Penance - Revision history

Matt: /* Inquisition */

2026-04-11T13:29:36Z

Inquisition

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:29, 11 April 2026
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	==Inquisition==		==Inquisition==
	A priest who conducts an [[inquisition]] may ask the Tribune to [[Sanction#Escalation\|escalate]] the inquisition to a penance if they believe it is appropriate. If that happens, the Tribune will submit a new judgement of penance for consideration by the same Assembly. The Tribune will only escalate a judgement if it does not name a new target not named in the inquisition. An escalated judgement may use fewer names than the original inquisition, but it may not add a new name to the list.		A priest who conducts an [[inquisition]] may ask the Tribune to [[Sanction#Escalation\|escalate]] the inquisition to a penance if they believe it is appropriate. If that happens, the Tribune will submit a new judgement of penance for consideration by the same Assembly. The Tribune will only escalate a judgement if it does not name a new target not named in the inquisition. An escalated judgement may use fewer names than the original inquisition, but it may not add a new name to the list.

			The existence of escalation makes it common to assume that no priest should request a judgement of [[penance]] without first completing a corresponding inquisition. Despite this expectation, there is no legal requirement to do so - it is perfectly legal to submit a judgement of penance without performing any inquisition.

	{{Synod Further Reading}}		{{Synod Further Reading}}

Matt: /* Inquisition */

2026-04-11T08:25:56Z

Inquisition

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:25, 11 April 2026
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	==Inquisition==		==Inquisition==
	A priest who conducts an [[inquisition]] may ~~choose~~ to escalate the inquisition to a penance if they believe it is appropriate. ~~To do this they~~ submit a new judgement of penance for consideration by the same Assembly. ~~This~~ judgement does ~~not count against the limit of one judgement per priest per summit, provided it is submitted by the same priest who submitted the judgement of inquisition and to the same assembly. It must~~ not name a ''new'' target not named in the inquisition~~; it~~ may use ~~less~~ names than the original inquisition, but it may not add a new name to the list.		A priest who conducts an [[inquisition]] may ask the Tribune to [[Sanction#Escalation\|escalate]] the inquisition to a penance if they believe it is appropriate. If that happens, the Tribune will submit a new judgement of penance for consideration by the same Assembly. The Tribune will only escalate a judgement if it does not name a new target not named in the inquisition. An escalated judgement may use fewer names than the original inquisition, but it may not add a new name to the list.

	{{Synod Further Reading}}		{{Synod Further Reading}}

Matt at 21:32, 8 April 2026

2026-04-08T21:32:30Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:32, 8 April 2026
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	{{Synod Judgement Summary\|Any Assembly\|Lesser Majority}}		{{Synod Judgement Summary\|Any Assembly\|Lesser Majority}}
	==Overview==		==Overview==
	The [[Synod]] is responsible for ensuring the behaviour of individual citizens does not debase the Empire. A crucial part of that responsibility is to identify moments when a person's actions have not been virtuous and try to guide them back to [[the Way]]. Penance is a crucial tool to help achieve that, allowing an Assembly to open a way for a citizen to redeem their Virtue. A judgement of penance is employed where the assembly believes the subject to have engaged in both virtuous and unvirtuous behaviour. The judgement recommends how the target can correct their unvirtuous behaviour.		The [[Synod]] is responsible for ensuring the behaviour of individual citizens does not debase the Empire. A crucial part of that responsibility is to identify moments when a person's actions have not been virtuous and try to guide them back to [[the Way]]. Penance is a crucial tool to help achieve that, allowing an Assembly to open a way for a citizen to redeem their Virtue. A [[judgement]] of penance is employed where the assembly believes the subject to have engaged in both virtuous and unvirtuous behaviour. The judgement recommends how the target can correct their unvirtuous behaviour.

	For many years the only option available to the Synod was to condemn an individual for their invidious actions - criminal or unvirtuous. Penance was created following the work of [[Wintermark_religious_beliefs\|stormcrow]] '''Jorma Steelhail''' from 379YE to 380YE, to [[Amend_power_of_Inquisition\|expand the scope of the Synod's powers]] to allow a range of different edicts to be issued - in accordance with the judgement of the Synod.		For many years the only option available to the Synod was to condemn an individual for their invidious actions - criminal or unvirtuous. Penance was created following the work of [[Wintermark_religious_beliefs\|stormcrow]] '''Jorma Steelhail''' from 379YE to 380YE, to [[Amend_power_of_Inquisition\|expand the scope of the Synod's powers]] to allow a range of different edicts to be issued - in accordance with the judgement of the Synod.

Rafferty: Created page with "{{Synod Judgement Summary|Any Assembly|Lesser Majority}} ==Overview== The Synod is responsible for ensuring the behaviour of individual citizens does not debase the Empire. A crucial part of that responsibility is to identify moments when a person's actions have not been virtuous and try to guide them back to the Way. Penance is a crucial tool to help achieve that, allowing an Assembly to open a way for a citizen to redeem their Virtue. A judgement of penance is..."

2026-04-08T21:12:11Z

Created page with "{{Synod Judgement Summary|Any Assembly|Lesser Majority}} ==Overview== The Synod is responsible for ensuring the behaviour of individual citizens does not debase the Empire. A crucial part of that responsibility is to identify moments when a person's actions have not been virtuous and try to guide them back to the Way. Penance is a crucial tool to help achieve that, allowing an Assembly to open a way for a citizen to redeem their Virtue. A judgement of penance is..."

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{{Synod Judgement Summary|Any Assembly|Lesser Majority}}
==Overview==
The [[Synod]] is responsible for ensuring the behaviour of individual citizens does not debase the Empire. A crucial part of that responsibility is to identify moments when a person's actions have not been virtuous and try to guide them back to [[the Way]]. Penance is a crucial tool to help achieve that, allowing an Assembly to open a way for a citizen to redeem their Virtue. A judgement of penance is employed where the assembly believes the subject to have engaged in both virtuous and unvirtuous behaviour. The judgement recommends how the target can correct their unvirtuous behaviour.

For many years the only option available to the Synod was to condemn an individual for their invidious actions - criminal or unvirtuous. Penance was created following the work of [[Wintermark_religious_beliefs|stormcrow]] '''Jorma Steelhail''' from 379YE to 380YE, to [[Amend_power_of_Inquisition|expand the scope of the Synod's powers]] to allow a range of different edicts to be issued - in accordance with the judgement of the Synod.

==Judgement==
A judgement of penance must state who is being given the penance and what action or actions they are atoning for. The judgement must individually name each person receiving penance. A judgement may only name more than one individual if they are members of the same oathsworn band - either a [[bands#banner|banner]], [[bands#Sect|sect]], or [[bands#coven|coven]] - at the time the judgement is raised. Penance should only be used in this way where members of the band acted together in unison on the thing they are receiving penance for.

A judgement of penance may be brought before any assembly of the [[Synod]] for approval. When the judgement is raised in a national assembly, it may only offer penance to members of that nation. The virtue assemblies may grant penance to anyone - but they are expected to focus their judgement on matters concerning their virtue.

Any dispensation of penance requires a lesser majority to pass.

<div style="float: right;"><quote by="Marcher Proverb">Nothing dries faster than a tear.</quote></div>

==Outcome==
A successful judgement of penance will be noted and recorded in the official Synod records, but it is the responsibility of the priest who brought the judgement to ensure that all are aware of the outcome.

The common way to employ penance is to work with the individual who the priest has identified has fallen short to set a penance that they agree to on some level. When used in this way the judgement offers the offender a way to redeem their Virtue by engaging with the Synod. In effect, the penance becomes a contract between with the priest and the person they have judged, an agreement between them on how they might mend their ways. Putting the judgement through the Synod serves to demonstrate to everyone that an investigation has taken place, and that those judged have been given a way to regain their Virtue.

Penance does not legally compel the target to undertake the actions specified - there are no legal penalties for failing to comply - but the Synod may take further action if the recipient does not complete their penance. In addition to [[castigation]], the Synod could consider [[revocation]] or even a [[Writ of Excommunication]] following a failure or refusal to complete penance. The Synod may think worse of someone who has been offered a path back to Virtue but who did not take that path, either because they tried and failed or because they refused to try at all.

It is perfectly legal to set a penance without discussing it with the recipient if the priest believes the situation requires it. Creating a penance without the agreement of the other party increases the chance that they will refuse to cooperate. Provoking such a response may even be the priest's intention, but care should be taken. A priest risks being [[castigation|castigated]] by their peers in the Synod for abusing their powers if they deliberately create a penance that is wildly out of proportion to the unvirtuous actions a person has been accused of. If a priest wants the support of their Assembly to force a citizen to mend their ways, it will certainly help to ensure the penance fits the deed.

==Legal Consequences==
A judgement of penance will not bolster a plea of clemency at trial - it may even make it harder for the defendant to establish that their actions were virtuous, if the Synod has judged that their actions fell short of that standard. However, a magistrate is likely to take any penance into account when passing judgement. A character who murders someone is not going to escape execution by completing a simple penance, but a citizen who commits a lesser crime but has publicly completed a penance that required them to financially support others can expect that to be taken into account if they are fined by the magistrates.

==Inquisition==
A priest who conducts an [[inquisition]] may choose to escalate the inquisition to a penance if they believe it is appropriate. To do this they submit a new judgement of penance for consideration by the same Assembly. This judgement does not count against the limit of one judgement per priest per summit, provided it is submitted by the same priest who submitted the judgement of inquisition and to the same assembly. It must not name a ''new'' target not named in the inquisition; it may use less names than the original inquisition, but it may not add a new name to the list.

{{Synod Further Reading}}