Edict

"*The Instruments of Our Leader's will and the People's Power are the Imperial Edicts. These Laws make our Enemies tremble and scatter while even Nature herself obeys them...*"

Auronius, *Encyclopedia Imperium*   Imperial Edicts were spells of immense power employed by the Imperium during the Century of Conquest. Edicts can destroy entire cities, ravage whole countries, change the laws of Nature, alter Reality itself. Nothing short of an intervention by a divine being could hope to break an Edict.

## Characteristics of Edicts

Not much is know about the creation of Edicts, only that they were prepared by channeling the arcane powers of hundreds of wizards for months into a single scroll. There is no known method to contain such a vast amount of magical power, no wonder that the exact methods of this ritual were kept secret and only known inside the highest circles of the Arcane Directorium. The first Edicts were cast during the reign of Marius the Great, the first emperor of the Imperium

The few accounts of people encountering Edicts all point to bound souls being involved in the casting. All witnesses who touched a scroll containing an Edict heard voices pleading for them to free them by casting the curse.

Scrolls containing Edicts are extremely powerful and unstable. If one tries to destroy, teleport or planeshift them the curse within them is immediately cast.

There is no historical record of an Edict ever being lifted, most scholars theorize that it is not even possible (although attempts were made). That is why every Edict is phrased to contain a **Sunset clause**, a specific condition on which the curse ends. There are still active Edicts on Aegeron, mostly due to ill-thought-out sunset clauses.

## Historical use of Edicts

During the Century of Conquest the Imperium used Edicts to not only devastate their opponents but also to frighten others into submission. After the Unification of Aegeron the and the ascension of the God-Emperor the Imperium stopped making Edicts as the divine power of the Living Gods was enough to deal with any threat.

Below is a short list of notable Edicts, all cast during the Century of Conquest:

* **Edict of Nightfall**, cast on the druids of the Elderwoods: "*Those who resist the Light of Civilization deserve to suffer in Darkness. Let the Sun not rise over the Elderwoods as long as anyone within defies the just rule of the Imperium!*"
* **Edict of Storms**, cast on Adamant, a fortress of warrior monks: "*Those who cling to old idols and resist the bright and just future we bring deserve to be swept away by the Winds of Change. Let Our Storm rage until the last brick of Adamant is ground to dust!*"
* **Edict of Frost**: cast on the Dragon Mountains that was ruled by the ancient dragons Rhaegos and Zoralth: "*It is Our solemn Duty to shield the people from Monsters who take the guise of False Gods. Let the air and all who breathe it freeze in the Dragon Mountains as long as the great dragons Rhaegos and Zoralth draw breath!"*
* **Edict of Fire**: cast on Oringrad, the original capital of Rubia: *"Let those who, in Pride and Arrogance, stand against the Peace and Order of the Imperium be consumed by our Wrath. Let the Flames of our Storm rage in the Orin Valley until the last Rubian blade be broken, or the bloodline of Rubian kings falls!*"
* **Edict of Winter**: Cast on the valley in Erdâr Balbîth (now know as the Frozen Valley) to prevent the dwarrows from aiding their dwarven brethren who rebelled against the Imperium in Dorahl (**still active**): "*Those who defy our Just and Lawful Order are traitors to our Empire and Rightly deserve Punishment. Those who would aid those traitors shall share the same fate. Let Ice and Frost imprison the Dwarrows under Erdâr Balbîth until they submit to the Just rule of the Imperium*.".
* **Edict of Dragonfall**: Cast on Brarsur the Great, meant to end the dragon and the cult he inspired (**still active**). "*To preserve Our Peace and the Light of Civilizations, the False Gods must submit to our Just Rule. Let Our Light bring down the False God Brarsur and let the Plain of Throkkar be shattered and lifeless until the last of his misguided followers perish."*