The Inquistition is an offical part of the
Uroshan Sovereignty, they are charged with hunting down heretics. Any member of the
Urosha species that breaks any law, lives outside of Sovereignty territory without explicit permission, or fails to properly venerate
The Great Dragon are offically defined as a heretic. In practice, running afoul of an Inquisitor can see you branded as a heretic even if you don't normally meet the definition. Any non-Uroshans in Uroshan space must tread carefully as they can also be declared a "dissident agent" and taken into custody, though any non-Uroshans that are citizens of The Sovereignty will instead be treated as Heretics if they are arrested by the Inquisition.
Punishments for Heretics and Dissidents
When arrested by an agent of the Inquisition a detainee will eventually be brought before a Judge for a trial. There is no law about a quick process so this is done whenever they feel like it. Heretics must prove their innocence to the Judge with their testimony with an agent of the Inquisition presenting evidence agianst them. Failing to convince the Judge of their innocence will see a Heretic's face branded with the Mark of Heresy and they will undergo whatever penance the Judge sees fit to assign them, but sometimes they are exectuted. If a Heretic survives their penance then they are branded on the other side of their face with the smaller Mark of Penance. It is possible to have multiple Marks of Penance, but this is usually rare. While one with a Mark of Penance will always be viewed with some degree of suspicion, they are allowed to re-integrate into society. A penitent must forever tread carefully as it is even more unlikely to be Judged innocent and the likely hood of a repeat offender being executed is very high.
Only an adult can be accused of heresy. Children are still learning how to properly venerate The Great Dragon. While most cases of misbehaviour are handled by either their parents or teachers, in cases where crimes are committed a low ranking Agent will be tasked with metering out corporal punishment as they deem necessary. A light punishment by Uroshan standards is usually seen an harsh (and perhaps even cruel and unusual) by typical Human standards.
As Dissidents are always foreigners, they get some degree of leniency for diplomatic reasons. In most cases, the Agent will make a record of their transgression and have them placed on the next ship that is set to leave Uroshan space with a warning to never return and at least one Agent to escort them until they are outside their territory. The records of these deportees are spread by messengers to all other Uroshan systems. In the case of severe enough illegal activities then they too will be brought before a Judge. In this case a messenger is sent to whoever the accused says will provide a legal council. The message will state the time a legal council has before the earliest trial date can happen, usually about the equilient of 8 months in
Earth-Time although this is always written in the Uroshan Calendar and is sometimes unclear to foreigners exactly what the equilivent would be. When the legal council arrives, they are briefed on the case and the finer points of the Uroshan legal system to give foreigners a very slightly less unfair trial experience. They have until the trial begins to attempt to investigate and gather evidence if they can and are given a small talismen to mark them as a foreign investigator. This talismen gives very few protections, it mostly just means that Agents will not arrest you for suspicious behavior. Very few Dissidents that have been brought to trial have ever been found innocent as the system is still designed to find any accused as guilty most of the time. Occationally deportation is still the punishment selected, but years of forced labor followed by deportation is the most common punishment for Dissidents.
Inquisitorial Agents abroad
The Sovereignty has treaties with many interstellar governments to allow Agents of the Inquisition to hunt down Heretics in their territory. Each treaty has its own special rules an conditions that the Agent must follow. Only experienced Agents are allowed to conduct these external hunts. Any Agent that is found to have broken the terms of any treaty will be forever restricted to Uroshan space only, even for non-work travel. Some treaties allow Agents to investigate with no specific target in mind while other treaties may require an Agent get a warrant from the local government to track down a specific Heretic.
Rogue Agents
Sometimes an Agent of the Inquisition can be accused of heresy themselves. This requires great evidence to be presented by an accusing Agent and an uncharacteristically fair trail before a Judge. If an Agent is found guilty they are always executed. This is extremely rare as an Agent that accuses another that is found innocent could be demoted, expelled, or found guilty themselves based on how egregious the Judge feels their accusation was. An accuser of an Agent foun innocent might also be entirely forgiven if the Judge feels the accusation was made with good personal judgement and with pure intentions.
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