Incontrovertible Edicts
Four Laws of Pendril
Established by the Five Masked Lords in their only public appearance, shortly after the founding of Pendril over a century ago, the Edict serves as the basis for all law within the Watchful City.
Engraved on stones of deep blue marble with ivory lettering that sit at the base of the Tower of the Clouds as well as by the two city gates. The Edict proscribes four simple laws:
- Thou shalt not harm another without provocation.
- Thou shalt not deprive another of their lawful property.
- Thou shalt not forsake an obligation willingly made.
- Thou shall not employ magic sourced from other than the gods.
Called the Incontrovertible Edicts, these laws - and their brutal yet often fickle enforcement - have brought peace and - for those that follow them - prosperity to the city of Pendril. Failure to comply with any of these, however, could result in Judgement from the Tower. Judgments come about in two ways.
Typically, a citizen of the city writes a @grievanceand delivers it to the Tower. Grievances must be delivered by the person making it. They must be sealed and left in the Grievance Box at the base of the tower. Grievances are not guaranteed to be acted upon - many are not. Those judged valid by the Five Masked Lords, however, often lead to terrible judgements. Such judgments are revealed to the public on an unsealed scroll that appears on a shelf adjacent to the grievance box.
The timing of such Judgements is erratic - sometimes as quickly as a turn of a glass after a grievance was delivered and sometimes as long as many years later. Other Grievances never result in a Judgement. Punishments tend toward the extreme - with the death penalty, exile, confiscation of wealth, and indentured servitude among the more common punishments. Other punishments however seem banal or trivial. One scholar attempted to catalog the various punishments and their associated grievances but was executed for unlawfully emptying a chamberpot on a passerby before revealing any sort of pattern.
Beyond grievances, there have been cases where judgements have been summarily rendered. No one knows how the Five Masked Lords know what occurs within the Watchful City, but dozens of murderers, thieves, and con artists have all received summary judgements even when no witnesses could be found to their crimes. Others claim - well outside of the city walls, of course - that they have committed any number of crimes in Pendril without facing any reprucussions. Citizens, and most visitors possessing any common sense, however, scoff at such bravado.
All Judgments are delivered by a solemn voice reading the it aloud. There seems to be no pattern as to when or where they are rendered. Any who have spent time in the city have memories of judgments read and carried out in public markets while others swear that they have heard judgements delivered in the dead of night within a guilty party's home. Punishments are carried out immediately. Those sentenced to death have suffered a number of fates, from immolation to decapitation to simply collapsing where they stand. Exiles find themselves transported instantly beyond the city gates, unable to return and those fined discover their coin simply gone. In rare occasions, the aggrieved find themselves paid compensation from the guilty either in coin or by the magically enforced servitude of the guilty. It is believed that no Judgements, however, have been carried out beyond the city’s massive ebony walls.
With such arbitrary enforcement, those that have remained in the city tend to be conservative. Those who follow the Incontrovertible Edicts have little to fear as the Judgements of the Five Masked Lords seem to sniff out abuses in their system. Grievances found to be lacking or frivolous have even resulted in judgements against the aggrieved. Most of these citizens do well enough to live moderately comfortable lives. The system has also discouraged those who tend to abuse power and wealth from taking up residence.
Date Established
648 AC
648 AC
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