Factions On The Hill

The Grand Committee

The Grand Committee is made up of representatives from the lands of the Hill known as Grand Mice. They meet four times each year at meetings called Conclaves.

• The Dark Conclave (in winter, on the shortest day of the year)
• The Uprising Conclave (commemorating the Great Uprising, on the first day of spring)
• The Light Conclave (in summer, on the longest day of the year)
• The Sleepy Conclave (on the first day of autumn)

The Conclaves are split into two activities, which correspond to two of the three recognized authorities of the Grand Committee: settling disputes and making rules. Both disputes and rules are settled by a simple majority vote. If a vote is a stalemate, the dispute or rule is postponed for another vote until the next Conclave¹ unless it is a matter of mobilizing the Grand Hill Protection Militia for the security of the Hill.

Voting is carried out by standing on one or the other side of a line drawn into the ground.

The third authority of the Grand Committee is to mobilize the Grand Hill Protection Militia in case of a threat to the security of the Hill.

Authority of the Grand Committee to Settle Disputes

Individuals or groups that have disagreements can make their arguments before the Grand Committee, and must accept the ruling. While there is no penalty or crime assigned to ignoring a Grand Committee dispute ruling, the community will generally treat such behavior with de facto exclusion from social activities and commerce.

One party in a dispute is randomly chosen to make their arguments first. Each party in a dispute is given a total of 3 minutes to make their arguments. Grand Mice can ask questions after the arguments are made.

Authority of the Grand Committee to Make Rules

The Grand Committee has the authority to create rules, which all mice on the Hill must follow. In practice creation of rules is rare, and it is not unusual for a Conclave to pass with no rule making.

Presentation of rules for discussion can be made my anyone, but a simple majority vote of the Grand Mice must succeed after the rule is presented or it will not be discussed. The discussion period for a rule cannot exceed 1 hour. The unwritten but well known rule is that no Grand Mouse shall talk about a rule for more than 10 minutes. It is exceedingly rare that anyone other than Grand Mice discuss rules once they have been presented to the Grand Committee.

Authority of the Grand Committee to Mobilize the GHPM

When the Hill is threatened, any 15 Grand Mice can call on any GHPM squads that can be contacted, and order them to resolve the threat.

Representation in the Grand Committee

The Western Hill, Central Hill, and Eastern Ridge are represented in the Grand Committee by anywhere from 20 to 30 Grand Mice, the chosen or most powerful representatives of those lands. The Eastern Forest is not yet organized or stable enough to select and send Grand Mice to the Grand Committee.

The Grand Mice

Grand Mice are supposed to act for the benefit of all mice on the Hill, and not to decide disputes or rules in ways that would directly benefit themselves or their close family. In practice, minor bribery and favoritism is common, and Grand Mice are only removed from the Grand Committee if they obviously or ostentatiously benefit from otherwise typical corruption.

The Grand Hill Protection Militia

The Grand Hill Protection Militia (GHPM) is a semi-volunteer pseudo-military faction on the Hill. It is headquartered in and mostly loyal to the Central Hill. Every time a mouse family has a brood, one pup is automatically conscripted to the GHPM (once at a suitable age). Conscripts must serve one full season (four Conclaves), after which they may decide to stay with the GHPM or return to their nest to carry on as they see fit.

The GHPM is referred to by civilians in the Central Hill as the Protection; in the Western Hill and Eastern Ridge it is called (with some sarcasm) the Militia; and when it's acknowledged in the Eastern Forest at all, it's typically called the Filth.

GHPM Legions

The GHPM has two Legions: the Central Hill Legion and the Western Hill Legion. The Grand Committee would like to create an Eastern Forest Legion, but so far the idea has been treated with laughter both from civilians and from current members of the GHPM. Nobody talks about a Legion for the Eastern Ridge. The mice of the Great Hawk Church take care of themselves.

The Central Hill Legion

The Central Hill Legion primarily protects the Central Hill banks and food shipments from the Central Hill farms to various Hill villages. It is organized into squads of 5 - 10 mice, each assigned to a bank or food route. More than one squad may be assigned to a single bank or route. Some squads travel with the food shipments, and some stand guard at checkpoints along main trails across the Hill.

Central Hill Legion mice draw a monthly salary of (some number of flakes), and their families are entitled to a monthly share of food from the Central Hill farms.

The Western Hill Legion (The Rangers)

The Western Hill Legion formed when some squads from the Central Hill Legion decided they'd had enough petty inter-squad squabbling and lit out for the frontier. They started calling themselves Rangers and continued to draw salaries, mainly by "politely" "asking" Central Hill Squads for flakes when they ran into them. The Central Hill Grand Mice harrumphed a bit, but realized that the Western Hill needed a Legion anyway, so they started officially paying out flakes.

The Western Hill Legion is made up entirely of volunteers rather than conscripts. At first, new Rangers joined by abandoning their Central Hill Legion squads and heading west, but more and more they're mice raised on the Western Hill frontier.

The Rangers are mainly responsible for protecting settlements and explorers on the Western Hill from squirrel, rat, and mouse banditry. Unlike the Central Hill Legion, the Rangers aren't organized into squads. Some Rangers work alone, and some work in ad-hoc bands that individuals float in and out of. The Western Hill is a wild frontier land, and the Rangers do what they have to do. Rangers tend to be tougher and more battle tested than Central Hill Legionnaires.

Western Hill Legion mice draw a monthly salary of (less than Central Hill Legion mice). Rangers' families don't get a food share from the Central Hill farms, and some Rangers are not happy about that.

Squirrels of the Hill

Squirrel Traders

Squirrel Bandits

Rats of the Hill

The Church of the Great Hawk

The Church of the Great Hawk (usually just "the Church") is a somber and mysterious religion. To outsiders, they talk about the peace of eternal flight - the celestial reward that all Church members are gifted with if they are placed overnight on a funereal platform in one of several locations on the Eastern Ridge.

One of the most important characteristics of Church members is skill in building; this reflects the Great Hawk's value of building a secure nest. All Church mice train in carpentry, building, or metalworking crafts.

Claws and the Grand Talon

Priests of the Great Hawk are called Claws. The Grand Talon is the high priest of the Church.

Claws must be master builders or metalsmiths, and will often manage a crew of Church craftsmen operating in other parts of the Hill for flakes or trade goods.

Eastern Forest Warlords