The Treaty of the Fold outlines the powers of the Patron Families and the High Lord Execution, who stands above all in Requiem.  Under the Treaty, the leader of each Family has absolute power over life and death… and theoretically, the High Lord Executioner has ultimate authority even over the Family Heads. In practice, the politics of Requiem are far more complicated, with a delicate balance of power.

Review the entire Treaty of the Fold.

The High Lord Executioner

Essex Anastasia, the current High Lord Executioner, theoretically wields dictatorial powers throughout the Fold. In practice, his absolute authority is limited to the town of Requiem - it’s not that Essex can’t go to a Family’s lands and enforce his will, but rather that it would cost him so much political capital that he won’t do so. However, he can pronounce laws that must be acknowledged throughout the Fold, and in Requiem, he ruthlessly enforces these dictates. The Families, for their part, entirely back him within Requiem (at least publicly), as to not provoke any attempts by him to assert a heavier hand against them.

The Treaty in Practice

The High Lord Executioner can, at will, execute any individual in the Fold (hence his title). However, he uses significant discretion when dealing with members of the Patron and Ward families. Before he pronounces sentences on any established members of a Family (Proficient Society Membership), he consults with the Family Head first, negotiating the outcome. Further, Essex has yet to pronounce sentences on any high-ranking members of a Family (Master Society Membership) without direct and damning evidence. 

Laws of Requiem

As the High Lord Executioner the powers of a dictator in Requiem, any laws he decrees are subject to change at any time. Here’s a list of his current dictates:

• Requiem is open to all who can enter. If someone breaks the law within its borders, kill them. So says the High Lord Executioner.

• Public preaching and advertising of preaching is outlawed. So says the High Lord Executioner.

• If a citizen is murdered, the killer shall be killed in kind. If a Family Member is murdered, the killer and one of their closest associates shall be killed in kind. So says the High Lord Executioner.

• Theft and destruction of property is fined at the return of or the worth of the property. If it is a Family Member’s property the fine is doubled. So says the High Lord Executioner.

• Lying, willfully or due to willful ignorance, by deceit or omission, to the High Lord Executioner is punishable by death. So says the High Lord Executioner.

• Speaking the names of any Family that no longer has bonds to the living world is punishable by death. ⁠So says the High Lord Executioner.

• In all matters, all laws are superseded by the will of The High Lord Executioner except the Rite of Honors Fall. So says the High Lord Executioner.