This post is the in character version of this
Iurrak – The Royal Customs Service
The Royal Customs Service is one of the central administrative arms of the Crown, responsible for enforcing the Royal Tax, overseeing the movement of goods, and maintaining economic oversight across the realm. It operates at borders, ports, and along major roads, ensuring that taxable goods are recorded and that revenues flow to the treasury.
The Service was founded in 601 by King Gabriel I, who also concluded the Peace of Equals with Selinus. His reforms ended decades of war and introduced a system of taxation on trade intended to stabilise royal finances. The Customs Service has existed continuously since then, with varying degrees of authority depending on the political strength of the Crown.
In 718, King Humphrey I expanded the role of the Customs Service. Facing financial crisis, he empowered it to sell commissions in the Royal Regiments. This avoided the need for new taxes on the nobility but shifted control of army appointments towards the Crown. The practice has remained in place since, often to the frustration of lords charged with maintaining those regiments.
The Royal Tax is not a general levy but is applied mostly to dense, high-value goods such as metals, spices, dyes, and fine textiles. These are easy to transport in small quantities yet yield significant wealth. By targeting such goods, the Crown ensures that taxation is efficient and difficult to evade.
The Service also provides the Crown with valuable economic intelligence. By recording and reporting the movement of goods, it reveals which regions are prospering, which merchants are rising or falling, and where resources are concentrated. This information is considered vital for both domestic policy and preparations for war.
The rank and file of the Service are usually commoners, though disproportionately the younger sons of wealthy merchant families. Their background makes them literate, numerate, and familiar with commerce. This sometimes causes friction when they are tasked with policing nobles, since their authority derives directly from the King rather than from hereditary privilege. Only in Erythrae are nobles commonly appointed, usually at the highest levels. The office of Lord High Customs Inspector is traditionally given to a royal kinsman.
Today, the Customs Service remains responsible for both the collection of the Royal Tax and the administration of regimental commissions. Its dual role places it at the intersection of the realm’s economy and its military, and its activities are often a source of tension between Crown and nobility. Nevertheless, it is a permanent feature of Iurrakan governance and central to the authority of the monarchy.