The Laws & Regulations Governing the Mage

All persons, regardless of race or gender, having the ability to bind spells must be registered with the government.

The public display of Magic or Spellbinding is prohibited. The populace is advised to report any and all occurences or displays of magic to the proper authorities. If you witness a spellbinding, do not take action yourself, merely report the individual to the Order of the Sword or to the Imperial Mages Guild, or other recognized lawful authority.

If magic is used in the commission of a lesser crime, the punishment is equal to the magic used. If magic is used in the commission of murder, treason, or other High Crime, then the punishment is to suit the crime. In some cases, outlined in the addenda section below, the use of magic will incur a greater punishment than would otherwise apply to the crime.

In certain circumstances, Registered Mages may bind spells in public:

• Spells may be bound in Self Defense. If the spellbinder is registered, this is Lawful. If the spellbinder is rogue, he is fined 100 gp and allowed to choose between automatic Imprisonment or Registration.
• Guild mages, operating with legal authority or in conjunction with Order of the Sword investigators, may use spells to further an investigation or to examine evidence in criminal proceedings. <<Earlier write-ups of this information were in the basic format of "If a registered mage does this, then he has this penalty; an unregistered mage has this other penalty." There was some confusion in the wording, as well. I have reworked this. I have not changed the laws, merely the manner in which they are presented. Now, there are Guild-specific fines and punishments for registered wizards, and general laws for the use of magic in other crimes. All I did was seperate them in the listing in a manner which I think makes sense.>>

The following addenda apply as well. Some of these apply only to registered magic users, others apply to the use of magic in other crimes.

• If a registered mage causes damage to property, he faces an automatic fine of 100 gp plus property damages. A hearing will be conducted to determine if the Mage should be stripped of guild status.
• Casting a spell which results in property damage is illegal. A registered Mage is fined as above. An unregistered Mage faces an automatic 200 gp fine plus property damages, and possible jail time if the Mage is found negligent in not attempting to register. The mage must either face imprisonment or be registered with the Guild.
• Using magic in private is illegal in the case of unregistered spellbinders. The penalty is an automatic fine of 50 gp, and the Renegade Mage is must either face imprisonment or be registered.
• Using spell from an illegal school is illegal, even in cases of self defense. There is no justification for casting prohibited spells. There is an automatic fine of 250 gp (or higher, if the spellbinder is not registered), as well as a hearing to determine the further Guild status of the spellcaster. The spellbinder faces possible jail time (depending on the seriousness of the spell). If the spellbinder is unregistered, then he must either face imprisonment or be registered, though the hearing on his Guild status may affect this.
• If a registered Mage causes unintentional harm to an innocent, then there is a fine and a hearing to determine the mage's status within the Guild. The spellbinder must also spend a period of time performing public service.
• Casting a spell which results in unintentional harm to an innocent is punishable by a fine and jail time. If the spell caster is unregistered, then he must either be imprisoned or be registered with the Guild.
• If a registered spellbinder causes intentional harm to an innocent, he faces automatic jail time and a complete loss of all Guild status.
• If spellbinder causes intentional harm to an innocent through the use of his spells, he faces complete loss of all Guild status (expulsion from guild), and either execution or life in a prison work camp.
• Unintentional manslaughter by a registered spellbinder results in loss of Guild status (expulsion from guild), and either execution or life in prison.
• Unintentional or negligent manslaughter through the use of spells and magic is punishable by immediate execution.
• Murder: execution, registered or not.
• Treason: execution, registered or not.