Covenant Charter

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: The Prestige of Thebes
41

Okay, so I've been working through the 'standard' covenant charter from the Covenants book, and have tried to modify it in the spirit of what we've agreed upon. I'll take it section-by-section so that people can comment on each individually. I'll mark deleted text from the standard charter by strike through, and added text by underlining.

First is Membership. The only changes I made were to change the name of the leader of the council from disceptator to archon, and to recognize a one more type of member of the council - the Covenant Representative.

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[size=150]Membership[/size]

The covenant allows for [strike]two[/strike] three types of membership of its council, and recognizes a [strike]third[/strike] fourth status, which it offers to visitors to the covenant. The status of Protected Guest may be extended to any person by the formal invitation of a single full member of the covenant. Protected Guests are afforded the basic rights detailed by this charter, and are not obligated to the Council of Members, nor are they a member of this council. Protected Guests may partake in meetings of the Council of Members should they desire it, but are required to leave if asked to do so by a member of that council, and are afforded no voice nor vote unless granted such by the council’s chairman, the [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon. The status of Protected Guest may be revoked by the member who granted it, or by a vote of the Council of Members.

The status of Covenant Representative is extended to one non-Gifted member of the covenant selected by the non-Gifted members of the covenant in the manner of their choosing. The Covenant Representative gains no rights by this charter, save the right to be to be considered a member of the Council of Members for voting purposes only, and the right to attend and vote at meetings of the Council of Members. The Covenant Representative shall serve for seven seasons, after which time a new Covenant Representative shall be selected. The same person may serve consecutively as Covenant Representative, should the covenant members desire. The status of Probationary Member of the Council may be extended to any magus in good standing of the Order of Hermes, who owes no allegiance nor fealty to any other covenant, and is admitted upon the unanimous approval of the current Council of Members. Provisional members assume the basic and provisional rights detailed by this charter and the duties therein attached. The status of provisional member shall last a period of seven seasons, unless abridged through censure or canceled through expulsion. The status of Full Member of the Council is extended upon the completion of the duties and obligations of a probationary member, unless testimony is brought against him that proves him unfit to swear the Oath of Covenant in good conscience; in which case all rights of membership will be withdrawn. Should elevation to the role of full member take place, then all rights and duties of probationary membership are shed, to be replaced with the assumption of the basic and full rights detailed by this charter, and the duties therein attached. Full membership persists, unless abridged through censure or canceled through expulsion. Should a magus ever come to desire release from this covenant, he must renounce his Oath of Covenant in the presence of at least two members of the council, and shall thereby be relieved of all duties and rights, and may not call upon such rights furthermore.

42

The second section relates to governance and I only added recognition of the covenant representative and Charmion's veto, as well as adding in the offices of librarian and treasurer.

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[size=150]Governance of this Covenant[/size]

The members of this covenant are governed by the Council of Members, which shall consist of all probationary and full members of the covenant, as well as the covenant representative. The covenfolk representative shall have full voting rights in the Council of Members, save in the case of an expulsion vote, but shall not gain any other rights as a member. This council shall not declare action except on behalf of the entire membership of the covenant; no action may be demanded of individuals by council agreement. Conversely, the rulings of the council cannot be overturned by an individual.

Any member of the covenant shall have the right and duty to convene the Council of Members for consideration of matters justly grave, and all members shall be charged with attendance and diligence in the proceedings. Should it not be possible to convene the full Council of Members, any quorum consisting of more than half of its current members is considered valid; else the discharge of the council’s duty must be delayed until such time as the full council may be convened. The Council of Members shall convene four times each year, one day prior to each equinox and solstice, regardless of call from any member, and all members of the covenant should endeavor to make themselves present.

Motions to be decided upon by the Council of Members must be introduced by a member; debated fully and justly, allowing those who wish to speak to do so; and then proposed for the vote. Proposals must be seconded by another member of the covenant, else no vote can take place. All issues shall be passed by a majority vote of the members there present; excepting that a censure vote requires a two-thirds majority of the Council of Members, and that the unanimous opinion of the Council of Members is required for issues involving changes to the charter; expulsion of a member; and acceptance of a new probationary member.

The patron of this covenant, Charmion the water nymph, shall be permitted to attend all council meetings, and shall wield a veto on all votes pertaining to the fresh-water spring located on the grounds of the covenant. She shall otherwise have no right to cast a vote in the Council of Members, nor shall she be considered a member of the Council of Members.

The Council of Members shall confer the office of [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon to the representative of the covenant in matters of governance and temporal concern. The title of [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon is a duty of each and every full member of the covenant; this position is cyclical and mandatory, with the responsibility rotating in sequence of Hermetic seniority amongst the full members of the council. Each [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon serves for a period of seven years, commencing one year following the meeting of the Theban Tribunal. The duties of the [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon are: to attend regular meetings of the council; to keep order at meetings; to break tied votes with a discretionary casting vote; to determine the yearly surplus of provision and store; and to act as a spokesman for the Council of Members. The [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon shall not be empowered to rule on matters on the covenant’s behalf, but instead is charged with ensuring that the rulings of the Council of Members are enacted.

[u]At the first meeting of the Council of Members after the formal meeting of the Theban Tribunal, the Council of Members shall appoint one member to take the office of bibliothekarios and one member to take the office of tamias. The bibliothekarios and tamias shall each hold office until the first meeting of the Council of Members after the next formal meeting of the Theban Tribunal.

The bibliothekarios is charged with the duty to manage and maintain the covenant's library. This includes the trade and acquisition of texts, maintaining and improving the quality and condition of texts, ensuring that the covenant is adequately supplied with scribal materials, and that the covenant is adequately staffed in these regards.

The tamais is responsible for the accounting and management of the covenant's mundane and Hermetic wealth, in terms of liquid and real mundane cash assets, and mystical wealth such as supply and stores of vis and magical ingredients and equipment for lab activities. [/u]

43

The third section, pertaining to resources, was largely unchanged save for moving an accounting responsibility from the archon to the tamias, and adding in a comment about magus' silver salaries. Note: I made silver salaries come out of the surplus, and did not consider them a resource necessary for the continued existence of the covenant. I could easily change that if people want.

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[size=150]Resources Owned by this Covenant[/size]

Resources of this covenant are held in common by the Council of Members, and it is the responsibility of this council to maintain and defend them.

This covenant lays claim to all the vis originating from undisputed and unclaimed sources discovered by members of the council; save for the first harvest of a new vis source, which belongs to the finder or finders. This covenant also lays claim to any vis gifted to the Council of Members as a whole. In all other situations, undisputed and unclaimed vis belongs to the finder or finders.

This covenant lays claim to all books obtained by members of the council while acting at the behest of the council, and all books scribed by members of the council where payment was received for this scribing from the covenant’s resources. This covenant also lays claim to any texts gifted to the Council of Members as a whole.

This council lays claim to all magical items obtained by members of the council while acting at the behest of the council; and all magical items made by members of the council where payment was received for this manufacture from the covenant’s resources. This covenant also lays claim to any magical items gifted to the Council of Members as a whole.

This council lays claim to all monies generated using the resources of the covenant. This council also lays claim to all monies obtained by members of the council while acting at the behest of the council. This covenant also lays claim to any monies gifted to the Council of Members as a whole. This council lays claim to the buildings, defenses, chattels, and inhabitants of the covenant. This council also lays claim to any such buildings, defenses, chattels, and inhabitants gifted to the Council of Members as a whole.

Surplus resources of the covenant will be determined at the Winter meeting of the Council of Members. Resources necessary for the continued existence of the covenant and the protection of its members’ rights are accounted for first; this includes payment for seasons of work performed on behalf of the covenant, and a stipend of vis for the casting of the Aegis of the Hearth. Contributions to all debts owed to the covenant are decided by the [strike]disceptator[/strike] tamias, and set aside. The remaining resources are deemed surplus, and shall be allocated to the payment of the magus' silver salary, and the settlement of requests from each member of the covenant.

44

The next section, rights, is also unchanged except for one change in name, and the addition of silver salaries. I picked a number out of midair and made it five pounds of silver. We can adjust that as people think appropriate. Also, do we want to specifically say how much the covenant will pay in laboratory upkeep per year for each magus? One pound? More than one pound?

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[size=150]Rights of the Members of this Covenant[/size]

Each and every member of this covenant and protected guests shall be entitled to the basic rights of the covenant; to whit, full and unrestricted access to the protection and support of the covenant within the boundaries of the covenant by all the rights and benefits accorded by the Code of Hermes, the benefit of a sanctum which shall remain inviolate and the supply of materials thereof, access to the library of the covenant, and victuals appropriate to the status of a magus. These basic rights shall not be abridged except by expulsion from the Council of Members.

In furtherance and additional to the basic rights, a full member of the covenant shall be entitled to the full rights of the covenant; to whit, the right to presence and a vote in the Council of Members, which he shall exercise dutifully with due prudence. Further, full and unrestricted access to the services and skills of the servants and covenfolk. Further, a salary of five pounds of silver per year, to be paid no later than the autumn solstice of that year. Further, an equal right to all surplus provision and store necessary to conduct his studies, or the travel demanded by those studies; such rights to include (but be not limited to) vis, monies, and diverse magical and mundane resources claimed by the covenant. Where a conflict is evident between members of the council over the allotment of surplus resource, distribution is drawn by ballot; excepting that priority claims that have been advanced and agreed by the [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon are taken into consideration prior to the ballot. These rights shall not be abridged except by decision of the council under conditions of grave concern.

In furtherance and additional to the basic rights of a member of this covenant, a probationary member of the covenant is entitled the probationary rights of the covenant; to whit, a fractional share of those rights and duties offered to a full member of the covenant, such share being equal to half that offered to full members. A probationary member’s vote counts only half of that of a full member, and they may only claim half the share of the surplus provision and store of the covenant’s resources afforded a full member. The services and skills of the servants and covenfolk may not be halved, but the needs of a full member of the covenant take precedence over the needs of a probationary member. Further, a probationary member of the covenant who remains true to his Oath of Covenant has the right to remain at the covenant for a total of seven seasons following the conferral of this status. Further, a probationary member of the covenant has the right to be considered for full membership of this covenant after serving a total of seven seasons as a probationary member. These rights shall not be abridged except by decision of the council under conditions of grave concern.

45

The section on responsibilities also contained few changes, mostly relating to seasons of service owed. Also, please note that the 'standard' charter pegs a season of work to the covenant as being worth two pawns of vis. Given that this is Thebes, do we want to raise that?

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[size=150]Responsibilities of the Members of this Covenant[/size]

Members of this covenant are obligated to obey the Oath of Hermes and the Peripheral Code, as demanded by the Oath of Covenant; failure on this account will not be tolerated by the Council of Members, and the covenant reserves the right to censure those members who are convicted in just Tribunal of an offense against the Order of Hermes.

The responsibility of the members of this covenant towards its lasting success is dependent on service to the covenant. The Council of Members will declare the duties that need to be performed at the regular meetings of the covenant. Such duties include (but are not limited to) the safeguarding and harvesting of the covenant’s claimed vis sources, the safeguarding and harvesting of the covenant’s income, the wellbeing and discipline of the covenant’s employees, the maintenance of the covenant’s resources, the increase of the covenant’s resources, and the maintenance of good relations with the covenant’s allies. Duties that will not entail more than a week of service at low personal risk will be assigned by the council to its members, with no more than one being assigned to each member in each season. Such assigned duties attract no recompense or advantage to the member who discharges them, but cannot be refused without reasonable extenuation.

Duties which will entail a higher investment of time or personal risk will be offered up for service by the covenant. These services will attract a remuneration which shall be commensurate with the time, risk, and potential benefit to the covenant. This remuneration is decided by the [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon, but maintains a minimum payment which shall be, for a single season of work at low risk with a low gain, two pawns of vis, of the flavor most prevalent in the stores at the time. The [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon may increase the remuneration to increase the attractiveness of a particular urgent task, for the Council of Members is not empowered to force a member to accept one of these duties unless failure to perform it would be in breach of this covenant, in which case the threat of censure may be employed. All payments will be made in the Spring meeting of the Council. If there is more than one claimant for the service, and each claimant refuses to share the duty, then the [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon will assign the duty by ballot. If there is insufficient vis to meet the demands of the council, the [strike]disceptator[/strike] archon may withhold payment for one or more years. Covenant work may be declared such retroactively.

Each full member shall owe the covenant two full seasons of work every seven years, the seven-year time period beginning and ending with subsequent meetings of the Thebes Tribunal. A full season of work may include copying laboratory texts for the covenant library, writing a summa or tractus for inclusion in the covenant library, performing laboratory experiments at the request of the Council of Members, performing the crafting of a magic item at the request of the Council of Members, or any seasonal task that the Council of Members deems appropriate. For this mandatory service, no payment need be offered by the Council of Members.

Each probationary member of the covenant is obligated to perform no fewer than [strike]one of the tasks under remuneration currently outlined by the Council of Members[/strike] two full seasons of work during his period of probation. For this mandatory service, no payment need be offered by the Council of Members.

46

The final section is about censure, and remains mostly intact, save for making censure a 2/3 vote.

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[size=150]Censure of the Members of this Covenant[/size]

If a member should contravene the decisions of the council, by vote or by charter, then the member may be censured or expelled by a vote of the Council of Members.

Censure requires the passing of a motion at a meeting of the Council of Members. This censure motion shall only pass with a two-thirds majority of the total magi of the covenant, excluding the accused member. The censure of a full member revokes the rights of that status, returning him to probationary status; whereupon he assumes all the duties and rights of that status. Censure must not prejudice the application of a probationary member to the position of full member of the covenant. The censure of a probationary member shall abridge the rights of the member to remain a probationary member of the covenant, and shall confer upon him instead the status of Protected Guest. The status of a Protected Guest may be withdrawn at any time by a vote of the Council of Members without need for censure.

Expulsion is enacted by a unanimous vote of the remaining Council of Members. Expulsion is the only means through which a member of the covenant shall lose his basic rights; and requires that the former member ceases to draw upon those basic rights subsequent to the first full moon after expulsion was enacted. Should a magus be cast out from the Order, it is the duty and obligation of this covenant that he shall also and without delay be expelled from this covenant.

47

Okay, so let the debate open. Please note, I intend the above language to be only a starting point for discussion. I'm not trying to push anything down anyone's throat. Please feel free to propose additions, deletions, or totally scrapping of what I've done.

Also, be aware that all of the non-underlined text comes straight from the sample charter from the back of Covenants. I tried to deviate from that as little as possible.

48

I am probably missing something, but it all looks good to me. Thanks for all the work pulling that in, editing, etc.

49

^^

50

Looks good to me.

51

It just occurred to me that we should put in a line in the responsibility section saying that Redcaps are exempt from the two services every seven years. They do two services a year to House Mercere. That should be enough service for them.

52

It likely doesn't need to be there in stone, mercere and guernicus (in most tribunals) have their seasons of work for the order always count in that respect.

53

The legalistic part of me worries that this could allow the archon to completely take control of the council, by inviting a large number of guests and granting them voting rights (enough so that they constitue 2/3 of the votes), and then pushing a vote of expulsion for all other members.

Not likely to happen, but the possibility exists as it is currently presented. Unless I am missing some other clause -- I only read the whole charter quickly.

So we would be letting the mundanes decide who represent them, with no guidance at all? What if they don't agree on who should represent them?

My understanding was that the lab upkeep would come out of the silver salary.

I'd suggest adjusting the text regarding the salary to include a base amount that will be paid every year (say enough to cover the expenses of a basic lab, which is 1 pound), plus an additional amount based on what the covenant can afford, say about 6 more pounds. That would allow each magus to pay the expenses for a lab with a +3 Upkeep. (That's based on 2 seasons/year in the lab.)

Note that the way the resources section is worded, in theory if the covenant has enough silver a magus could draw a much larger amount of silver to pay for his lab -- anything labelled "surplus" is fair game for use by any member. So what is the point of a silver salary to pay for labs' upkeep in this case?

Also, do we want to make sure that all the members receive the same amount of silver?

Probably. I'd say 4 or 5 pawns would be more reasonable for Thebes.

On the other hand, considering that any vis labelled as "surplus" can be requisitioned by any member, I'm not sure raw vis is incentive enough to get additional services from members.

54

I do have a question- what will be the relative relation of the Turb leader, the autocrat, and the elected representative of the covenfolk? In short, what happens when someone is elected to a position above their boss for the purpose of the council membership?

55

I left it purposefully vague because I didn't want the magi being seen as interfering with the choice of covenant representative (and being accused of just placing their stooge in the position). IT may well be that the covenant will determine that the Turb leader or the autocrat ends up as the representative.

But even if someone other than the Turb leader or the autocrat were in that position, I imagine that the relationship would be somewhat like that of a senator to a governor. Technically, the governor is in charge of the whole state. But then you have this senator who has a very important vote on this decision-making body that wields incredible influence over the state, and whom the governor has no control over. Typically the two work together for the betterment of the state. But they don't always agree on what's right for the state. Still, the people get the industry and discretion of two people rather than one.

Also, no one ever said that the covenant representative had to be elected. They may decide that they want the representative to be someone holding a particular position. It's really up to them to decide how to determine their representative.

56

Not likely to happen, but the possibility exists as it is currently presented. Unless I am missing some other clause -- I only read the whole charter quickly.
[/quote]
You know, that's a good point. It might be better to let the archon have the right to give the visitors a voice in the council, but either say they never get a vote or reserve the question of whether to give them a vote to the council, not the archon.

See above, I didn't want it to look like we were pushing a representative down anyone's throat. But we could easily say that the representative is elected, is the autocrat, is someone else, etc.

As for if they can't decide - well, then I guess they just don't get a vote until they do decide. :slight_smile:

That seems reasonable to me.

That's the way the standard charter is worded. It sounded a bit funny to me, but I didn't want to change anything without the troupe discussing it. The general idea that the standard charter seems to have is that magi can request silver/vis/whatever, and if there's spare, they get it. We might very well want to change that (or say that any requests have to go through the council).

I should think so. And the same amount of spare vis.

Assuming the covenant can afford that. :slight_smile:

I'd limit what vis people can get. We don't want one person requisitioning all the vis. :slight_smile:

57

We could also amend the charter as follows to provide for the accumulation of a covenant reserve:

Surplus resources of the covenant will be determined at the Winter meeting of the Council of Members. Resources necessary for the continued existence of the covenant and the protection of its members’ rights are accounted for first; this includes payment for seasons of work performed on behalf of the covenant, and a stipend of vis for the casting of the Aegis of the Hearth. Contributions to all debts owed to the covenant and contributions to a covenant reserve are decided by the [strike]disceptator[/strike] tamias, and set aside. The remaining resources are deemed surplus, and shall be allocated to the payment of the magus' silver salary, and the settlement of requests from each member of the covenant.
This will at least allow us to make sure that no one spends us dry.

But I like the idea of setting aside a suitable reserve and then divvying up what's left (if anything).

58

surplus for basic functions seems a priority to me over pocketing it for personal use.

59

I'd suggest this:
Surplus resources of the covenant will be determined at the Winter meeting of the Council of Members. Resources necessary for the continued existence of the covenant and the protection of its members’ rights are accounted for first; this includes payment for seasons of work performed on behalf of the covenant, raw vis needed for the casting of the Aegis of the Hearth and other spells required to sustain the covenant, the silver salary paid to members for the upkeep of their laboratory and the silver needed to maintain the covenant's mundane resources. Contributions to all debts owed by the covenant and contributions to a covenant reserve are decided by the Council and set aside by the tamias. The remaining resources are deemed surplus and shall be allocated as deemed reasonable by the Council to satisfy the requests of members.
This would put the silver salary (for upkeep of the labs) on par with other covenant obligations, but without specifying how large that salary is (we have a seperate clause for that). It also mentions some of the other covenant obligations that must be met before things are considered surplus. Finally, it would be the Council who establishes what to do with remaining resources and for the tamias to execute these decisions.

Does that sound fair?

60

Those look like good changes to me.