Stormwind Circle Mage Tome: Circle Law

This chapter of the Stormwind Circle Mage Tome serves as a compilation of laws and regulations of the Stormwind Circle of Magi.

Acknowledgements: Barlowe, Quintinius and Nariak, Lorekeepers of Stormwind.

Archmage Gehlnarine Liridian, Professor of Arcane Arts.

Heirarchy of the Circle
It is no simple matter, safeguarding ordinary men from mages, and mages from themselves. The Circle must have some measure of self-government, for it is ever important that men be given the power to take responsibility for our own actions: To sin and fail, as well as to achieve the highest grace and glory on our own strength.

You, who will be tasked with the protection of the Circle, must be aware of its workings.

The High Mage is the heart of the Circle. His job is to lead the Circle and keep order and equality among it's members.

Assisting the High Mage will be the Senior Magi, a small council of the most trusted and experienced magi in the Circle. From this group, the courses of action of significant weight are voted and decided upon.

Accompanying each circle are its appointed spellbreakers, the first defense against demonic outbreak and enforcers of mage law bearing means outside of arcane magic.

Checks and Balances
Should the High Mage of a circle be deemed unfit for service by either; the ruler of his city or; the Council of Elder Magi by vote; He shall be stripped of his title and a new High Mage shall be elected by the council of Elder Magi.

In the circumstance that the High Mage and Elder Mage council be deemed unfit by the ruler of their city, they shall be ejected from office and new Elder Magi shall be appointed.

Primary Laws
The primary laws that govern magic and its uses are of utmost importance to not only the safety of yourself and your fellow magi, but also potentially the entire world.

-The mage is to follow any and all laws set forth by not only the Kirin Tor and their Circle, but also the city in which they serve.

-The mage is to never use their magic to harm an innocent.

-The mage's spells may be applied to the laws set forth by the city to which they serve. Summoning goods without permission is considered theft, using mind control is considered fraud, and scrying without the permission of authorities at be is considered eavesdropping.

The Experiements and Laboratories Act
A citizen shall be in contravention of this Act, if

III. he should conduct a magical experiment or exercise in any place other than

(a) his own personal laboratory, or

(b) the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences; or

IV. he should conduct a magical experiment or exercise with some risk of causing damage to life or property outside the house in which it is conduct, or at all if out of doors, without the written assent of the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences;

Maltransmutation
A citizen shall be guilty of Maltransmutation, if

VI. he should transmute copper coins into silver coins, or silver into gold; or

VII. if he should transmute gold coins into silver coins, or silver into copper; or

VIII. if he should transmute any other material or metal into copper, gold or silver coins.

=The Witchcraft Act=

Blood magic, necromancy and fel magic are not only discouraged, but forbidden. They not only require harm to be done to oneself or a victim, but also atrract demons and hold greater risk of possession. Those who practice such magic are to be known as malificar.

Anyone found practicing forbidden magic is to be either stripped of their magics or executed. The judgment and decision on which punishment will be enacted will be left up to the Heirarchy of the Circle in which the accused mage was a member.

Demonic Trafficking
A citizen shall be guilty of Heresy, if

I. he should knowingly commune with, aid through word or through deed, or keep the company of any demonic entity; or

II. he knowingly summons or aids in the summoning of any demonic entity; or

III. he willfully incites or influences a demonic entity to attack another citizen; or

IV. he invokes unholy or fel magics, or those of the Blood.

V. If a demonic entity under the control of a citizen should slay another citizen, its master shall be held to account for murder.

Dangerous Demons
A citizen shall be guilty of Courting a Dangerous Demon, if

VI. he summons a dangerous demon anywhere within the Realm; or

VII. he assists in the summoning of a dangerous demon anywhere within the Realm

VIII. A dangerous demon shall be regarded as any class of demon liable to cause great damage to life and property, such as Felguards, Infernals, Doomguards, etc.

Undead Trafficking
A citizen shall be guilty of trafficking with the undead, if

IX. he should commune with, or aid through word or through deed, or keep the company of any undead entity; or

X. he knowingly conceals the existence of location of an undead entity from the lawful authorities; or

XI. he willfully incites or influences an undead entity to attack another citizen; or

XII. he wields that weapon which is known as a 'soul-trapping runed blade'.

XIII. Lawful authorities shall be regarded as

(a) any servant of His Majesty appointed to keep the peace, and currently upon his duty

(b) any servant of His Majesty whose appointed duties involve the tracking, discovery or control of the undead.

XIV. Citizens shall be righted to strike down and slay any undead entity witnessed in the Kingdom of Stormwind, provided it is proven that the entity in question is truly undead.

Ebon Blade Ammendment
Amended around the time of the Invasion of Northrend, by the order of His Majesty: XV. Exceptions shall be made under sections IX and XIV where the undead entity in question can show that it is sworn to the Knights of the Ebon Blade, or otherwise bears the writ and seal of His Majesty allowing it to fight for the Alliance.

Necromancy
A citizen shall be guilty of Necromancy, if

XVI. he should, without

(a) the authorisation of the Church of Holy Light, or

(b) specific injunction from His Majesty, or

(c) specific injunction from the Lord Magistrate,

by any means use or incite the use of necromantic magics.

XVII. Necromantic magics shall be regarded as powers used to commune with, raise, or manipulate the physical or spiritual forms of the dead.

=Trials and Punishment=

Should a member of the circle be found at fault against the laws of either their respective kingdom's or those of the Kirin Tor, they are to be placed under trial. The form of trial is decided based on the severity of their crime.

If a mage is found practicing any form of forbidden magic, they are to be presented before their circle's leading council bound with a magic dampener collar. The council will then decide on the guilt or innocence of the accused as well as the sentence to be carried out should the accused be found guilty.

Should a mage be found making moves that effect more than just the specific city or circle they are alligned with, they are to be contained with a magic dampening collar and escorted, by at least one member of the hierarchy of their circle to Dalaran for trial by the hands of the Kirin Tor.

Should they be found guilty, punishment will be decided on by the Kirin Tor based on the severity of their crimes. Said punishments may range anywhere between the removal of the perpetrator's magic up to execution.

Legal Defense
As the citizens of a kingdom might be tried in royal courts, mages do not share the same legal defense in some matters.

Provocation, Self-Defense, and Duress, while viable defenses for lesser crimes, do not apply to the use of Blood, Necromantic, or Fel magics.

Malign Influence, mind control or demonic posession, is a viable defense in court for practicing forbidden magic - with substantial evidence, of course.

Provocation
Provocation is a partial defense to murder, formulated thus:

The accused must be shown to have suffered a sudden and temporary loss of self-control, rendering himself so subject to passion as to prevent him of being master of his mind.

The provocation should be such that a reasonable man would would also have suffered such passions.

Self Defense
Self-Defence is a complete defense to all types of assault and to murder Any citizen is entitled to use force, in order:

to protect himself, others, or his property from unlawful and imminent danger;

to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;

in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling an imminent riot or insurrection.

Duress
Duress is a complete defence to most offences, save for murder and any form of treason. Under it, a citizen may claim an unlawful threat or coercion was used to induce him to act in a manner which he otherwise would not have.

The threat must be found to have been of serious bodily harm or death, either to the accused, or to one of his close family.

The harm that is threatened must be greater than the harm caused by the crime.

The threat must be immediate, and inescapable.

The accused must have become involved in the situation through no fault of his own.

Malign Influence
This is a full defense to almost all crimes. Essentially, a citizen who commits an offense under a 'malign influence', which completely overpowers his reason, will be held to be free from prosecution for actions which were not truly under his control.

He must show that he was not responsible for either the actions committed and that he was not responsible for being influenced in the first place.

If the accused can show that he attempted to resist or 'break free' of the influence, this will greatly help his case.

Though succeeding in this defense will absolve the citizen of his crimes, he will also be bound to be confined in the Holy Cathedral (or in other care, for instance a mage or physician, by approval of the Lord Magistrate) until he is deemed to be no threat upon his release. His keepers shall have the right to use reasonable methods in attempting to free him of whatever influence he has been under.