Libram of Vaunted Justice: Structures

The Book of Structures is a summarization of known practices for the structure, hierarchy and administration of the Order of the Silver Hand.

=Overarching practices=

Ever since the first fracture of the Silver Hand after the fall of Lordaeron, knights of the order have cloistered themselves close to their homes in order to facilitate strong, regional groups that make up the greater Silver Hand. After Lordaeron’s fall, many knights of Lordaeron split off into the Scarlet Crusade, and Argent Dawn. Meanwhile, the brave knights of Stormwind, and Ironforge gathered their men to facilitate training of knights within their own spheres of influence. These two fragments of the Silver Hand remained strong for decades before the Argent Crusade declared the merge of the Silver Hand, and the Dawn.

The next foray into this was later on during the Third Burning Legion Invasion; where countless orders of paladins confined together in a pact to stop the Burning Legion. These mainly included the Blood Knights, the Sunwalkers, the Silver Hand of Stormwind, Ironforge, and the Argent Crusade, who all banded together in order to stop the Legion. While they were all one unified banner, they each maintained the identity of their order while doing so. The practice of regional influence and Knight-Lords allotted to the maintenance and protection of regional faith persists in the form of “chapters”.

=Chapters=

A Chapter of the Silver Hand is a regional religious governing body of the Order of the Silver Hand. The borders of these chapters usually correspond with the ecclesiastical borders of a diocese of the Church of the Holy Light in the mutual interest of defending the faithful in a given region. These regional chapters are responsible for the upbringing and care of local paladin-learners, and keep tabs on the knights of the region. Being a force for the defense of the meek and innocent, they also serve as defenders who work alongside local military and guard forces for better protection of their realm. In this sense, they are spiritual liaisons whose service to the temporal realm helps foster religious unity in tandem with the local diocese.

Chapters are not exclusively regional, and can be fostered within individual holy communities as well so long as they include other structures, practices, and a hierarchy.

A Chapter of the Silver Hand is equipped with a Chapter Master (also referred to as a Lord, or Lady) responsible for overseeing the chapter as a whole; a Justicar who acts as the successor of the Chapter Master, and help arbitrate litigation among knights; and a Lector or Inquisitor, who are either responsible for the education of aspiring knights, or rooting out heresies depending on what the region might make better use of. Some also include a Master of Arms, who is the de-facto in guiding aspirants, and aiding in pairing them with suitable knights. Individual officers within a holy order that have equivalent responsibilities also make a group eligible to be considered a chapter of the Silver Hand.

Errant Paladins
Paladins not situated within a chapter of the Silver Hand are known as Errant Paladins of the Silver Hand. In order to facilitate representation for these Paladins, they are called to convene at an errant paladin's council in the same style as a chapter. They elect two representatives from their grouping to express the interest of knights not affiliated with any particular chapter or cloistered holy order. This representative is not a Chapter Master. =Councils=

There are two major councils of the Silver Hand. The Low and High Councils are both meant to facilitate administrative tasks within individual chapters, and the Silver Hand as a whole.

Low Council
Low Council, which is meant for regional chapters or errant knights to convene and discuss matters of their chapter or group. These councils are strictly for matters pertinent to a regional chapter. This can scale from anything from knightly promotions, and internal squire pairings, to appointments to administrators to the High Council. These are often open invitation, and located in the chapter’s regional headquarters. A Low Council is chaired by a Chapter Master or appointed administrator.

Responsibilities:
 * Regional mentorship pairings.
 * Regional knightly promotions.
 * Administration appointments and elections for individual chapters.
 * Recruitment and oath-giving.
 * Appointing liaisons to the High Council.
 * Regional projects, charities, and regional humanitarian aid.
 * Chapter-based honor duel administration.

High Council
The High Council serves as the administrative arm of the Order of the Silver Hand as a whole. These large gatherings are meant for matters pertinent to the Silver Hand in full. Any decisions that would affect all chapters and independent paladins of the Order, matters of doctrine, crusade, war, and collective finance are also situated to the High Council. The High Council is chaired by the Prelate of the Silver Hand.

Responsibilities:
 * Overarching doctrinal changes.
 * Organization of crusades.
 * Compiling resources for war.
 * Collective finance management.
 * Tribunals against Chapter representatives.
 * Inter-chapter affairs and arbitration.
 * Administrating honor duels between members of separate chapters.
 * Outreach towards the Grand Alliance, and the Church of the Holy Light.
 * Keeping a roster of all active Knights of the Silver Hand.

Representation in High Council
Each Chapter is represented by their Chapter Master and their Justicar (or appointed second-in-command).

The Errant Knights of the Silver Hand are represented by the two elected officials from the Errant Low Council.

High Council Etiquette

 * A docket is made for each gathering of the High Council by the Prelate, and representatives are able to submit requests for additions to the docket for the monthly gathering to be discussed among representing parties.
 * The docket dictates the order of events being discussed, often organized by when they were submitted.
 * The Prelate of the Silver Hand is able to remove or decline additions to a meeting docket within reason.


 * work in progress