--Emiliano de Servantilley, announcing the opening of a council session.

Population Structure

Nobility is a rarity in the Shrouded Archipelago. Only a select elite have been given lands by the Count and allowed to be part of the high society of Old Port. Having similar rights than Patricians, Nobles can grant Patrician status to any citizen and can also set free any servants or promote guests to citizen. There are very few such figures whom are known publicly. The Duke's Council is made up by the Lords of the Land of Ymph, notably Lords Harvix, Stenton and Durjure. Lords Ironmantle and Delberon have recently perished, leaving open seats upon the Council.

The Duke of Ymph named to his Council those citizens who have shown themselves to be powerful ,and industrious, granting them the privelage of sitting upon his Council, as well as various other perks.

Patricians are the elite of the city and share the same basic rights than the citizens, but have access to a variety of advantages that put them above the rest of the population and becoming the main actors in the development of the city. Although to become Patricians, one must either prove himself to a noble, act in service to the city or pay an extremely large stipend to the colonial government, the benefits of being part of the elite class of the Colony are very much visible:

• Can own Servants or Land.
• Reduce price on Sendings, Inn, specific Stores, Notes, and Advertisements.
• Priveledges from the Shrine of Siamorphe.
• Can rent a shrine altar for a clergy.
• Can register a Guild/Banner with the Guild Registration Office.
• Access to Patrician Bank Accounts
• Can buy/rent a ship.
• Can travel to Old Port by boat
  

Basic status of most people in the city. Most characters will be citizens. They are protected by the laws. Receive basic services. They may not travel to Old Port without being accompanied by a Patrician and may not own land nor servants.

Unhostile monstrous, such as the Gobsquat Goblins or others are sometimes tolerated within the premises of the colony. They cannot venture into the city limits at night on pain of death. They can be escorted outside of the city limits for any reason deemed worthy by a guard. Refusal to adhere to this request can lead to the guard using deadly force in removing the guests from the city.

Servants are often kept and part of the community of Old Port, slowly becoming more and more common sight on the Isle of Ymph. Criminals judged redeemable can often become servants or other war prisoners that were trained and educated in granting basic services. They are typically branded upon the palm of their hands with an iron rod marking them as the property of their master. Generally, servants are well-treated and develop good relations with their master whom sometimes decide to set them free (by paying the colonial government). They may not leave the city limits without their master on pain of death.

The Law of the Duchy is upheld by the Stygian Armada and that Law is The Trenadan Code as laid down by Duke Antoine Trenada. The grunt work of enforcing it falls on the Militia, a small group of inexperienced but loyal men, dedicated to the Duke.

Those arrested for Capital Crimes are tried by a Lord of Ymph.

City Structure

The Duke's Council are charged with .

The selected guilds/banners, then, select a representative themselves who become a Court Member and gain access to a salary as well as the inner chambers of the Governor's tower where the decision about the slowly expanding colony of Ymph makes the decision about its future. Amongst the responsability given to the Court are the following:

• Select/Replace Magistrates
• Modify/Create/Abolish existent or new Laws
• Organizing the budget of the colony (Pays, structures)
• Organizing building projects (build structures on land owned by the colony).
• Decide on expansion of territory/war/raid etc.
• Provide land/structure to patrician groups.
• Remove land/structures from patrician groups.
• Organize Official Holy Days/Ceremonies of the Colony.
• Mark someone as a traitor (Capital Crime of Treason).
• Can make a guest become a Citizen.
• Decide on the use of the Colonial ships. (ferries/pathways to certain islands or parts of the main island)

The court must first vote on a decision made within its walls and based on the level of influence carried by each representative and the value of the suggestion, the governor will accept the decision or refuse it.

The Lords of Ymph are those risen to Nobility, or allowed to keep their titles, by Duke Antoine Trenada or Count Senuspur of Old Port. They stand above the Patriciate of the Duchy, and sit upon the Duke's Council, advising him in all matters of Governance. They are afforded with lodging, if necessary, as well as rights witheld from the Citizenry and Patriciate. They are appointed for life, and their titles are hereditary. They can be stripped by the Duke or Count, for grievous crimes.

- Act as Judge on Capital Crimes.
- Survey/Study current laws and make suggestions to the Court.
- Settle minor civil disputes

After becoming a Patrician, one can decide to found a Banner/Guild and become recognized by the city as such. The process is handled without DMs and is automated at the Guild Registration Office. The fee to do so is minimal and the advantages are many. Not only can guild be able to rent their own guildhouse to plan and organize their activities, they are also the means of gaining influence across the Colony. No individual, alone, can be terribly influent. Only by joining together and forming organizations that work for the benefit of society in someway can one achieve some political power across the Colony and this is what Guilds/Banner allow you to do.

Similarly, Guilds can also ask local craftsmen to make uniform (at a steep price) so they can be identified better.

Each founding member of a guild or at the request of a DM will receive a Guild Token that can be used on willing characters which are interested in joining your banner to recruit them under your colours. Members of a Banner all collect influence toward this specific guild and therefore the more characters are part of a guild, the more influent this guild would become in the eyes of the Governor.

It is also possible to hire or recruit members in a covert fashion in order to do sabotage or hinder the efforts of other guilds or banners in trying to gain influence across the Colony.

Members of a Banner/Guild can rent guildhouse for their guild to operate from. These guildhouses offer a good place to organize your group, provide extra persistent storage (30) and free safe resting. This system is totally automated and does not require a DM to be setup. It is arranged by the Guild Registration Office once one has become a Guild member (and Patrician). Extra keys for members can also be bought and a total of three locations are available for rent as of now.

Gaining influence or hindering the influence of other factions can be done in many ways in the Colony. Firstly, in order to gain influence, one must be part of a Banner/Guild. Secondly, influence is categorized toward broad demographic categories based on who the actions of your characters benefit. There are both non-scripted and scripted means of gaining influence, and DMs can always adjust the influence level of a group based on its performance or originality in the gameworld.

• Donations to farmers, crafters, churches, etc. all have benefits.
• Doing certain scripted quest which directly help the Colony (helping a local farmer or escorting a caravan of ore to the city) also have benefits.
• Hunting and bringing back fur, meat, lizard pelts or very rare games to the Colony to be traded back in Old Port also has benefits.
• Holding and protecting various territories will also provide benefits.
• Organizing big celebration, funerals, events or being prominent in the defense of the city by hunting bounties has benefits.
• Helping researchers and scholars in their studies will also be beneficial toward that specific community.

By gaining influence, not only does the Banner or Guild has a chance becoming part of the Court in the current or next session, but it will also have MORE influence once that session is started as extremely influent groups will bare more weight toward the governor.

It is also possible to become competitive by hiring bandits or saboteurs to hinder the gains or the help down by other groups and therefore slow them down while allowing your group to continue progressing.

Territories

Finally, a variety of territories (such as a fertile ground, a lumbermill or an ore mine) are in need of protection by the various Banners/Guilds of the colony. In order for the workers to harvest the spoils of the land in dangerous areas, these Guilds must act as their protectors and therefore by claiming to protect such areas, these guilds will gain influence toward these respective groups. To protect a territory, hostile creatures must have been removed from a perimeter around the territory and it must be done by a group of at least 3 characters belonging to a specific Banner. The territory will remain under the protection (and award influence) right up until hostile monsters become too present or surround it once more.

This mean that banditry or druids not wishing characters to overharvest the lands or cut down the forest can prevent groups from claiming or protecting these territories by chasing such groups from said territories.