Bailiwick (Benacian Union)

A bailiwick in the Benacian Union is the lowest level of subdivision in any form of meaningful administrative relationship with the levels (Governorate > Realm > Union-State) set above it. As a municipal corporation it meets the various needs of the populace whilst fulfilling the requisitions for manpower and resources, as well as for financial contributions, levied upon it by higher authority.

The full title of the municipal corporation is always thus:

The Worshipful Municipal Corporation of the Aldermen of the Bailiwick of [insert name], Guarantors of its Ancient Liberties

For the sake of brevity this may be shortened to the Bailiwick of [insert name] after the first usage of the full title. Similarly when discussing the governance of the bailiwick, the Worshipful Municipal Corporation may be shortened to the Corporation after the first instance.

The Aldermen of the bailiwick comprise of the representatives of the chapters of the guilds resident in the bailiwick. This may include all recognised guilds established by ancient custom and usage, but must always include those guilds represented in the Chamber of Guilds and Corporations in Chryse. Also included are those appointed to represent higher authority in the bailiwick. Those who are to be considered aldermen therefore include:

• The Bailiff of the Bailiwick, appointed by the Governor of the Governorate with jurisdiction;
• The Carnifex, appointed by the Guild of Magisters-Carnifex;
• The President of the Worshipful Municipal Corporation of Aldermen of the Bailiwick (elected by the guilds);
• The Resident or Deputy Resident of the Honourable Company where one has been appointed to the bailiwick by the Benacian Directorate;
• The Censor, appointed by the Benacian Censorate, keeps registers of subjects and guild members, their service, their year cohorts, and their eligibility;
• A Fiþnan (captain) of the Benacian Union Defence Force appointed as liaison, usually a reservist or retiree in bailiwicks that do not host a bailiwick, responsible for maintaining and raising a militia (minimum 1% of the adult male population of the bailiwick) in times of war or emergency;
• Masters of the Chapters of the Guilds present within the bailiwick (elected by their members, and the liveried companies of the bailiwick);
• A Draconarius (Golsapbir) of the N&H Regional Sector Party, appointed by the N&H Regional Sector Party to be responsible for the discipline of the party cadre within the bailiwick;
• A Vicar of the High Gods, appointed by the United Ecclesiastical Corporation of Benacia to ensure consistent spiritual conformity and harmony.

Structures associated with the bailiwick

• Bailiff's court, seat of local government;
• Maidan, centrally situated public space;
• Guildhall, seat of the municipal corporation, comprised of representatives of the local guilds;
• Halls of Allocation and Appropriation, warehouses for ration distribution & tribute collection;
• Residency, cantonments of the Honourable Company;
• Paradise district, entertainment and recreational district;
  • Flower street, the main thoroughfare of a paradise district, most commonly encountered in and associated with the bailiwicks of Elwynn;
• Turnpike bastion, controlled means of entry and egress into the bailiwick;

Subdivisions

As long as obligations mandated by higher authority, particularly those articulated through the Charter of the Benacian Union and the Union Covenant are fulfilled, bailiwicks are to a large extent self-governing, and the nature and composition of the administrative subdivisions of the bailiwick fall largely within the purview of the ruling municipal corporation to organise and oversee.

Traditionally, Elwynnese bailiwicks have been divided into wards, typically centred around a production township dedicated to the main economic function of a given ward. The main settlement of a bailiwick, usually the one from which it would derive its name, would serve as the metropole and central place around which all production townships, placed at as regular a rate of intervals as possible, would essentially operate as satellites beholden to the centre.