Proturan Arbiters¶
The Proturan Arbiters are the federal law of Proturas in 834 AL, in the Fifth Age: magistrates "with federal jurisdiction", which "generally ... includes murder, treason and other serious crimes" (S106). They answer to the Lord High Arbiter, a provost with "a considerable budget", and work beside the Sentinels of the Lord High Sentinel, who gather intelligence, and above the town watches and magistrates of the counties. To the people of the Warrens and Spillwater they are simply "Proturan Police Force", the ones who come for arsonists, murderers and traitors (S068).
The chain of law¶
Proturan law runs down from the High Lord Councillor in two lines (S106):
| Line | Offices |
|---|---|
| Nobility and local administration | High Lord Councillor; High Councillors, Counts, Barons and Lords; Sheriffs, who manage magistrates "across a wider region and report to a Count"; Lord Mayors, Mayors and Reeves; Magistrates and the City and Town Watch |
| Federal provosts | The Lord High Arbiter, head of the Proturan Arbiters; the Lord High Sentinel, head of the Sentinels |
Magistrates are "given a specific jurisdiction" and "act as investigators and judges"; the watch "is usually required by local law to enforce their warrants". A large town may have several with overlapping authority, under a High Magistrate "to divvy up the work". "A Reeve is a combination of Mayor+Magistrate", used for small towns and villages (S106). The council and its counties are described on the Proturan Council page.
Arbiters¶
"Arbiter & Lord Arbiters - the equivalent of magistrates with federal jurisdiction ... Only Lord Arbiters can investigate nobility. Arbiters most often take on cases given to them by Sentinels or Magistrates and usually work in pairs or sometimes with a larger team composed of pairs." Ranks above the base Arbiter include Master Arbiter and Chief Arbiter (S106). The roles are:
| Role | Duty |
|---|---|
| Arbiter Enforcer | "the blunt instrument" |
| Arbiter Augur | "magical investigators" |
| Arbiter Warden | "A Nyxian arcane warrior, specialized in dealing with magical crimes" |
| Arbiter Specialist | "alchemists, warlocks, engineers, etc which are occasionally required for handling specialized crimes" |
The Arbiter Wardens serve Nyx (S106). Wardens appear elsewhere in Proturan law as well: the Children of the Light count Wardens among their forces, the council's warden on a licensed expedition was a "Priest of Nyx, demonic lore specialist", and "censure by the Wardens" is the penalty for a warlock who breaches the Proturan Covenant (S078, S073, S044).
Crime status¶
A case is flagged by its urgency (S106):
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Black | "Notices posted, Checkpoints created, all hands on deck to apprehend. Full-time Arbiters assigned." |
| Red | Severe: "Notices posted and distributed to Magistrates across Proturas. Increased reward given for info." |
| Yellow | Active: "Active caseload for set of Arbiters. May work with Counties." |
| White | Watch: "a case being handled by local authorities, but monitored by the Arbiters." |
| Blue | Backlog: "Inactive Cold-case. It will show up when cross-referenced with any other serious crime." |
The Arbiters in 834 AL¶
A team of four, the Augur Marvelo, the Warden Encaelia and the Enforcers Yrilla and Daemos, hunted the artificer Maggem as the arsonist of the Spillwater Dockside fire, for which he was wanted "for 100k damage" (S062, S063, S064, S065, S068). Arbiters approached the same company to spy for them in the Warrens and, refused, had them followed by "2 agents dressed as peasant/merchants" (S040).
When the council went to war, "groups of Arbiters have been moving through the Warrens making arrests and enforcing conscription notices" (S051). Arbiters "backed with a considerable Proturan military force" then laid siege to Ravenhold, the hall of the Raven Concord, with "a warrant signed by Lord High Arbiter Nadlegade to seize all members of the Concord for treason and high crimes" (S051).
Proturan Wardens¶
The campaign notes also speak of the "Proturan Wardens" as the city's investigators of murder: crooks are told to "destroy the Guards ... do NOT kill any citizens (no murder investigation of citizens which will involve the Proturan Wardens)", and to stay away if they have "the Wardens breathing down your neck" (S062). Kaermus, an old man in the Pale Pit buying information about the White Hand, is "a Proturan Warden in disguise" (S038).
Gap
The sources do not say whether these Proturan Wardens are the Arbiter Wardens, the Wardens of the Children of the Light, or a body of their own.
Sentinels¶
"Provost (Lord High Sentinel) - a federal administrator (Provost) responsible for intelligence gathering, espionage and counter-espionage. Not directly related to law enforcement, but does often work closely with the Lord High Arbiter and they share information regularly." Sentinels and Lord Sentinels are "generally assigned to a geographical area or sometimes a federal domain"; "they work in hierarchies amongst themselves as well as build networks of informants, agents and paid mercenaries. Generally they work undercover and do not share their identities" (S106).
City and Town Watch¶
"These are a mixture of light paramilitary units and police. They deal with small scale conflicts/unrest, deal with dangerous creatures and execute warrants (arrests)" (S106). The Spillwater watch is "good at protecting the warehouses and Stepside ... to a point. Magistrates and Chief Constables tend not to last long (they either retire wealthy ... die ... or are jailed for corruption)" (S103, S104). When a warlock's working disturbed the peace, the watch called on the Spellbreakers and warned that leaving it in place would be "in breach of the Proturan Covenant and be subject to censure by the Wardens" (S044).