LittleTaffer on 20/2/2006 at 07:32
Dear fellow taffers,
I am on a quest to find out more about the City's social structure, history (if any) and hierarchy. I plan to compose some fiction in the Thief world and have need of some information.
My first question would be, how is authority in the City? Is there a monarchy like a king, or is it state-run, government owned?
Law is kept vainly in check by the City Watch, I assume this is an organization supported by the ruling authority - again, what is the ruling authority?
Many thanks.
Yours,
Little Taffer
Yametha on 20/2/2006 at 08:33
The ruler of the city is called The Baron. I think it's a hereditory title. However the impression I got is that he is largely absent, and an ineffectual ruler.
The city watch got much of its support from the mechanists. I think it likely that they rigged the election so that Truart would be elected. They have some popularity among the nobles, and a large source of resources. I imageine that gives them significant political power. Add to that the fact that organised religion almost always has a strong powerbase... this is starting to get confusing isn't it?
The hammerites "used to be the power, now they're jsut a bunch of guys wishing for the old days". I would speculate that their decline has led to a power vacuum. Given that they run their own prison, they must have a hand in law enforcement. The mechanists don't seem to do that directly, they get the city watch to do their dirty work for them.
As you may have noticed a lot of this is speculation. If you need hard evidence, I'm sure some could be dug up for most of it. I jsut can't remember much offhand. :erg:
Jarkko Ranta on 20/2/2006 at 09:17
If ignoring the excistance of religious groups like Hammerites, Pagans and Mechanists the City has two potent rulers: the nobles and the City Wardens, each influesing another (like Lord Bafford and Ramirez). Most people find it uncomfortable with Orders that they cannot control with money. Thus Hammerites started to loose their influence while Mechanists gained it (more earthly and less fanatic organization). The City Guard and City Watch (who knows the real difference between them?) are tools that take their orders from above (the Baron and other nobles). The City's rulers range from bad to worse, sort of speaking.
LittleTaffer on 21/2/2006 at 02:45
Wow! This is like discovering treasure. Thanks for the link, Mugla! And everyone who replied. :D
