Domus Magi Covenant Charter Discussion

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: The Rise of Atlantis
1

Here is the charter I assumed we were working under.

[size=150]The Oath of Covenant of New Atlantis[/size]

Being the charter of the Covenant of New Atlantis in the one thousand twelve hundred and twentieth Year of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I pledge my lifelong support and loyalty to the Covenant of New Atlantis, and declare that the trials and fortunes of this covenant are now my own. Just as I am pledged to the Oath of Hermes, so do I pledge the covenant to the Order of Hermes and the authority of whichever Tribunal New Atlantis becomes a part of. I swear to uphold and protect this covenant regardless of the personal price. Over all the years of my life and throughout my studies and travels, I will neither betray the covenant nor give aid to its enemies. In times of need, I will aid the covenant in whatever way I am able, and I will devote myself to its service if the need is clear. I will abide by the decisions of the ruling council of this covenant, and I will treat these decisions as if they were my own. I will treat my fellows with respect and fairness, and I will not attempt to harm them in any way. Their blood is my blood. Where the covenant stands, there do I stand; how the covenant grows, so do I grow; should the covenant fall, then do I fall. This I so swear, upon the honor of my house and its Founder.

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[size=150]Membership[/size]

The covenant allows for two types of membership of its council, and recognizes a third 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 disceptator. The status of Protected Guest may be may be revoked by the member who granted it, or by a vote of the Council of Members.

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.

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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. 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 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 Council of Members shall confer the office of disceptator to the representative of the covenant in matters of governance and temporal concern. The title of disceptator 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 disceptator serves for a period of seven years, commencing one year following Tribunal. The duties of the disceptator 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 disceptator 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.

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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 disceptator, and set aside. The remaining resources are deemed surplus, and shall be allocated to the settlement of requests from each member of the covenant.

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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, 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 disceptator 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.

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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 disceptator, 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 disceptator 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 disceptator will assign the duty by ballot. If there is insufficient vis to meet the demands of the council, the disceptator may withhold payment for one or more years. Covenant work may be declared such retroactively.

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

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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. 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.

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I feel like we need to discuss more layers of magi, though that is not time critical. I believe we would have either removed the part about pledging allegiance to whatever tribunal we joined or replaced it with pledging allegiance to the tribunal we found, or failing that join.
I believe we should have a portion regarding the rights of mundanes, including how the mundane affairs of the island will be ruled (and reserving ultimate authority for the covenant), as well as providing for certain rights (such as to freely and openly practice any non-infernal religion).

9

We could easily put in the levels of master, journeyman, pledge, and visitor if you like. But then we have to write all sorts of stuff as to what the different rights and responsibilities are.

I actually changed that language from what it was to "whichever Tribunal New Atlantis becomes a part of." But if people think that's too vague, we can tighten it up.

This is just for the covenant, not the entire island. The only mundanes it really applies to are the covenfolk.

We ought to have a set of real laws for the island in general.

10

Except the covenant rules the island, and that should be reflected in the charter.

11

Ah, it seems that I might have been grabbing the wrong end of the stick. My understanding was that we'd create an entity entirely separate from the central covenant to rule the island (A Regency Council, Island Council, Council of Magisters, whatever we decided to call it). I understood that the Council of Magisters and the Council of Magi for the central covenant would have some overlap, but would be two different entities. That way we could potentially add people to the central covenant without giving them control over the island. (Although perhaps that's what you intended different levels of magi to mean.) It also seems clearer to me if there were a Council of Magisters whose sole job it was to rule the island.

Of course, under your interpretation there are some questions left unaddressed. Would it mean that if four of the magi tossed the fifth maga/magus out of the covenant that person would be off the ruling council? I didn't think that was how we intended things to be. Does it also mean that a non-magus could never become a magister? It seems to me that even if it never happened, having the possibility of it happening would make some of the residents feel better about the possibility that they wouldn't always be under the sole control of magi. And who knows, we might some day want to put a mundane on the ruling council.

For my part, I tend to think that the governing of a covenant and the governing of an island are different enough that we'd want two separate entities to achieve them. It tends to separate hermetic and mundane politics, as well, which can't be a bad thing. And it allows us to add magi to the central covenant if we wanted to without muddying the water. But really it's up to the founding magi to determine that.

So, what do people think? A separate Council of Magisters to rule the island, or should the magi of the central covenant do it directly from the council of magi of the central covenant?

12

I'm not sure if we should have a central covenant ruling lesser covenants. If we want to be our own tribunal, that would be the function of the Tribunal. If we're not a separate Tribunal then a set up of chapter houses makes sense.

13

Another consideration (?) - the starting Magi will rule an area of land of behalf of the council, even if we initially are assigned a tribunal - that shouldn't remove our authority of the land itself. It was raised and managed by these Magi. The Order might* rule that the covenant must belong to an existing tribunal, but I'm doubtful that they can remove the ownership of the land. Removing that is removing some of the Magi's magical power.

So the covenant and land ruling charters are better to be separated, to create an absolute separation in duty between ruling the the land and the covenant(s).

14

So here's my two cents:

This is a charter for the covenant, not the island. It reflects the rights and obligations of those Magi who are members of said covenant, nothing else.

As for the mundanes, there's a reason we divided the island into cantons. What Meliai may wish for her canton may not be what Magnus wishes for his or vice versa. Rules for the cantons should be left in the hands of the magi (or whomever) who rule each one. However I'd say that each canton can put a representative on the council. It's up to the canton to decide how they do this. Said council would then be in charge of any issues that affect the island as a whole, but unable to interfere with the workings of a given canton unless it threatened the island as a whole, in which case it would take a unanimous vote (of everyone but the canton in question).

15

I disagree with the degree of freedom the cantons have.
The cantons might operate independently or share as suits them, but they must operate within a wider set of common laws & rules for the island.
I.e. All the religious and race based equality we have discussed needs to be enforced somehow or its all garbage.
What are the rights of the inhabitants in terms of protection from magic and supernatural forces? Unknowingly or unwilling participation?
Eg.
Can I harvest magical creatures that happen to come into my canton?
Can force compliance in Christian or pagan rituals?
Can I introduce slavery?
Let's try to avoid some of the slippery slopes now by having overarching rules.

16

I agree with IBT that the cantons shouldn't have quite that much freedom. We're going for the US Constitution here, not the Articles of Confederation. (I apologize to IBT, Arthur, and any other non-US players out there for my US history reference.) We want the island bound by certain central rules that all have to abide by. Each canton will have a great deal of freedom to act as it will. But there should be a charter (e.g., a Maxima Carta - grand charter) than binds everyone to certain minimum standards.

That all being said, we don't have to get down into the minutiae of drafting statues here (unless people really want to). I'm happy if we make some broad statements about what we want the laws to be and assume that proper attention to detail has been made on the statutes. I'm not going to screw anyone over because you forgot a comma in your religious freedom statute.

17

Lets start with step 1.
How much do we want the covenant and island governance entangled or separated?
My preference is to make sure the covenant sits supreme, as the code does not allow us to pledge fealty to a mundane authority, but does not prevent a mundane authority from pledging fealty to us. Once we give away the top position we can never get it back, wheras we can always hire or appoint mundanes as advisors or administrators for the territory.

18

silveroak has ideintified the main issue to consider right now: will the covenant reign supreme or will there be a separate governing body that reigns supreme, separate from the covenant?

A few observations:

  • Any separate governing body would consist of the five founding magi. There wouldn't be any give-away of the top position to a mundane entity. The magi would be keeping the power. They'd just be keeping it in a separate entity from the covenant.
  • If there are mundane leaders, they would be subservient to the governing body (i.e., the founding five magi). This would be similar to how things would work with the covenant hiring mundane leaders.
  • The founding covenant (or any other covenant on the island) would not have to swear fealty to the governing body any more than any other covenant in the entire Order has to swear fealty to their local ruler. It would agree to be bound by the rules of the local land, just as any other covenant might. That's not against the Code.
  • If the magi created a governing body, it would not have to swear fealty to anyone. It would be the supreme power of the land.
  • Ruling through the covenant or through a separate governing body would raise the same issues of potentially playing mundane politics. It seems unlikely that the Grand Tribunal would see any difference between the two from a functional standpoint. (In other words, hiding behind the covenant to say that it was hermetic in nature doesn't seem like a winning argument.)
  • If the rulership was through the covenant, that places the governing body under the authority of the Order. A local tribunal (if the efforts of making your own tribunal fail) or the Grand Tribunal would be able to make rules that would bind the covenant. Thus, by making the covenant supreme you would be handing off some power to the Order.
  • If the rulership is through a separate governing body, you will not have submitted yourselves to any higher authority.
  • Think of the separate governing body as another covenant, but one that isn't bound by the rules of the Order of Hermes. (Individual magi are still bound by those rules, of course. But the governing body itself is not.)
  • If the magi rule through a separate governing body, then new members can be added to the founding covenant without any implication that they should rule.

That's what I can think of off the top of my head. There are no doubt other aspects that we need to consider about this issue.

19

(No offense taken at all. I am slowly catching up on previous discussions while I await review of my magus' first cycle of advancement and his familiar's initial stats. As I see it, it will be some time yet before my magus can be introduced into the saga, so he would probably not be taking part in those initial discussions anyway.)

20

The issue I see is this- we set up a covenant and a mundane authority who happen to be the 5 magi. What happens in the future? Because if they are two separate entities then the covenant, as an organization, has no claim of power over the mundane authority as an organization, and there is no way to be 100% certain that the two will always be the same people.