Sarrum city council · World of Aerth

Sarrum's civic council of twelve appointed aldermen (four presented by Crown interests, four by the Oxford chapter, two each by Hartfell and Ashdown) under an appointed Mayor. It keeps the conduits, rates, licences, the burning ground contract, tax collection and the public accounts, but holds no court of general jurisdiction.

Twelve appointed aldermen meeting fortnightly at the Mayoral Manor: four seats presented by Crown interests, four by the Oxford chapter, two by Hartfell and two by Ashdown. It keeps the tax office, the conduits and the mercenary contracts, including the line garrison. Sarrum's appointed civic government: the Mayor and twelve aldermen keep water, rates, burning, licences and enough order for business to continue. None is elected to rule, and it officially counts only about forty thousand locals and five thousand outsiders.

Named with it

Mayor Robert Kelham · appointed mayor, former revenue clerk
twelve appointed aldermen
Hester Quill · elected speaker for poorer districts, mediates with it
Alderman Corwin Rushe (Crown seat
ablest alderman in fifty years)
Judith Mears · alderman, chapter appointment
Cecily Rane · alderman, chapter appointment
Matthew Fenner · alderman for Hartfell's interest
Anne Vell · alderman for Ashdown's interest
Alderman Corwin Rushe · reads the 4551 note aloud yearly
the appointed Mayor

Ties

shares power with the eleven halls, the Bank Council, the charter companies and Houses Hartfell and Ashdown
aldermen presented by the Crown, the Oxford chapter, House Hartfell and House Ashdown
signatory of the Bill of 4551
employs the ward constables (council watch)
contracts the Grey Pike Company, Mere Spears and Black Bucklers for force
holds the Crown licence under which the line's protection is maintained
sits on the wage panel (one seat)
contracts the line garrison

In the chronicle

At the table

Formal power stops where assets cease to be worth defending; in the rubble, gangs and associations matter more by night than any officer in the Mayoral Manor. A Sarrum civic stoppage reaches Mayor Kelham. A count would be read there as the first day of a register. Weak as a government, substantial as an instrument: it minutes problems (the drinkable line, Mow's figures, the count of the Cinders) and rarely acts. It publishes almost nothing but the licence roll and assize calendar, relies on hired outside mercenaries for force, and its clerk (not a magistrate) sits three mornings a week to decide which body wants a detained man.