Overseer of the Cavabianca Dock
Overview
The history of the Cavabianca Dock is convoluted. Their current incarnation was effectively commissioned by order of the Imperial Senate in Spring 381YE, and work was completed shortly before the start of the Summer Solstice of the same year. The first shipments of white granite reached Sarvos shortly before the Autumn Equinox 381YE.
The Overseer of the Cavabianca Dock moderates a ministry that allows the purchase of White Granite from the Asavean Archipelago.
Responsibilities
The Overseer of the Cavabianca Dock is expected to ensure that the Asavean families known as the Heraclien and the Ragnabe continue to trade white granite to the Empire. The Overseer would be responsible for dealing with any threats to the Cavabianca Dock - but also for making decisions about any opportunity related to them. The continued operation of the docks, and thus the ministry, requires that relations between the Empire and Asavea remain cordial - the Overseer has a vested interest in ensuring friendship between the two nations continues.
Powers
| Total Money Spent | Production |
| 144 Crowns | 5 wains White Granite |
| 384 Crowns | 10 wains White Granite |
Ministry
As a ministry, the Overseer can purchase quantities of white granite at a set price. The Overseeer spends their money and makes their choices during downtime from their character page. Money is removed from, and resources are placed into, the character's inventory when the downtime is processed.
When first discussed, the ministry was to provide the first 5 wains for 120 crowns, and the second five for a further 200 crowns. The agreement with the Heraclien and Ragnabe was adjusted during the Autumn Equinox 381YE, leading to slightly higher prices to reflect the need for the ships carrying the white granite to first call at Oran on their way to and from Sarvos.
Selection
As with white granite seats, the holder of the title is determined during the Summer Solstice. The title is appointed by vote of the business owners of the League. Votes are recorded in private in conjunction with the civil servants who support the Bourse.
As it is a national title, only League citizens are eligible to hold it.
Removal
The title of Overseer of the Cavabianca Dock is retained for a year, or until the citizen holding the seat dies, steps down, or is excommunicated by the Imperial Synod. An Imperial Bourse title cannot be revoked by the Imperial Synod.
This title has some additional restrictions. The white granite it produces is provided by two allied families of Asavean nobles - the Heraclien and the Ragnabe. In the event relations with these families collapsed, the title would still exist but would not be able to purchase white granite. The ability to operate the ministry would also potentially be compromised in the event that relations between the Imperial Senate and the Asavean Plenum were to sour.
An opportunity to improve the docks further has been mentioned. After the docks have been operating successfully for six months, if the Ambassador requests it, Lady Madrianna will approach the two families about offering an additional five wains for twenty thrones – assuming relations with Asavea remain cordial of course. With the dock having been built in Sarvos rather than Oran, however, this opportunity may prove difficult to take advantage of.Cavabianca Dock
These private docks are built in Caricomare, in the city of Sarvos. Work first began on a set of docks dedicated to the import of Asavean white granite in Spring 379YE, as part of an agreement with the powerful Tarqunius family. Precise details are unclear, but the deal apparently fell through. The half-completed docks were then destroyed by the Grendel orcs during the sack of Sarvos. After the city was liberated, further negotiations took place between the Imperial Ambassador to Asavea and their counterpart in Nemoria, Lady Madrianna of the Blue Stones.Lady Madrianna negotiated on behalf of two rich but relatively minor Plenum families, the Heraclien and the Ragnabe. A new arrangement was made, to build a dedicated cargo dock at Oran within sight of the Temple of Balo and the Black Bull.
Instead, the docks were built in Sarvos, to the chagrin of the Plenum families and Lady Madrianna alike. After tense negotiations, the Ambassador to Asavea Jarrigk Wegwandelaar was able to secure a further agreement from the Asaveans; they would sell their white granite in Sarvos, but they would call at Oran on their way to and from the League city. This saw the price of the white granite increased slightly, to pay for the extra inconvenience, but the Asaveans appeared mollified.
The dock is for the exclusive use of merchants and traders from Cavabianca, a town in the Asavean Archipelago associated with several large quarries and overseen by representatives of the two families. Ships bring regular shipments of valuable stone to Caricomare from the Archipelago, and there are several sturdy warehouses as well as several apartments for use by the visiting Asavean captains and their officers. The Grendel leave the Asavean ships and their valuable cargo alone - although it appears the vessels still enjoy a well-armed warship as escort. These warships rarely come close to land however, and it is likely that they are largely crewed by slaves.
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.