City hall

The city hall might be called the "heart of the city". Here, all the important decisions take place. The building can neither be built nor bought.

To view the interior, select the building first, and then use the  **Look inside the building** button of the actions bar or press the `O` key. To switch back to the outside view, use the  **Look outside** button, or press the `O` key again.

When a character enters the building, they are allowed to walk around freely. There are six rooms for the six chambers of the administration, and a lobby.

## Lobby

The lobby serves as waiting room for everyone involved in the meetings of the different chambers. Occasionally, the town crier hangs around here, while the  **Town crier is waiting for news**.

The lobby holds seveval props, for the player to click on, to perform certain actions:

* The desk of the city hall clerk to talk with him.
* A sketch of the office tree.
* Several chairs to sit down.
* A lectern for the city laws.
* A lectern for the book of dynasties.
* A lectern for the leasehold businesses.
* The door to exit the building.

## City Hall Clerk

The city hall clerk is the receptionist of the city hall. He sits at his desk in the middle of the lobby. When a family member or an employee talks to him, they have got the following options:

* Just looking around (=abort the conversation).
* Claim a new title (20% discount).
* Apply for an office (20% discount).
* Oil the wheels of bureaucracy. This option is only available for party members i.e. the dynasty's leader and both hands.

Some of those options may be missing, because the family member needs a certain title. Children can only look around here, but employees can act in representation of the family members.

## Offices

To check the city's offices, the player has to open the office tree, by clicking on its sketch on the wall. They can also hit `F8` or the button  **City records** and then choose the submenu **office tree**.

If a map has multiple towns (like Hanseatic League), there are multiple office trees, one for each town. I this case, the player can choose which one to display, by using the arrows to the right and left of the name of the town.

In the office tree, the player can check the names of the office bearers, their coat of arms, if there's currently the opportunity to apply for office, and the number of candidates.

There are four levels in the hierachy (from top to bottom):

* Level 1: Country government - the sovereign of the country.
* Level 2: City council - the three most important offices of the city.
* Level 3: Chamber of judges and city constables - two chambers with three offices each.
* Level 4: Council assistants, council informers, and town henchmen - three chambers with three offices each.

**Note**: Characters with a **white background** do not belong to a certain dynasty, they use the coat of arms of their respective chamber.

When the mouse pointer hovers over the **coat of arms of a chamber**, the player can check additional information of this chamber (see below):

* A general description of the chamber.
* The privileges, that are bestowed to the members of the chamber.
* The city laws, for which the chamber is responsible.

If the player clicks on a **certain character**, this character is activated in the focus panel. If the player clicks on a **certain office**, a lot of information will be shown (see below):

* A general description of the office.
* General data about the office, like requirements, application and election times, income, application fee, score, etc.
* Nominators - Those charaters elect the successor of an office bearer. They are always members of the chamber one level above.
* Candidates - For most offices, up to three charaters can compete for the office in the next election. Only for the office of the sovereign, there might be more.

### Level 1 Offices

This is the highest tier of offices. There is only one chamber here, which consits of a single office, the sovereign. This is the *only* office, that lasts for the whole lifetime of the character, and which may have more than three candidates competing for it. One of the possible family campaigns is, to become sovereign.

Holding this office is the key to the city's administration, as the sovereign elects the office holders of the council, which, in turn, elect the office holders of the two chambers below, and so on.

**Nominators**: Appointed by the Monarch.

**Country government** Baron

### Level 2 Offices

This is the highest tier of offices in a town. There is only one chamber here, the **city council** which consists of three offices. One of the possible family campaigns is, to hold all those three offices.

Holding the majority here (at least two of the three offices) is crucial, as this chamber elects the office holders of the two chambers below.

**Nominators**: Country Government (Sovereign). **Note:** There is a display bug, showing the previous selected chamber plus the sovereign, but actually, it's **only** the sovereign.

**City council** Squire

### Level 3 Offices

This is the middle tier of offices in a town. There two chambers here, the **chamber of judges** and the **city constables** which consist of three offices each.

**Nominators**: City council.

**Chamber of judges** Patrician

**Note:** Holding the majority (at least two of the three offices) in the chamber of constables is quite important, as this chamber elects the office holders of two of the three chambers below.

**City constables** Patrician

### Level 4 Offices

This is the lowest tier of offices in a town. There three chambers here, the **council assistants**, the **council informers**, and the **town henchmen** which consist of three offices each.

**Nominators**: Chamber of judges (for the assistants) and City constables (for the informers and the henchmen).

**Council assistants** Citizen

**Council informers** Citizen

**Town henchmen** Citizen

## Application

The first hurdle, that has to be taken, in order to obtain an office, is to gain the title  Citizen. Only then, the family may start to apply for offices. First, only the **leader** of the family is allowed to do so, and only for the lowest level. As the dynasty further progresses up the ladder of titles, more and more possibilities will be added:

  Baron | ● Sovereign level (1) available

To apply for an office, the family member has first to hold an office **one level below**, the lowest level (4) is open to all characters of rank  Citizen and above.

An occupied office is shown by the calendar symbol , a vacant one by a feather . The little number indicates, how many applications there are already. If the number is lower than three, there's still space for another candidate.

After clicking on the respective office, and then on the **apply** button, the player can select, which character should apply for the office. Any problems, which the character might have, are shown in red below that character's name. Tick the box at the desired candidate and hit **confirm** to apply.

After confirming the necessary application fee (influence), the application is complete. The only thing, that's left to do, is to hope, that your candidate will win the election.

If a character visits the city hall, and applies there via the clerk or the sketch of the office tree on the wall, they recieve a **20% discount** on the application fee for personal application. This can be done by any of the adult family members, or even by employees, not necessarily by the candidate themself.

The application for the office of the sovereign is nearly identical. But there are a few differences:

* The number of candidates is not limited to three.
* After investing the necessary 1 500 influence, the player can add to this, by pledging more influence until the application phase ends. The character, who invests most, wins the race.
* The other possibility is to resume to darker means, and get rid of the competitors, by using a nice assortment of weapons, tinctures, and actions.

## Election

After a certain time, the list of candidates for a vacant office will be closed. Twelve hours after this, the election takes place and the new office holder gets appointed. Which candidate is elected depends highly on the reputation of the candidate's dynasty.

## Tasks

Except for the sovereign (lifelong), the **tenure** for all offices is four rounds. During this time, the members of all chambers, have a few tasks to fulfill.

### Vote in Elections

If one (or more) family members have seats in a chamber that nominates candidates for a vacant office, the player has one (or more) votes in the election process. As soon, as the list of candidates is closed, a flashing  is displayed close to the  **Events** button at the right edge of the screen. If the calender entry has a  next to it, the player has not yet voted for a candidate or taken another decision (depending on the entry). After doing so, the symbol changes to .

To cast a vote, click on the symbol above the  to open the details for the election (compare picture to the left, top part). Here, the nominators and the candidates are shown. If you want to vote, click on the "cast your vote" button and tick your candidate (compare picture, lower part). If you've got more than one vote, all votes have to be for the same candidate.

**Note:** Candidates, that are currently on a journey or in prison, are **not** eligible. In this case, their boxes can't be ticked. Also, unavailable voters can't vote (but they can co-vote, if another voter is available). So make sure, to take care of those things in advance. It is possible to change votes at any time, until the election takes place.

Fortunately, there is no meeting to be attended (and potentially missed) by the nominators. At the scheduled time, the outcome of the election will be published, and the new office holder will be appointed.

In case of a draw, the Monarch decides about who will be appointed. Also, if there are no nominators or no candidates left (died, changed to another office, lost their office, no applications, etc.), the Monarch is the person, to decide about the new office holder.

### Take Desicions

Some of the privileges, a member of the administration is able to use, are to **propose** certain measures. In this case, a meeting is scheduled and added to the calendar. A flashing  is displayed close to the  **Events** button.

The office bearers of the responsible chamber are obliged, to attend those meetings, to decide, wether that measure will be carried out or not. The player may use the  **Events** button at the right edge of the screen, to check it out, and to take the decision in advance. Unfortunately, the  and  mechanics doesn't work for these decisions in the same way, as described in the paragaph about elections.

When the player clicks on the symbol to the right of the task, more details are shown. The information looks different, depending on the related task.

If the player has a vote via one (or more) of their characters, the possibility to accept or reject the proposal will be given. In case of a draw, the Monarch decides, as usually. Characters, which are currently on a journey or in prison, can't take part in the decision, and the respective buttons are disabled.

It is possible to change the vote at any time, until the meeting starts, by using the calendar.

### Decide Court Cases

Like othe decisions, court cases are treated in advance. As with elections, the  in the calendar indicates, that a decision has to be taken by the player. Clicking the icon above it, opens the indictment page shown to the left.

Here, the accuser and accused are shown (top right), as well as the judges (bottom right), the crime(s) (bottom left) and additional information (top left).

Pressing the "verdict" button on the indictment page opens the page to the left, allowing to enter a vote. The grey pointer shows the recommended sentence for the crime(s). The player can select the type of verdict, and also the exact value of the fine. The possible ranges depend on the commited crime(s).

It is unknown to the author of this text, if deviating from the recommended sentence too much, will influence the player's reputation or the relations with other dynasties. In case you know, please add this information here, and remove this paragraph.

If one of the player's characters is the accused in a court case, it is possible to enter a plead - guilty or not guilty - in advance of the trial.

At any time until the trial starts, especially when there's new evidence found in a case, it is possible to change the verdict, using the calender.

 Death | The perpetrator is found guilty. The highest fine is to be hanged at the Execution site.

### Attend Meetings

Two hours before the meeting actually starts, there will be an anouncement, and the respective office bearers will automatically  **Go to office meeting**, and be  **Waiting for an office meeting** there, until the meeting begins.

If the character is otherwise engaged at the scheduled time - sent onto a journey for example, or occupied with a conversation - they will miss the meeting. In this case, the family will have to pay a fine, and their vote won't count to the result. If the decision was positive, the resulting measure will be carried out immediately after the end of the meeting.

### Attend Court Hearings

Court hearings are essentially the same as other meetings, with a difference. If the accuser doesn't show up, the sentence will always be "not guilty", otherwise, the sentence will be the average of all verdicts. Hence, if one of the player's characters has to expect a high fine, it might be a good idea, to get rid of the accuser in advance of a trial, or to engage them in a conversation just before the hearing starts.

If the accused has died in the meanwhile, the hearing will be cancelled. If the sentence was prison time or death, the perpetrator will be escorted after the trial to the prison or the execution site by two city guards.

## Income

Quite an important motivation, for running for offices, are the lavish salaries, the city is willing to pay to their office holders. Each charater earns money and influence for holding the office. The salaries are payed daily. Each office held by the player's dynasty also adds to the statistic score, the higher, the more.

Also, the extra coin, earned by being bribed by the members of other dynasties, should not be underestimated!

## Fine

If the office bearer won't make it in time (for whatever reason), the meeting starts without them, and their family has to pay quite a high influence fine for missing the meeting. If the family hasn't got enough influence, the character will be dismissed immediately. The fine depends on the title of the family and increases a certain amount per rank (depending on the office level, see table above). The formula is: fine = (rank of the title + 2) \* increase for office level. Example: a marquis (13) would pay for missing a meeting of the assistants: (13+2) \* 30 = 450 influence.

Elections are the only events in the calender, which do not require the office bearers in the town hall. Those are decided in advance, and at the sceduled time, there will only be an anouncement of the outcome. And - maybe - it's the family member, who won the race.

## Privileges

With each office (except for the chamber of judges) come a number privileges, which are only available, as long, as a character bears the office. These actions can be selected in the submenu  **Diplomacy & politics**.

**Note:** A lot of the privileges are only the right to *propose a measure*. To make sure, that it will be carried out, the player should ensure a majority (two of three offices) in the responsible chamber. Also make sure, that the office holders are able to attend the meeting, which is **not** the case, if they are sent on journeys or are otherwise engaged. Also, the most powerful actions have the longest cooldown times. So, it's not possible to expropriate the whole city in - let's say - one day, or ban all the dynasty leaders at once.

The privileges in alphabetical order:

## Laws

Each city has the power to decide, which actions are regarded as legal, and which are not. To check on them, hit `F8` or the button  **City records**, and then choose the submenu **city laws**. Or click on the lectern in the city hall (check the image to the left).

Each chamber, except for the judges, is entitled, to change some of the laws. The judges decide about the punishment in each case, that has been brought to court. The sovereign has the power to change any law at their own discretion, without the approval of the local officials.

The laws in alphabetical order:

## Bribery

Only party members (namely the dynasty's leader and both hands) are able to bribe an official. There are two variants of bribery:

* For  **Bribe an official**, the family needs at least the title  Resident.
* For  **Oil the wheels of bureaucracy**, the family needs at least the title  Patrician.

### Bribe an Official

The  **Bribe an official** button is found in the menu  **Diplomacy & politics**. After selecting an official, the family member tries to reach them, to hand over a bag of coins. If the action was successful, the family will recieve some influence, otherwise the money will be lost, without anything in return. If the official was busy, the action will be aborted and the money will be returned into the family's purse. Also, the relation between the two dynasties change according to the outcome of the action.

**Notes**:

* It is **not** possible, to bribe members of the own family if they hold an office. Btw, this wouldn't make much sense either.
* If some of the officials are **greyed out** in the selection window, they are currently unavailable for various reasons. This changes after some time, they might be on a journey, inside a house, or talking to someone for example.
* The **percentage** in the character selection, as usual, shows the probability of a successful transaction. Prefer green numbers (high) over white (avarage) or red (low).

### Oil the Wheels of Bureaucracy

This is the one hundred percent fool proof method, to gain influence, but also the much more expensive one. To perform this action, either talk to the city hall clerk, or select  **Oil the wheels of bureaucracy** from the  **Diplomacy & politics** menu.

If you use the second option, you have to select the city hall afterwards. The family member has to walk to the city hall first, to talk to the clerk there.

In either way, the money is handed over the counter, and some influence is guaranteed to be credited on the family's account. More, than for bribing an office holder, but also for a higher price.

## Exit the Building

If the character wants to leave the city hall, they should use the door, like all civilized persons do ... or use the button  **Exit building**.

City hall was last edited for version 1.0.4.

City hall was last edited for version 1.0.4.