Great Pits of Ennerlund

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Overview

The Great Pits of Ennerlund are located in Ennerlund in the League territory of Holberg. Custodianship of the Great Pits granted an Imperial title; a seat on the Imperial Bourse; and a seasonal bounty of valuable mithril.

The Resource

The Great Pits of Ennerlund were rightly famous for the impressive application of ingenious League engineering. Dug dangerously close to the bounds of the Morass the mithril mine was kept dry by mechanised pumps. The pits were lost when Holberg was overrun and the mine - and its bounty of mithril - served the Druj instead. When the Empire began its triumphant liberation of Holberg, the barbarian orcs destroyed the pumps and collapsed the pits during the Winter Solstice 378YE. This act of vandalism was slightly overshadowed by the atrocity that accompanied it - when the pits were finally liberated, it became clear that the Druj had herded hundreds of enslaved miners into the tunnels and collapsed the tunnels on top of them.

Extensive work was required to restore the pits to working order - not only clearing the collapsed tunnels (and extracting the bodies of the dead) but also replacing the pumps without which the lower levels have already been submerged. The Imperial Senate passed a motion to repair the Pits but did not fund it; instead Bridget Eastville of the Marches, the Senator for Mitwold provided the 250 Thrones required to complete the project. Rumours at the time suggested this money came as part of a loan from the Marches, one that the Senate was later called upon to repay.

Work restoring the Great Pits began in late Spring 379YE ... and almost immediately halted. The Druj destruction of the Great Pits had been a calculated act, and one with a tragic and horrific consequence. Following dozens of reports of the unquiet dead haunting the pits, the Dawnish priest Ozren de Orzel of Dawn was dispatched by the Imperial Synod to exorcise the cleansing of the haunting spirits from the mines as work could not continue until the ghosts were laid to rest.

With the ghosts dealt with, estimation by the civil service is that the Great Pits will begin producing their first Imperial mithril shortly after the Summer solstice 380YE, and the first mithril will be received by the seat at the Autumn Equinox 380YE.

Prior to the invasion of the Druj, the Seat was Imperial. There is some agitation in the League to have the seat allocated as a National Bourse Seat - but at the same time, critics who want to see it remain Imperial point to the extensive role played by non-League forces in recapturing and reclaiming the mine. As of the beginning of the Winter Solstice 379YE, the mine has not yet been the subject of a motion of allocation, and until it is (and until it is producing mithril again), no Seat can be elected either way.

The Bourse Seat

Responsibilities

The Seat had no particular responsibilities; they simply received a bounty of mithril which was theirs to do with as they will. If the Great Pits of Ennerlund were threatened in any way, it was the responsibility of the Seat to deal with those threats. Likewise, if any particular opportunity arose related to the Great Pits of Ennerlund, the Seat would expect to be consulted as to how that opportunity might be resolved.

Powers

Seat on the Bourse

Custodianship of the Great Pits of Ennerlund came with a seat on the Imperial Bourse. For the most part, this Seat came with no additional responsibilities. it was an Imperial title that allowed access to the private auction, and granted the right to participate on the rare occasion when the Imperial Bourse as a body was required to make a decision.

Bounty of mithril

The Seat had control of a source of mithril, and received Bourse certificates to represent that control. They could dispense this resource as they choose. Production was 27 Imperial wains of mithril every season, but it is not clear how much of that production can be restored following the Druj destruction of the mines.

Selection

As with all mithril Bourse seats, the holder of the title was determined during the Autumn Equinox. As an Imperial seat, any Imperial citizen could participate in the auction and hold the title. It is not clear if the Pits will remain an Imperial Seat, or be re-allocated as a League National Seat.

Removal

Custodianship of the Great Pits of Ennerlund was retained for a year, or until the citizen holding the seat died, stepped down, or was excommunicated. As an Imperial Bourse seat it could not be revoked by the Imperial Synod.