House Sylvanfair

Bylaws, Charter, and Joining Information

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

House Sylvanfair is a group of citizens of Elanthia, dedicated to the promotion, education, and advancement of the young. House Sylvanfair is nonpolitical, and offers its members a place to meet with their younger companions in safety and comfort. In addition, roomy storage facilities and dining areas will be provided.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNING

Limited Autocratic: The Chairman has final authority and overall responsibility over the House's activities. He will be advised by a Parliament of voting members consisting of the Secretary, Treasurer, and five other members in good standing selected by the three House Officers.

Terms of Office: All offices are established for life. The length of term will be until the officer leaves the house or does not wish to be an officer any longer. An unfilled Chairman position will be immediately assumed by the Treasurer, failing that the Secretary will assume the Chairmanship. Unfilled positions of Treasurer or Secretary are appointed by the Chairman and the remaining officer.

ARTICLE I: NAME

The name of this officially recognized House of Elanthia is House Sylvanfair, hereinafter referred to as the "House".

ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP SERVICES

The following benefits follow the guidelines as those set forth by the local government unless otherwise noted. (ref. GemStone IV House System: Services)

1. Benefit of being an organization.
2. Coat of Arms: There will be a registered Coat of Arms. (see Appendix "B").
3. Storage Facility.

• a. There will be a 40 item locker assigned to each member.
• b. There will be an Armory available to house members. They may place items in it for other house members to use, or take items from it for their own use. It is to be stocked by the house members.

4. Workshop. Workshops and classrooms will be available to house members for doing research, holding classes, and mentoring.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP AND DUES

1. Membership in this House is contingent on compliance with requirements specified in these bylaws.
2. Membership is restricted by minimum membership standards as set forth by the local government. (ref: GemStone III House System: Membership Requirements)
3. Membership is unrestricted by consideration of nationality, race, creed, life-style, size, color, sex or age.
4. Categories of membership in this House are General member, Lifetime member, and Founding member.

• a. General Member: A player who has met minimum House and government standards for membership. A General member is required to pay quarterly dues.
• b. Lifetime Member: A General member who has paid a one time sum and is no longer required to pay quarterly dues, as outlined in Section 7: Dues.
• c. Founding Member: An original member who joined together with other original members to form the house, before construction began. A Founding member is not necessarily a Lifetime member, and may have started as a General member.

5. Initiation:

• a. Before induction a player must have read and agreed to the GemStone IV House system.
• b. Before induction a player must have read and agreed to the House bylaws set forth here.
• c. Before induction of a player, the officers performing the induction will ensure that the player has read and understood the House bylaws and the GemStone IV House System and is in agreement with the policies set forth in those articles.

6. Termination:

• a. The Chairman may terminate a member for failure to meet membership requirements, provided the member was offered an opportunity to have a hearing if requested at which the member was permitted to defend against the termination.
• - i. Before a hearing is conducted a mailing to all members will be made with minimum of one week notice.
• - ii. No hearing will be conducted in the event of non-payment of delinquent dues (as described in Section 7: Dues).
• b. If terminated, a member may be allowed to rejoin by the Chairman after demonstrating eligibility for membership.

7. Dues:

• a. An initial membership offering as stipulated by the local government (currently 5000 silvers) this applies to all members. (ref. GemStone III House System: Membership requirements)
• b. Dues of 3000 silvers will be charged of all General members, the last month of each quarter. Quarters end on the last day of Jan, Apr, quarter. Quarters end on the last day of Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct.
• c. Lifetime Membership may be purchased for 60,000 silvers payable to the Treasurer at any time subject to approval by the Chairman.
• d. Quarterly dues are not required from Lifetime members.
• e. Dues may be paid to any house officer by each General member who has quarterly dues outstanding.
• - i. General members will receive a dues notice via E-Mail four weeks before the end of a quarter.
• f. Delinquency:
• - i. General members whose dues are not received by the last day of the quarter are notified via E-Mail that they are delinquent and will be terminated four weeks after such notification if back dues are not paid, and all privileges of the House will be withdrawn.
• - ii. General members who can not meet their dues or will not be around must make arrangements with the Chairman or Treasurer in advance to avoid automatic termination.

ARTICLE IV: CONTRIBUTIONS

1. Membership contributions to GENERAL FUNDS and ENDOWMENT will be considered donations to the House. Purpose of GENERAL FUNDS and ENDOWMENT: The General Funds can be drawn upon by the Treasurer for House expenses, House entertainment (parties), loans, etc. The Endowment can never be drawn on, but continues to grow in size. Its purpose is to accrue interest which is deposited into the General Funds.
2. Members are not required to contribute to GENERAL FUNDS or ENDOWMENT.
3. Contributions do not entitle a member to special privileges.
4. Contributions will not be accepted in lieu of dues or loan payments.
5. Contributions must be reported to the Treasurer so that possible discrepancies in the accounts (system) may be found and clarified.
6. Members may contribute items and equipment to the Armory.
7. Non-members sharing the goals of House Sylvanfair may make donations to the House via The Chairman and Treasurer. In gratitude a plaque will be erected in one of the rooms of the house for sufficiently large donations.

• a. This provision is to ensure that those who share the Purpose of the house but for reasons of obligations are unable to join may contribute to the education of the young.

ARTICLE V: RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. The Chairman will be the final judge on what constitutes non-compliance with these bylaws, under advisement by the Board of Voting Members.

ARTICLE VI: HOUSE COLORS

1. House Sylvanfair has chosen to represent itself at official functions under the colors of Black and Silver. Black was chosen to represent the traditional color of educators around many lands, and silver for the purity of our purpose.

APPENDIX A: PREMISE

We, the potential members of House Sylvanfair, are dedicated members of the GemStone community. As such, we have all spent time with new characters in the game, teaching them many things it is difficult to discover on their own. GemStone is a wonderfully complicated environment, often overwhelming to the brand-new adventurer stumbling for the first time out of the blind alleyway.

Many of us have seen actions by new players that seem incomprehensible to anyone who has been playing for any amount of time. WE all know that the man telling you that going into Town Square Central and rubbing this really neat red crystal won't really heal anyone like he says it will... (This particular incident caused nine deaths.)

We can't catch them all. But what we CAN do is provide information, and a place to go ask questions, without bothering a GM with the endless repetitions of "What does THIS do?" and "How do I..." that deluge them every day. We hope that once we are established and word of House Sylvanfair established and word of House Sylvanfair spreads, many of the questions rookies wander into rooms and ask only to have them ignored will be answered with "Go ask Sylvanfair. Someone there will help you."

We plan to have regular classes on various subjects (taught by members of the House, with guest lecturers as we can get them), tours of the city and various hunting grounds, and many other activities.

In addition, each member of the House will be strongly encouraged to take on wards, younger characters that members will take a special interest in and require members to be helpful to new characters. We are a young House. We are likely to remain a young house, bringing in members from those we started on their journeys in Elanthia. We hope to be a very visible group to the newest members of our community.

We hope that Simutronics will consider our proposal and allow us to build a safe place for us to rest and teach as we can.

APPENDIX B: COAT OF ARMS

A black Chief with three Crescent Moons. A silver Field with a Black Tree.

Current Officers

As of Ivastaen, 5111, the following are the current officers of House Sylvanfair:

     Chatelaine: Laphrael
      Seneschal: Khystra
         Scribe: Corlyne
     Chancellor: Barundar
   Oak Guardian: Zusanne
 Alder Guardian: Vivaldi
  Rose Guardian: Rohese
 Rowan Guardian: Savrin
 Birch Guardian: Dainar