Charter of Oakstone

The Charter of Oakstone is a document created by the Council of Oakstone, implementing laws designed to protect Nature from such crimes as extermination, holocaust, inferno, and, formerly, overharvesting. It is available for viewing in a journal at Central Hall in the Greak Oak in Eleusis.

Introduction

The organisation of Oakstone is dedicated to the preservation, maintenance and defence of all of nature. As such, the Gods have seen fit to place the very wrath of Nature Herself under the control of the Hierophants.

This power is so awesome and deadly that each Hierophant, upon accepting the position, swears to put aside personal feelings and to use this power in defense of Nature in accordance with written Oakstone law and for no other purpose. Members of Oakstone understand that they cannot use the power of Oakstone to defend themselves and are therefore expected to defend one another as well as the entirety of Nature that lies within their care.

Jurisdiction

Every natural area shall be under Oakstone's protection. The gardens within city walls are no exception; Oakstone protects these from extermination, fires.

Those areas within the confines of the temple of a God will have all laws applied to them unless said God requests otherwise.

Let it be known that Oakstone claims no ownership over any of the lands it protects. These lands belong to Nature alone and may be owned by no one, nor can they be bought, sold or given away.

Leadership

The ruling council of Oakstone consists of five Hierophants, appointed by the Patrons of Oakstone and others that He or She sees fit to aide.

None are above the laws of Oakstone. If a Hierophant should commit an offence punishable by enemy status, he or she will be removed from Oakstone until his or her punishment has been served.

If a member of Oakstone is not satisfied with the performance of a particular Hierophant, he or she may bring his or her concerns to one of the Patrons of Oakstone and those concerns will be investigated.

At any time, a Patron of Oakstone has the right to ask a Hierophant of Oakstone to step down from the Council of Eleusis if He or She does not feel the Hierophant is adequately performing in both roles.

Official Actions

Hierophants are expected to make all decisions based upon the existing written laws of Oakstone and to report official actions to Oakstone regularly.

When possible the Hierophants are responsible to make the membership aware of any and all issues which are not currently covered by Oakstone law or for which no precedent is set before any decisions are made.

Since Oakstone is based upon the principle of a council rather than a single leader, all decisions should be made and agreed upon as a council. At the same time, Hierophants may act independently of the Council when necessary to respond to a clear and immediate danger to Nature within the existing laws of Oakstone.

Under no circumstances is any enemy of Oakstone to be relieved of their enemy status before payment of his or her fine and the passing of the allotted time without the unanimous consent of the council and approval of Oakstone's Patron.

Under no circumstances is any enemy of Oakstone to be relieved of their enemy status before payment of fine and the passing of the allotted time without the unanimous consent of the council and approval of Oakstone's Patron.

Any public announcement made by a Hierophant of Oakstone, be it verbal or written, regarding an Oakstone matter should be considered as being the voice of the entire council.

The Fianna

The Fianna is a military organisation which works alongside and in conjunction with the defences of Oakstone. It shall be lead by the High Fion and any generals he or she sees fit to appoint. The High Fion answers directly to the council of Hierophants and its Divine Patron, but may act independently in case of any emergencies so long as he or she does so within the laws governing the Council of Oakstone. Only the Hierophants of Oakstone may declare a state of war. However should a state of war be declared, the High Fion is authorised to use any reasonable means necessary within Oakstone law to accomplish Oakstone goals.

Membership to the Fianna is open to all who serve Nature, at the discretion of the High Fion. The High Fion is to always be a member of Oakstone, and can be appointed or dismissed on unanimous decision of the Hierophants or their Patrons. An advisory board consisting of the Hierophants of Oakstone, the House Leaders of the Druids, Sentinels and Sylvans and the Patrons of Oakstone, are to always remain within the Fianna in order to counsel the High Fion as to where to swing the sword of Nature.

The Fianna differs from the other defences of Oakstone in that it may be used to defend not just Nature, but the members of Oakstone as well. Given this, members may engage in battle with enemies that may not directly harm Nature, but instead actively harm forestals.

Membership

Oakstone's purpose is to ensure that all of Nature thrives. Members are expected to be committed to accepting responsibility without any expectation of reward. Glory and power hold no place here. All that comes with Oakstone membership is duty and the expectation that it will be executed with dedication.

Membership in Oakstone is offered to those who have dedicated their lives to Nature. Applicants must not be on probation within their House or they must be a rogue. They must be at least twenty-five years of age and must have attained either the skill of dousing in survival, icewyrm in metamorphosis or freeze in elementalism.

Only those who have not proven themselves in the past to have caused harm to Nature or the organisation of Oakstone will be considered for membership. Members will not be allowed to be affiliated with Mhaldor or the Lords Shaitan and Apollyon. This includes Houses and Clans that further the causes of Shaitan and Apollyon, as well as Their Divine Orders. Furthermore, applicants must not follow any God who has intentionally caused harm to Nature in the past.

Members of Oakstone are not permitted to hold citizenship of any recognised state other than the forestal city of Eleusis.

Applicants into Oakstone must obtain three sponsors from within Oakstone. The sponsors must be willing to guide the Applicant by training the Applicant and explaining the laws and policies of Oakstone and submit a written recommendation to the Hierophant responsible for membership. If the applicant gains the requisite number of sponsors, he or she can then be interviewed by either two or more Hierophants, or a Hierophant and a member of the Quaiyl.

The Quaiyl, which means Tribunal, are a group of individuals that make up Oakstone's Membership Committee. They are charged with the duty of assisting the Hierophants with interviewing hopeful new Oakstone members. A Quaiyl should have spent an appropriate amount of time in Oakstone to understand the basic ideals used in an interview. They can be chosen by the Hierophant in charge of Membership or a majority of Hierophants. The members of the Quaiyl must be active in the realms and may be removed at any time by a majority of Hierophants.

One Hierophant must be present for an interview to occur and may be assisted by a second Hierophant or a member of the Quaiyl. If both interviewers agree upon membership, the applicant will be invited to join Oakstone. If the Hierophants and Quaiyl present at the interview cannot come to agreement, then the applicant's entrance will go to a 3/5 majority vote within 1 year to the Hierophants with a record of the interview. If they are denied entrance, they may reapply after 5 years. If this second request for entrance into Oakstone is denied, they will not be granted another submission to join. It is the responsibility of the applicant to contact the Hierophants with a request to reapply to Oakstone.

Applicants offered membership within Oakstone are encouraged to introduce himself or herself by means of posting on the Oakstone board. Further, it is highly suggested and encouraged that all members join a team to patrol for fire, totems and other harm to Nature.

Any member of Oakstone who earns enemy status by violation of Oakstone laws will be cast out of Oakstone until such time as his or her punishment has been served. At that time, he or she may only be readmitted by unanimous consent of the Council of Hierophants.

Laws

Extermination

The punishment for exterminating shall be a fine of 20000 gp and 5 years of enemy status per location exterminated.

Those who assist exterminators or hide an act of extermination shall be prosecuted as if they had performed the act themselves.

Holocaust

The punishment for holocausting in a forest, garden or jungle location, excluding the arena shall be a fine of 20000 gp and 5 years of enemy status per location holocausted.

Those who assist holocausters or hide an act of holocausting shall be prosecuted as if they had performed the act themselves.

Fires

The punishment for arson shall be a fine of 20000 gp and 5 years of enemy status per location burned.

Those who assist or hide the acts of an arsonist shall be prosecuted as if they had performed the acts themselves.

Wormholes

No wormholes are to be placed in the forest without the unanimous consent of the Hierophant council in conjunction with the High Fion of Oakstone. These locations are to be made known to all the members of Oakstone. Illegal wormholes discovered in the forest shall be destroyed.

Shrines

Shrines within the forest must be approved by the High Fion and a majority of Hierophants. Permission to place shrines in the forest shall be freely granted save for shrines of gods who have proven themselves enemies to Nature. Shrines to those gods will not be permitted and all within the forest shall be removed. Oakstone reserves the right to refuse permission for a shrine placement that would impact detrimentally on the safety of the forest. Oakstone, in conjunction with the Fianna, shall maintain a map and/or list of all shrines within the forests of Achaea.

Spying

Any member of Oakstone who passes information to another organisation which may bring harm to or endanger the security of another member of Oakstone, or which may be detrimental to the goals of Oakstone, will be removed from Oakstone. Any member of Oakstone who passes information to another organisation which causes harm to the forest, directly or indirectly, will be cast out of Oakstone and prosecuted as if they themselves had caused the harm.

Totems

Except as noted below, implanted totems tuned against anything but Oakstone enemies are not permitted in any forest or jungle room. Implanted totems tuned against anything other than Oakstone enemies must first be approved by the High Fion and then by a majority vote of the Heirophants. For permission to be considered, the proposed totem must fit in to one of the following two categories:

1. Totems tuned against the enemies of an Order in rooms where a shrine of the Order has been placed in compliance with Oakstone law.
2. Totems tuned against the personal enemies of a member of the Druid or Sylvan class in that member of the Druid or Sylvan class's grove.

Permission to place totems is granted on the condition that the totems neither interfere with Oakstone carrying out its duties nor harm any members of Oakstone, the Fianna, the Druid House, the Sylvan House or the Sentinel House. Violation of this condition will result in immediate revocation of the permission granted to place the totem.

Oakstone reserves the right to take whatever action it deems appropriate when dealing with an illegal totem.