Artefact Destruction Warrant
He cautiously stepped in through the doorway, brandishing the paper as though it were a weapon.A fog had descended upon the city in the evening, an abrupt end to the good weather of the past week. It was late evening, and the lamps had been lit - not that they were much use in fog this thick. In weather like this, one had to listen closely rather than rely on sight alone. Listen for the crows as they fluttered from pointed roof to pointed roof, the last of the shopkeepers gathering up their wares. Listen for the muffled sound of marching boots on cobblestone, the clink of chainmail, the heavy-handed knock at the front door...
Had the fog cleared, an onlooker would have seen a consignment of ten armed guards, standing in formation on the street. They would have seen a man in the robes of a public law official on his first case, cautiously knocking at the door of a narrow townhouse sandwiched between two others.
His voice rings out through the empty streets, splitting the night. It sounds commanding, yet unsure. "Tarlow Yonder! We have reason to believe that you are harbouring a dangerous arcane artefact. We demand that you open the door and surrender the artefact, or we will take it by force, and you will be under arrest." A tiny window opens in the door, through which a man's sharp, grey eye can be seen, surrounded by limp grey skin, and crested by a rough grey eyebrow. The official fumbles with a scroll, trying to free it from the string which binds it. At last, it is unfurled, and he presents the warrant to the eye. The eye grows wide, and the hatch abruptly slams shut. A voice behind shouts, shaking, "No! You can't, you can't come in! It's my property!" The official sighs, and shouts out, with more certainty this time, "Stand away from the door, we're going to break in.". The man in official's robes stands aside, and the guards prepare to break in. "Count of three! Three! Two! O-" The final number never makes it out of his mouth. An ear-splitting roar of flame and steel explodes from the door, shattering the silence and scattering the guards. Smoke bursts out from the now empty doorway, swirling and mingling with the tendrils of mist. Two guards lie mortally wounded on the cold stone, the others still barely on their feet. The official gives a shaky order, and 6 of the remaining guards file in through the doorway, swords drawn. Behind them comes the official, brandishing the warrant as if it were a weapon.
Purpose
After the Great Ruination, all Gnomic magical technology was banned, as they were the perceived cause of the destruction. Most people, afraid of what the machines could do to them, gave up their machines. Others however were less willing. The authorities established an office to round up and destroy the remaining artefacts, and composed a new document licensing their removal. Once the artefacts were seized, they would be sent to artificers in Lenthall to be deactivated. From there, they would be taken to The Blackwyrm Mountains to be thrown over the edge into The Lands of Ruination. On the Ruination side of the mountains to this day there are piles upon piles of old, rotting magical machinery, strewn across the mountainside.
Document Structure
Publication Status
The document is not widely available to the public, and copies have special measures to ensure that they are not faked. Forging such a document in order to masquerade as an officer of the law to steal non-gnomic artefacts is punishable by death.
Legal status
Due to the importance of it's use, the warrant is above almost all laws, even surpassing laws giving individuals immunity to being searched or convicted. It's power is cited in 25th clause of the Archarian Magical restrictions Act, the first addition to the collection of laws regarding magic since the start of the Age of Expansion.
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