[Letter to Legate Gloamingdaith from the Priory, on the proposed legal reforms]

[Xenoboskion]

31 Maribeh, IY 7788
Ephia's Well


Honoured Legate,

In response to your call, which honours the spirit of the Magus Asterabadi, for the opinions of the Voiced and Unvoiced alike upon the proposed reforms to the penal code of Ephia's Well, the Priory offers for your consideration the following remarks.

Upon the proposed law on Accord Governance:

The balance of influence between the Signatories is a delicate one, all too easily upset. It is inadvisable even at the best of times to destabilize that equilibrium. In a time of war, when unity and cohesion are the twin pillars not merely of our city's strength, but of its very survival, it would be positively unwise.

All residents of Ephia's Well should be able to enjoy full confidence in the Magistrates, their works and their rulings. This may not be the case if a Magistrate is seen to hold multiple formal loyalties. It is the nature of things that each Signatory has its friends and its foes; trust in a Magistrate should not be distributed along such lines but should be designed to be as universal as possible.

It is therefore the opinion of the Priory that no exception should be made which allows members of the Accord Signatories to be appointed Magistrate, or any other office of government. Rather, the law should be consistent. Signatory members should serve our city in other capacities; not as office-holders.

(An exception to this important principle of exclusion could be made, in theory, if the entire Accord, unanimously, would permit a member of a Signatory to hold an office of government, by consensus. Such an eventuality, however, seems under the present circumstances so theoretical and improbably remote as not to warrant being provided for in law.)

Upon the proposed law on Brooking:

It seems to us that the proposed wording may be exploited by those who would break the spirit of the law, even while claiming to respect its letter. For example, one may brook without "conjuration"; one may "bind" a djinn precisely in order to destroy it. We would suggest some formulation be found which captures both the actus reus and mens rea of the crime, namely to voluntarily interact or make contact with a djinn with the intent to trade or collaborate with, benefit from, make use of, or command it. (Perhaps it may also be prudent to penalize the failure to report to the public, or the Legion, the sighting of a djinn, but this is merely a suggestion.)

Legate, we pray for you, for Ephia's Well, and for victory.


Sister Nebtu
Priory of the Sisterhood of the Sibylline Vine

[Ziya]

[Read and addressed IG/IC.]