Gift of the Dwindling Star
Overview
Similar to the Steel Fist, the Gift of the Dwindling Star does not precisely exist within the Empire at all. The offices that deal with the Gift are located in the isolated community of Void, in Brez, but they consist of little more than three rooms above an inn (previously the Red Lamb, although it has now changed its name to the Red Lantern). One room is set aside for Thule visitors, one for the Varushkan who oversees the Gift, and one between them that is used to actually pass the ilium that the Gift provides from orc to human . Regardless, custodianship of the Gift of the Dwindling Star grants an Imperial title; a seat on the Imperial Bourse; and a seasonal bounty of valuable ilium to the one who controls it.
The Resource
The opportunity to create the Gift of the Dwindling Star began in Winter 379YE with the appearance of an anomalous red star in the sky. Over the next several months, the star grew in size and exerted a peculiar influence over the people of the Empire until in Summar 380YE it became clear that the star was set on a collision course with the territory of Miekarova. With a potentially catastrophic starfall imminent, the Thule orcs made contact with the Varushkans to discuss a potential solution. In return for ensuring that the star struck the (apparently) largely unpopulated territory of Sküld in eastern Otkodov, they would provide a share of the ilium they were confident the star represented with the Varushkans. The Empire used a powerful ritual to shift the trajectory of the star north, and during the Autumn Equinox 380YE it struck the Thule territory.
In the wake of the starfall, the Thule contacted the Empire, and made arrangements for a share of the ilium to be given to the Varushkans. The Imperial Senate agreed to the arrangement, and the Gift of the Dwindling Star came into being. Every season, a Thule warlock and a small entourage spend three days visiting the cabalists of Void, and deliver four rings of ilium to the Varushkans.
The Gift of the Dwindling star is reliant on the current detente between the Empire and the orcs of Otkodov continuing. In the event that the Thule and the Empire go to war, it is likely this Bourse seat will be one of the first casualties.