Rank and Renown: Kingdom of Askan

By gaining renown as an official of the Kingdom of Askan, you advance through the ranks of an authoritarian regime dedicated to total societal mobilization against the Abyss. Promotion requires the explicit sign-off of the Ministry of Internal Security or the Iron Crown itself. Advancement is granted for absolute loyalty, rooting out heresy, and maintaining flawless domestic order.

Rank 1: Proctor

Prerequisite: Renown 3 or higher

Your specific title depends on how you enforce the Crown's absolute will across the citizenry:

• If you manage civil obedience and urban control, you assume the title of Vigilance Officer.
• If you oversee resources, rationing, and war taxes, you become a Requisitioner.
• If you work in diplomacy, propaganda, or censorship, you become a Censor-Scribe.

As a Proctor, you can call on an official guardsman (use the standard guard stat block) to perform mundane tasks, enforce curfews, or detain minor suspects for questioning. They represent the law but will not leave their jurisdiction to go adventuring or fight dangerous fiends.

Between adventures, the authoritarian state provides you with a state-mandated stipend that supports you at a modest lifestyle.

Rank 2: Magistrate

Prerequisite: Renown 10 or higher

Your new title marks you as a trusted regional administrator who squeezes efficiency and paranoia out of the local populace:

• If you are a vigilance officer, you become a High Prefect, controlling local law enforcement and interrogation cells.
• If you are a requisitoner, you become a Logistics Justiciar, dictating the flow of wealth and property in entire districts.
• If you are a censor-scribe, you become an Information Director, steering public opinion and managing state assets.

You are recognized as a true extension of the Crown's iron fist. At the start of a social investigation or political mission undertaken on the kingdom's behalf, you can secure the assistance of a squad of 1d4 guards plus one noble (acting as a political asset) or a spy (acting as an undercover informant). These individuals remain under your command until the assignment ends.

Between adventures, your rank grants you a high bureaucratic clearance, allowing you to live at a comfortable lifestyle funded entirely by state requisitions.

Rank 3: Inquisitor-General or Ministry Director

Prerequisite: Renown 25 or higher

Your new title depends on your broader administrative interests as they relate to securing the home front against demonic corruption and civilian dissent:

• If your interests lie in political control and high-society purging, you become a Ministry Director. You receive a heavily fortified manor within the capital to host loyalist functions. You are granted a permanent retinue of two high-ranking state nobles who act as your political proxies, letting you bypass royal protocol, veto local legislation, or shut down merchant houses at a whim.
• If your interests lie in counter-espionage and rooting out Abyssal cults, you become an Inquisitor-General. You manage the kingdom's secret police. You have the ultimate authority to command city garrisons to lock down entire city wards, seize private property without a warrant, or completely erase the public record of any "subversive" individual who opposes your goals.

Between adventures, the state recognizes you as invaluable to national survival, allowing you to live at a wealthy lifestyle at the taxpayers' expense.

Rank 4: Hand of the Iron Crown

Prerequisite: Renown 50 or higher

You answer only to the Monarch or the High Regent. You have become a living pillar of Askan’s authoritarian survival machine. You receive a permanent, untouchable seat on the High War Council.

Once per week, you can exercise the Crown's Absolute Mandate. This allows you to unilaterally accuse any high-ranking political rival, grand duke, or wealthy merchant prince of "demonic sympathy" or treason. Because of your absolute renown, the accusation is taken as absolute truth by the state: the target's assets are instantly stripped, their political power vanishes overnight, and they are removed from the social board entirely without a single drop of blood being spilled in public.