The Exchange stands separate to the other Councils in order to limit their power. The control over powerful resources and mercantilism being divided ensures that the people of The Concord can maintain a say outside of the halls of power. It also acts as the largest market in the land, buying, trading and storing unique resources and goods for trade.
Function
The Function of The Exchange is twofold; to maintain arbitration over the strategic resources of The Concord, and to run the Public Auctions.
The first ensures that the strategic resources found within the Concord are made available to those who need them and that in return The Concordian treasury is given an injection of currency to offset its substantial running costs.
The second allows citizens of The Concord from far and wide to sell unique or expensive resources and goods. The public auctions during the summit are the best circumstance for the common folk of The Concord to place their goods before the rich and powerful who attend the Summits, hoping for good return on their boons.
Powers
The Exchange maintains three powers that are closely tied to their functions of arbitrating the deeds and operating the auction.
Sale
The Exchange maintains ultimate ownership over The Deeds to The Concords strategic resource harvesting operations. They have the right to sell these Deeds at auction to Concordian citizens. Those citizens shall maintain the harvesting operations until the Deed is due to be sold again, at which point it shall be returned. In exchange, the holder of the Deed shall be granted all material production of the operation. If a circumstance arises where the individual who holds the deed perishes, the deed shall be returned to the control of The Exchange. Deeds may not be placed in wills. Profits raised by this auction shall be placed within The Concordian Treasury.
Tally
The Exchange operates as the vote counting operator for determining the owner of Deeds held by the Realms. These votes shall be placed in accordance with the traditions of that Realm and the Deed shall be granted by The Exchange prior to the next public auction. If a circumstance arises where the individual who holds the deed perishes, the deed shall be returned to the control of The Exchange. Deeds may not be placed in wills.
Auction
The Exchange may receive any goods to be sold by public auction at each summit. These goods will be sold at auction with profits returned to the individual who put the goods for auction. The Exchange is empowered to levy fees incurred in this process.
Resources
The primary resources The Exchange draws from are The Deeds. Upon completion of construction of a new Mithril Mine,Thunder Oak Orchard or Arcstone Quarry, a new Deed is drawn up by The Exchange for sale. The Exchange covers its remaining costs with the fees it levvies during the Public Auction.
Members
Any individual is able to bid at the Public Auction, although they may be banned if they give multiple fraudulent bids. Any individual is also able to place items up for auction, provided that they can afford the fees.
Only a Concordian citizen can hold a Deed and as such only a Concordian citizen can bid for the auction of the Deeds.
Notably, the Senate and funds granted from the Concordian Treasury for a Commission or Endeavour may not be spent at either the Public Auction or the Auction of the Deeds.
Chambers
The Exchange Chambers are two parts, one is the Auctioneers stage, where the the Consigner will present the Auction. The second is the Offices of The Exchange, wherein agents of The Exchange operate the functional aspects of business. Aside from this, the chambers of The Exchange are rather open and accessible to the public.
Meetings
The primary meetings of The Exchange are the two public auctions held each summit, one each night. The public auctions themselves are split into three parts.
The Auction of the Goods
Firstly, the items placed up for the public auction will be auctioned in an ascending price auction based on the reserves of each lot. Lots will be auctioned in sets of ten, after which the next ten will be announced and the previous ten will be settled before bidding begins again.
There are a maximum of sixty lots in the auction overall. The lots will be made up of items placed up for auction by the individuals attending the Summit and also by the agents of The Exchange retrieving items from the distant parts of The Concord. On average The Exchange will supply ~15 to 20 lots, with the remainder being open for player characters.
Placing a lot up for auction has a base fee of two keys, with twenty percent of the total sale being taken in addition, minus the initial two keys. If an auction fails, the item on auction will be returned to the original owner, however the signing fee of two keys will not.
The Tally of the Votes
More of an announcement than an actual part of the Auction, the Tally of the Votes announces the individuals who have received the most votes towards control of Realmic deeds. These deeds and their resources will then be handed over to their new owners.
The Auction of the Deeds
The final stage of any auction, during this time, any deeds that are up for auction will be placed before the public. The winner of each auction will be granted control over the deed for the remainder of the year.