Courts and Kingdoms: Magic Rules in Oldirin

## Synopsis:

With the renewed presence of talent appearing in people after the events led by Lovich Chrem, magic has become more commonplace now than ever. Recently, a young girl destroyed an entire tavern in the plains outside of Sunward last month as she released a surge of wild magic. Seven wizards have been arrested for fraud against the coin guild: They were found enchanting the staff or using illusion magic on the currency and bars they were trading. A bard is also facing prosecution after using suggestion magic on an innkeeper to acquire a deed to their tavern. A group of bandits called the Spell Scoundrels have been assailing merchant caravans lately with a few dozen casualties. It's safe to say that the issues are staggering and the kingdom needs new laws and programs to regulate magic. That is why King Jeel Kin put together a committee to decide upon what those new laws and programs should be.

In this episode, the council passed proposals for:

* a council of mages;
* standard rules for the council of mages;
* a university for mages;
* 40% tax on magic items;
* conscription age change to 25-50 for mages;
* conscription service change to 3 non-consecutive years for mages, 6 if the Vanguard Accord was broken;
* a fee for mages performing artisan work;
* an annual fee for mages;
* a rule that mage artisans follow guild regulations;
* conscription of mages for non-conflict duties;
* a discussion of magical crimes and punishments;
* a tax on magical schemas to be split between the guilds and the government;
* funds for the research of controlling magical access as a deterrent towards criminal mages;
* and truth spells as admissible evidence in court.

## Representatives:

* Minister of War Annseal Van Clair
* Archmaster of Coin Kohli Aundress
* Magelord Oliff Twinstep
* Guildmaster Owen Jawsnap
* Grand Magistrate Ahren Zetna
* Proxy of the High Cleric

## Secrets and Wants:

### Minister of War Annseal Van Clair

Van Clair's main goals were to be able to draft any mage into any conflict for the conscription allotment of four years, nonconsecutively, eight if the Vanguard Accord was broken; to change mage conscription age from 18-30 to 18-50; to fund research of enchantments that could limit access to magic in mages; and to conscript mages for the production of magic weapons and defenses.

Secretly, Yuri Reknave put Van Clair in her position after stepping down as Minister of War so that he could blame her for his decision to send soldiers with no next of kin to the Dreadwar in an effort to create a surplus of 30,000 gold for the Ministry of War. Annseal also had a son who had unyielding wild magic. No one knew about him. Annseal also had been funding spies in Mowen who fooled her and were blackmailing her. FInally, Van Clair knew that the Archmaster of Coin was corrupt.

### Archmaster of Coin Kohli Aundress

Publically, Aundress wanted to take control of the changing magic economy of A'lune. She proposed a 40% tax on magic items and that mages pay a yearly fee into a fund to cover damages and special spending needed in those changing times. Privately, she wanted the kingdom to own all magical schemas and license them out. She wanted to bring in as much wealth as possible. She might also have performed some embezzlement in her time.

### Magelord Oliff Twinstep

Oliff was a Court Mage, head of the newly created Arcane Order, a Vanguard in his youth, passionate about magic. Publically he wanted the gold, land, and resources to set up a university for mages in Sunward or Ylan. He wanted a governing body for magic and mages. With all his heart, he didn't want mages to be exploited and didn't want required military or social service.

Oliff knew that Mowen had their own magical academy and were pouring money into it. Oldirin would be left behind if they didn't. Oliff also knew that Owen Jawsnap used to be a pirate and that the High Cleric had been embezzling funds, which was learned when a mage used Detect Thoughts on the cleric: The High Cleric and the temple parliament received funds based on the size of their practitioners, but the current numbers didn't reflect the amount of war clerics who died in the Dreadwar. The money was being pocketed into the High Cleric's personal coffers.

Oliff also knew that Mowen had been exploiting their mages. Interestingly, that was stoking a potential rebellion. Oliff had been working to relocate mages from Mowen to Oldirin. Finally, Oliff knew how to wake the prince of Oldirin from his unyielding sleep. It required blood magic, which he was unwilling to use.

### Guildmaster Owen Jawsnap

Owen publically wanted to ensure a ten-to-one rate of hiring and payment of fee to any work covered by the guilds if a mage is hired to do it instead. Also, any work a mage did should be under the same regulations as the guilds. Owen was fine with mages, but feared that the guilds would lose jobs in the surplus of magic. Privately, Owen knew that Oliff wanted a university built. Owen wanted the guilds to get the work of making that university.

Owen used to be a pirate named Hands under Lucia Bonebeard. He knew that there was a dragon out in the Great Salt. A magical branch of the military would be necessary to deal with it.

### Grand Magistrate Ahren Zetna

Zetna represented the wants of the people. His goal was to regulate the malignant tide of magic that affected the people. The death, the loss of property; he wanted the government to keep an eye on the magic users who lived in the kingdom, and even to disable their magic if that was possible. He wanted to embed a device in mages so that they could be tracked and disabled wherever they were. He also wanted any magic item tracked. Privately, he didn't want truth spells to be used in trials.

Zetna was a fan of the High Cleric. He knew that the High Cleric embezzled funds. Zetna had even helped hide the embezzlement. He had also used embezzled funds himself as ransom money for his grandson. Zetna heard rumors that Van Clair was being blackmailed, and he thought that Oliff was performing unethical magical experiments. Zetna also knew that Van Clair knew about the Iron Tide pirate attack and did nothing about it. The Iron Tide was a pirate army that had waged war on the ports of A'lune, devastating merchant and naval vessels.

### Proxy of the High Cleric

There was also a proxy for the High Cleric since they were unable to make it to the council due to a lack of ships. The proxy had no proposal except that mages or anyone with magical talent would enroll in social services for two years.

Before the secret meetings began, the proxy pulled out a marble from their robe. They set it on the table. The marble turned invisible. The High Cleric watched from afar, able to listen in to all the secret delegations without notice.

## Court Results:

After the secret meetings, the council regathered. The proxy palmed their marble.

Oliff heard in his mind a message from the High Cleric: "Accept the compromises and my aid. Annseal, Aundress, and Owen will be allies. Alone, Zetna will be your undoing."

The proposals were then brought forth.

### No Confidence: Ahren Zetna (Passed)

Owen proposed a vote of no confidence for the Grand Magistrate. It was a very serious proposal. Proposal passed: Zetna voted nay, which counted twice; Owen, Oliff, Aundress, Van Clair, and the proxy of the High Cleric voted yea. The ceremonial procedure was that Zetna would remain, but he was unable to vote or propose.

### Council of Mages (Passed)

Oliff proposed a council of mages run by mages that worked in tandem with the Oldirin's leadership council. Proposal passed: unanimous.

### 40% Tax on Magic Items (Passed)

Aundress proposal for 40% tax on magic items, which the council of mages would examine and reestablish every year. The proxy of the High Cleric voted nay; Van Clair, Aundress, Owen, and Oliff voted yea. Proposal passed.

### Conscription of Mages (Passed)

Van Clair proposed that the conscription age for mages be 25-50, after being educated at the possible university of magic, and to be revised every year by the council of mages. The proxy of the High Cleric voted nay; Van Clair, Aundress, Owen, and Oliff voted yea. Proposal passed.

### Fee for Mages Performing Artisan Work (Passed)

Owen proposed a 10-to-1 fee to be paid to the guild for mages performing the work of an artisan, revised every year by the council of mages. The proxy of the High Cleric voted nay; Van Clair, Aundress, Owen, and Oliff voted yea. Proposal passed.

### Mage Annual Fee (Passed)

Aundress proposed that all mages pay an annual fee into a fund to cover damages or special circumstances involving magic, with the fee revised yearly by the council of mages. The proxy of the High Cleric and Owen voted nay; Van Clair, Aundress, and Oliff voted yea. Proposal passed.

### University Funding (Passed)

Oliff proposed the funding for land and resources be allocated for a university of mages in Sunward or Ylan, to be constructed by guild workers. Proposal passed: unanimous.

### Mage Conscription Years (Passed)

Van Clair proposed to conscript any mage for military service for three years nonconsecutively, or six if the Vanguard Accord is broken, to be revisited annually. The proxy of the High Cleric voted nay; Van Clair, Aundress, Owen, and Oliff voted yea. Proposal passed.

### Mages Follow Guild Regulations (Passed)

Owen proposed that all work done by mages should follow guild regulations, though a unanimous vote from the mage counsel could cause exceptions to the regulations. Proposal passed: unanimous.

### Conscript Mages for Non-conflict Duties (Passed)

Van Clair proposed to conscript mages for non-conflict duties to make and research magic items, replacing military conscription. The items would be made at market cost and mages would be paid at market rates. Proposal passed: unanimous.

### Ownership of Magical Schemas (Passed)

Aundress proposed that all magical schemas be owned by the government. Owen counter proposed that all magical schemas be owned by their creators, provided that said creators pay a 20% tax divided between the guild and the government. The tax rate would be revisited annually. The proxy of the High Cleric voted nay; Van Clair, Aundress, Owen, and Oliff voted yea. Proposal passed.

### Fund for Researching Control of Magical Access (Passed)

Van Clair proposed a fund for researching magical enchantments to control and understand the magical access of mages as a deterrent for bad behaviour. The proxy of the High Cleric voted nay; Van Clair, Aundress, Owen, and Oliff voted yea. Proposal passed. Proposal passed.

### Discussion of Magical Crimes and Punishments (Passed)

Oliff proposed that the nature of magical crimes and the punishments for committing them be discussed annually by the council and the council of mages. Proposal passed: unanimous.

### Standard Rules for Council of Mages (Passed)

Owen proposed that the council of mages be held to the same standards, regulations, and rules as the council. Proposal passed: unanimous.

### Truth Spells in Court (Passed)

The proxy of the High Cleric proposed to legalize truth spells in courts as a valid form of evidence. Owen amended that the evidence be accepted as the perspective of the speaker rather than objective truth. Aundress voted nay; Owen, Oliff, and the proxy of the High Cleric voted yea. Proposal passed.

### Other Proposals

The Grand Magistrate proposed a vote of no confidence for the Minister of War since she knew about the Iron Tide's attack beforehand. The Grand Magistrate was not allowed to make proposals, but Van Clair stated that she was being blackmailed by spies in Mowen. With that admission, Van Clair was removed from her post and taken out of the council room.

The Grand Magistrate also proposed a vote of no confidence for the Archduke of Coin due to her embezzling ways. Again, he was not allowed to make such a proposal.

Owen proposed to reinstate the Minister of War, but was told that such a decision was not up to the council.

## Secret Deals:

### Witch Clay

Oliff promised to give 50 lbs of Witch Clay to Aundress. He kept this deal.

### Secret Rooms in University

Owen promised to create secret rooms in the university. He kept this deal, but did not reveal all of the secret rooms to Oliff.

## Fallout:

With the exposure of Van Clair being blackmailed, Oldirin considered using her position as leverage to feed information to the rebels.

With truth spells now admissible in court, many incorrect judgments were overturned due to new evidence. There was also an increased need for people to hide their true intentions, which could be done with Witch Clay.