Judicial Champion

*"You got nothing to fear if you are innocent. But my sword ain’t met no innocent men yet."*

## Advanced

(Core) A number of Old World countries legally allow a defendant to proof his innocence via trial by combat. The accused are usually pitted against the local Judicial Champion, a professional fighter who specializes in defeating a single opponent swiftly and efficiently. Many of the laws that allow such combats state that specific weapons must be used; meaning Judicial Champions are well versed with a wide variety of arms. Correspondingly, Judicial Champions are both respected and feared warriors, whose prowess often precedes them. Noble defendants and the wealthy may sometimes be capable of hiring a Judicial Champion to fight in their place.

### Secondary Profile

**Skills:** Dodge Blow, Perception

**Talents:** Lightning Parry, Specialist Weapon Group (Fencing), Specialist Weapon Group (Flail), Specialist Weapon Group (Parrying), Specialist Weapon Group (Two-handed)

**Trappings:** Great Weapon, Flail or Morning Star, Rapier or Foil, Buckler or Main Gauche, 10 Yards of Rope

### **Career Exits**

Assassin, Champion, Sergeant, Witch Hunter, Zealot

## Justice by Combat

Trials by combat are most common in the northern and eastern reaches of the Empire, where folk respect a weapon’s reach more than the letters of law. While the judicial champion usually fights for an established judge or magistrate, in more remote places the champion himself is the word as well as the weapon of law.

The rules for a judicial combat are set before the combatants enter the designated arena. Typical rules are: Combatants fight unarmed if the defendant has committed a minor offence, or if the defendant has been accused of crimes against people, the fight involves bladed or spiked weapons, but if he has committed a felony against property or commerce, the combatants wield less lethal weapons, such as clubs or quarterstaffs.

Judicial combat is often fought to first blood to decide minor offences, but to the death for more serious accusations. Sometimes a judge might rule that the accused must defeat two or more of his champions to prove his innocence. If a defendant loses the battle but survives, scars gained or limbs lost in the course of a judicial combat are a physical reminder of his guilt, and a deterrent to those who might be tempted to repeat his crime. If the accused defeats a judicial champion, he is acquitted of all charges, though if he kills his opponent during a non-lethal bout, he may be immediately arraigned for murder!

## Bardin “Justhammer”

Bardin’s original clan name is unknown. Even decades-long friends have only known his appellation of “Justhammer.” The earliest rumours about Bardin are that he was a pit fighter in the eastern Ostermark more than 50 years ago. He bought his freedom, but none knows how the dwarf became a slave in the first place. They also said he was amazing to watch in the pits, his ability to turn nearly anything into a weapon often turning the tables on his foes.

Bardin fought for decades alongside many veteran adventurers, battling beastmen, greenskins, and other fiends of Chaos in the northern wilderness and along the Sea of Claws. Nearly twenty years ago, Bardin forged his signature great hammer, its massive head carved with the Khazalid rune of “justice” on one side, the scales of Verena on its other. Tallis Surcheit, a Verenan high priest in Lieske, and Bardin’s former comrade, confesses he learned little about the taciturn dwarf, but he trusts Bardin’s sense of justice over that of many judges across the Empire.

Today, Bardin resides in Hergig where he served as bailiff and jailer before being appointed the role of Judicial Champion. The Dwarf ’s prowess and reputation alone has lessened crime in and around Hergig. For while not every magistrate ruling results in combat, the thought of facing Bardin “Justhammer” in combat is itself a deterrent.

While approaching his middle years (for a Dwarf ), Bardin remains in excellent fighting form. When he is angry, scars that criss-cross Bardin’s face, hands, arms, and torso seem to glow red. Bardin lets others talk, always choosing words and actions carefully. Any tavern in Hergig quiets when he speaks, eager to catch every wise word.