Fork: ​Politics

High Guildmaster

The town is managed by the High Guildmaster, elected from among all guilds, but in practice controlled by the Gambling Guilds. The election occurs among representatives of each official guild in the Guilds Council.

The High Guildmaster has powers similar to mayors in other Highland towns, but he does not have a fixed term and is easily removed by the Council. A majority of the Guilds Council can at any point call for a new election. A quorum is required for the election vote.

​Politics: The Guard

Being a guard is not necessarily prestigious, but it does afford the guard the potential for a fine income and the potential to advance politically. Also, guards are the only people allowed to carry missile weapons and wear armor within Fork.

Because of both of these benefits, guard duty is very lucrative, and guard is a desirable job. Most guards—especially wall guards—are well-connected; it takes connections to get a job in the Guardsman Guild.

There are two branches of the guard: the city guard and the wall guard. There are also private guards licensed by the High Guildmaster, the Guilds Council, or the Guards Guild.

Guards will not take bribes if they think it might cost them their job: if there is an inspector around, if they think the person offering the bribe is going to cause trouble, or if they think the person offering the bribe is possibly a spy for the inspectors. Guards don’t like having to deal with the inspectors. Bribing an inspector will be ten to twenty shillings, depending on the offense ,and might mean a night in jail if they can’t immediately scrounge up the bribe.

The City Guard

City guards are chosen for skill and cunning. Their purpose is to apprehend suspicious elements and take crime reports from victims or those who discover victims.

Since most people in Fork are suspicious elements, the bribes can be very lucrative.

Because the city guard must confront criminals, their job is sometimes dangerous. City guards always travel in groups of at least two, and usually three or four. They carry short swords and/or long swords, and wear leather or banded leather as well as a helmet. Within a group, at least one will also carry a crossbow.

The Wall Guard

Wall guards are chosen for strength and intimidation. Their purpose is to enforce the weapons laws, to shoot anyone climbing over the walls to get in, and to shoot anyone climbing over the walls to escape. After entering, the intruder is the city guard’s problem.

The benefits of being a wall guard are that it is an easy, if usually boring, post. No one’s attacked Fork in a hundred years, and anybody dangerous doesn’t use the main gates. The bribes aren’t as lucrative as in the city guard but neither is the work as dangerous.

Most of the guards will readily take bribes. The necessary bribe will depend on how much the guard thinks the briber is worth and what the guard thinks the briber is covering up. However, for smuggling a sword and armor in, a half-shilling to five shillings will usually cover it.

Private Guards

Private guards must be members of the Guards Guild. They can only be appointed to the guild by the High Guildmaster or any member of the Guilds Council. Temporary membership may be purchased by any merchant who is an official member of a Fork-recognized guild, through the City Guard offices. Temporary membership is valid for two months. At the end of the two months the Guard is expected to have acquired full membership; however, temporary membership may be renewed by their sponsor.

Guards Guild membership costs twenty-four shillings per year. Temporary membership costs ten shillings to the Guards Guild and six shillings to the City Guard. The City Guard’s approval can (for normal applicants) be assured and/or hastened with a bribe of one to ten shillings, depending on the official on duty and other circumstances.

The standard payment scale for private guards is 1 shilling per day. It is illegal to pay a Guards Guild member any less than this. Some deductions for expenses are allowed, however.

Weapons Laws

Fork is a walled town and it guards its borders zealously. No one other than a licensed bodyguard may carry a weapon or wear armor without a license from the Office of the High Guildmaster or the Guilds Council. In practice, this is the most abused law within Fork. Bribes will speed the granting of a license, and bribes will also allow offenders to avoid arrest, to avoid imprisonment if arrested, and to leave prison early if imprisoned.

Licenses are easiest to acquire for rapiers (10 shillings per month) and short swords (12 shillings per month). Licenses usually take one to six months to acquire. Bribes are most effective when carrying those weapons, or other small weapons such as daggers.

For those who do not wish to purchase a license, bondsmen will carry weapons from the town’s gates to storage for retrieval when leaving Fork. Most quality inns will have a bondsman on call.

The High Guildmaster and any member of the Guilds Council may temporarily rescind the prohibition in emergencies.

The Art of the Bribe

The officials of Fork are well known for their ability to cut through red tape and speed a slow bureaucracy. This includes guards, council-members, and civil servants.

Officials do not like trouble, and any indication that the briber is going to cause trouble will cause the official to both refuse the bribe and apply the law even more stringently than they otherwise would have.

Bribing without preparation is generally a difficult Charisma roll. Setting up a bribe ahead of time is best, and can be either role-played or handled with a Charisma roll. A failed bribe is likely to mean an extra-careful search of the briber’s goods or papers, or a more stringent punishment, depending on what the bribe was meant to accomplish.

Once a character is in jail, the necessary bribe rises precipitously. Of the jailer, the judge, the guard who brought them there, and the guard in charge of that guard, three of four will need to be bribed to ensure freedom; two of four might work for a non-infamous crime. Assume that whatever the bribe would have been initially, it will be two or three times that to get out of jail.

Meanwhile, while the character is in jail they may need to bribe other prisoners and the jailer for goods, services, and peace.

​Politics: Money

Fork uses the coinage of Black Stag, as per the Black Stag alliance.

Alliance with Black Stag

Fork has recently made a pact with Black Stag that brings them into a closer relationship. This mutual protection pact promises a pooling of military resources in time of danger, extradition of criminals and the use of Black Stag coinage. It also stipulates that the river’s name is now Stag River.

The Stag River Agreement is a mutual trade and defense treaty. It enacts a common coinage (Black Stag) in Black Stag and Fork; a common naming scheme for important roads and landmarks, such as naming Fawn River Stag River; financial and military aid in time of trouble; and a shared law between the two cities.

Because Fork and Black Stag are the two most powerful cities in West Highland, the alliance means that Black Stag coins will be universally accepted and preferred.

The alliance is monitored by the Alliance Ministry, which consists of three ministers: the Defense Minister, the Financial Minister, and the Judicial Minister.

The Alliance Defense Minister attempts to coordinate defense and law enforcement resources between the two cities.

The Alliance Financial Minister coordinates the system of coins, and mediates fees that one city or the other calls for from its citizens.

The Alliance Judicial Minister maintains the Model Law, and mediates between the two cities to fix conflicting laws. Any dispute over how a law in one city applies in the other city can be taken to the Judicial Minister’s court.

You may use the ministry for many kinds of subplots, from simple warmongering to kingdom building and legal harassment.

​Politics: Spies

Everyone’s a spy for the right price. The Guards train guards as inspectors to spy on other guards who might be taking bribes. Casinos hire spies to watch for cheating at their gaming tables. Black Stag’s Wizard Council is drafting a spy network throughout West Highland to help ensure that the alliance goes their way. The church has an informal news network that collects news from all its parishes. The city guard keeps a stable of low-level criminals who provide them information in exchange for the guard looking the other way.