Law is the body of knowledge about justice and its applications to practical affairs. In the Dark Medieval world, Law covers to wildly different subjects: the organic (not to mention the chaotic and contradictory) accumulation of common law based on case-by-case rulings, and the rigorous, academic tradition grounded in Roman law and guided by logic and theology. The higher a character’s social rank it, the more the latter dominates. Canon law, the religious law of the Church, draws primarily on Roman law for its assumptions and principles of development, and scholars in canon law have a significant advantage in familiarity when issues of Roman-based secular law arise. The same applies to secular legalists trying to deal with canon law.
• Novice: You know all the important laws of your home and a good sample of the less important or less frequently invoked ones.
•• Practiced: You can defend yourself and your comerades against most minor charges, and you know the grounds on which to accuse others, as long as you’ve had a while to study the laws of the area.
••• Competent: You can make a living as a lawyer or advisor to a court, secular or religious depending on your specialization. People in your vicinity seek you out for legal advice.
•••• Expert: Your views on the proper application of law shape practice in wide-ranging areas.
••••• Master: You’re revered as one of the great legal theorists of the age,
- Possessed by: Constables, Criminals, Judges, Kings, Lords
- Specialties: Canon Law, Diplomacy, Feudal Obligations, Laws of Ownership and Inheritance, Local Law, Sentencing