Lords:Peerage Lands
Peerage Lands
As mentioned, Official business of the House takes place on the Forums, but the Forums can also be used to role-play the administration of your peerage lands. Each Peer is permitted to set up an Administrative Unit commensurate with their Peerage. These are known as “Peerage Lands” and will function as Civilian Chapters. These are not open to join in the regular manner, but a member can request to be assigned to them (usually after a Career Opportunity notice for an open position has been posted).
There is a listing of positions in the Peerage Lands Forum. In the Forum Folder for the respective Peerages, a peer can name which of the three SKM planets they are on (or Grayson, if a Steadholder; Potsdam, if an Andermani and Haven if a Senator); they can describe their lands, describe any business holdings or industries specific to their lands, etc.
It’s designed for a peer to put as much, or as little, effort into it as they please.
Setting up your Peerage Lands
Basics
Which of the three primary Kingdom planets are you located (Manticore, Sphinx, Gryphon) or are you located on Grayson, Potsdam or New Haven? Where on the planet?
How big (in square miles) is your Peerage lands. This will depend on the level of Peerage. For easy numbers, use the information from the county where you live or a county from an area you would like to live (in RL). Or even a small country. Baronies could be one county big Earldoms, two counties, and so forth.
Specifics
Now that you know where your Peerage lands are located, what is special about the lands. Again, using the tourist information from your chosen counties, or country, use some of that to describe your Lands.
Locations - Depending on where your Peerage lands are located, there may be some canon locations you can use, if you want to be near those. Others can be made up from your own locality.
Is there anything your Peerage lands are known for? Industry, research, tourism? Again, some ideas may be canon based, others on something you’d like to do.
Administration - There is some in-depth canon information in House of Steel, starting on page 252. The Parliament section as well as the Judicial explains how your lands are administered and how the courts are set up.
Other details - This depends on your imagination and how deep your Role Play is. What does your Manor house look like? Do you have a Home Guard unit?
Peerage Staff
A peer is entitled to staff to help them run their estate, the higher the level of the peerage but they broadly follow the same pattern. The differences seen would be more the quantity expected and the experience and skill of the staff.
Staff can be broadly split into three levels, Management, Household staff and Security staff. The following sections include descriptions and a selection of names for each role to reflect the different traditions and cultures of the Grand Alliance.
Management Staff
Estate Director / Majordomo / Chamberlain
Most Peers will have an estate director, this person will manage their estates and is the head of all of the Household staff. If the peer doesn’t have an Operations director then they would also coordinate the security staff. The Estate Director will plan a lot of long term projects like the purchase of new land or buildings, extensions or refurbishments, and items that might be needed for the estate like new Art. They are the main head of the household and effectively the equivalent of a CEO for a company.
Financial Director / Seneschal / Treasurer
The Financial Director handles the Peer’s financial dealings. They coordinate pay for the staff, funds for any household expenses and long term investments of the Peer’s assets.
Operations Director / Butler / Steward
The Operations Director plans and coordinates the estate’s interests and larger events and travel. They will typically manage the Security staff and often will take responsibility for travel and events. They may also coordinate any political, philanthropic or other causes that the Peer has interests in. They are effectively the Deputy for the Estate Director and will often deputise as needed.
Executive Assistant / Valet / Ladies Maid
The executive assistant is the most junior member of the management staff but the most important for the Peer’s day to day life. They are the person who keeps the Peer’s diary, knows what is happening next and where and when the peer needs to be somewhere. They also make sure they are informed on who they are meeting and any pertinent details. They will also coordinate with household staff to make sure that any sustenance or changes of clothes are ready as needed if the Peer is having a busy day.
Household Staff
The household staff run the day to day life of the Peer taking care of their household and related duties. A lot of these staff will have subordinate staff underneath them, details of these staff and their duties has been left out for the sake of brevity but peers should feel free to appoint subordinate staff as they and their managers require.
Household Manager / Head Housekeeper / Personal Maid/Steward
This person manages the household of the Peer, there may be more than one for a Peer with particularly large holdings. They coordinate the rest of the staff ensuring that a house is ready for what the Peer, their family and guests need.
Personal Driver / Chauffeur / Coachman
The personal driver of the Peer, a Peer with a large family might have multiple, and in modern times they might be cross trained in Air and In system light spacecraft. They often have to coordinate with security to plan travel safely.
Groundskeeper / Gameskeeper / Gardener
The Groundskeeper is responsible for managing the grounds of the estate. This can include planting, wildlife management and maintenance of any outdoor venues. If the estate is home to any Sphinxian Treecats they may also be responsible for their habitat.
Housekeeper / Chambers Maid / Cleaner
The housekeeper is responsible for the maintenance of the interior of the house. This can include management of manual and automatic cleaning facilities, maintenance of furniture, coordination of laundry with the stylist and planning for routine maintenance and decoration.
Personal Stylist / Ladies Maid / Valet
Peers are often very busy people, and so frequently will employ a personal stylist. This person is responsible for selection of outfits and accessories and usually has a wide brief to purchase and maintain appropriate outfits for the Peer. For a military Peer they would also coordinate with any assigned Steward when a military uniform is called for.
Events Manager / First Footman / Companion
Some Peers run their own social events, others specialise in events for philanthropic or political causes. These Peers will often have an events manager who runs these events. This can include cultivating guest lists and arranging with household and catering management around the coordination of duties. They may also book entertainment for events, for example a musical group.
Catering Manager / Chef de Cuisine / Head Chef
This person coordinates food to be supplied to the Peer, their household, their staff and their guests. This can be as simple as managing cooks for a small household, to managing a full catering division for a large household that does lots of entertaining. For special events they would also coordinate with external caterers hired in for the event. They would also coordinate with the events manager for events, for example getting guest food intolerances and preferences, working on any event theme and creating menus to fit.
Communications Manager / Ambassador / Equerry
Peers with a high level of public presence may receive many requests for information, sponsorship, donation or political support. A peer with a lower profile would normally have an executive assistant coordinate these, but if there would be too many to handle then a communications manager would be appointed. For military peers they handle their private and civilian communications while their military subordinates would handle military matters.
Security Staff
Security staff have two main briefs, the security of any property owned by the peer (for example their primary household, a summer house, or any primary business location), and roving protection of the peer when travelling.
The amount and ability of staff assigned to security may vary depending on the threat level to the peer. Some may only have a member of the household staff trained in personal protection, others may have full staffs with different teams based in different locations. Most peers won’t have private security follow them on Military assignments, as most senior officers are assigned marine guards anyway, but there is an exception for the Armsman of Grayson Steadholders.
An example of a security staff structure would be as follows:
Head of Security / Head Armsman / Head of the Guard
This person is responsible for recruitment and coordination of all security teams.
Head of Estate Security / Chief Armsman (Steadholder’s Guard) / Colonel of the House Guard
This person is responsible for the security of an estate. A peer who owns multiple estates might have people occupying this role for each estate.
Head of Personal Security / Chief Armsman (Steadholder’s Own) / Colonel of the Life Guards
This person heads up the security teams that accompany the Peer when travelling and plans any advance teams. They would also coordinate with transport and handover with any military security teams.
Estate Security Officer / Armsman / House Guard
These people work to secure estates of the Peer
Close Protection Security Officer / Armsman (Steadholder’s Own) / Life Guard
These people work to protect the Peer at home and travelling. They perform similar duties to the Marine Guards assigned to senior officers in the Navy.