The Signing of the Treaty of Thronehold and the End of the Last War

Diplomatic action

The destruction of Cyre on the Day of Mourning and the heavy losses incurred to the remaining Five Nations' armies due to troops lost in Cyre on that day forced the Last War to grind to a sudden, screeching halt. The Treaty of Thronehold, negotiated over the course of two years at the island of Thronehold in Scions Sound at the invitation of King Kaius III of Karrnath, was signed by representatives of all the powers of Khorvaire and officially ended the Last War in 996 YK. The treaty recognized the independence and sovereignty of the nations of Aundair, Breland, Thrane, Karrnath, the Talenta Plains, Zilargo, Q'barra, the Lhazaar Principalities, the Mror Holds, the Eldeen Reaches, Darguun, and Valenar. Droaam, the “Kingdom of Monsters,” was not recognized by the treaty at the insistence of Breland. Also at the insistence of Breland's King Boranel, the three remaining factions of House Cannith were ordered by the assembled heads of state at Thronehold to destroy all their creation forges; the remaining warforged were granted the full civil rights of sentient beings. Unfortunately this promise was only kept in the breach by Thrane and Karrnath which declared many of their warforged “indentured servants” to the government who had to give service to the state to pay for the cost of their creation. The treaty also recognized the continued authority of the Sentinel Marshals to track down and arrest criminals—particularly war criminals—across national borders. The treaty also addressed the issue of war crimes. The independent nations of Khorvaire had no central authority to whom they could turn to levy charges against citizens and military leaders of other countries. The Last War saw many atrocities committed in the name of kings and gods, and the populaces of the remaining Five Nations cried out for someone with the power to convict and sentence those responsible. Thus did the treaty establish the Tribunal of Thronehold, a court that rules from the neutral island, ensconced in a wing of the great castle. From there, the long hand of justice, supported by all sovereign nations, reaches across the continent to smite those responsible for the worst horrors of the war. Or, at least, so the rulers of the Five Nations would have their citizenry believe. The truth is, for all its symbolic importance, the Tribunal has very little true power. Thwarted at almost every turn by the very nations that formed it, it struggles to carry out its mandate in the face of ruling classes that simply want to put the Last War out of their minds—or else reignite it into an even larger conflagration. The Tribunal of Thronehold was almost an afterthought to the treaty. Although the documents that could confirm this assertion are now sealed, most people claim that King Boranel of Breland first suggested the formation of a multilateral international court, following months of bickering and fighting among the rulers and representatives. Many of these arguments were sparked by accusations of war crimes and atrocities between rivals, and some people believe that Boranel's primary motivation was to end the arguments, not to bring the perpetrators to justice. The formation of the Tribunal added several weeks of deliberation to the Treaty of Thronehold. Thrane wanted an exemption for formal inquisitions carried out by the Church of the Silver Flame. Queen Aurala of Aundair wanted a strict definition of a “war crime” as opposed to a “military operation with civilian casualties.” Kaius III refused, initially, to subject his warlords' troops to foreign oversight. The hobgoblins of Darguun had to have the human concept of “war crimes” actually defined for them. And so on, and so forth. Eventually, like every other provision of the treaty, this issue was hammered out. The Tribunal's first magistrates were assigned from the ranks of the participating nations' nobles and politicians. The Tribunal of Thronehold consists of ten magistrates, one from each of the treaty's signatory nations, with the exceptions of Q'barra, which refused to recognize the court's authority since it had no precedent in the Code of Galifar, and Valenar, whose warrior elves simply had no interest in participating except as hired “retrievers.” Magistrates from Aundair, Breland, Karrnath, and Thrane hold the power of two votes each, while every other magistrate has one. It requires a simple majority for the court to agree to hear a particular case, and to demand the appearance of an accused war criminal, but it requires a two-thirds majority for conviction and sentencing. The Tribunal of Thronehold holds an immense amount of symbolic power. It represents the efforts of all (well, most) nations to seek justice for the worst offenses of the Last War. It illustrates that they can unify behind higher matters than war, that they can cooperate for the good of all. Symbolic power, however, has not translated into much actual power. By the strictures of the treaty, all nations must cooperate with the Tribunal, turning over records, evidence, and accused war criminals when requested. Most of the nations are quick to accuse rivals of stalling, but are remarkably hesitant to turn over their own materials and “fugitives.” The Tribunal lacks the personnel 175 to hunt down and take most accused by force, so it must reserve such efforts for only the most heinous and fearsome war criminals. Nations might bring economic pressure to bear against their neighbors at the request of the Tribunal, in hopes of forcing a resolution, but many will not risk their own trade status by doing so, and none will launch military missions for these purposes. Thus, the Tribunal is largely limited to issuing a writ of accusation—a declaration of an individual’s accused crimes, and an insistence that he turn himself in—since it can rarely force an individual to appear. All the signatory nations are required to provide fifty soldiers for the Tribunal’s use, forming an “army” five hundred strong. Most soldiers see this duty as either a cushy assignment or an exile; few take it seriously. These soldiers serve little more than a symbolic purpose; they are not really needed to guard the island of Thronehold, because House Deneith’s Throne Wardens do that, and they are not a sufficient force to invade a sovereign nation in search of a fugitive. (Even if they could, the Tribunal is unwilling to send troops to invade its member nations, since it is justifiably afraid of divided loyalties.) Thus, these troops do little more than serve as court bailiffs, bodyguards for the magistrates, and jailers for the occasional accused criminal the Tribunal actually does manage to drag in. The ten nations also provide a small amount of money to the Tribunal each year, to keep the court operational. From this treasury, the Tribunal draws funds to hire Deneith, Medani, or Valenar mercenaries when it thinks the charges against a war criminal are so severe that he or she must be brought in. These “retrieval teams” are hated by the sovereign nations, and occasionally face military opposition, but most of the time the various kingdoms grudgingly allow them to operate. Given the delicate nature of these retrieval operations, the Tribunal has given some thought in recent months to hiring smaller, more precise teams than mercenaries—such as skilled adventuring parties. Officially, anyone can travel to the Hall of Judgment at Thronehold, seek an audience with the court, and levy charges against someone for war crimes. On a practical level, however, the Tribunal rarely has time to listen to anyone who does not arrive with official government, house, or church backing. Even when it does, the only result is a writ of accusation; the Tribunal has never sent a retrieval team out based on charges brought by a civilian.