Bylaws

It seems likely that the covenant members (either current or previous) will have added extensions, or bylaws, to the charter at some point in time. Here are some suggestions:

• The Council of this Covenant requires that all members must maintain an appropriate mundane facade that accounts for their presence in the city of Lubeck and for whatever level of wealth the magus displays. (George)
  
• Apart from that, I think there are some clauses about a communal capital, the gain from which funds a communal townhouse or two, maintenance of the joint library, as well as guest lab at the Novgorod. Formally, I think of this as the covenant being a minority share holder in businesses operated by Henri and possibly other members, and thus managed by them. The covenant receives dividends which go to fund autocrats to manage the townhouse etc. I cannot see the game significance of any details we might work out, so I prefer to leave it hazy. (George)
  
• The Covenant will maintain a reserve of 50 pawns of vis for emergency use. What constitutes a valid emergency will be decided by a Covenant Council meeting.
  
• Any vis acquired by the covenant, that is not retained as part of the reserve, will be shared equally among the member magi, annually, at the end of Autumn.

Charter Discussion Brief

Quote: In 1144 AD, the Rhine Tribunal, at the urging of the Ash Gild, ruled that more information should be gathered about the Norse wizards in lands to the north of the Tribunal — the purported Order of Odin. To this end, Oculus Septentrionalis was formed and dedicated to investigating this potential threat. Uniquely, at the time of its founding, this covenant had no magi and no site, and its charter was written by senior magi of the Tribunal.

I would think that representatives from each of the five the gilds (the Apple gild does not yet exist) were involved in the creation of the Charter for the new covenant.
I imagine the process was done quickly as the magi involved probably had better things to do with their time so don’t over think it.

The charter committee’s objective is to write a charter that:
- compels members to fulfil the Tribunals objective regarding the gathering of information about the Nordic magicians,
- incentivises magi to take the risk and encourages the growth of the covenant,
- but doesn’t discourage magi from joining by being too restrictive.

1. I will take the Linden gild and draft an initial proposal.
   
2. Each of you pick one of the other gilds and add any comments/suggestions from that gild’s perspective.
   
3. I will review the comments. If there are any conflicts, I will summarise and we can vote.
   
4. I will then compile a formal document for your review.

We are not trying to write a charter that benefits our characters - what goes into the the charter should be based on the political agenda’s of the gilds. It maybe that the charter is not well thought out and actually causes problems for our characters, but that is something that can be resolved in play later.

The Charter sub-committee.

• Linden, represented by: Tandaline of House Bonisagus, Durenmar.
  
• Ash, represented by Philippus Niger of House Flambeau, Durenmar.
  
• Oak, represented by Malleus of House Guernicus, Durenmar.
  
• Elder, represented by Aschlaranda Ex Miscellanea, Dankmar.
  
• Hawthorn, represented by Urgen Midusulfis of House Bjornaer, Crintera.

The Linden initial proposal

I will use headlines and bullets at this stage. I will write it up formally once it is agreed.

Purpose of the covenant

• The covenant of Oculus Sepentrionalis is formed to investigate the Nordic lands and to collect intelligence on the native magicians of those lands.
  
• The covenant will report their progress and findings at each subsequent Tribunal meeting.

Membership

• Any magus of the Order who is resident in the Rhine tribunal area may join the covenant by declaring his intent to any member of the covenant charter subcommittee.
  
• Alternatively, once the covenant has a minimum of three members, new members may be approved by application to the covenant council.
  
• New members must contribute a new text to the communal library.
  
• Each member must give one season in service to the covenant, per Tribunal period. This service shall be explicitly dedicated to furthering the covenants purpose.

Governance

• All decisions that affect the covenant or its shared resources will be made by a council of members.
  
• A council meeting will be quorate if a minimum of two thirds of the member magi are present.
  
• All members of the covenant will have an equal voice in any covenant decisions.
  
• A vote is passed when a minimum of two thirds of the cast votes are in favour.

Resources

• The tribunal will allocate an amount of vis and a number of books to enable the establishment of this covenant.
  
• The first two harvests of any newly discovered regular vis source will be the sole property of the discovering magus. Thereafter, subsequent harvests will be owned by the covenant as a shared resource.
  
• The disbursement of covenant resources will be determined by council decision.
  
• The covenant will maintain a communal library. Each member magus will contribute at least one new text to the library, per Tribunal period.

Oak comments.

Large and conservative.

Only a few remarks to the original proposal.

1. Hawthorn’s concerns about possible war is just. This should go without saying. There is no excuse to make enemies for the Order or for our Tribunal.
2. I assume that the charter subcommittee only can approve new members until the quota of three members has been filled.

Hawthorn comments.

Purpose of the covenant

• The covenant of will not use this mandate to despoil nature, and the wild places.
• Shall only spy and learn about these Hedge Magicians. Not start a war with them, or cause them to retaliate.

Membership

• Any exploration into the wilderness will be either accompanied or advised by a Magi with understanding of nature (preferably, Bjornaer or Merinita).

Governance

Resources

• The covenant may not register Vis sources in Scandinavia without Tribunal authorization, and ¼ of the Vis collected will go towards repaying the initial investment.
• The formation of a Chapterhouse will be subject to a Tribunal, or Special Tribunal Meeting, if it is to occur in between meetings, and will need to be ratified by at least one member from each covenant.
• A chapterhouse will need to have a resident Bjornaer- or Merinita-trained Magi.

Ash comments.

Noted as being aggressive towards the Order of Odin.

[George: I make a second set of Gild comments since few others have engaged.]

The Ash Guild opposes any restrictions which do not explicitly further the Quest for Information (and Power) in the North.
They argue to give the covenant freedom to pursue its purpose in the way which is best at any given point in time.

I.e.

• They do not expect the investment repaid in vis. It should be repaid by information in abundance.
• There is no reason to limit their right to found chapter houses. If a chapter house is needed to meet the purpose, then do it. Do not linger to discuss it.
• Building a library is not part of the purpose. Requiring members to submit texts will only distract them from the purpose, unless, possibly, if the texts have to be on Norse wizardry and the like.

Hawthorn’s requirement for Bjornaer and Merinita counsel is bullocks, but easily accepted in exchange for support for Hawthorn’s key demands.

Elder comments.

Wilderist, Fae oriented.

Minutes of the committee meeting.

Committee Agenda.docx