Court of the High Star
The Court of the High Star is the judicial seat in Alham which hears accusations of treason against Chrenada or the king.
Chrenada is considered by most modern standards to be a good example of a disciplined monarchy. The king has a Council to advise him and does not exercise unlimited power. The laws of the land apply to nobles and royals as well as to commoners. While some have expressed protest to the more strict policies concerning slavery, it is true that overall the citizens of Chrenada live as well as can be expected for a nation under chronic magical attack.
But the Court of the High Star is on a plane by itself. Charged not with the ordering of merchants' disagreements or the theft of a goat, but with the safety and integrity of the kingdom itself, the court is given far more power and latitude to find fault and discourage future transgression. While for ordinary crimes the worst a convicted criminal might expect would be sale into slavery (possible to a labor commensurate to the offense), a traitor convicted by the Court of the High Star might face execution and the dissolution of his house and property. The Court of the High Star is also authorized to commit a prisoner to torture if deemed necessary to draw out information. (Note that this authorization is for freemen. Slaves, of course, may not testify in any court without torture, as the word of an enslaved person has no honor or integrity and may not be admitted without verification by a confessioner scribe.)
The Court of the High Star is, curiously, not housed in the grandest part of the Naziar's judiciary complex, but low in the building, mostly underground in a circular chamber. This is not, as is sometimes alleged, so that the court may work in secret, but to reflect the principle that the Court of the High Star should be the least used of the courts.
Type
Courthouse
Parent Location
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