Margrave

Margrave is the title for an individual appointed by the Tal'Dorei Council to lead a city in the Republic of Tal'Dorei. Margraves are a military title, a holdover of the Kingdom of Drassig that established the position.

Description
Margraves are appointed by the Tal'Dorei Council and hold the position for life, unless ruled unfit to govern by the Council. As the title is a military one, all cities in Tal'Dorei led by a margrave are officially under martial law. Some margraves additionally keep councilors or advisors to assist them in the day-to-day business of their cities.

Westruun
Margraves in Westruun lived in the Margrave's Keep.

Atrix was appointed as the margrave of Westruun around 800 PD and held the position for over ten years. He was fairly respected within the township. During the Chroma Crisis at the end of 810 PD, he was killed by the Herd of Storms in the aftermath of Umbrasyl's attack on the city.

By 812 PD Brandon Zimmerset had been appointed as margrave of the city. Westruun's margrave has the power to create or dissolve trading guilds, as well as full command over the Shields of the Plain. Zimmerset ruled Westruun as a local tyrant. During his time, he also authorized hundreds of reconstruction bounties in order to rebuild the city's damages following the Chroma Conclave and Herd of Storms' destruction. These bounties were fulfilled by the League of Miracles in only a few years, leaving Zimmerset unable to pay the debt.

In 822 PD, Zimmerset was overthrown by a group of idealists called the Retrievers, with the aid of adventurers and mercenaries. The Retrievers instated their leader, Lysandra Kallos, as the new head of Westruun, who abolished the postion of margrave in the city in favor a new democratically elected position, the Lord Mayor.

Stilben
As of 812 PD and continuing into 836 PD, Wendle Truss is the margrave of Stilben. Despite this, he is ultimately more under the power of Stilben's guilds than the reverse, and is generally considered an ineffective leader.

Kymal
During the Chroma Crisis in 811 PD, the margrave of Kymal was Tumner Wann, who ran the city at the time of the Chroma Crisis and the influx of refugees from Westruun.

In 812 PD, Jaktur Krishtan was appointed as margrave. Krishtan, the son of Calis Krishtan, an immigrant from Ank'Harel and proprietor of The Maiden's Wish casino, is mostly uninterested in rule, preferring to have advisors and particularly his majordomo, Khavasta "Prudence" Almiji, carry out his responsibilities.

In or just before 836 PD, Krishtan stepped down as margrave, and Prudence became acting margrave. She had been margrave in all but name for about thirty years, and expected the Tal'Dorei Council to appoint her as margrave permanently. As acting margrave, Prudence commands Kymal's Public Defense and has considerably reduced the visibility of gang violence in the city (though it still occurs in secret).

Behind the scenes
In the real world, the term "margrave" comes from the German "Markgraf", which in turn comes from the words "Mark", referring to border lands, and "Graf", the German equivalent of an English or French Count. It was originally the name for military commanders in charge of defense of border provinces within the Holy Roman Empire.