Adeptus Arbites - Recruitment and Promotion: Arbitrators are recruited from exceptional members of the Schola Progenium from all over the Imperium. This organisation fosters the orphaned children of high-ranking Imperial servants (whether they are scholars, scribes, or soldiers) and grooms them for their own life of dedicated service to the Emperor. Those chosen for service in the Adeptus Arbites are selected for a variety of reasons.Such candidates could be those who dominated their fellow progenia though force of will, or those who show an attention to detail and an analytical mind. Ultimately, any candidate must be exceptional if they are to serve within the Adeptus Arbites.It is ensured that new Arbitrators have no ties or connections whatsoever to the world on which they are to be stationed, so there is no weakness for blackmail or coercion to exploit -- Arbitrators are famously incorruptible.Though the term "Arbitrator" is often used to indicate the members of the Adeptus Arbites as a whole, there are in fact many ranks within a given sector that may be bestowed upon such individuals. These titles are selected for each world or sub-sector to instill fear in the local culture.In a sector rife with heresy (such as the Calixis Sector) it is crucial that an Adeptus Arbites officer is instantly obeyed. Therefore, a Lord Marshal might allow individual precincts to title their officers as they best see fit, and these titles often deviate greatly from precinct to precinct. Furthermore, specialists found within a sector often find their titles altered, even from one locale to another.Once trained and deployed on-world, the lowest ranks are most commonly seen patrolling the streets in small squads, discouraging trouble by their menacing presence. This is especially true in many of the hive cities of a highly populated Hive World, which serve as a proving and burial ground for many fledgling Arbitrators.Those novice Arbitrators who prove themselves may be promoted to the ranks of Investigator, a title chosen to strike fear into the nobles of an Imperial world, who have many secrets. Some may show themselves to be highly capable in the field, even in high pressure, life-threatening situations, and be tasked with guiding field operations. Others are tireless at rooting out evidence and leads, as well as having an excellent command of Imperial Law and how to apply it, and they may be promoted to even higher ranks.Many Lord Marshals value skill, tenacity, and faith, and to that end, higher and more specialised appointments are awarded to those officers with exceptional talents in particular areas. Those who truly excel in the detection of crime may become the ultimate spymasters, tacticians, and forensic experts. No wrongdoer is too well-hidden to escape their notice or evade their cunningly laid traps.Those who specialise in trial and prosecution, who boast an encyclopedic knowledge of the Lex Imperialis and a gift for oratory and incisive accusation, may be tasked with presiding over glorious show-trials and passing judgement upon those great individuals who have failed in their duties to the Emperor.Arbitrators whose particular skills lie in the application of extreme brutality and military force or the command of troops in battle, and who have proven time and again that they are nigh impossible to kill, may be promoted to the level of Proctor or Marshal. Proctors derive their name from ancient military traditions in the underhive of Gunmetal City on Scintilla, a term that carries with it an air of divine justice. They specialise in crushing riots and insurrection in the most hostile of districts deep within a hive city's steel and iron caverns.Arbites High Marshals are the commanders who control the deployment of resources across the precincts of an entire planet or even multiple planetary systems. They serve at the direct appointment of the Lord Marshal, and there is no higher Imperial legal authority on a planet, unless an Inquisitor decides to "open a dialogue" on the subject. It is they who bear the heavy burden of allocating Arbitrators and equipment, trusting to their own judgement and the Emperor's will that their forces will be in the right place at the right time.A few remarkable individuals may, after a long and illustrious career, be elevated to the rank of Judge. Judges are iron-willed lords of Imperial justice, who have far-reaching powers, an extraordinary mandate, and influence not far below that of an Inquisitor. They investigate and sit in judgement over those who commit the most heinous crimes, and will go to any lengths to pursue and capture or destroy a perpetrator.All Arbitrators of high rank will readily deliver their sentence personally, through the barrel of a gun, and have the power to deploy the uncompromising force of the Arbitrators when it is necessary. Should the need arise, perhaps if an entire planet has fallen to civil unrest, they even have the influence to request, and receive, the full might of the Astra Militarum to restore the Pax Imperialis (though in such cases, the population of the planet is often substantially reduced).It should be noted that while the Adeptus Arbites enforce galaxy-wide Imperial Law, every world and star system will have its own local laws, inherited through tradition or imposed by autocratic ruling families and severe planetary governors. Each world's rulers will maintain their own policing force, recruited locally, and often outnumbering the Arbitrators a thousand to one -- these local law enforcement officers are commonly known in Imperial jargon simply as "Enforcers," though they are each called by their own title on each world they serve.These native Enforcers often mimic the Arbites in appearance, but their local ties and often less rigorous standards mean that they are far more susceptible to corruption. The objectives of local Enforcers and Imperial Arbitrators often overlap, and the two work in conjunction when it is mutually beneficial. However, there are also occasions when they come into direct conflict.In practice, the Arbitrators are tasked to punish criminal activity, root out cultists and illegal gatherings, eliminate organised gangs, and are often unleashed en masse to quell riots. They must be as willing to dispense justice as they are to pronounce it.Often the punishment will be a swift bullet to the brain (or the perpetrator will have expired during the process of apprehension and interrogation). Other sentences, amongst the hundreds of thousands available in Imperial Law, include flogging, limb amputation, exile to a Penal World, condemnation to a Penal Legion, public execution, or conversion into a servitor.Arbitrators have the power to commandeer local Enforcers and other resources such as ground vehicles or air transportation, the services of freelance bounty hunters if their own manpower is lacking, and in dire circumstances can summon Imperial military assistance. Their authority supersedes even that of the local planetary governor, who will be closely scrutinized if there is any suspicion that their duties are not being undertaken with all due diligence.If the governor is late in the payment of Imperial tithes, is less than thorough in enforcing the population's proper worship of the God-Emperor, or is tempted to decline sending troops to the aid of an embattled neighbour, the Arbites will be watching. In times of crisis and conflict, it is possible that a planetary governor may be assassinated, deposed, incapacitated, or even implicated in one of the Arbites' investigations.If this should happen, then the highest-ranking member of the Adeptus Arbites available on the world has the authority to temporarily take over rulership of the planet, until a suitable replacement can be put in place.This duty generally falls to an Arbitrator with the rank of Judge or Marshal, but where an isolated world has only a token Imperial presence, even the lowest ranked Arbitrators have, on rare occasion, stepped in to fill the breach.