Writ of Excommunication

"Alayna, you are without remorse. Without worth. Without virtue. You have broken no law by which you may face justice, but by the judgment of the Synod, you are the lowest of the low and unworthy to look any true citizen in the eye."

Stormcrow Vigg, upon serving a writ of excommunication upon the Troubador Alayna

• The Writ of Excommunication is distinct from the priest ceremonial skill of excommunication.
• The Writ of Excommunication refers to a legal status, unlike the ceremony which affects the soul.

Upon the judgement of the General Assembly, a priest of the Synod is empowered to deliver a writ of excommunication upon a citizen or citizens who are deemed to be of utterly corrupt and virtueless character.

The legal effects of a Writ of Excommunication is that the individual is deemed unworthy of trust and responsibility. They may not hold an Imperial office, such as general or senator and is stripped of any such office if they do hold it. Additionally, their assets are seized by the Synod on the grounds that they cannot be trusted to operate them soundly.

Spiritually, an excommunicated person is traditionally held to be beyond redemption. Ceremonies performed upon a citizen who is the subject of a writ of excommunication are exempt from any investigation or accusation of the religious crime of abuse of powers. This is primarily intended to enable the use of the excommunication ceremony which, according to some beliefs and traditions, will prohibit their soul's passage through the Labyrinth and deny their reincarnation, though this is not doctrine.

A Writ of Excommunication requires a greater majority of the General Assembly, and can only be overturned by the same.

Game Effects

If a character receives a writ of excommunication, they lose any Imperial Title they hold and the control of any personal resource.

The Synod has the legal right to claim any money the character possesses when the writ is delivered, but does not have the right to claim other goods such as wains of mithril, weirwood or white granite, crystal mana or magical items. The excommunicated character still receives their income at the start of each event.

• If the holder of a Bourse seat receives a Writ of Excommunication, they are stripped of their Bourse seat. It is re-elected (or appointed), and the money raised is claimed by the Imperial Synod.