Rewarding

Synod Judgement

• General Assembly
• Lesser Majority

The Prosperity Assembly in particular often pays close attention to a judgement of rewarding.

Overview

The General Assembly of the Imperial Synod controls the Virtue Fund - a pool of money, Bourse materials and True Liao (mithril, weirwood and white granite) endowed to the Synod so that they may directly reward virtuous behaviour. The mainstay of the money in the fund usually comes from the auction of a dose of true liao but it is supplemented with donations of Imperial currency from wealthy citizens who wish to use the benefits of their prosperity to encourage virtue. A small number of these citizens are sufficiently wealthy to donate small quantities of mithril, weirwood or white granite, trusting the Synod to ensure these are put towards virtuous causes.

The Virtue Fund exists to allow the Synod to encourage virtue, and to reward the virtuous. Judgements of Rewarding can only be raised in the General Assembly - despite historical interest from the Prosperity Assembly in bringing the Fund directly under their control. At various points the Imperial Senate has chosen to supplement the money raised by donations and auction with a stipend from the Imperial treasury. This practice began in the reign of Empress Teleri whose supporters argued that the Imperial Synod was best placed to ensure that the Empire's wealth was distributed to worthy and virtuous causes. The popularity of this practice has waxed and waned, but during the reign of Emperor Hugh the existing stipend, already little more than a token sum, was entirely abrogated.

It is not possible to donate anything other than true liao, money, or wains to the Virtue fund.

Judgement

Any member of the Synod may submit a judgement of rewarding for money or wains for consideration by the General Assembly. The judgement must state the size and type of the proposed reward. A single judgement may ask for money or wains of a single type - it is not possible to request money and wains, or two different kinds of materials, in one judgement.

A judgement of rewarding requires a lesser majority to pass. Every judgement of rewarding shares the same period of scrutiny. All such judgements close at 6pm on Saturday, and it is not possible for the Cardinals to request further scrutiny of a judgement of rewarding. Owing to this restriction, a judgement of rewarding must be raised by 3pm on Saturday or it cannot be accepted.

It is not possible to raise a judgement of rewarding for a dose of True Liao, this is handled directly by the Tribune.

Better to earn a ring than be given a crown

Marcher Proverb

Outcome

After the scrutiny period closes at 6pm Saturday, each judgement is assessed, and funds provided in order from the judgement with the highest margin to that with the lowest margin. If there is insufficient money or wains remaining in the fund to meet the full amount requested, then only what is remaining will be distributed. In the event of two or more judgements having the same margin and there being insufficient funds remaining to support them both, then the remaining amount is split equally between those judgements, with any remainder staying in the fund for the next summit. It is not possible for the Virtue Fund to go into debt. If there are no funds or wains of the requested type available, the judgement can still pass, but nothing will be provided.

The Tribune will deduct the money or wains from the Virtue Fund, to be collected by the Member of the Synod who raised the judgement. These will be available to collect from the Tribune of the Synod in the Hub from 7:30pm Saturday. It is not possible for a judgement to specify that a reward be made at some future time beyond the close of scrutiny. The money or wains become immediately available and should be collected from the Tribune as soon as is practical. If the sum is not collected by the end of the summit, the Tribune will make arrangements to send the money or wains to the raising Member (OC: uncollected rewardings will be placed into the inventory of the raising priest and will go into their character pack at the next event they attend).

It is common for individuals to ask for money or wains from the Virtue Fund for a specific goal. It is perfectly acceptable to reference the goal in the judgement of rewarding, but this is not legally binding. On receipt of the funds, they become the legal property of the raising Member of the Synod who may dispose of them as they choose.

At the Winter Summit 376 YE, Harald Johnson, of the Marches and The Way, called for the General Assembly to reward the Orc Generals with 20 crowns from the Virtue Fund.

Voting on the judgement to reward a citizen with a dose of true liao also closes at 6pm on Saturday. The citizen with most votes in their favour may collect the dose from the Tribune from 7:30pm.

Virtue Fund

As mentioned, the Virtue Fund is a pool of money and wains endowed to the Synod so that they may directly reward virtuous behaviour. The majority of the money that makes up the virtue fund comes from the auction of a dose of true liao at each summit, but it is supplemented with donations from wealthy citizens who wish to use the benefits of their prosperity to encourage virtue.

The size of the fund is calculated at the start of each summit and displayed in the Civil Service Hub. It includes donations made by private citizens (including through counting houses), bequests from virtuous benefactors, and the funds raised by the auction of true liao at the previous summit. Any remainder after the end of the summit remains in the fund.

Any Imperial citizen can donate money or wains to the virtue fund by speaking to one of a Tribune of the Synod at the Hub. The money or wains will be added to the Virtue Fund at the next summit, and the name of the benefactor included in public documents about the fund.

Lepidean Liao

Judgement

• One dose of true liao is available to be assigned by a judgement of rewarding

The dose of true liao is awarded by judgement of rewarding in the General Assembly. At the start of each summit, the Tribune will raise this judgement to conclude at 6pm Saturday. Once the judgement is submitted by the Tribune, citizens may speak to the Tribune of the Synod to have their name added to the list. Members of the Synod may vote at any time, casting their votes for a single candidate listed for the judgement.

The citizen that receives the most votes receives the dose of True Liao. In the event that there are multiple doses in the fund (due to one not being assigned, or additional doses being donated to the Fund), then remaining doses will go to citizens in descending order of votes received.

History

In Autumn 383YE, the Senate commissioned the restoration of the Lepidean University, following plans presented by celebrated League architect Frederick di Sarvos. The plans included an extensive garden which permanently increased the production of Imperial true liao. Three possible ways to allocate this dose of liao were presented by the Civil Service, but the Senate ultimately decided that the dose would be distributed through the judgement of Rewarding. This led to some additional guidance issued by the Constitutional Court as to how competing judgements would be handled. In Spring 386YE, the Senate made a further amendment as to how the dose of true liao should be allocated, instead using a form of appointment.

This method did not receive universal approval; Prince Bishop Jonah Yakovitch in particular spoke out about the impersonal nature of the judgement of appointment. The Constitutional Court are continuing to examine this problem to seek a way to restore the ability of priests to endorse a specific candidate without making this process more challenging to administer.

After a great deal of discussion, the Constitutional Court intervened on the matter of the dose of true liao provided by the Lepidean Library to ensure it could be rewarded in a way that was simple and fair and did not unduly burden the office of the Tribune.

Counting Houses

Territory	Completed	Virtue Fund Income
Reikos	Spring Equinox 386YE	10 crowns per season
Semmerholm	Winter Solstice 386YE	11 crowns per season
Tassato	Summer Solstice 386YE	16 crowns per season
Karsk	Spring Equinox 387YE	12 crowns per season

In the months leading up to the Winter Solstice 385YE, the architect Dialogos of the Isles of the Spires proposed construction of a series of counting houses in ten Imperial territories, to collect donations for the Virtue Fund and keep record of these Prosperous donations for posterity. Each of these edifices would see a consistent amount of money donated to the Virtue Fund each season, depending on the affluence and propensity of the territory in question. A counting house will only start producing income for the Virtue Fund in the first full season after it is constructed.

As of the end of the Summer Solstice 387YE, five have been commissioned by the Senate - in Semmerholm, Tassato, Karsk, a more extensive construction in Reikos, and an as-yet-incomplete one in Holberg.

The table to the right shows the counting houses that have been constructed as of the start of the Autumn Equinox 387YE.

Further Reading

Core Brief

• Assembly
• Cardinal
• Judgements
  • Appointment
  • Challenge
  • Change of Doctrine
  • Exaltation
  • Inquisition
  • Mandate
  • Recognition
  • Revocation
  • Rewarding
  • Sanction
  • Statement of Principle
  • Veto
  • Writ of Consecration
  • Writ of Excommunication
• Member of the Synod

Additional Information

• Synod Positions
  • Conscience of the Senate
  • Gatekeeper
  • Virtue Inquisitor
  • Tribune of the Synod
• Religious Crime
• Imperial Theology
• Inspirations
  • Paragons and Exemplars
  • Known Exemplars
  • Signs of the Paragon and Exemplar
  • Schools of Thought
  • Inspirational Location