Syndicate Accords

The Syndicate Accords formalized the de-facto status of the Arkandic syndicates as the ruling power of the country. They are the constitutional documents of the modern state of Arkand.

Background

In 51 BE, the King of Arkand died with no living heirs, and a number of royal houses positioned to start a war of succession. The interim government, the Provincial Council of Crown and Estates, placated them by leasing exclusive charters of responsibility for functions of the Crown. The Council later located the King’s only ‘son’, who had been presumed dead, living in Delsin Station. She was crowned in absentia, but never returned to Arkand.

Throughout the next 20 years, these charter companies grew beyond their mandates and outcompeted other firms without the weight of a royal house behind them. By 30 BE, most charter companies held monopolies over vast swaths of the economy. The companies began to issue their own currency, provide housing, and write their own laws, effectively becoming parallel states within Arkand with citizenship determined by employment.

The Council, still the official government in nominal expectation of the Queen’s return, recognized their inability to contest this process. In 10 BE, they instructed the royal courts to respect the laws and judgements of so-called charter governments and adjudicate only in cases of disagreements between charter companies.

In the first decade after the Enchantment, many members of the Arkandic royal family visited the nearby Qamar Library and were told of the revolutionary potential of aetherpower. They facilitated a series of meetings between the heads of charter companies in order to officially relinquish state power in hopes that Arkand would become the dominant empire in the new age of aether.

The Conclaves of Charterholders

The first conclave was held in 11. It established a fixed exchange rate between company currencies and the right of citizens to seek employment outside of their current company. The Arkand Housing Commission was established to determine a process for doing away with single-company towns.

The second Conclave was held in 18. The increased mutual recognition created by the first conclave was generally considered successful, as was the purchase of most residences by the Housing Commission. After two weeks of negotiation, the council and heads of each charter company signed the Syndicate Accords, a series of documents reconstituting the government of Arkand.

Terms of the Accords

The Accords recharted existing companies as syndicates, sectoral monopolies affiliated with (but not neccessarily owned by) the state. The Syndicate Board took the place of the Council and royal courts, adjudicating disagreements and determining foreign policy by voting. In practice, Board issues are resolved through trading resources, favors, or information between the Syndicates.

Some syndicates were created, restructured, or expanded by the accords. For example, the policing and paramilitary forces of each charter company were distributed among the Maritime Union, Combined Security Syndicate and Army Directorate. Likewise, the Housing Commission was absorbed by the Stratis Corporation, which had previously been the owner of the railway system.

The syndicates as established by the accords are as follows:

• Aetheric Research Organization, employs wizards and techniciansto do aetherics research as hired by other syndicates
• Arkand National Library, employs historians and authors who mostly assist other syndicates
• Army Directorate, responsible for the defense of Arkand from external threats
• Breccia Agrichem, farming, food production, and textiles
• Combined Security Syndicate, responsible for policing, national security and intelligence
• Extraction and Fabrication, mining and metalworking
• Finance Guild, responsible for taxing and funding other syndicates as directed by the Board
• Forestry Association, responsible for managed forests, woodcutting and woodworking
• Frontier Authority, responsible for wildlands, mostly functions as beast protection and wilderness firefighting
• Intersyndic Arbitration Court, responsible for suits between syndicates that can’t be resolved in the board and between citizens and syndicates
• Maritime Union, owns the merchant and military navies
• Narrative Office, employs artists. Frequently hired by Stratis to manage theaters and art galleries.
• Postal Service, later expanded to include phosgraphs
• Registry of Standards and Metrics, responsible land surveying, censuses, densimeter certification, immigration
• Royal Office, a one-person ceremonial syndicate representing the interests of the Crown in the syndicate board. Usually inactive
• Stratis Corporation, responsible for infrastructure, housing, and ground transport
• Vitality and Welfare, responsible for hospitals and medical aetherics