The Korth Edicts

Being the Compact Between the Crown of Galifar and the Council of the Twelve, as Proclaimed at Korth in the Seventh Year of the Unification Campaign, and as Amended and Reaffirmed Under the Treaty of Thronehold, 996 YK

Certified true copy. Notarized under the arcane sigil of Tassi Santor d'Sivis, Third Notary of Korranberg, Keeper of Treaties, licensed under the Notaries Guild of House Sivis. Original instrument held in the Vault of Compacts, Korunda Gate, under perpetual seal of House Kundarak.

This document has been prepared for general circulation under the authority of Doyenne Lysse Lyrriman d'Sivis, in the interest of public knowledge and civic order. It is a faithful rendering of the original instrument, inclusive of all amendments ratified under the Treaty of Thronehold in the year 996 YK. The arcane marks of the original signatories have been reproduced by sanctioned impression and may be verified against the registry of the Notaries Guild at any House Sivis enclave.

Preamble and Recitation of Purpose

WHEREAS Galifar ir'Wynarn, King of Karrnath and Aspirant Sovereign of the Five Nations, did at Korth treat with the assembled Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Dragonmarked Houses, convened under the auspices of the Council of the Twelve;

AND WHEREAS the said Houses, being ancient in lineage and formidable in commerce, possessed at the time of treating such resources of wealth, magic, artifice, and organized labor as to constitute a power of considerable consequence upon this continent;

AND WHEREAS the said King did desire the support of the Houses in the unification of the Five Nations, and did offer in exchange formal recognition of the Houses as chartered institutions, the grant of regulatory authority over those trades and industries commanded by their respective marks, and industrial preeminence within the territories of the Kingdom to be established;

AND WHEREAS the said Houses did accept this offer, and did in return consent to certain restrictions upon their political and military power, to be enumerated herein;

AND WHEREAS the parties to this compact did understand and affirm that the prosperity of both Crown and Houses depends upon the maintenance of a clear division between sovereign authority and commercial enterprise, such that neither encroaches upon the domain of the other;

NOW THEREFORE, be it known to all persons within the territories subject to this compact, that the following Articles are agreed, proclaimed, and binding.

ARTICLE THE FIRST — Of the Prohibition on Land and Title

Section I. No dragonmarked house recognized by the Council of the Twelve, nor any member thereof who retains standing within such house, shall hold, acquire, inherit, or otherwise obtain freehold title to land within any territory subject to this compact. This prohibition extends to all forms of landed estate, including but not limited to: domains, fiefs, manors, holdings held in fee simple, and any grant of territory carrying rights of governance, taxation, or lordship over persons dwelling therein.

Section II. No dragonmarked house, nor any member thereof retaining standing within such house, shall hold, accept, or exercise any noble title, whether hereditary or appointed, within any territory subject to this compact. This prohibition extends to all ranks of the peerage, all offices carrying sovereign authority, and all positions granting lawful dominion over subjects of any crown.

Section III. The foregoing prohibitions shall not be construed to prevent the Houses from establishing, maintaining, and operating such enclaves, workshops, foundries, message stations, healing houses, banks, guild halls, and other facilities as their chartered trades require. The Houses may lease, occupy, improve, and administer such facilities under terms negotiated with the relevant local authority. The distinction preserved by this Article is that between tenancy for the purpose of commerce and lordship carrying rights of governance. The former is permitted; the latter is forbidden.

Section IV. The use of the title "baron" and such other internal designations as the Houses may employ for the ordering of their own affairs is acknowledged as a matter of internal rank and custom. No crown signatory to this compact recognizes such titles as conferring nobility, landed authority, or sovereign privilege of any kind. This acknowledgment was formalized by notation under the Treaty of Thronehold, 996 YK.

Notary's Annotation: The reader is directed to observe that the internal ranking structures of the Houses—baron, viceroy, seneschal, and so forth—were in large part systematized by House Sivis during the early decades of the Kingdom. That these titles have acquired the weight of tradition does not alter their legal character. They remain designations of commercial office, not peerage. The distinction is neither trivial nor ornamental; it is the hinge upon which the entire compact turns. — T.S. d'Sivis

ARTICLE THE SECOND — Of the Prohibition on Military Force

Section I. No dragonmarked house recognized by the Council of the Twelve shall raise, maintain, equip, garrison, deploy, or otherwise command a standing army, militia, private military force, or armed body of any kind, save as specifically excepted herein. This prohibition extends to any organized body of persons trained, equipped, or maintained for the purpose of armed conflict, whether offensive or defensive in nature, howsoever such body may be designated.

Section II. The original instrument further placed limits upon the size of armed forces that may be garrisoned at any house enclave. These limits were set by schedule appended to the original compact and are available for review at any Kundarak depository holding a certified copy.

Section III — The Exception of House Deneith. House Deneith, Bearer of the Mark of Sentinel, is excepted from the foregoing prohibition under the following terms and conditions:

(a) House Deneith shall retain its charter to operate the Blademarks Guild, which brokers the services of mercenary soldiers, including but not limited to soldiers of Deneith blood, licensed independent fighters, and foreign auxiliaries contracted through the House.

(b) House Deneith shall further retain its charter to operate the Defenders Guild, which provides professional bodyguard services and personal protection, and such additional security guilds as may be duly chartered.

(c) House Deneith shall maintain the corps of Sentinel Marshals, empowered under a separate grant of authority issued during the reign of Galifar III to enforce the Galifar Code of Justice across all territories subject to this compact. The authority of the Sentinel Marshals to cross borders in pursuit of fugitives and to enforce judgments of law is hereby reaffirmed. The Marshals shall not, however, be understood as authorized to break the laws of any signatory nation in the exercise of their duties.

(d) In exchange for this exception, House Deneith shall maintain absolute political neutrality in all disputes between provinces, between nations, between claimants to any throne, and between the Crown or its successors and their subjects. House Deneith shall offer its services to all lawful parties without preference or favor. Should House Deneith be found to have abandoned this neutrality in a material and demonstrable fashion, the exception granted under this Article shall be considered void.

Section IV. The charter of House Deneith, including the Blademarks Guild, the Defenders Guild, and the Sentinel Marshals, was reaffirmed under the Treaty of Thronehold, 996 YK, under conditions of continued political neutrality.

Notary's Annotation: It is a matter of public record that in the years since the Treaty, House Deneith's military forces at its headquarters in Korth have grown beyond even the generous provisions originally granted under this Article. As of this writing, no signatory nation has formally challenged this state of affairs. The reader may draw what conclusions seem prudent. — T.S. d'Sivis

ARTICLE THE THIRD — Of Political Neutrality

Section I. The dragonmarked houses, and all members thereof retaining standing within a house, shall remain politically neutral with respect to the affairs of sovereign nations and their rulers.

Section II. No house shall formally ally with any crown or sovereign body. No house shall endorse, promote, or materially support any claimant to any throne in preference to any other claimant. No house shall act as diplomatic intermediary between sovereign powers except in the capacity of a neutral facilitator compensated for services rendered. No house shall declare nationhood, claim sovereignty over any territory or population, or raise banners of dominion.

Section III. In consideration of this restraint, and as material benefit of the compact, the Houses and their duly credentialed agents shall enjoy the right of free passage across all borders within the territories subject to this compact. Any person carrying identification papers issued by a recognized dragonmarked house, affirming that said person travels on house business, shall be permitted to cross any such border without hindrance, delay, or extraordinary levy. This right of passage extends to agents, employees, and licensed contractors of the Houses, provided they carry proper documentation.

Section IV. The right of passage described in Section III is contingent upon the continued neutrality described in Sections I and II. A house that materially breaches its obligation of neutrality may find this right suspended or revoked with respect to the territories of any aggrieved nation, subject to such mechanisms of arbitration as may be agreed upon.

Notary's Annotation: The reader should understand that neutrality as contemplated by this Article does not prohibit the Houses from conducting ordinary commercial transactions with sovereign nations, including the sale of goods and services to their governments and armies. The Houses sell to all; that is the nature of their commerce. What is prohibited is the formation of political alliances and the exercise of sovereign influence. The distinction between a merchant who sells swords to both sides and an ally who fights for one is the distinction this Article preserves. Whether this distinction has been uniformly observed during and since the Last War is a question upon which the present notary declines to offer commentary. — T.S. d'Sivis

ARTICLE THE FOURTH — Of the Separation of Blood and Title

Section I. No member of a dragonmarked house who retains standing within such house shall enter into marriage with any member of the nobility of any nation subject to this compact while maintaining said standing.

Section II. A dragonmarked heir who wishes to marry into the nobility must, prior to the solemnization of such marriage, sever all ties to their house completely and irrevocably. This severance shall include, without limitation: the relinquishment of the house family name, the renunciation of all claims to house holdings and assets, the abandonment of all rights of succession within the house, and the termination of all formal association with house operations, guilds, and enterprises. The severance must be recorded by arcane mark of a Sivis notary and filed with both the house and the relevant noble authority.

Section III. A noble who wishes to marry into a dragonmarked house must likewise, prior to the solemnization of such marriage, renounce their title, their lands, and all rights of noble succession, completely and irrevocably. This renunciation must be recorded by arcane mark of a Sivis notary and filed with both the house and the relevant sovereign authority.

Section IV. The severances and renunciations described herein are final. No subsequent petition, grant of grace, royal pardon, or act of house clemency shall restore the severed or renounced status. The individual becomes, in the eyes of the law, a person of their new station only, with no residual claim upon their former one.

Section V. This Article concerns only the union of house blood with noble title. It imposes no restriction upon marriages between house members and persons who do not hold noble rank.

Notary's Annotation: As a practical matter, most severances and renunciations under this Article are prepared by a Sivis barrister, notarized by a Sivis notary under arcane mark, and filed in triplicate—one copy to the house, one to the relevant crown, and one to the Notaries Guild registry for perpetual record. The arcane mark renders the document effectively impossible to forge, and the Notaries Guild maintains verification services at any House Sivis enclave. It is perhaps worth noting, though it is not the notary's place to editorialize, that the marriage of Queen Aurala ir'Wynarn of Aundair to Sasik of House Vadalis was attended by a severance of the consort's house claims that many observers considered more formal than substantive. The original severance documents are on file and available for inspection by duly authorized persons. — T.S. d'Sivis

ARTICLE THE FIFTH — Of the Exception of House Ghallanda

Added to the Edicts by amendment of Galifar I during the Unification Campaign, and reaffirmed under the Treaty of Thronehold, 996 YK.

Section I. In recognition of extraordinary service rendered to the Crown during the Unification Campaign, House Ghallanda, Bearer of the Mark of Hospitality, is granted a unique exception to the prohibitions established under Article the First.

Section II. The enclaves of House Ghallanda shall be treated, for all legal purposes, as sovereign ground. House Ghallanda shall hold freehold title to the land upon which its enclaves sit. Persons within a Ghallanda enclave shall be considered beyond the legal jurisdiction of any nation or House for the duration of their presence therein.

Section III. House Ghallanda shall be permitted to maintain a dedicated armed force, designated the Hearth Guard, for the sole purpose of defending its enclaves and the persons sheltering within them.

Section IV. The sovereign status of Ghallanda enclaves has, since the foundation of the Kingdom, served as neutral ground for negotiation between parties in dispute, and as sanctuary for persons of all stations. The Sentinel Marshals retain the right to enforce the Galifar Code of Justice within all territories, but the practical exercise of that authority within a Ghallanda enclave is a matter of established protocol and mutual courtesy between House Deneith and House Ghallanda.

Notary's Annotation: The original grant was made to House Ghallanda by Galifar I in personal recognition of the service of one Kalaba Fullbarrel, a Ghallanda quartermaster whose timely action preserved the King's life during an ambush in the course of the Unification Campaign. The story is well-attested and a favorite of halfling children across Khorvaire. That a single act of hospitality secured for an entire House a permanent exception to the foundational compact of the Kingdom is, I think, rather a fine argument for the power of a well-timed kindness. — T.S. d'Sivis

ARTICLE THE SIXTH — Of Enforcement

Section I. Under the original compact, the Crown of Galifar bore sole responsibility for the enforcement of these Edicts within all territories of the Kingdom. The Crown was empowered to investigate suspected violations, to seize assets held in contravention of these Edicts, and to impose such penalties as the violation warranted, including the revocation of guild charters, the closure of enclaves, and the restriction of trade.

Section II. The Council of the Twelve, as the representative body of the Houses, bears a concurrent obligation to exercise discipline over its own members. A house that violates these Edicts disgraces not only itself but the compact that grants all Houses their standing. The Twelve is expected to act upon violations within its own ranks before the intervention of any sovereign authority becomes necessary. The Twelve maintains internal mechanisms of arbitration, censure, and sanction for this purpose.

Section III — Amendment of 996 YK. With the dissolution of the united Crown of Galifar, enforcement of these Edicts falls to the signatory nations of the Treaty of Thronehold, each acting within its own sovereign territory. Where disputes arise between nations, or between a nation and a House, or between Houses, resolution shall be pursued through whatever mechanisms of arbitration the relevant parties may agree upon. No centralized enforcement body has been established under the Treaty.

Section IV. The Twelve remains the primary instrument of inter-house discipline. The signatory nations retain the right to enforce the Edicts within their own borders, but the practical exercise of that right depends upon the political will and material capacity of each nation.

Notary's Annotation: Here we arrive at the crux of the matter, and I will be plain. These Edicts were written when one King ruled one Kingdom, and the question of enforcement was simple: the Crown enforced them, and the Crown was strong enough to do so. That Kingdom no longer exists. The Treaty of Thronehold reaffirmed the Edicts, but it established no mechanism to replace the Crown as enforcer. Each nation may enforce the Edicts within its own borders, but no nation wishes to be the one that provokes a House into withdrawing its services. The Edicts carry the weight of tradition—a thousand years of tradition—but tradition is not the same thing as power, and the careful reader will note that the gap between what the Edicts forbid and what the Houses actually do has grown considerably wider in recent years. I record this observation as a matter of professional duty, not editorial opinion. — T.S. d'Sivis

ARTICLE THE SEVENTH — Of the Warforged Provision

Ratified under the Treaty of Thronehold, 996 YK. Appended to the Korth Edicts as an amendment concerning the regulation of a specific House capability.

Section I. The Treaty of Thronehold forbids the creation of new warforged by any party, in any territory subject to the Treaty, by any means.

Section II. House Cannith's authority to operate creation forges is hereby revoked. All creation forges within the territories of signatory nations are ordered sealed, dismantled, or destroyed, at the direction of the relevant sovereign authority.

Section III. No warforged, being recognized under the Treaty as sentient and autonomous beings, may be owned, enslaved, indentured, or compelled to serve any person, house, nation, or other entity. Warforged are entitled to the protections of law afforded to all sentient persons within the territories of signatory nations, including but not limited to the protections of the Galifar Code of Justice as adopted or maintained by each such nation.

Section IV. This provision is entered as an amendment to the Korth Edicts because it concerns the regulation of a specific House's most consequential capability. The creation forges of House Cannith produced, over the course of the Last War, an entire population of sentient beings for the purpose of military service. The power to manufacture populations is a power without precedent in the history of this continent, and its unchecked exercise by a single commercial entity was deemed by the assembled signatories to constitute a threat to the balance of power that these Edicts exist to preserve.

Notary's Annotation: The reader should be aware that this provision was ratified at a moment of singular weakness for House Cannith. The House had lost its Baron, its Cyran holdings, and its principal forges on the Day of Mourning. It was, and remains, divided among three competing claimants. Whether the same terms could be imposed upon a united and determined Cannith is a question that the signatories were fortunate not to need to answer. The reader should further note that the creation forges within the territories of the former nation of Cyre—now the Mournland—are beyond the sovereign reach of any signatory, and their present status is unknown. — T.S. d'Sivis

Concluding Attestation

The foregoing Articles constitute the entirety of the compact between the Crown of Galifar and the Council of the Twelve, as originally proclaimed at Korth and as amended under the Treaty of Thronehold. The compact was entered into freely by both parties. The Houses received formal recognition, regulatory authority, industrial preeminence, the right of free passage, and the protection of their commercial monopolies. The Crown received the assurance that the Houses would remain what they are—guilds, merchants, healers, builders, couriers, bankers, entertainers, and keepers of words—and would not become rival sovereignties.

The compact endures. Its terms are clear. Its enforcement is, as it has always been, a matter of power and will.

Notarized and sealed under arcane mark at Korranberg, in the second year after the Treaty, being 998 YK.

Tassi Santor d'Sivis Third Notary of Korranberg Keeper of Treaties Gilded Quill of the Lorridan Lyrris Family Licensed Barrister, Speakers Guild Certified Notary, Notaries Guild House Sivis

Verified against the original instrument held at Korunda Gate. Arcane mark on file with the Notaries Guild, Registry of Public Instruments, The Labyrinth, Korranberg, Zilargo.

Copies of this document are available at any House Sivis enclave for a fee of five sovereigns. Authenticated copies bearing an original arcane mark are available for twenty sovereigns. Requests for certified extracts, legal opinions, or interpretive commentary should be directed to the Speakers Guild.