of a collection of interconnected tree houses built surrounding the heart of the college; a grand weirwood hall built around one of the largest of the great trees and supported by several attendant herb gardens, The tree houses are an eclectic blend of original structures and numerous added extensions, giving the buildings a ramshackle appearance that makes it difficult to discern their true size and shape.

The tree houses connect to the weirwood hall by a network of rope bridges, allowing researchers and students to move from one area of study to another. Hanging baskets brimming with a variety of herbs and plants can often be seen being lowered into streams that meander around the tree trunks, allowing the plants to be watered naturally, and then raised up when the herbs are needed for experiments. At times when complex experiments are underway or during particularly lively lectures, the college becomes a spectacle of enticing and intriguing scents.

In Winter 386YE, with the Druj invading Therunin, Imperial magicians wove a bespoke shroud of Night magic about the college to protect it. This had the side effect that the college was protected from everyone - meaning it was impossible to guide the scholars who chose to remain behind. The magic came just in the nick of time as the Druj swept west out of East Ashes, conquering Peakedge Song. While the eternal Ossegrahn stepped in to protect the hospital and the Houses of Healing, he was unable to protect Thornsong House. As 387YE began, the ward continues to protect the apothecary college - but when it ends, the building and the herbalists within will be vulnerable to the Druj.

The Studies of Apothecaries

Due to the nature of Thornsong House, it is not feasible to conceal the nature of the work being done here from the people of Navarr or, by extension, the Empire.

• Autumn Equinox 386YE: Wren Dappledgrove announced research into a tonic could be developed that provides protection from the vallorn miasma by building on some of the principles involved in the Tonics of the Open Sky. This research was paused at the Winter Solstice 386YE, due to the shroud placed on Thornsong House.

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.