Charter of Oakstone

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

Introduction

The organization of Oakstone is dedicated to the preservation, maintenance and defense of all of Nature. As such the Gods have seen fit to place in the control of the Hierophants, the very wrath of Nature Herself.

This power is so awesome and deadly, that each Hierophant, by the very nature of his or her position is required, and does automatically swear upon accepting said position, to put aside personal feelings and to use this power in defense of the forest 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. As such, they are 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 them from extermination, fires and overharvesting.

Those areas within the confines of the temple of a God will have all laws applied to them unless said God requests otherwise. In such a case overharvests will still be marked on the harvester's record, however the individual will not be fined.

Let it be known that Oakstone does not claim ownership over any of the areas it protects. These lands are part of Demeter, the Goddess of Nature and as such, may be owned by none. Thus they cannot be bought, sold or given away.

Leadership

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

None are above the laws of Oakstone, and if a Hierophant should commit an offense punishable by enemy status, they will be removed from Oakstone until their punishment has been served.

If a member of Oakstone is not satisfied with the performance of a particular Hierophant, they may bring their concerns to the Patron of Oakstone and those concerns will be investigated.

At any time, the 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 then one single leader, all decisions should be taken as a council. However, Hierophants may act independently of the council when necessary to nullify a clear and immediate danger to the forest within the existing laws of Oakstone.

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 organization which works alongside and in conjunction with the defenses of Oakstone. It shall be led by the High Fion and such generals as he sees fit to place. The High Fion answers directly to the council of Hierophants and/or the Lady Demeter Herself, but may act independently in case of emergencies within the laws governing the Council of Oakstone. Only the Hierophants of Oakstone may declare a state of war. However, when the state of war is declared, the High Fion is authorized 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 the Lady Demeter. An advisory board consisting of the Hierophants of Oakstone, the Guildmaster of the Sentinels, the Guildmaster of the Druids and the Patron 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 defenses of Oakstone in that it may be used to defend the members of Oakstone, and so may engage in battle with enemies that may not directly harm the forest, but who actively harm the forestals.

Membership

Oakstone's purpose is to ensure that all Nature thrives. Members are expected to be committed to accepting responsibility without any expectation of reward. If you seek glory or power, look elsewhere. 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 a lifetime's service of dedication to Nature. Applicants must not be on probation within their Guild or under the age of thirty. They must have reached the fiftieth circle of experience and attained either the skill of dousing in survival, icewyrm in metamorphosis or rainstorm in elementalism.

Only those who have not proven themselves in the past to have caused harm to Nature or the organization of Oakstone will be considered. Members will not be allowed to be affiliated with any organization with ties to Mhaldor or Sartan. This includes guilds, clans that further the cause of Sartan, as well as the Divine Order of Sartan. Further, applicants must not follow any god who has intentionally caused harm to Nature in the past.

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 sponsers, he 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 Heirophants with interviewing hopeful new Oakstone members. The Quaiyl will be formed of three representatives from every forestal guild (Druids, Sentinels, and Sylvans) and two rogue or non-forestal guild members (if such are available). These members will be recommended by their Guildmaster, but the final decision will be made by a 3/5 majority of the Heirophants. The members of the Quaiyl must be active in the realms and may be removed at any time by a majority of Heirophants.

One Heirophant must be present for an interview to occur and may be assisted by a second Heirophant or a member of the Quaiyl. The interview will explore the Applicant's beliefs, goals and understanding of Oakstone.If both interviewers agree upon membership, the applicant will be invited to join Oakstone. If the Heirophants 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 Heirophants with a record of the interview. If they are denied entrance, they may reapply at a later time. 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 Heirophants with a request to reapply to Oakstone.

Applicants offered membership in Oakstone shall be required to post an introduction to himself or herself on the Oakstone board. Further, all Members shall be required to join a team to patrol for overharvests, fire, extermination, totems, etc.

Any member of Oakstone who earns enemy status by violation of Oakstone laws will be cast out of Oakstone until such time as their punishment has been served, and then may only be readmitted by unanimous consent of the Council of Hierophants.

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

Laws

Payment of Fines

All fines are to be paid personally by depositing it into the Oakstone bank account. Non-payment of an applicable fine within six months is cause for enemy status until such time as the fine is paid.

Overharvesting

First Offense: A general fine of 3000 gp paid to Oakstone's account PLUS 500 gp per plant overharvested.

(For instance if you harvest goldenseal to 5, you will pay 3000 gp plus 500 gp X 5 for a total of 5500 gp.)

Second Offense: 5000 gp PLUS 1000 gp per plant overharvested.

Third Offense: 10000 gp PLUS 1500 gp per plant overharvested PLUS a one year term of enemy status.

Fourth Offense: a five year term of enemy status PLUS a 20000 gp fine, as well as 2000 gp per plant overharvested.

Offenses one through four fall off the record 10 years from the date of the overharvest. For instance, if you overharvest in 300, that offense falls from your record in 310.

Upon your fifth offense of overharvesting within a 10 year period, you will remain a permanent enemy of the forest until such time as recompense is made to the satisfaction of the Council of Oakstone.

Further, an overharvest is defined as an overharvest of one particular herb within a single room. For instance, if you overharvest kola in Room A, and also overharvest kola in Room B, that is treated as 2 separate overharvests and you will be liable for sanctions for both offenses. Or if you overharvest kola in Room A and you also overharvest skullcap in Room A, that will be treated as 2 separate overharvests subject to sanctions for both offenses.

Extermination

The punishment for extermination 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 using a holocaust bomb in a forest, garden, or jungle room (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 organization 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 organization 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 Hierophants. 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 guild, the Sylvan Guild or the Sentinel guild. 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.

Treekin

The treekin which wander the Black Forest, created by the Ladies Demeter and Eris, shall henceforth be treated as any other living tree. The murder of these sentient trees carries a penalty of 5000 gp per Treekin. If this fine remains unpaid for six Achaean months, the offender will receive enemy status until such time as the fine is paid. Any subsequent offenses of killing the Treekin will result in immediate enemying to Oakstone. The offender shall remain enemied until the fine of 5000 gp per Treekin is paid in full.