Publicani
Publicani are the Companies of Draconian territory, who deal with all sorts of issues in the land, with major focuses in construction and, especially, tax collection.
Definition
Publicani are not one singular group, but rather a classification of various kinds of companies in Draconian Territory. They deal specifically in construction and tax collection. Publicani are public companies that can have shares traded, bought, and sold. However, they are not Limited Liability companies. Therefore, anyone who has a share in the company is responsible if the company goes into debt or is in legal trouble. Publicani also are like private citizens in the fact that they can be sued. In this case, the shareholder of the Publicani are called to defend it in court. This often happens in the case of companywide negligence or malpractice.Construction
Publicani that deal with construction work are hired on the basis of when things need to be built. There are some Publicani that are specifically contracted for fixing infrastructure, while others specialize in creating housing, commercial buildings, or landmarks.Taxation
Other Publicani deal with collecting the taxes of villages. They are assigned by the Noble Council in a bidding war, where all Publicani tax agencies are gathered. There, they bid on what Publicani will collect taxes for what village. The money bid by the Publicani is then taken by the Noble Council. The Publicani must, then, collect at least that much in taxes from the village. They are then allowed to keep the surplus, along with some interest. Due to this, there is precedent for the Publicani to want to collect more and more money so that they can keep more for themselves. This then goes to the shareholders in the Publicani.Mancipium
Publicani have a special clause in the law that allows for their existence. One that the Noble Council has refused to remove, meaning that Publicani keep this one exception to a law in Draconian Territory, as it is law itself. Kilprax Ildial, when he made Publicani, said that to keep profits going to shareholders, they would mostly employ those without pay, or as the law calls them, Mancipium. Mancipium work for no pay, and often live in housing for their Publicani.Kilprax Ildial by Jarhed
Slaves
Mancipium are also known by another name: Slaves. Freedom fighters have often tried to abolish the Mancipium Clause in the Draconian law, but they have never been successful. Due to it being a Grand Wizard's decree, even Chiefs cannot abolish it, though many say it is not their problem. To many Draconian citizens, they are unaware that it is even an issue, as most know them only as Mancipium, and are taught that they are not held against their will, but instead are willingly working without pay. This narrative grossly misrepresents the problem of Mancipium.History
Kilprax Ildial, the first Grand Wizard of the Draconians, was the one to officially establish the Publicani. Before then, the organization known as Tax was operating within Evity. However, under Kilprax's decree, they would begin working throughout Draconian territory. The first tax officiant to operate in all villages was Tincil Prihazar, a Tamdian with a specialty in taxes, while the first Publicani construction officiant was Mumbar Killin, who was in charge of building the village of Yirthum as well as a large part of the capital city of Zephys. It was not until the fourth Grand Wizard, Wiscys Nicandir, that Publicani offically became a more widespread term, applying to all sorts of groups and not just Tax. She also was the one to give the alottment of the Publicani to the Noble Council, as she was more in favor of the nobles than some stories would have the public believe.Tax Collectors
The majority of known Publicani are tax collectors, and they are assigned to a Village by the Noble Council of the major Draconian families. They are meant to bid each year on what village they are in charge of each year, but often they just stick to one village by agreement. The groups in charge of each village are:- Rajurn & Paqiroth Certified Public Accountkeepers-Bortan
- Tax-Evity
- The Potion Tax-Tamd
- Lap of Luxury-Ealla
- Elftelligence-Yirthum
- Globe-Dembar
- Fireaid-Waire
- (Vacant)-Ilder
Tax is the oldest Publicani, and the first, which was used to originally keep track of the taxes of all villages. This grew to be too much trouble, so now they only deal with the original village of Evity.
The Potion Tax is a Publicani founded by Tamdians so that the name would be copyrighted if the Grand Wizard ever actually intended to tax potions. The Tamdians hope this will keep such a law from ever being created.
Lap of Luxury is a Publicani that specifically deals with musicians. They have clauses in their contract that allow them to operate outside of Ealla as long as Eallan citizens are involved, as Eallans tour to places that would oft be out of the jurisdiction of a Publicani.
Elftelligence is a Publicani that operates in Yirthum, though in truth they have no authority over the village because of Yirthum's Elven influence. Due to this, Yirthum is a tax haven, which is why richer Draconians often live in or are from Yirthum.
Globe is a Publicani that works more across the world than just in Draconian Territory, as the name implies.
Fireaid is a newer Publicani. It has, in the past, gone bankrupt multiple times, as the current Publicani of other villages kept such a tight grip on the villages that new Publicani cannot get in to collect tax. However, when Waire was founded, Fireaid swooped in and took over as its tax collectors.
Ilder currently is without a Publicani, as its founding is new enough that the Noble Council has not met to determine this yet.
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