Courtly Positions
The Kings Household
- Steward, the gateway for the public to contact the King, the steward maintains all the King's correspondence and in partnership with the Chamberlain manages the King's daily schedule. Chamberlain, the master of the King's personal quarters and household staff, they ensure the King's comfort and security and work in tandem with the steward to manage the King's schedule and the Spendmaster to ensure the King has anything he may want or need.
- Spendmaster, the personal buyer for the King and his household, whatever the King may want or need is the task of the Spendmaster, be it a buschel of Tumbleton apples, or a bed cut from of Weirwood. They work closely with the Chamberlain and the Master of Coin.
- Captain of the Guard, the captain of the King's household guard, they work closely with the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard to coordinate the security of the Red Keep, and the Commander of the City Watch to secure the city itself.
- Septon, the manager of the servants of the faith who tend the King and his family, they are responsible for the minor septry inside the Red Keep as well as the scheduling of prayer, and Septas to be available for the Queens and Princesses when necessary.
- Royal Fool, the person responsible for easing the stress of any given day or meeting, the fool is wholly responsible for adding levity when the King or his household has need of it, they also tend to be minor historians and story keepers.
- Master of the Hunt, Keeper of the Kingswood, the man responsible for the safety of the Kingswood as well as the management of the Kings kennels and falcons, the Master of the Hunt should be ever ready to set bow in hand and give the King a kill.
- Keeper of the Harem, the person responsible for securing those who might best please the King's more primal whims.
- Envoys and Ambassadors, those responsible for keeping the King in touch with the far flung parts of the world that might be of interest.
- The Royal Taster, the person responsible for testing the Kings food, there may sometimes be multiple tasters, one for the kitchen and one for the table, one for each member of the family, or one to replace another who falls in service to the King.
- King's Cook, the head of the Kitchens of the Red Keep, responsible for the quality of the meals and menu for the Royal Family.
The Offices of the Small Council to the Iron Throne
Office of the Hand- Steward to the Hand of the King, similarly to the King's own, the steward to the Hand maintains their correspondence and works with the Chamberlain to provide a clean and relaxing schedule to tend matters of the Crown.
- Chamberlain to the Hand of the King, the role the chamberlain to the King fills is the same as that of the chamberlain to the Hand, the manager of the tower of the Hand, the Lord Hands household and security, they work directly with the Master of Coin rather than a dedicated spendmaster when purchasing is necessary for the Hands comfort or duties.
- (Lord) Treasurer, a title and role that is commonly held alongside the title of Master of Coin their chief responsibility is ensuring the accuracy of the royal treasury and the records relating to it. to this end they manage a number of counters who help to keep the records accurate and current.
- The King's Counter, also known as counters, a handful of hand picked people who are trusted with record keeping and counting what comes into and departs from the Treasury of the Red Keep. They work alongside the Keyholders to do their jobs and are despite the high level of trust given to them, never left alone with an open vault. This role is blind to gender and station and requires trust above all else. Nearly all the people who hold it, have held it for years if not decades.
- Keeper of the Keys, also known as keyholders, similar to counters the keyholders are four in number, hand picked from every station and any gender though they do tend to be men, Knights being common. They are trusted with keys that access different vaults of the Royal Treasury alongside the counters and are under strict instruction not to open these vaults without a counter. Many have held these keys for years, sometimes decades. Some keepers are descendants of original keyholders though this is for trust and familiarity rather than some sort of birthright and they can be replaced by the Master of Coin or King. Upon the death of a keyholder, the Lord Treasurer personally goes to recover their key so it can be given to another.
- The King's Scales, also known as paymasters, there are a number of paymasters beneath the Master of Coin, they handle the sheer majority of public interaction tending the accounting, contracts, and exchange of coin with the office either incoming or outgoing, the Paymasters are who hire the Tax Collectors and Guardsmen who collect the regional taxes from the Lords Paramount and the Great Lords, Manage the leasing of property in King's Landing as well as permits for Merchants in the city, Hunters in the Kingswood, Dockslips and any other matter of finance in the city. Many Paymasters eventually become Counters.
- Warden of the King's Mint, a lesser office currently held by a member of house Manderly, chosen by Lord Manderly to maintain the Old Mint in White Harbor, where Aegon contracted the minting of all coin for the Seven Kingdoms. Though it is held by house Manderly and appointed at their whim, the Master of Coin has the authority to name a new overseer for the old Mint, or establish a mint elsewhere.
- (Lord) Commander of the City Watch, the chief law enforcement officer of King's Landing. The Commander, his deputy and the officers of the city gates beneath them ensure the streets of the city are safe though they have been used by Royals and Small Councilors for their knowledge of the city before as well such as to locate skilled singers for feasts and festivals, or merchants specializing in hard to find wares.
- (Lord) Justiciar, the role of a Justicier is to sit in judgement, they are often employed by Lords who are in dispensed and cannot tend their own court, or by Lords who need an impartial voice. In the case of the small council, there are too many matters for the Councilor alone to tend, and some cases require the weight of more than one voice, so Justiciers are often employed to assist the Master of Law, who acts as the head Justicier.
- Bailiff, the men who deal with the street level administration of law for Justiciers tending to gather witnesses and other evidence to put for for the crown to determine a subject's guilt or innocence. Though there are limits Bailiffs tend to have an incredible amount of latitude in how they acquire this evidence and their power over others; including their usual political betters, when acting in service to the Crown. A hired (Lord or Knights) Inquisitor or Confessor (depending on the title of the agent) is often employed by Lords in their own domain but may be employed instead of a Bailiff for matters that reach further than the city of King's Landing, or where a less obvious investigation is preferable but they would hold a similar power and purpose with the right employer.
- King's Justice, also known as the Royal Headsman, the King's Justice is the man expected to dispense the punishments set forth by the King or his Master of Law. While smaller punishments such as slitting nostrils or lashings can be delegated to other Justices hired for an act or genuinely in the employ of the King's Justice, the Royal Headsman is expected to be the sole agent where executions are concerned, though they may be aided by other headsmen, they should at least personally confirm the death. This is role that has traditionally seen a person outcast by 'forthright and decent folk,' commonly detested for how closely beside the Stranger they walk. They keep residence between the dungeons of the Red Keep and the keep itself as the last defense against escapes and manage the dungeons, including the Lord Confessor, the Chief Gaoler and all beneath him.
- (Lord) Confessor, the creative and fearsome ghoul in charge of extracting information from the prisoners who find themselves in the dungeons beneath the Red Keep. This role is a new creation in the office of the Master of Law, during the reign of King Aegon and King Aelyx, the tasks common to the Lord Confessor were shared by the King's Justice and the Gaolers for how infrequently they needed doing.
- Chief Gaoler, Chief Undergaoler, Undergaoler, Gaolers, Turnkeys, the masters of the dungeon, they work in unison to ensure that the dungeons are well maintained and that no one person ever has the ability to see a prisoner go free. The Chief oversees all matters of the dungeon and its staff living onsite beside the King's Justice, the Chief Undergaoler is the record keeper for the dungeon, the 6 undergaolers manage 3 gaolers each and serve in rotating shifts ensuring the dungeons are never unattended, and the turnkeys are the sole holders of the keys that access not only entry to the 3 lower dungeons, but the different levels and sections of those dungeons under the direction of the Gaolers above them by writ and instruction from the Justiciers. Access to the Black Cells, the 3rd level of the dungeon where the worst of the worst reside requires the personal involvement of no less than 6 people, and written instruction from the Master of Law, if not the Hand or King themselves.
- (Lord) Admiral, typically a title held by the Master of Ships themselves this could, presumably be a title given to a subordinate of the Master of Ships for any number of reasons.
- Captain, a relatively common title in the nautical community, and no different in this use, a Captain to the Master of Ships is a Captain of one of the many vessels beneath the Lord Admiral's command, and while there are many of them, to earn such a title requires an immense amount of trust.
- Lord/Lady or Master/Mistress of the Sail, one of the few roles in the royal offices to be commonly held by a woman, the title depends on if the bearer is highborn or lowborn, but their duties remain the same, they are responsible for (and often the producer of) the material that becomes the sails of the Royal Navy, while not necessarily of the highest quality possible, consistency, and quantity is key to ensure the steady and timely delivery of sailcloth. This role need not necessarily be held by a Westerosi, though for a number of reasons that may be preferred.
- Lord/Lady or Master/Mistress of the Mast, similar to the Master of the Sail, this role could be held by a wide number of different people, and they are responsible for the specific sorts of timbers that become the Masts and in truth the delivery of any timber necessary for ship construction. It is worth noting this has in one instance been used as a pejorative for a Stormlander who held the role during King Aegon's time who was well known to frequent the docks to hunt for masts of a different sort.
- Harbor Master, the individual in charge of ensuring the smooth operation of the harbor of King's Landing, they work closely with the Commander of the City Watch to ensure the storehouses on the docks are secure and that what is being offloaded by ships match their manifests and do not run afoul of Westerosi Law. This role has, thus far, been held by lowborn Merchants or common Sailors and due to corruption and violence tends to change frequently.
Truly little is known of this office, infact most are certain it is not actually an office at all but rather a scary story told by courtiers to courtiers to keep gossip to a minimum. In fact, they don't have an actual 'office' in the hall of the Small Council at all which is all the proof there needs to be of it's lack of existence... Right?
- Grand Master of the Alchemists' Guild, Wisdom Gariciter (NPC), though not a member of the Citadel in anyway, and not specifically under the power of the Grand Maester, the Grand Master of the Alchemists Guild reports to the Grand Maester only what he truly needs to. The Alchemists Guild being a new order with the arrival of the dragon, and a terribly secretive one as they hold a slew of secrets of the Valyrian Empire and the magics it discovered, and robbed from other doomed Empires throughout the ages. truly, in the end, the Grand Master answers to one person alone, the Targaryen King.
- Astronomer of the Realm, Maester Corlyn (NPC), a student of the skies and the stars within it, the Astronomer of the realm is responsible not only for the stars, but also the weather, this is one of the main people to thank for predictions of coming Winter. They work closely with the Catographer of the realm not because they have anything truly useful to say about maps, but because the stars have long been one of the primary sources for consistent landmarks in navigation. Don't ask him about the Essosian witchcraft that is astrology however. He could go on for days about how the stars have no effect on one's love or fate and how if any of that were true he would be neck deep in gold and tits, not scrolls and dimwits.
- Biologist of the Realm, Maester Quentyn (NPC), the Biologist of the Realm is a student of everything that has walked, crawled, slithered or swam around this great world of ours. Though their focus is on Westeros for the location of the Citadel they travel often to other parts of the world when they are given reports of strange new creatures. The Biologists library is perhaps the second best repository of knowledge on Dragons behind House Targaryen and the servants they brought from Valyria for how much the Citadel begged, borrowed and stole from the Valyrian Empire before its fall, similarly they are likely the best source of information on the strange creatures of Sothoryos and the exotic birds of the Summer Islands.
- Botanist of the Realm, Maester Jeor (NPC), no finer mind can be found where the subject of 'what's that thing coming out of the ground?' is concerned. The Botanist of the Realm spends much of their time traveling to study the flora found in Westeros, and sometimes Essos as well.
- Cartographer of the Realm, Maester Randall (NPC), the chief student of not only the geography of the realm, but also the methods required to ensure it is translated faithfully to the page. The Cartographers job is a thankless, and rather dull one, atleast to anyone but him. He could talk with a smile for hours about the different methods of seafaring chart, the many ways to scribe a coast, and how everything you know about the map of Westeros is actually wrong.
- Physician of the Realm, Archmaester Anspaugh (NPC), the Grand Maesters premier student of medicine and the human body, this role has over the many centuries been held many times by surgeons of the free cities and once, even an Ironborn.
- Seneschal of the Citadel, Archmaester Harwyn (NPC), the Maester who governs the Citadel in Oldtown, a thankless job that is chosen by lot among the archmaesters and changes from year to year so they can all share in the misery that is administration rather than learning.
The one commander who is a Lord regardless of who he was when the office was bestowed upon him, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard is the pinnacle of Knightly service and honor in all the realm and the staunchest defender of their King and his family. As a part of a sworn brotherhood their service in the role is presumably for life or until they choose to relinquish it to another brother of the Order. As part of their duties they manage 6 other knights sworn to the Order, 14 squires (two per Knight,) and 7 other attendants (presumably 1 per knight, but they tend to handle matters irrespective of which knight their tasks are for.) Notably, the squires and attendants do not swear the same oaths as the Knights of the Kingsguard, though for their proximity to the men who serve the King and his family they do swear oaths stricter than most other orders in the Realm.
For details see:The Sworn Brotherhood of the Kingsguard
The Queen's Court
- Lady of the Bedchamber, the lady responsible for the Queen(s) quarters.
- Lady of the Wardrobe, the lady responsible for the Queen(s) clothing.
- Lady of the Jewels, the lady responsible for the Queen(s) crowns and jewelry.
- Lady of Alms, the lady who organizes the charitable contributions of the Crown
- Lady of Revelry, the lady charged with keeping the court in a celebratory spirit
- Lady of the Pot, the lady responsible for bringing the tea pot to a ladies gathering, which are of course not just tea parties, and often devolve into talking about what is best placed in a chamber pot.
- Ladies in waiting, are a female servant or personal attendant of a royal woman, ladies of noble birth who are fostered in Royal Court while serving the Queen(s) of the Realm. Ladies in waiting can serve many roles from dressing a Queen, managing her personal quarters all the way to acting as stand ins or body doubles if the Queen so chooses and they would be capable or believable enough to not be discovered or cause offense.
In service to a noblewoman they are known as a handmaid, handmaiden, bedmaid, lady's maid, companion, or lady companion. To call the handmaids to a Noblewoman ladies in waiting could be perceived as a slight to the Queen or her Ladies, or a statement of ambition for the Lady claiming her handmaids are of such value.Handmaids may be of noble birth themselves but are typically of a lower house than the lady they serve and are typically common born. In Essos handmaids are regularly slaves. A lady of a higher noble house serving a peer or their lesser would be seen as a sleight against the lady by not only those she is serving, but her family who put her in a position beneath her great station. When used as punishment it would be considered a warning that the Lady is a step away from being sent to the Sept.It is not uncommon for ladies in waiting or handmaids to sleep in the same bed as who they serve.|Ladies in waiting