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“Beware the idiot, the zealot and the tyrant; each clothes himself in the armour of ignorance.”
We had come to Rill for the same reason we went anywhere: to ensure that the Emperor’s justice was done, even out here on the fringes of the Sovan Empire. For all their faults, the Sovans were great believers in justice for all, and they dispatched Imperial Magistrates like Vonvalt to tour the distant villages and towns of the Empire as itinerant courts.
The Emperor’s Voice: the arcane power of a Justice to compel a person to speak the truth. It had its limitations – it did not work on other Justices, for example, and a strong-willed person could frustrate it if on their guard – but Sir Otmar was old and meek and not well-versed in the ways of the Order. The power hit him like a psychic thunderclap and turned his mind inside out.
The official religion of the Empire is the holy Nema Creed.” He practically spat as he looked the old baron up and down. “If I had my way they’d all burn.”
“The official religion of the Sovan Empire is the Nema Creed. Enshrined in scripture and in both the common and canon law. Come now, there are parallels. The Book of Lorn is essentially Draedism, no? It has the same parables, mandates the same holy days. You could adopt it without difficulty.” It was true, the Book of Lorn did bear remarkable parallels to Draedism. That was because the Book of Lorn was Draedism.
To be a Justice is to be a patient and rigorous administrator of the law. Tales of swordfights and horseback chases, while loosely rooted in fact, are to be discouraged and dismissed as rumour.”
“With the crime of murder, one must be sure of the security of the conviction before the sentence – that of execution – is carried out. To take a life is severe; to take a second in recompense is doubly so.” FROM CATERHAUSER’S THE SOVAN CRIMINAL CODE: ADVICE TO PRACTITIONERS
“It doesn’t matter. The Magistratum is very clear: the law is to be applied equally to all persons within the borders of the Empire – and any person who, outside the Empire, nevertheless submits, voluntarily, to its jurisdiction.”
“And that is the purpose of the common law, and precedent. That is why we record all of our findings, and why they are sent back to the great Law Library so the clerks can check that the law is being applied consistently.”
‘All may be judged by the law, so all may uphold it’,”
“Empires are built and maintained with words. Swords are a mere precedent to the quill.”
“You have confessed to the crimes of rape and murder,” Vonvalt said, implacable. “By His Most Excellent Majesty the Emperor Kzosic IV, I, Justice Sir Konrad Vonvalt, adjudge you guilty and sentence you to die by beheading.”
“No man was an effective Justice who did not have a heart of stone.” FROM CATERHAUSER’S THE SOVAN CRIMINAL CODE: ADVICE TO PRACTITIONERS
“To join the Order of the Imperial Magistratum is to embrace a severe life of honour and duty. No initiate should be under any illusion whatever: it is a rough time filled with rough deeds.”
It is frankly a miracle that any person makes it out of their adolescence even vaguely sane. I am still not sure that I did.
Tis a better fate to die in the service of the law than serve a regime which does not uphold it.”
“One cannot uphold the law if one does not follow it. He who comes before the bench must do so with clean hands.” FROM CATERHAUSER’S PILLARS OF SOVAN CIVIL LAW
