Everything has laws; most are dark. Learn the laws of the multiverse and you can rule it.
Factol: Factol Hashkar
Sigil HQ: City Court (The Lady’s Ward)
Home Field: Mechanus
Allies: Mercykillers, Harmonium
Enemies: Xaositects, Revolutionary League
Faction Branches[]
Below are the listed branches of the Guvners, including NPC and PC branches. One is run by the Factol, the rest are run by Factors. Each one has a 'take' on the main philosophy of the Faction, sometimes more like the Factols current interpretation, sometimes very different. Even joint philosophies exist in some of the Faction branches across Sigil, forged both from practical alliances and similar beliefs.
City Court - Factol Hashkar (NPC)
Bureau of Applied Protophysics - Factor ??? (NPC)
Bureau of the People's Law - Factor Jar Ree (NPC)
Bureau of Bureaucracy - Factor ??? (NPC)
Post-Lady's Edict Bureau Reorganisation[]
Following the Lady's Edict of 138Ha, many of the Fraternity's long-stable internal structure has had to be shaken up to meet new requirements, and the Bureau system hasn't escaped the reach of reorganisation. Under the new Court hierarchy, each of the Bureaus de facto run a number of their own courts, run by their own Judges, making rulings increasingly skewed towards their respective interpretations of Guvner law. However, while each of the Courts is de facto run by its respective Branch, a certain level of regulation is nonetheless exerted over each Court by the City Court due to its de jure authority, tempering each of the Courts' increasingly divided outcomes with Hashkar's wisdom in seniority.
Factol Hashkar's central City Court branch retains de jure administrative authority over all Guvner-run Courts as a holdover contingency from pre-Branch legislation, widely considered a political necessity to get the Courts back up and running.
In kind, the Bureau of Bureaucracy has managed to insert itself into this process to, and we quote, "Ensure the bureaucratic needs of the expanding bureaucracy are being met," with many elements of Court functions now requiring rubber-stamping by some Bobber clerk as a matter of course.
The newly-formed Bureau of the People's Law have also inserted themselves into this increasingly complex jurisdictional tangle via the expert deployment of internal propaganda memos, allegedly tricking the clerks writing up the new regulations into slipping in a subclause requiring a People's Law representative to sign off on matters deemed to affect public order and morale - i.e. most cases with any publicity whatsoever. Allegedly.
And even the Brainbox, initially disinterested in the developing jurisdictional squabble, found themselves an obligatory part of the judicial process, after one of their greybeards discovered a miraculously prophetic conditional directive from Ha -7914 concerning the then-relevant Rule of One-to-Three, necessitating that their Bureau at least nominally deny and approve of rulings to a one-to-three denial-to-approval ratio, or the entirety of Sigil may well collapse due to ancient bylaws.
WITHIN THE RANKS[]
Most Guvners strike a cutter as bookish types, those wiling to study and adhere to hundreds of rules and laws. To prove they’ve learned the laws, faction members must pass tests, which earns them the admiration of their peers and the opportunity to rise through the ranks.
ROLEPLAYING THE FRATERNITY OF ORDER[]
Two basic types of hashers join the Guvners: those looking for knowledge and those looking for power. To most of ’em, the two quests amount to exactly the same thing - remember, knowledge is power, berk. Some faction members enjoy delusions of power beyond reason, but they fail to get far. See, such megalomaniacs have lost their sense of order in their fanatic ambition. While many Guvners seek knowledge with fervor, the ones that rise through the ranhs are those governed by a sense of order. They don’t hunger for the power of knowledge, but accept that it will come.
ALIGNMENT[]
A cutter’s got to be lawful to join the Guvners - and pass the right tests, of course. Good characters respect the laws as they are, while evil ones thrill in twisting them legally whenever they can.
CLASS[]
Most members of the Fraternity of Order are wizards, since that profession encourages research; all specialties appear in the faction’s roll, though Guvner wild mages seem less wild than most and concern themselves with learning the laws and patterns of chaos (such as they are). A lot of the remaining Guvners are priests, usually of a power representing law and order, justice, or a related topic. Warriors seem somewhat common, and the rare Guvner rogue might be a bard or a thief who lawfully tries to thwart other thieves.
RACE[]
Though a character’s race makes little difference to the Guvners, many humans and dwarves join. Half-elves and tieflings seem uncommon (they don’t take well to strict rules), bariaur rare, and githerai almost unknown - they like rules even less.
FRATERNITY OF ORDER MEMBERSHIP[]
((Editor's note: Many of the details here are now out of date following the Branch system and the rank simplification introduced in the Lady's Edict. Where elements conflict, go with the latest stuff to keep up-to-date. - stev))
The Guvners have their share of namers: berks who pass the initial tests (covering laws and general knowledge) but don't strive to learn after their acceptance. They join just to belong to a faction. These namers, or Aiders, are the smallest cogs in the Fraternity machine and perform the faction's mundane, day-to-day tasks. Their superiors assign them duties, but they may request assignments as well. Often, high-ups encourage Aides to go on adventures to gain first-hand knowledge, as long as they write full reports on their return.
'Course factioneers can't always go haring off on adventures, The Fraternity of Order also requires at least a few hours of regular duty from each and every Guvner every week. Aides serve as assistants to factotums, or if they're lucky, to higher-placed Guvners. (No namer has direct regular contact with the factol himself, though. - Ed.) Most namers work their hours as file clerks, research assistants, and court recorders. Some have more menial tasks, like cleaning or guarding the City Court. Aides all must follow the orders of any factotum unless these orders conflict with a current ongoing task.
It's a cinch that being at everyone else's beck and call encourages Aides to become factotums or, to use the Guvner's term, Administrators. To earn this promotion, an Aide must pass a series of tests, offered every 100 days. Passing the tests makes a basher an Administrator of A10 rank. (A1 is highest)
Low-ranking Administrators feel like little more than glorified Aides, as they merely assist faction high-ups. Some of these Administrators do have managerial tasks, like supervising the Shifter's Logs, accounts of how Sigil's various shifting portals are used and by whom. (Only factotums and higher can see these secret logbooks, and some times they send namers to stake out more important portals, to gather logbook data. - Ed.)
Factotums of higher ranks, A5 to A1, might serve as assistants, too, but usually they have their own Aides to supervise as well. These high-ups spend most of their time at faction headquarters (either Sigil or on Mechanus). Some conduct research missions, provided they first make the proper requests with the correct forms through appropriate channels. Within the court system, Administrators of all ranks serve as attorneys, both prosecutors and defenders, as well as legal advisers.
Factotums each have a superior. Sometimes higher ranked Administrator serves as supervisor, but often it's a Bureau Chief: A factor in the Fraternity. Though some factotums might serve as assistants to the factol, they do so under orders from a Bureau Chief and must respond to both the orders and the factol and of the Bureau Chief. Administrators advance by taking tests once every 100 days. An exceptional score can get a body promoted two ranks instead of one.
Advancement to Bureau Chief naturally requires a test. However bashers gets promoted only when a Bureau Chief position is vacant. Only occasionally does the factol create a new bureau that needs a chief; most A1s have to wait for Bureau Chief to retire or die. The faction's got way too many middle managers, especially ranks A3 to A1, 'cause they have no place to advance.
The Factol assigns an A1 both knowledgeable and lucky to become Chief of a Bureau. The ranks of Bureau Chiefs start with B5 and work up to B1. B5s supervise lesser bureaus, many of which form parts of bigger bureaus. B1-level Bureau Chiefs run the Star Bureaus: Record-Keeping, Research, Internal Affairs, Planar Affairs, and Prime Affairs. These five bureaus have existed for hundreds of years. 'Course a few other major bureaus, the Ad Hoc Bureaus, have B2s or B3s in charge. Though technically these bureaus are temporary, some have been around a century or more; one, the Bureau of Courts, assigns faction members court duties. Some Bureau Chiefs, usually level B5s or B4s, do not have bureaus of their own. They serve as judges or functionaries of the Bureau of Courts.
To Become factol of the Fraternity of Order, a cutter first must serve as a B1 Bureau Chief. When the position of the factol opens, the B1s vote one of their number into the position. Should a tie arise, Guvners extend the voting to Bureau Chiefs of all ranks. The vote counters eliminate the candidates with the lowest vote totals until a clear winner emerges by plurality vote.
The position of factol seems unlikely to open in the near future. See, Hashkar has held the job for 127 years and shows little sign of slowing down. However, not all factols leave the position by dying. A few have retired, stepping down to honorary B1 status. (A retiree serves as Chief of a bureau with no functions and no functionaries besides himself, allowing the former factol to dodder off into senility. - Ed.) Some factols, including Hashkar's predecessor, disappeared without a trace, despite efforts of the faction's best investigators.
FACTION ABILITIES[]
RP Abilities only: Requires consent of a DM/EM or all players involved/affected by its use if no DM/EM is present. (per Server Rules)
Manipulate Probability: A Guvner can, once per day, tinker with the laws of chance to gain an advantage, granting them either a +3 or -3 to any roll they make.
Find Loophole: Through arduous study of a specific ability, a Guvner can perform a spell as high as their level would allow. The Guvner does not need to be a spellcaster to perform this ability, only simply have enough levels that would feasibly allow them to cast it. In other words, even a warrior that is a high ranking member of the Guvners could perform this ability.
In order to find the loophole of the spell, the Guvner must spend 1 day per spell level of studying the intricacy and laws behind the spell within the city courts. This means that it would take the Guvner nine days to perform a ninth level spell. The spell still requires all material, gold, time, and any other components it would normally need.
The rank of A10 cannot perform this ability. Ranks A9-A5 can perform up to 4th level spells. Ranks A4-A1 can perform up to 6th level spells. Bureau Chiefs (B5-B1) can perform up to 9th level spells.
Because of the strenuous amount of research and preparation this ability takes, a Guvner can only prepare one loophole at a time and can only use it once. Afterward, the Guvner must begin anew in order to use the ability again.