KINGDOM
OF VEGA
BYLAWS
UPDATED 04/10/03
I. NAME, DEVICE, and PRINCIPLE PLACE OF BUSINESS
A. The name of this chapter of the Empire of Chivalry and Steel shall be The Kingdom of Vega.
B. The Device consists of a red field, black circle, and a silver sword surmounted by a silver lyre (as illustrate herein).
C. "For Honour and Chivalry, " hereafter referred to as the Legend.
D. The principle place of business of the Kingdom of Vega shall be P.O. Box 98002, Las Vegas, NV 89193-8002.
II.
AUTHORITY
A. Herein lie additional rules and guidelines for the conduct of the Kingdom of Vega, of Empire of Chivalry and Steel, Inc. (ECS). These Kingdom Bylaws are to be considered supplemental to, and will be superseded by, the Bylaws of the Imperial and all other Imperial Rules.
B. In accordance with the Imperial Bylaws, and to the extent of the Bylaws herein, the Kingdom of Vega shall be self-governing.
C. All references to Offices, Estates, and Members, herein shall be Kingdom unless otherwise stated.
D. The rules of order shall be considered in the following rank:
E. All Imperial rules;
F. The Bylaws of the Kingdom of Vega;
G. Enactment’s of the Estates;
H. Crown ordinances; and,
I. Such Rules of Parliamentary Procedure adopted by the Estates and Sovereign.
III.
PURPOSE
A. The purpose of the non-profit educational corporation is to study the ideals and practices of the historical period ranging from the Year 800 AD to the Year 1650 AD specifically covering the geographical boundaries of Europe, and to provide an organized effort in the collection, interpretation, and distribution of historical data through publication and demonstration.
IV.
KINGDOM DUTIES TO THE IMPERIUM
A. Imperial Bylaws - The Kingdom shall be obliged to observe all the rules and regulations of the Imperium to the extent that said rules and regulations are made known to the Kingdom.
B. Attendance at Imperial Estates Meeting - The Kingdom shall be obliged to attend all regular meetings of the Imperial Estates. These meetings shall be attended by the Sovereign, or the Sovereign's duly warranted proxy.
C. The Kingdom shall:
1. provide quarterly accounting to the Imperial treasury; and,
2. request an annual accounting from the imperial Exchequer detailing the manner in which these funds are used to benefit and promote the ECS.
V.
DUES
A. A report detailing membership dues about to expire shall be published on a monthly basis by the appropriate royal officer. It shall be the responsibility of members to renew their memberships within thirty days of publication.
B. Membership forms and checks, cashiers checks or money orders must be sent directly to the Imperium at: P.O. Box 77223, Tucson, AZ 85703.
C. All checks must be payable to The Empire of Chivalry and Steel, Inc.
VI.
ENABLING CLAUSE
These Bylaws may be amended by either Referendum or Initiative, provided that
the proposals do not conflict with Imperial Bylaws.
VII.
AMENDMENT
A. Enactment of these Bylaws requires:
B. Approval by the Estates, by a 2/3rd vote; and,
C. Approval by the Electors, by a majority of the Electors voting in an election procedure approved by a majority of the Estates
D. These Bylaws supersede all other bylaws of the Kingdom
E.
These Bylaws shall take effect immediately
VIII.
ROAD TO CROWN WAR
A. Request letters of intent
1. Request for letters made in official publication
2. Letters to be delivered to the Chroniclers
3. Request published in December Chronicle
B. Publish letters of intent
1. Letter will contain:
a. Contender’s persona name
b. Contenders real name
c. Contender’s titles
d. Contenders real signature
e. Co-Contenders persona name (if applicable)
f. Co-Contenders real name
g. Co-Contender’s titles
h. Co-Contenders real signature
i. May contain short statements (politics)
2. Letters will be published in the January edition of the Chronicle
C. Estates Approval/Publication of Ballot
1. The kingdom estates will vote on each contenders eligibility to be sovereign based on the following criteria:
a. The contender (or pair of contenders) must have been a member in good standing (paid) of the Empire of Chivalry and Steel for a minimum of two (2) years at the time their letter was submitted.
b. The contender (or pair of contenders) must have been a member in good standing (paid) of the Kingdom of Vega for a minimum of one (1) year at the time their letter was submitted.
c. The contender (or pair of contenders) must have officially advanced to the rank of knight at the time their letter was submitted.
d. If a contender or his/her co-contenders is found to be ineligible then neither will be considered eligible.
e. If a simple majority (50% + 1) of the estates agrees that a contender (or a pair of co-contenders has met the eligibility requirements, That contender’s name will be added to the ballot.
f. The ballot will be constructed so the sender’s real name appears on the outside of the ballot.
g. The ballot will be constructed so the senders name does NOT appear on the inside of the ballot.
h. The Ballot will be published and mailed to all paid members of the kingdom of Vega in the February Chronicle.
D. Accept/Count ballots, Announce contenders, Publish Crown War date
1. If a contender is also the Kingdom Chronicler, Exchequer, or List Minister They will not be allowed to participate in the collection, storage, verification or counting of the ballots. The current Sovereign will appoint someone (a non-contender) to fulfill their “ballot duty”
2. The deadline for hand delivering ballots to the Chronicler will be the last Wednesday in March at 8pm PST
3. Mailed ballots must be postmarked 7 (or more) days prior to the last Wednesday in March.
4. The Kingdom Chronicler will be charged with the collection and the Storage of the ballots until the last Wednesday in March.
5. On the last Wednesday in March (after 8pm PST), the Kingdom Chronicler, Exchequer and the List Minister will count the ballots in the following manner:
a. The Chronicler will take each unopened ballot and read off the senders name on the outside.
b. The Exchequer will check the name read by the Chronicler against the rolls list to ensure the member is in good standing, They will then make a mark beside the name on the rolls sheet to indicate that person has cast a vote (to insure no one casts more than 1 vote).
c. If a ballot is received from a member who is not in good standing it will be discarded (will not count for the election)
d. If a ballot is received with no name on the outside, it will be discarded.
e. If it is found that a member has cast more than one ballot then ALL of that person’s ballots will be discarded.
f. Once all of the ballots have been verified, the Chronicler, Exchequer and the List Minister will open all of the ballots.
g. All those present should do their best not to observe who has cast each vote.
h. Each contender may appoint an observer who may be present during the counting of the ballots.
i. After all valid ballots are opened the chronicler will take each ballot individually and announce who the vote was cast for.
j. The Exchequer will record each vote and then compile a total for each contender when the Chronicler has finished.
k. Once this is complete the Exchequer will take each ballot individually and announce who the vote was cast for.
l. The List Minister will record each vote and then compile a total for each contender when the Exchequer has finished.
m. If the Chronicler, Exchequer and List Minister can not all agree on how a ballot has been marked then the ballot shall be discarded.
n. If the Exchequer’s totals match the List Minister’s totals then the counting is finished.
o. If the totals do not match, then the process outlined here in Items h thru m will be repeated until they do match.
6. If a contender (or a pair of co-contenders) received the most votes:
a. The Contender with the most votes will receive one (1) “Crown War Point” and will go to Crown War.
b. The runner up (2nd most votes) will receive zero (0) “Crown War Points” and will go on to crown war
c. If there is a tie for second place, the runner up will be determined by casting lots between the contenders that are tied for second place.
7. If two (2) contenders are tied for first place (the most votes):
a. Both contenders will receive zero (0) “Crown War Points”
b. Both contenders will go to Crown War
8. If three (3) or more contenders are tied for first place (the most votes):
a. All contenders will receive zero (0) “Crown War Points”
b. The casting of lots will eliminate all but two (2) of the contenders.
c. The two remaining contenders will go to Crown War.
9. The announcement of the two (2) remaining contenders and the date of Crown War will be made immediately through all venues and published in the March Chronicle.
E. Crown War/Official Coronation
1. Crown War will be held within one hundred (100) miles of Las Vegas, Nevada.
2. Crown War and the official coronation will be held on the last weekend in April.
3. Contenders shall not be prevented from Campaigning for support from the populace or discussing goals and policies prior to the opening court of Crown War.
4. Bribery (the offer of any goods, services and/or monetary payment in exchange for support of a contender) is expressly prohibited.
5. Anyone who offers or accepts a bribe will be subjected to a court of Chivalry (in the case of a knight) or a court of High Justice (in the case of non-knights).
a. Conviction will result in the forfeiture of eligibility to serve as Sovereign for a period of two (2) years.
b. The Courts are urged to also remove all ranks and titles from the guilty party.
6. Crown War will consist of the “Crown War Arts Competition”, the “Crown War Combat Competition” and the official coronation.
7. Crown War may contain other activities that do not count towards the outcome (i.e. resurrection battles, Prize tourneys, feasts, etc.)
8. The Crown War Arts Competition shall be run as follows:
a. Crown War Arts Judges
i. A contender may not be an arts judge during Crown War.
b. If the Kingdom Arts Minister is a contender, the current sovereign will appoint someone (a non-contender) to participate in the selection of the arts judges.
c. The Crown War Autocrat and the Kingdom Arts Minister will jointly (they must both agree on each judge) assign the arts judges.
9. Scoring
a. When an arts project is entered it will be entered on behalf of a contender.
b. If a person scores more than 50 art points, the contender they support will be awarded the full amount scored.
c. When the judging is finished, all the points scored on behalf of each contender will be totaled.
d. The contender with the most points (scored on their behalf) will receive one (1) “Crown War Point”, the other contender will receive zero (0) “Crown War Points”.
e. In the case of a tie, both contenders will receive zero (0) “Crown War Points”.
10. The Crown War Combat competition will be run as follows:
a. Events
i. Three (3) standard open field shinai melees.
ii. Three (3) standard open field rapier melees.
iii. Three (3) standard open field steel melees.
b. The combatants will be divided into two (2) teams based upon which contender they support.
c. Marshals
i. No contender may marshal any event at Crown War.
ii. If the Kingdom Crown Marshall is a contender the current Sovereign will appoint someone (a non-contender) to participate in the selection of combat marshals.
iii. The Crown war autocrat and the Kingdom Combat Minister will jointly (they must both agree on each marshal) assign the combat marshals (from the warranted marshals).
iv. Anyone who marshals a melee may not participate in any other melee in the same form of combat. i.e. a person who marshals the first shinai melee may not fight in the remaining shinai melees.
d. Melee Scoring
i. Shinai Melee
AA. The contender who wins two (2) out of three (3) of the shinai melee will receive 1 “Combat Victory Point”
AB. If neither contender wins two (2) out of three (3) of the shinai melee both contenders will receive zero (0) “Combat Victory Points”.
ii. Rapier Melee
AA. The contender who wins two (2) out of three (3) of the rapier melee will receive 1 “Combat Victory Point”
AB. If neither contender wins two (2) out of three (3) of the rapier melee both contenders will receive zero (0) “Combat Victory Points”.
iii. Steel Melee
AA. The contender who wins two (2) out of three (3) of the steel melee will receive 1 “Combat Victory Point”
AB. If neither contender wins two (2) out of three (3) of the steel melee both contenders will receive zero (0) “Combat Victory Points”.
e. Overall combat scoring
i. The contender who receives the most “Combat Victory Point” receives one (1) “Crown War Point”
ii. If the “Combat Victory Points” are tied, Both contenders receive zero (0) “Crown War Points”
11. Crown War Victory conditions
a. The contender who receives the most “Crown War Points” wins the Crown War (there are three possible “Crown War Points”, one (1) from the vote, one (1) from the arts and one (1) from combat).
b. If the “Crown War Points” are tied, a Champions Battle will determine the winner.
12. Champions Battle
a. Will only be held in the case of a tie.
b. Each Contender will name a Champion for each form of Combat (shinai, rapier and steel).
c. The champion must be authorized to fight in that form.
d. Sergeants and above are eligible to be shinai champions (assuming they are authorized).
e. Bouts
i. The champions fight a best two (2) out of three (3) bout (with double kill rounds being re-fought) against the other champion in there form (the shinai champion fights the shinai champion, etc.).
ii. When a champion defeats his opponent (two (2) out of three (3) times) the contender receives one (1) “Champions Battle Point”
iii. The contender who receives two (2) (or more) “Champions Battle Points”, wins Crown War
13. Official Coronation
a. The winner of crown war will be officially announced at closing court.
b. The official coronation will then take place.
F. Formal Coronation
1. The new Sovereign(s) may chose to have a formal coronation within sixty (60) days of the official coronation.
2. All normal event rules would apply.