L’Opa (I.P.A.: (German) /ˈl̪ˌɵ̆ʔ ˈoː.pɑ/)

“Memory gives culture life. Grandfather is the memory of the people.” - Dominic Lucrecio First of the L’Opa

All information passes through L’Opa’s hands and his apprentices. They remember. Everything. 
Record keepers of the Bureaucratic caste, archivists, and sometimes couriers, L’Opa and their apprentices

Qualifications

Only certain people are selected to become L’Opa and their apprentices. As with all professions in the “Down Below” your attributes and skills were designated at “conception”. The individuals who wind up becoming L’Opa were designed to have a heightened memory, a quieter disposition, and an innate preference for behind the scenes. They were designed to have integrity, a skill greatly prized among the bureaucrats, though not always exhibited. All bureaucrats are born on Sunday. L’Opa are specifically born at dawn, and their births are rare occurrences only happening when the “great computer” feels there will be a need for a replacement.

Requirements

All L’Opa must have had training from their previous L’Opa. In order for them to ascend to that title their mentor, their L’Opa must be deceased. There has never been more than one L’Opa in a burrow at the same time.

Appointment

Like all professions, upon aging out of the educational system at 16 years of age, individuals are transitioned to work release. Work release is when one would start their apprenticeship. There is little to no pomp and circumstance when one becomes a L’Opatjie, or Lilli’opa. When their mentor, the former L’Opa passes it is the Lilli’opa’s job to prepare the body and sit the customary four cycles committing to memory their mentor’s person. Once the four cycles have passed the Lilli’opa is presented with a personal item belonging to the previous L’Opa. This presentation is done formally by the warren’s top bureaucrat, the Főlok. When presented with the item, the Lilli’opa ritually gives up their name in exchange for the item. After the formalities the New L’Opa resumes the duties and responsibilities of their profession.

Responsibilities

While L’Opa’s official capacity is to handle all records that are filed by the various levels of local government, and occasionally missives from the “Up above” or Upoben, they have a secret mission that is only known to those in the “Down Below”. L’Opa and their apprentices’ true mission is to make sure that the true and factual history of E’arde is remembered, not just the watered-down propaganda version the “Up above” wishes everyone to learn.

Type

Civic, Professional

Form of Address

The L’Opa is always addressed simply as L’Opa though sometimes as “Grandfather” when the person is being facetious or in rare occasions when being extremely formal.

Length of Term

The title of L’Opa is for life. It is usually given upon completing one’s apprenticeship which almost always means the death of the previous L’Opa.