Imperial Apothecaries Guild

The Manifesto

The sodality is dedicated to the advancement, education, and support of apothecaries and other practitioners of the herbal arts across the Empire. It holds the following to be true:

• Apothecaries are a cornerstone of the Empire
• Only through unity and shared discovery can we unlock our art's full potential
• Our expertise should be valued and fairly compensated, not taken for granted.

The sodality therefore exists to:

• Coordinate and support the research, development, and dissemination of ingredients, potions, poisons, antidotes, and drugs to Imperial citizens
• To serve as the point of contact for bodies of state when apothecary and herbalist advice is required
• To represent and support the interests of apothecaries and herbalists within the Empire

Symbol

The Imperial Apothecaries' symbol is a pestle and mortar.

Membership

Any Imperial citizen can join the sodality using the Mark of Fellowship ritual.

Powers

As of the end of the Spring Equinox 387YE, the Senate has confirmed that the power and authority to disseminate knowledge of potions across the Empire lies with the sodality. Its members are also responsible for electing the Guild Leader of the Imperial Apothecaries.

The constitutional court identified a range of legal powers that the Senate could grant to the Apothecaries Guild if they chose. The existence of the Guild would make it constitutionally difficult for the Imperial Senate to grant these powers to any other legal body (or title unless that title were appointed by the Guild).

If an opportunity were identified where the sodality could be deployed, then it would be down to a vote of the members.

Guild Leader

The Guild Leader of the Imperial Apothecaries is an Imperial title awarded to a member of the Imperial Apothecaries. Though the title is "Guild Leader", this represents an oversight by the constitutional court during scrutiny. Under normal circumstances, the court do not permit the Senate to create Imperial titles with names that imply that they are in charge or have authority over an organisation or group of citizens. Legally the sodality has nobody who is in charge, the Guild Leader is expected to be a mouthpiece for the sodality, with the responsibility to represent their sodality's views to other parts of the Empire, to recruit new members, and to advance the sodality's goals and the members' interests.

Donations

Since the manifesto was amended during the Winter Solstice 387YE, the Guild Leader has received four drams each of bladeroot, cerulean mazzarine, Imperial roseweald, marrowort, and true vervain from apothecaries in the League and the Brass Coast. These donations will continue as long as the sodality holds that apothecaries' expertise should be valued and fairly compensated.

Appointment

The Guild Leader is selected by members of the sodality. Only a member of the sodality can present themselves for the title, and only a member of the sodality can vote in the election. The candidate who gains the most votes from the members of the sodality is elected to the title.

Summit	Nation	Elected
Spring Equinox 387YE	The Brass Coast	Esmé i Estrico i Erigo

Recent Elections

This title is currently held by Esmé i Estrico i Erigo; it 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.

Imperial Lore

A herbal is a rare, magical item that contains all the details necessary to create a potion or set of potions. If a member of the guild has possession of a herbal then the Apothecaries Guild can vote to add the herbal to Imperial lore.

If that vote passes, then the civil service take the herbal so that it can be used to disseminate the contents; it is consumed in the process of making the potion or recipe set public knowledge. After the summit is over, any citizen of the Empire will be able to learn how to make the potion or set of potions.

In addition, ten thrones are be required to pay for distribution of the knowledge (OOC Note: These funds would need to be placed in the inventory of a character, who should email plot@profounddecisions.co.uk with details of their CID and the herbal being paid for after the event.)

History

There have been several iterations of a "Guild of Apothecaries" over the Empire's history. Groups of like-minded individuals coming together to organise prices and influence senators and members of the Conclave. Occasionally, these groups managed to demonstrate their value enough to be unofficially recognised by various bodies of state, but the momentum slowed before they could truly establish themselves. The Imperial Apothecaries was created by the Senate during the Winter Solstice 386YE, as the first Imperial sodality since the death of Empress Britta.

The sodality journeyed to Therunin in an attempt to neutralise the poison in Lower Tarn Valley using Ioric's Elixir; a strange concoction uncovered in Anvil. They were prevented from doing so by the Druj, and instead, the majority set to work helping the refugees, providing much-needed medical assistance to those who had been injured. Many moved to bolster the defences of the Upper Tarn, or turned back entirely to help evacuate Peakedge Song. In many ways, the Empire was fortunate - the efforts of the Imperial Apothecaries' Guild have still cost the Senate ten thrones, but the leadership and direction of the sodality prevented the outcome from being much worse.

During the Winter Solstice 387YE, the manifesto of the Guild was amended not once, but twice. This added a set of central tenets, and adjusted the wording on some of their activities. The main change to the latter was to change their focus on apothecary arts to apply only to Imperial citizens.

Guildhouse

Apothecaries' Guildhouse

Commission Type: Herbal School

Location: Any

Cost: 60 white granite, 60 weirwood, and 25 thrones in labour

Effect: Creates the title Speaker of the Apothecaries

Upkeep: 12 thrones or 10 thrones if built in Skarsind

Speaker of the Apothecaries

Type: Imperial

Appointment: Simple vote of the Apothecaries Guild

Powers: Can oversee development of new ways for Imperial apothecaries to use herbs

Responsibilities: To guide the sodality's research of new potions and protect the Guildhouse.

• The opportunity remains for a guildhouse to be built that would draw apothecaries from across the Empire
• Such a guildhouse would need to be overseen by a title with the power to direct research
• The title would need to be appointed by simple vote of the Apothecaries Guild

Following the tragic destruction of Thornsong House by the Druj, there is an opportunity for the sodality to establish a guildhouse somewhere in the Empire. The guildhouse would function as a herbal school, with an Imperial title to oversee it and guide the apothecaries in a similar manner to the Thornsinger. Following the Winter Solstice 387YE, and the rescue of several fleeing apothecaries, the guildhouse will have a reduced labour cost.

The Yerende put forward a suggestion that it be built in Skarsind when the sodality was first ratified. If the guildhouse were built in Skarsind, then its upkeep would be reduced to ten thrones a season.

Further Reading

• It's what we do - 387YE Spring wind of fortune about the establishment of the sodality
• To hold death's hand in mine - 387YE Spring wind of war detailing the efforts of the sodality