The Emerald Magistrates were the enforcers of the Emperor's laws, and the Emerald Champion was the most senior magistrate. [1] The Emerald Champion apointed these magistrates to investigate crimes crossing multiple clan boundaries or involving national personages. [2]
Creation[]
The post of Emerald Magistrates was created in the middle of the second century during the reign of Hantei Genji by Emerald Champion Doji Hatsuo and Soshi Saibankan. These individuals, who were always samurai and had proven themselves worthy of such an honored position, would become the front line of the system, with Imperial writs of authority to enforce Imperial laws, investigate crimes against those laws and, in some cases, render and execute judgments. [3]
Duty[]
The Emerald Magistrates were a group of samurai appointed to dispense justice across Rokugan, serving as both investigators and judges in important cases. While most belong to one of the Great Clans, their status granted them jurisdiction all over Rokugan. They were tasked with investigating the most heinous of crimes, such as murder, conspiracies, and the practice of mahō, but they also intervened in affairs involving samurai of more than one clan as an objective party. [4] They could also mete out punishments. The Emerald Magistrates answered only to the Emerald Champion and the Emperor himself. [5] They also supported the Left Hand of the Emperor to draft laws in the Hantei's name, issue edicts on their behalf, and exert political influence upon others in support of the Throne, as specified in the Charter of the Emerald Magistrates. They did not normally involved themselves in local crimes, focusing instead on major crimes and unrest that represented egregious violations of Imperial law or otherwise threatened peace and stability on a regional or Empire-wide scale. They had limited powers to levy bodies of troops if it was necessary to carry out their duties. [6]
Details[]
The Emerald Magistrates could be identified by their badge of office, a carved sphere of jade, and their unmistakable emerald-green haori coats. [7] Emerald Magistrates bore their family mon inside an emerald orb, their official marking. [8]
See also[]
References
- ↑ Her Father's Daughter, by D. G. Laderoute
- ↑ Legend of the Five Rings - Roleplaying, p. 9
- ↑ Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, pp. 12, 89-90
- ↑ Legend of the Five Rings: Roleplaying Game (Beta), p. 207
- ↑ In the Palace of the Emerald Champion
- ↑ Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, pp. 49, 89-90
- ↑ Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 89
- ↑ Whispers of Shadow and Steel, by Mari Murdock
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