Laws of Elderia

Key tenets of an Elderian Citizen:

1. Whoever defames, insults, or threatens the Emperor, Empress, the heir-apparent or regent of the Dragon throne would be treated as criminals with a potentially punishable offense.
2. All matters of the Arcane, both in its practice and legitimate usage, fall under the purview and management of the Elderian Mages Guild. Unauthorized usage of it, if caught, will be deferred to the guild for investigation, audit, and/or subsequent indictment.
3. The Church of Typhan is the preeminent and recognized state religion of Elderia. While many offshoot branches of the worship of Typhan as well as other Draconic and Non-Draconic divinities are tolerated within Elderian territories to a degree. Any actions that decry or subvert the stance, discredit the Church of Typhan, or are considered heretical, would be subjected to the Church through forceful legal, political, or in rare cases, military action.

What is considered "Heresy?"

Definition: "A belief, doctrine, or practice resulting in dissent or deviation from a dominant theory or opinion"

Within Elderia, there are the five categorised heresies:

Gnostic Heresy (Cultists): The act of worshipping entities that are not recognized as divine or treated as a menace within major civilizations on Kaidryn.

Sectarian Heresy (Usurpation): The act of endorsing or following religious groups which seek to take over the cultural and/or political authority of the State Religion

Iconoclast/Secularist Heresy (Aggressive Atheistic): The act of destroying Idols, statues, symbols or a non-worshipper, actively endorsing or disparaging others of worship

Iusus Naturae Heresy (Abhumans): The act of being, siding or perpetuating the existence of dark beings such as Vampires, blood magic, dark rituals

Tenebris Malum Heresy (Depravity and Wickedness): The act of advocating for or tolerating existences, actions, or natures rejected by the Church's teachings of Typhan.

Elderian Legal Structure

The Empire of Elderia functions under the basis of an Imperial rule of law characterized by a complex set of laws, bureaucratic structures, and philosophical draconic influences.
The legal system was intertwined with the imperial bureaucracy where the Emperor was the ultimate authority, and legal matters were managed through a hierarchical system of officials. The Elderian Censorate (The Government institution based in Scourge responsible for appointment of officiators) plays a significant role in overseeing an imperial praetor’s conduct and reporting to the Emperor.

Each official was ranked in a hierarchy from the local praetor’s courts and could ascend to higher courts located in Scourge. Inevitably, the ultimate authority was with the Emperor who had the power to issue edicts and decrees that held the force of law.

Civil law, governing private disputes between Elderian citizens including property rights, contracts, and inheritances were generally administered by the local praetor who had the flexibility to take previous precedents or legal cases into consideration in their ruling.

Criminal law was generally overseen by senior praetors who had the authority to investigate crimes (by assigning inquisitors, elderian soldiers, or occasionally recruited members of society such as adventurers) and conducting trials and pronouncing verdicts.

The Judicial procedure was generally public affairs that were held in open courts. The accuser and accused presented their cases, witness testimonies were called and evidence would be presented. Often, professional advocates known as Advocatus Publicus, would represent parties in the court. While the Praetor could be conducting and pronouncing the verdict, a jury panel, often drawn from the nobility, magi, and the church can be brought in to determine the verdict.

The importance of Equity played a large role in Elderian law, ensuring fairness and just outcomes were met such as the right to a fair trial, the right to defend themselves in court, and the right to appeal to a higher authority. Praetors had the liberty to be flexible in the strict application of the law if they felt that it met unjust results.

Non-citizens and outsiders, however, had fewer if not negligible legal rights and protections

List of Punishments

Punishment for a crime can include one or more of the following, based on the nature of the crime, who or what the crime is committed against, and the criminal record of the convicted:

• Public Execution / Capital Punishment
• Banishment or Exile
• Restitutional Fines or Compensation
• Flogging or Branding
• Forced Labor or Imprisonment
• Confiscation of material and property
• Stocks and Pillory or Public Shaming
• Dismemberment

Crimes against Nobility and Government Officials

Treason: Treason is an act against the emperor, the lands of the empire, or her people, and includes assault, attempted murder, or murder of royalty.
Typical Punishment(s): Seizure of all assets and death.

Spying or sabotage for a foreign power: Spying or sabotage is aiding a foreign power in any form in order to undermine the power of the empire.
Typical Punishment(s): Seizure of all assets and death.

Murder of nobility or an official: The murder of a noble or an official.
Typical Punishment: Seizure of property and death.

Impersonating royalty: The unlawful act of taking on the role or otherwise impersonating any member of the royal family.
Typical Punishment(s): Death.

Assaulting or impersonating a nobility: The unlawful act of taking on the role or otherwise impersonating any member of a noble family or attacking a member of a noble family.
Typical Punishment(s): Removal of offending limb or appendage or up to 100 DTDs within stockages

Assaulting or impersonating an official: The unlawful act of taking on the role or otherwise impersonating a government official or attacking a government official.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 10,000gp and up to 30 DTDs within the stockades.

Blackmailing a member of nobility: The act of coercing a member of nobility in order to receive a reward, monetary or otherwise.
Typical Punishment(s): Exile from the empire for up to 5 years and flogging for 20 DTDs.

Blackmailing an official: The act of coercing a government official in order to receive a reward, monetary or otherwise.
Typical Punishment(s): Exile from the empire for up to 1 year and flogging for 10 DTDs.

Bribery or attempted bribery of an official or nobility: The act of offering or successful giving of ‘gifts’ to a government official or a member of nobility in order to receive a desired outcome that would otherwise be illegal.
Typical Punishment(s): Seizure of property, and up to 200 DTDs spent in hard labor for the empire.

Using magic on nobility without their consent: The act of using magic of any kind on a member of nobility without their consent.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 5,000gp, with additional fines of 15,000gp for damages or public humiliation caused, along with up to 100 DTDs within the stockade or in forced labor.

Using magic on an official without their consent: The act of using magic of any kind on a government official without their consent.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 1,500gp, with additional fines of 3000gp for damages or public humiliation caused, along with up to 30 DTDs within the stockade or in forced labor.

Forgery of an official document: The unlawful creation of official documents, sigils, symbols, or similar articles.
Typical Punishment(s): Branding of the body, 100 DTDs of hard labor, and on repeat offences removal of limb or death.

Wrongful seizure or use of land: The unlawful seizure of land of any kind owned by the empire or her people.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of the cost of the lost revenue of the land, or the land's initial cost itself, up to 300 DTDs of hard labor.

Willful disobedience of a lawfully given edict or sentence: The act of willfully disobeying the lawfully given sentence of a government official or nobility.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 1,000gp and 30 DTDs within the stockades.

Slander of nobility: The act of slandering or otherwise speaking falsehoods of nobility that results in their defamation.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 500gp and 10 DTDs imprisonment.

Sedition: The act of inciting people to rebel against local authority, the state, or the empire.
Typical Punishment(s): Dismemberment of tongue, 50 DTDs within the stockades, and death in rare cases.

Crimes against Settlement

Arson: The act of deliberately or negligently setting fire to property or protected areas or otherwise causing serious damage through a set blaze.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 2000gp plus the cost in repairs, and up to 50 DTDs imprisonment. Death in rare circumstances.
Brandishing weapons without due cause: The act of drawing or otherwise negligently brandishing weaponry in civilized society.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 50gp, and up to 10 DTDs imprisonment.
Disturbing the peace: The act of disturbing the peace through noise complaints, disruptive behavior, disparaging and violent actions, and similar actions.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 25gp, and edict against triggering act.
Drunk or disorderly contact: The act of drunk and disorderly conduct in public spaces that cause disturbing the peace or destruction of property.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 10gp, 1 DTD in the stockades, and edict against triggering act.
Hindering an official investigation: The act of obstructing, delaying, or otherwise preventing the communication of information in an official investigation.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 200gp, and 10 DTDs hard labor.
Littering: The act of discarding improperly garbage, rubbish, refuse, and similar untidy objects within public space.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 5gp, and edict against triggering act.
Poisoning a city well: Knowingly poisoning a city well or water supply, unknowingly doing so results in a lesser sentence.
Typical Punishment(s): Death.
Petty Theft: The act of taking objects that belong to others of a value no greater than 50gp.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 10gp + the cost of the item(s) stolen, confiscation of stolen items, and up to 3 DTDs in the stockade.
Theft: The act of taking objects that belong to others of a value no greater than 1000gp.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 50gp + the cost of the item(s) stolen, confiscation of stolen items, branding, and up to 10 DTDs imprisonment.
Grand Larceny: The act of taking objects that belong to others of a value no less than 1000gp.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 100gp + the cost of the item(s) stolen, confiscation of stolen items, dismemberment of finger or hand, branding, and up to 50 DTDs imprisonment.
Tax Evasion: The act of willingly evading the payment of taxes to the empire.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 1000gp, potential seizure of property, and up to 50 DTDs spent in hard labor for the empire.
Usury: The act or practice of lending coin at unreasonably high rates of interest.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 1000gp, and up to 100 DTDs imprisonment.
Vandalism: The act of vandalizing or otherwise damaging public works and structures.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 100gp + the cost of repairs, and up to 10 DTDs imprisonment.
Smuggling: The act of transporting illegal or restricted goods without a license, or the act of crossing the border without paying the border fee.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 100gp + the cost of the item(s) smuggled, confiscation of smuggled items, dismemberment of finger or hand or branding, and up to 50 DTDs imprisonment.

Crimes against the Devout or the Mages Guild

Assaulting or impersonating an official Priest or Mage: The act of attacking a member of the official Church of the empire.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 1,000gp, a flogging of 50 lashes, and up to 20 DTDs of indentured servitude to the church or the Mage’s guild
Defiling a holy place or scholarly institution: The act of vandalizing or corrupting the sanctity of a holy place or study.
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 1,000gp + the cost of repairs, up to 10 DTDs of indentured servitude to the church, branding, and flogging for up to 100 lashes.
Worshipping of a recognized illegal cult: The act of promoting and proliferating the influence of a known illegal cult.
Typical Punishment(s): Dismemberment of tongue, Up to 100 DTDs within the Inquisitorial prison, and death in rare cases.
Promoting unsanctioned religious/secularist activity: The act of endorsing or following religious groups which seeks to take over the cultural and/or political authority of the State Religion.
Typical Punishment(s):Fine up to 200gp + edict against triggering act, upon repeated offence, up to 10 DTDs in prison

Crimes against Dragons

Assaulting or besmear a Dragon: The act of attacking or besmirching a legally recognized Elderian Dragon .
Typical Punishment(s): Fines of 1,000gp, a flogging of 50 lashes, and up to 20 DTDs of indentured servitude to the church.
Murder of an Elderian Dragon: The murder of an Elderian Dragon
Typical Punishment(s):Seizure of property and death.