The Imperial Bureau
Whilst the Emperor is theoretically in charge of everything that goes on within the Empire of Turelion, it was quickly established early on that it would be impossible for an Emperor to be able to oversee the administration of everything that they rule over, even if they were blessed with an overacted work ethic. Indeed, it was the fact that the second Emperor Machestaro II had suffered several nervous breakdowns within the first five years of his reign that led to action being taken to alleviate the Imperial personage of the burden of micromanagement. So, the Imperial Bureau was formed to manage the activities of the Provinces and the Empire and then report back to the Imperial personage as to what is going on, providing the Emperor with the information they need to make decisions on key issues.
Structure
The organisation is split into five key divisions:
The Imperial Treasury – which oversees the Empire's, though in reality the Emperor's, enormous fortune and releases funds to be spent across the Empire and oversees the production of Imperial Coinage. The Imperial Treasury also regularly audit the tax income provided to the Imperial throne by the Provinces and set the Provincial share, the amount that each Province has to the Imperial Treasury every year.
The Defence Bureau – which oversees the management, organisation, recruitment and provision of the Imperial Drakes, the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Air Corps.
The Bureau of Trade and Commerce – which oversees the management and regulation of trade across the Empire, set tariffs on goods and ensures that all trade is geared up to ultimately benefit the Emperorr. They also resolve trading disputes that arise between the Provinces, private trading firms and occasionally wealthy individuals. It is the Bureau of Trade and Commerce that provides the Observer members of the Board of Governors of the Hastellion Trading Company.
The Imperial Estates – which oversees the Empire's and the Emperor's possessions, including The Grand Imperial Palace in Meltaro and the facilities and residence on Mallenar's Isle amongst other things.
The Imperial Annals and Archives – which oversees the storage and archiving of every scrap of paper that the Imperial Bureau and most of the Provinces produces and collates volumes of the ‘official’ history of the Empire, known as the Imperial Annals. Items, artefacts and curios that are of interest to the Empire are also kept within the vaults of the archives.
Each of these divisions is run by a Divisional Head, who has an army of clerks, secretaries and scribes beneath them that undertake the actual work. The Divisional Heads all have a seat in the Congregation of Lords and report on their activities to the Congregation four times a year. In reality though, as with most things, the Divisional Heads can be sure that their work will be signed off as long as the Emperor is happy, regardless of how much shouting and bluster the Lords might produce.
Public Agenda
The Imperial Bureau has a myriad of departments that manage the minutiae of everything that takes place in the Empire. A large department oversees the running of the Provinces, though the Satraps themselves still report in directly to the Emperor; another department runs the Imperial Treasury; another trade across the Empire; another the organisation of the Imperial Drakes and so on.
They are the ultimate bureaucratic machine, and although the Bureau technically has no effect on the decision making processes of the Emperor, the Congregation of Lords or any of the other Imperial institutions, such as the Imperial Inquisition, the Lodge of Imperial Hunters etc., they can heavily influence the decision making process through their depiction of statistics, especially financial statistics. Many Imperial decisions have been taken or scrapped because of information supplied by the Bureau, and the Divisional Heads of the Bureau know that in all matters, the Emperor will always take note when the Imperial Bureau is promising to save the Imperial throne money, or better yet, make more money that they can then spend as they wish.
Assets
All five of the Imperial Bureau’s divisions are well funded, to ensure that they can have as many staff as they need to oversee the Empire's activities, both on an Imperial and Provincial level. Some would argue that they have far too much funding and are grossly overstaffed, the result being that the middle and upper management of all of the divisions barely do anything. However, as the Bureau controls the purse strings they are able to get away with this.
All five of the Imperial Bureau’s divisions are headquartered in a specially constructed building, The Bureau Palace in the Imperial Capital, Meltaro.
Founding Date
301DP
Type
Civil Services
Alternative Names
The Imperial Book Keepers/ The Emperor’s Accountants/ Turelion’s Thieves (derogatory)
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Controlled Territories
Comments