Royal Council

Royal Council

Thanks to EM Bennu for his Atlantic Primer, on which this is based and EM Elizabella for allowing me to repost this from the Great Lakes UOEM site.

There seem to be misconceptions about the purpose and powers of the Royal Council on Chesapeake. This is a general outline of what to expect, as well as what is expected.

#1: The role of governor is an in character (“IC”) position. That means if you are a governor, you are expected to role-play the position and act as you would if your character were governor.

Citizens are encouraged to attend Royal Council meetings. It is asked that they remain in character as well.

Anything you say to the King is said to the King, and the King will answer, act, and respond as King Blackthorn would and should. If you say something to the King out-of-character (“OOC”), the King will ignore you.

#2: When you address King Blackthorn, you are talking to the character of the King; you are not addressing your shard’s EMs.

#3: Governors serve at the pleasure of the King. If you frequently cause disruptions, fail to fulfill your duties as governor, or cannot stay in character, the King can and will replace you.

#4: Election improprieties will be dealt with by the GM/DEV and Support Teams.

#5: The purpose of the Royal Council is not to decorate the towns or place trash cans at the banks. The King is not an interior decorator, nor is he a gardener, nor a trash collector. The King does not summon monsters to attack his towns.

Governors may make *TWO* large-scale requests per term, which will be considered by the King and his advisers.

If a governor makes a request and it is not granted, he or she may make another request that term. However, if the request is granted and the governor fails to fulfill some of the requirements for the completion of the granted request, it is still considered his or her one request for that term.

If you are a governor and are running a plotline, shard-wide event or something similar, the EM team *MAY* be able to assist or otherwise support you in a few small ways. These requests should be directed to the EM, not to the King. See #15 for more information.

If you want a trashcan at your bank, ask Mesanna, not the King. <— Per Mesanna.

#6: If you are not a governor, but wish to address the Royal Council, you have two options. You may address the council yourself (see #10g). Or, before the council meeting, you may speak with the governor of your (or any other) represented city and ask them bring up the matter on your behalf. Either way, the issue should not be raised until the New Issues portion of the meeting.

#7: The King does not, at this point, wish to put a time limit on speakers. Please do not make such a limit necessary.

#8: Trade deals and the internal affairs of a town are the business of the governor and the townspeople. However, remember that as governor you are an extension of the Crown. If asked to change something, such as a curfew, a governor must comply (or work around it).

#9: The Royal Council will meet once a month. The date is announced when the Chesapeake monthly calendar is posted. If the meeting must be canceled, it will be rescheduled.

#10: The agenda will vary from month to month, but will usually follow this format:

• Communication – The King will greet everyone and remind them how they may communicate with him between meetings.
• State of the Town – Each governor will give a State of the Town status report, with each governor yielding the floor to the next in line. The King asks that only the governor who has the floor speak during this time.
• King’s Response – The King will respond to the reports he has just heard.
• Governors’ Requests – Any governor’s request that was sent in at least three days before the meeting will be discussed.
• Honored Guests – Various officials or foreign visitors may be called upon to address the council.

#11: Remember, everything in the Royal Council chamber is in character.

#12: All Britannian towns are equal in the eyes of the King.

#13: The Royal Council is a way for you as a player to interact with the fiction, storyline, and community of Great Lakes in a positive way. Governors are encouraged to run events, plotlines, contests, and games to bring activity and acclaim to their cities. The King and the EM team will do what they can (within the rules) to support the events, plotlines and activity within the cities. Keep in mind, however, that the EMs’ principal duty is to run EM events. Your events and plotlines are yours; you still must plan and execute them yourself. Governors are encouraged to work together to create multi-city plotlines.

#14: Remember that the Royal Council is a work in progress and is a very new system. We will all work together to make it a success.

#15: ALL requests must have a role-play function or purpose. If you are requesting flowers around your bank because they look pretty, expect to be told no. If you are requesting a limited time change that fosters and supports role-play and your events as governor or adds to town interaction plots… we can talk about it.

Email a short summary of your plotline and upcoming event to EM Artemis. Leave the materials and/or deeds for your request in the EM Mailbox (these will not be returned). Plan your event so it can go forward even if your request is not granted.

A great example is Atlantic’s Trade War from the first term. The plotline involved several of the cities and governors. Trinsic requested a small distillery for the duration of the plotline, which was granted. Atlantic’s Trinsic governor posted about the experience.