Preface
Welcome to the home of Her Majesty's Chancellery; the place where the daily operations of the kingdom are found. If Quel'Athillien is a body, then the chancellery is the beating heart and lifeblood of the kingdom. In these hallowed halls, men and women come together to discuss and enact laws, economics of the various duchies, plan events, take census of the people and ensure the common welfare. Currently headed by the Lady-Chancellor Amiyna Summers, the chancellery is responsible for a great many things to ensure the constant running and upkeep of the kingdom. Here, the chancellery will be looked at in depth as well as how various meetings and events are conducted. If you wish to involve yourself with the chancellery, it is encouraged that you meet with Lady Summers at your earliest.
Meetings and Events
While every group is encouraged to provide events and meetings among their people, the chancellery is directly responsible for court hearings, trials and events that include the whole of Quel'Athillien. Some of the events that the chancellery provides for the people are:
The Phoenix Court
The Nobles' Curias
The Peoples' Court
The Phoenix Fire Festival
Her Majesty's Welcome Banquets
Most of these events are open to all people whereas a select few are for just the nobility. Many of the events held by the chancellery have a long traditional history while others are newer and are being used as a model from which to gauge how best to help the people. At these same events, there are rules that each member - royalty included - are expected to abide by. These rules are placed into effect either for safety reasons or because of situations that had happened previous.
The Phoenix Court
The Phoenix Court is a bi-monthly event that is often held as a means of being able to not only provide the people with a means of spreading information about newly passed laws or updated information on various groups and duchies but also for the people to have a direct link to the chancellery with the ability of bringing up complaints or well-wishes to be had in public venue. While Her Majesty is often in attendance, it is the Chancellor who is the one who fields the questions and determines the speaker. The chancellery will often approve meeting agendas on the Wednesday before the meeting, but they have been known to add items to the agenda up to 24 hours in advance. All agendas for meetings are posted here on this forum for those who wish to be in attendance.
Some of the decorum that is expected:
- No weapons are permitted within the meeting room. The only persons who should have weapons are the previously designated guards. This is for safety.
- All speakers must be in attendance at the start of the meeting otherwise they forfeit their place.
- Any topic that is brought up during the meeting as "new business" can be tabled to the next meeting for the sake of time. This is at the discretion of the chancellor.
- Disruptors will be asked to leave. If they continue to be disruptive or will not leave, they can be removed by force.
Phoenix Court allows people to bring up any topic they believe is worthwhile, so it is meant to be a place where discussion is had.
The Nobles' Curias
Unlike in the Phoenix Courts, the Nobles' Curias are meant to be more intimate among the nobility in the kingdom. Curias can be strictly for dukes and duchesses or can include lesser nobles as well. Curias do not happen regularly as the courts do, but are still an important function within the chancellery. When the nobles get together it is to convey the health, wealth and future of their lands and if there is anything that needs to be done to help. These meetings are often more informal depending on the peerage in attendance and can include a small brunch or dinner to complete the meeting. Whereas in the courts there is a specific decorum that is to be followed, the only true rule for the curias are that weapons are not allowed save for the guards in attendance. CURIAS ARE FOR NOBILITY ONLY. IF YOU CANNOT BE IN ATTENDANCE, YOU MAY NOT SEND SOMEONE IN YOUR PLACE. 
The Peoples' Court
The Peoples' court is a relatively new function of the chancellery that is inclusive of ensuring that enacted laws and punishments are handed down and dealt with. In these courts, people are welcome to bring their civil or criminal cases before a collective of magistrates in order to have their cases heard. Most civil cases can be taken care of at the duchy level. Often times taking a grievance to your respective duke or duchess can see the problem resolved. Only in cases where the duke or duchess believe they do not have adequate means to give a fair decision can they allow a person to take their case before the Peoples' Court. If a person likewise believes that the ruling of their respective duke or duchess was unfair or unjust, they may bring their grievances before the same magistrates. Any decision made with the magistrates can only be superseded by the Queen. Magistrates may also condemn prisoners in sentencing hearings as well. The magistrates that are placed before the court are only meant to to interpret the laws, not to create them. The Peoples' courts are only held once a month unless a situation calls for an emergency gathering of powers. This is at the behest of the chancellor.
The Phoenix Fire Festival
Once a year, the kingdom comes together at the peak of Belore's presence in the sky and to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Every year, the chancellery begins planning for that year in April while the festival itself is in the Saturday of the Azerothian Midsummer Festival. The Festival includes booths for tradesmen, jousting, dueling tournaments, fashion contests and other games and prizes. The wealth of the kingdom is showered upon Horde and Alliance alike in an invitation of peace and good times. The Fire Festival has been an annual staple of the chancellery for the last four years, and hopefully with continued support it will continue.
Her Majesty's Welcome Banquets
Once a month, the Queen likes to meet and greet with the new folks who come into the kingdom. Since she is a rather busy woman running the kingdom, the chancellery has been able to sufficiently rearrange her schedule to allot for one evening of good food, good drinks and being able to help introduce her nobility to the new faces of the kingdom. Thanks in part to the Chef's Union, the Chancellery puts on a monthly meet-and-greet where both new and old are encouraged to participate in a banquet put on by the Entertainer's Guild. The meet-and-greet does not always happen monthly, but can happen when there is an influx of new folks who need introductions to the guild as a whole.
The Chancellery Hierarchy
Like any group within the kingdom, the chancellery has a hierarchy of people under its employ. The hierarchy of the chancellery helps to facilitate the needs of the people at the base level, leaving those in higher ranks to have availability to ensure everything runs smoothly. Like in any good hierarchy, the bottom of the pyramid works more closely with the people; however, this is not to say that if you want to RP with someone in the higher levels you won't be able to. Rather, this is a way of being able to channel the needs of the character, the player and the story in such a way that it does not become disorganized.
The Interns
Those who decide to join the chancellery begin as interns. This means that you will be learning every aspect of what it is to work in the chancellery but won't have the ability to truly sign for things, yet. An intern's job is to be not only a glorified gopher (you don't want to know what happens to those who don't get the chancellor her coffee), but you are being taken under the wing of everyone in the chancellery to learn the ins and outs, the dos and don'ts. Expect a lot of shadowing and taking notes.
The Archivists and Historians
Archivists and historians are the next level in the chancellery hierarchy. Once you have graduated being an intern, you begin to acquire this thing called responsibility. In your new job, you learn what it is to keep meticulous records (remember all that note-taking as an intern) of meetings, events and other such things. When someone needs to be reminded of something that has happened, it is your job to find the public record for them. Your job will also be to ensure that everything is neat and organized.
The Senators and Magistrates
Historians and archivists who have earned their keep then graduate to become senators and/or magistrates. What is a senator? A senator is someone who helps speak to the people in regards to their current affairs and brings them back to the chancellery. Senators work for the specific duchy they are assigned to, ensuring that the will of their duke and the will of their people is brought before the chancellery and before the magistrates. Magistrates are on the same relative tier as the senators but rather than discussing laws and how to improve them, or what laws to take before the Queen's signature, magistrates interpret those laws in public courts. Magistrates, like senators, work for their home duchies and work in tandem with the chancellery to ensure that kingdom laws are enacted in the duchies and that disputes with the laws are handled appropriately.
The Chancellor
The ultimate voice in the chancellery is the chancellor (Obviously). Whether someone is elevated to a new place in the hierarchy, added to the chancellery or removed are entirely at the discretion of the chancellor and any that she appoints to assist her directly.
Conclusion
The chancellery is a heavily-established group within the kingdom that sports a direct link in responsibility to the kingdom as a whole. Generally those who work for the chancellery are dedicated entirely to it as a character, allowing their story to bleed into that of the progression and growth of the chancellery. Characters who are knights and militant-characters can work for the chancellery, but as a general rule, the chancellery prefers to employ folks who are willing to assist in much stronger ways to the kingdom and to the guild as a whole. Many members of the chancellery are given both IC and OOC responsibilities such as Exchequer who looks after guild finances or both in-character and OOC. Chancellery positions can include some positions that require both IC and OOC trustworthiness; though, if you as a player are uncomfortable with that, it can be arranged to stay simply IC. For any and all questions, feel free to ask Amiyna.
