Condemnation

"...an Atun herself shall turn her gaze from you, as your soul lingers, unmourned, in the darkest recesses of the Labyrinth. You are excommunicated."

"You... you can't do that! Your writ of excommunication never passed the General Assembly!"

"You are condemned as a heretic. I will be sure the magistrate's know it. Besides, if the Assembly lacked the spine to issue a writ of excommunication against the likes of you, what makes you think they have the will to condemn me?"

The Synod is responsible for investigating religious crimes in the Empire and bringing these cases to the magistrates.

Photography by Jaz Whitesite

A priest of a Virtue Assembly may call for a judgement of condemnation to be made against an individual or small group, such as a coven, sect or banner, in relation to a religious crime, or a refusal to respond to inquisition.

A judgement of condemnation determines that there is a case to be brought to the magistrates . The priest who brought the motion of condemnation is usually expected to be part of any group that addresses the magistrates, and present the basis for the condemnation.

The magistrates will then consider:

• Whether the presenting priests have sufficiently established a religious crime has taken place
• The severity of the religious crime in terms of harm, or potential harm, to the Empire
• Any pleas for clemency

The magistrate will then make a ruling accordingly.

Individuals subject to a judgement of condemnation may also be subjected to liao ceremonies, independently of the magistrate's ruling.

The full detail of how magistrates prosecute religious crimes can be found here.