Vizier
From Major-domo to Jack-of-all-Trades
There are many titles and roles granted to those who seek them within the Allegri but few as poorly definted as the rank of vizier. Most frequently an individual who is providing a valuable service or important personal role is privately offered the rank by a city governor. They can be anything from a trusted advisor to disreputable lover or sometimes both. Despite the archaic name, a vizier is not necessarily a scholar or skilled arcanist and can just as easily be called a personal assistant, handmaid, or attendant.
Regardless of how they are chosen or perceived, vizier often have a great deal of authority granted to them by the governor they serve and frequently work outside political circles to get tasks done that would otherwise require a great deal more effort if they trudged through official channels.
Qualifications
The required skills of a vizier will vary greatly. One governor may need regular medical attention for a chronic illness while another may need a scholar learned in agriculture. The main qualifier is that for whatever reason, the individual cannot be conuslted through other means, for example; Someone cannot sit on city council as minister of finance due to a political scandal but have vast knowledge and a close relationship with the governor in their city so the governor assigns the role of Vizier
Appointment
Vizier are not officially associated with the political officer they serve and are informally appointed verbally through a oral agreement between the governor and the would-be vizier.
Duties
Though most individuals appointed to the station have education due to the circles that governors move in, their responsibility is to their governor who appointed them to the task. Loyalty and discretion are two traits common to most vizier.
Responsibilities
Vizier generally are given responsibilities suitable to the skills they were chosen for. Some vizier have nearly no responsibility outside of being socially available to the governor they serve as courtesan or doxy. Others are scholars, or even tutors to governors who find themselves lacking required knowledge that might be too embarssing to publicly seek educating in the topic. This is especially common for governors who have very little interacial experience and must become competent diplomats with cultures and species they do not understand.
Grounds for Removal/Dismissal
As with most aspects of the rank, the position can be ended as formally or casually as the two parties involved may choose but ultimately the control rests with the governor. Often a vizier isn't assigned with a single task in mind and if new needs develop that the an individual cannot properly attend to they will generally either step down or be dismissed.
More than once this has ended in the forceful removal of a vizier after a betrayal to their leige, either imagined and real. In cases of grave misconduct or break of trust a governor will immediately strip the vizier of their title and often seek to punish the individual as though they were government staff commiting treason - punishable by execution.
History
It's said that the first use of the title may have infact been an improvised lie to account for a forgeiners presence in court during early days of negotiating the Allegran Accords. Prior to the Allegran Alliance, and even still today, it was unusual for leaders to be attended to during tense or delicate meetings. Public memory follows that the former leader of Etude, Sesil Arnleifsson, had somehow managed to fall in love with one of his forgein advisors under the nose of his wife. Despite being by all accounts and intelligent man, he foolishly had his lover attend public meetings at his side since his wife did not travel in political circles and he did not believe others would questions him. When he was obviously caught off guard he recalled the magical skills his lover had displayed and in true political fashion a new title was born: High Wizard.
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