BARDIC ORDER OF ASHTON

OFFICERS

ORDER SYMBOL

CHARTER

Bardic Order of Ashton Charter

Purpose Statement:

 This Order is to foster the Bardic Skills and to encourage the use of these skills to benefit the members and the towns they visit.

1. Order Responsibilities are as follows.

 The Order shall keep a compendium of members and their skills for simple reference for projects.
 The Order representatives shall endeavor to maintain neutrality in times of legal and political dispute.

2. Order Responsibilities to the members shall be as follows.

 The Order shall arrange for apprenticeship in Order related skills and teaching in non-Order skills.
 The Order shall sponsor events at which Bardic skills could be exhibited.
 The Order shall coordinate available commissions and its members.
 The Order Members may request the assistance of the Order Leader in negotiating the fees for personal commissions.

3. Member Responsibilities to the Order shall be as follows.

 Members shall pay dues of two gold annually and ten percent of their earnings from Order-based skills per Market Day.
The Order shall be given a fifty- percent fee for all Commissions that come directly to the Order.  The remaining portion        shall go to the member providing the service.  (This portion shall not be counted toward the total Order-based skill

    earnings.)
 Order Members shall apprentice other members in Order-based skills. They shall be encouraged to teach non-Order skills

    to other members for a fee appropriate to the skill being taught which will be provided by the Order.  (If a member with

    the skill and the ability to teach it can not be found, the Order Leader shall attempt to arrange teaching from outside the

    Order.)

Order Members shall be encouraged to provide narratives of events including their personal interpretations of

    these of events. These personal narratives shall be recorded in a separate set of historical chronicles from the official

    historical records.  Order Members must register their identities with any entries that they turn over to the Order.

5. Qualifications of Order Members & Leaders shall be as follows.

Full members must have at least one of the Order skills as outlined below.
 Assistant leaders must have at least two of the Order skills and be able to read and write in Common.  It is the

    responsibility of the Assistant to aid the Order Leader.  They shall keep their own copy of the Order records.  They

    shall act in place of the Order Leader should the Order Leader be unavailable.  The Assistant shall be chosen by the

    Order Leader.  There may be up to two Assistants.
 The Order Leader must have three of the Order skills as outlined below as well as being able to read and write in

    Common.
-The Order Leader shall have the Members and Skills Compendium and keep the Order Poetry and Songbook.
-The Order Leader shall maintain the Order treasury and keep the Order Records.
-Order Leaders must be Members for at least two years, except in cases of emergencies.
-The Order Leader will be chosen by their predecessor.  If none were chosen before the former leader permanently died,

    it goes to the ranking Assistant.  If none are available, the new leader must be elected by at least a plurality vote.

6. The Skills appropriate to the Bardic Order shall be as follows.
1. Archaeologist       5.  Historian
2. Bard                    6.  Sage: Any
3. Barrister              7. Teacher
4. Bookbinder

As founders of this group, we do hereby pledge to follow the laws of the land to the best of our ability.  We will not harbor criminals, nor shall we have provisions of our charter, either secret or through vagary, that are contrary to the wishes and interests of the King and his subjects.  We shall never harbor rebellious elements and we shall always be forthcoming with
information concerning the safety and security of the land and the people, both noble and common.  To these things we pledge ourselves, and all of those that follow our cause as members of this Order.