Epicentran Magistrate

Career

Qualifications

To gain recognition as a Magistrate, a person must complete a seven year course at the Spellsong College at Orkand and take the Magistrate's Oath.

The specific wording of the oath is permitted some variation, but must include words to the following effect;
"I, [name], do swear that I will well and truly serve the civilised lands in the office of magistrate, and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. So help me [divinity]."

Career Progression

After taking the oath, a newly sworn magistrate usually travels with a more experienced magistrate for a year or two in preparation for discharging their duties.

After completing this mentorship period, they are granted the rank of circuit magistrate, although in times of need the mentorship period has in the past been dispersed with.

As a magistrate ages, or if they suffer an injury or sickness that leaves them with restricted ability to travel, they have the option of entering semi-retirement to become a sitting magistrate. Sitting magistrates take up residence in a city, town, or village, or return to the Spellsong College, and continue to discharge their duties from a central location. Those who return to the College do so to take up teaching positions.

The head of the college performs an administrative function and sits on the Orkand city council, but has no especial power over any other magistrate.

Payment & Reimbursement

Magistrates recieve a yearly salary from the college, and are issued with scrips to retrieve hard funds from any Vassian church should they need to secure material resources in the course of their duties. The majority of their funds are retained by the college and presented to the magistrate in scrip or trade good form upon retirement, whether to a sitting position or full retirement.

Other Benefits

Magistrates are usually welcome wherever they go in Epicentre. Their duties are primarily in arbitration and record keeping - they are not police, and serve justice over any material concern. As such, together with their performance and spellsinging skills, they rarely have to pay for accomodation or supplies. Most villages look forward to the periodical visits of a circuit magistrate and the news they bring.

Perception

Purpose

Magistrates have four key duties;

Firstly, they are record-keepers. They keep track of and record the conditions in the lands they pass through, including crop failures, population booms or busts, monster attacks, incidents of banditry, and arbitrations made. Every three months, they return to the conservatory they are based in to make reports. These reports are then collated by the scribes at the conservatory, and copies sent to the college in Orkand.

Secondly, they are legal arbitrators. When people have a dispute, or are accused of a crime such as theft or assault, the magistrate hears the cases on the parts of all involved and makes a decision as to the correct way to resolve the incident or punish the criminal if they believe that guilt has been satisfactorily proven. They are guided in this efforts by precedent, and are expected to follow similar rulings made by magistrates in the past.

The magistrates' third task is to find youths and individuals who show promise, who they believe will make a good magistrate. To these talented people, the magistrate extends an offer to travel to Orkand and study at the spellsong college, along with an escort if the prospective student does not object to completing the magistrate's circuit with them.

Finally, they are champions and healers. If a village has medical or monster problems they cannot deal with, the magistrate is responsible for solving the problem with spellsong or knowledge if they can, and for aquiring more specialised assistance if not.

Social Status

To be a magistrate is to be recognised as an authority, and one who has worked hard for such status. Because their authority derives from the knowledge they have earned through hard work and study, and not from any divine or bloodline-based claim, their decisions are rarely resented by the common folk. Combined with the fact that anyone who shows sufficient skill can become a magistrate, regardless of the station or wealth of their birth, they are very much seen as the peoples' champions.

Demographics

Despite the prestige associated with the magistrates and the Spellsong College, they are relatively few in number. The course of study required to be ordained as a magistrate is long and arduous, and the profession is frequently dangerous. Perhaps one percent of the Epicentran population are magistrates, although no one species or gender is represented among them more than any other.

History

The Spellsong College is one of the oldest organisations in post-shockwave history, but it did not take on its current role as the centre of Epicentran law until Harlon Geth, mayor of East Harbour, along with the Kerillia Vas approached them with the idea of creating a team of adventuring record-keepers who would support his exploration efforts. Contact was swiftly made with other nearby settlements, and the structure of Epicentre as a pseudonation was swiftly shaped.

Operations

Tools

Magistrates carry a variety of tools depending on their personal skills and preferences, but at the start of a circuit they usually include the following;

• A musical instrument
• A melee weapon
• A ranged weapon
• A set of light armour
• A book of precedents
• A fresh book of records
• A writing kit
• Travelling supplies

Materials

Magistrates carry their supplies on their backs, or have a pony. Some magistrates prefer to travel on horseback, increasing the amount of food and water they need to carry. In either case, magistrates go through vast quantities of ink on their journeys.

Dangers & Hazards

There are many dangers inherent to being a circuit magistrate, and some of them follow into retirement. Circuit magistrates must contend with inclement weather, bandits, changebeasts and animal attacks on the road. Occasionally they encounter new changepools on their routes, although this is rare.

Sometimes, those they rule against form grudges. Though they rarely strike directly at skilled magistrates, they can sometimes pose a threat to rookies or retirees.

Alternative Names

Oathkeepers, Bards

Type

Legal

Demand

Magistrates are in high demand as mediators and heroes.

Legality

Epicentran magistrates are the closest thing epicentre has to a centralised government, save perhaps the Church of Vas. In other parts of the world, however, they are less welcome. Visava sees magistrates seeking to enter the empire as ontological threats, for they have their own strict set of laws and practices.
Satara is more welcoming to magistrates, although they do not recognise them as any kind of authority. A Sataran emir may consult with a magistrate before making a decision if one is visiting, but the magistrate's words never weigh more heavily than Sataran tradition.
The extremely hostile environment of the Southern Continent ensures that those magistrates who visit find little success in setting up a similar system there. The drakekin prefer their own methods to the meddling of outsiders who they view as naive and soft.

Related Locations

• Orkand