Servants of the state

Akin to the ministers employed by some rulers, the Servants turn grand visions into reality. They provide the information the High Council needs to make it's decisions and then work out the details. The cynical may suggest that the Servants ensure that the information that they share with the High Council is tailored so that the council comes to the correct decision, but the generous would say that they are merely filtering out unnecessary detail.

Structure

The servants are split into several trees including:

• Trade - Manages rules, regulations and tariffs for internal and external trade.
• Defence - Supports the army by making logistical arrangements and negotiating with the support branch. The Root of defence is usually a former senior officer.
• Support - Manages taxation and use of funds, and oversees the other trees.
• Preservation - Ensures that the ecosystems of the forest and rivers are not disrupted.
• Diplomacy. - Oversees the Kingdom's ambassadors and looks after visiting dignitaries.

The Root (leader) of each tree is chosen by the monarch on the advice of the High Council. The previous root usually nominates candiates or the nominations may come from the other Roots. Sometimes they make this very easy for the council by only nominating one person. The Root selects two or three people (Branches) to work in their tree. The Root of the Support Tree is known as the First Servant and is responisble for settling any disputes between the trees.
The Branches employ assistants, scribes and ledgerkeepers (Leaves) to help them in their work, though the Leaves are not considered part of the Servants. The bar is set fairly high for entry to the leaves, with candidates needing a high level of numeracy, knowledge of history, trade, and foreign relations, and excellent communication skills. Being successful as a leaf is likely to result in being granted the status of nobility so there are no shortage of candidates to choose from.

Culture

The Servants' job is to get things done and results matter more than how you achieved them. Most Servants have forceful personalities and they generally aren't too reluctant to step on a few toes if it means achieving their goals. Perception is key to advancement so any successful initiative is likely to have twice as many Servants claiming credit than could have possibly worked on it, while those initiative that look like they are failing will suddenly become owned by the tree's latest scapegoat. This attitude to success and failure is shared by most of the Servants and the Leaves that work for them.

History

Originally the Servants were just a collection of nobles who were dragged into taking on the responsibilities for keeping the kingdom running. Some were not exactly industrious and many resented the lack of respect they received from the council. When the matter was brought up with Tellimimber Silma he reaslised that a part of the problem was that the nobles were all acting independently making it easy for the council to target them separately. Tellimimber declared that the nobles were not the council's servants and were in fact Servants of the state. While not the most catchy of names if ended up sticking and attempts to change it have ended in failure.

Rulers change, but we continue to serve

Founding Date

5 Himer 16 RT

Leader Title

First Servant

Parent Organization

Ancient Kingdom of the Forest

Location

Calen Tal tel’Taure

Related Ranks & Titles

• First Servant

Related Species

• Elf

Related Ethnicities

• Ostrim

Related Historical Events

• 922
  Servants of the State established

Becoming a leaf is considered a good first step on the path to joining the Servants. Most of the assistants in the leaves are nobles who wish to maintain their status or enhance their standing. Leaves typically spend 60% of their time working and the rest manoeuvring for position.