Laws and Rules

The laws of the country of Yurgenschmidt are written down in a magic tool called the Book of Laws. There is only a single example of this magical book, which is kept in the Sovereignty, though copies are transcribed for others, like students of the Royal Academy, where law is taught to all noble children in the second year.

The national law is almost exclusively about interduchy interaction and similar country-wide issues, while leaving great autonomy to the archdukes for how to govern their respective duchies. Among other things, the book contains the processes for interduchy marriages, the handling of succession, and what is to happen should an Aub pass away without having designated a successor.

In modern days, almost all laws are kept rather ambiguous and require arbitration at the Archduke Conference. This is due to how difficult and time-consuming it is to revoke laws once they have been written into the magic tool, on top of the potential political turmoil. And as Ferdinand once pointed out to Rozemyne, vague laws suit the ones in power more than strict ones.

In the past, a king, fed up with having to arbitrate so many cases, put down many very detailed laws. This worked very well in the short term, but eventually after his death, as society kept modernizing and morphing, many of those laws became outdated, but due to being in the Book of Laws had to be abided by.

Later kings wanted to abolish these detailed laws again, but between how difficult it was to remove them from the magic book and nobles who wanted to keep them, it turned to protesting vehemently, and soon turned into an unending dispute. During this period, every time a legal case between duchies happened, one or both sides would call for nullifying one archaic law or another, turning the yearly Archduke Conference quite chaotic.

Eventually, this issue grew severe enough that everyone agreed that it was best to keep the law ambiguous, paving the way for the Book of Laws to be changed. Detailed rules were removed, and individual problems would be dealt with through discussion.

To this day, people who call for more detailed laws are mocked as being "charmed by the Goddess of Chaos."


 * Children below the age of 7 are not considered to be people by the law.
 * Children will be baptized in their 7th year of life, at which point they are officially acknowledged as citizens of their place of birth and the country. They may also start apprenticeships.
 * At the age of 15, people participate in the Coming of Age Ceremony. From that point onwards, they are considered adults and thus fully responsible for their own actions as far as the law is concerned.

Any person is required to follow the orders of a member of a higher social status. The ranking from highest authority to lowest is as follows:
 * Zent/King
 * Royal Family
 * Aubs/Archdukes
 * Archduke Candidates and family members
 * Sovereignty Archnobles
 * Duchy Archnobles
 * Sovereignty Mednobles
 * Duchy Mednobles
 * Sovereignty Laynobles
 * Duchy Laynobles
 * Commoners

Punishment depends on the difference in rank and the severity of the infraction, but can very often mean death.

This should not be mistaken for the respective ranking of the duchies, since that is a matter of social norms and politics, rather than one dictated by law. An archnoble from a minor duchy disobeying an archnoble from a greater duchy will likely suffer negative consequences, but is not technically breaking the law. A Mednoble disobeying the order of an Archnoble, however, is, and this can even result in the execution of the offender, as evidenced by the medknight Shikikoza being sentenced to death for disobeying a direct order by Ferdinand.

An exception to this ranking structure are professors at the Royal Academy, who always count as ranking above their current students for the duration of the term, regardless of respective ranks. This is due to the opinion that they cannot be expected to know about the minutia in interduchy politics, instead focusing on teaching.

Only those who graduated from the Royal Academy are considered true nobles. Anyone who did not attend the Royal Academy or failed to graduate successfully is technically considered a commoner (and in the case of failed nobles, have their schtappes sealed). While in practicality they retain some of the noble privileges due to their family-connections, this is not a matter laid down in national law.

It is generally forbidden to teach the spell for producing Black Weapons. Only duchies that have feybeast or feyplants that absorb mana like trombe or ternisbefallen are granted an exception to this rule out of necessity.

Archduke candidates are forbidden from becoming sovereign nobles in any way other than marriage. Not even the royal family is allowed to adopt archduke candidates or make them their retainers. This law was originally implemented to avoid the royal family stealing valuable members of the archduke families from their home duchies.

To marry nobles of different duchies to each other requires the permission of the Aubs of both duchies. Interduchy marriages with an archduke candidate or Aub, additionally need the permission of the Zent.

Attacks on Ivory buildings constructed from creation magic are treated in the same way as an attack directly on a member of the archduke's family.

By decree of the Archduke, for every new book created in Ehrenfest two copies have to be delivered to the archduke's castle.

Ehrenfest Interduchy Marriage Rules (Temporary) As part of the compensation for taking Lady Rozemyne from them, the royal family agreed to put a rule in place, that for the next couple of years noble from other duchies are only allowed to marry into Ehenfest, but not the other way around.

The city gates are only open during the day. Anyone caught outside, when the gates are closed, has no other choice than to find shelter there, and wait for the gates to open the next day.

Any and all nobles are forbidden from entering the Ivory Tower without express permission of the archduke himself. This includes members of the archducal family. To enter without permission is considered treason.


 * (Former) Nobles of other duchies may only enter Ehrenfest City, if they have a letter of introduction or invitation of a local noble.
 * (Current) Nobles of other duchies may only enter with the permission of the archduke.

In order to be allowed to take on an apprentice, the candidate must have been baptized. The store or workshop also requires the permission of the parents and has to pay a fee to the Merchant's Guild.

Entry into the City of Ehrenfest is only permitted to people holding citizenship in the city, children of citizens, non-suspicious commoners who can provide identification and who can write their own name.

Suspicious looking people without any identification can be turned away by the gate-guards at their own discretion.

Commoners are only permitted to enter the Noble's Quarter when accompanying a noble or when summoned by a noble and are obligated to use the commoner's entrance on the western side of the city.

The nobility decreed that after the remodeling of the lower city to add a sewer system, the city had to be kept clean. Out of fear that if the city became dirty again, the Archduke would remodel the city again and wouldn't show them the restraint and mercy of the first remodeling that kept their homes intact, the commander of the Southern Gate suggested to classify littering should be classified as a crime and the other gate commanders agreed.

His suggested punishment was the revocation of citizenship and exile from the city, though it is currently unclear whether the city guard has the authority to decide this on their own or if a higher authority might have signed off on this change.

Of the people of Ehrenfest, onyl those with a membership in or a permit from the Merchant's Guild are allowed to do business within the city-walls.

Merchants from other duchies are only allowed to trade in Ehrenfest, if they can provide a piece of magical paper, as proof of their permission by their respective Aub.

Only people who have a Beruf certification are allowed to open workshops.

In Ehrenfest, it is expected of girls and women to wear skirts fitting a certain length based on their age. Girls below ten wear skirts to about their knee. Between ten and the coming of age, skirts are worn to the shin. Upon becoming an adult, women wear skirts that go all the way down their legs, even hiding the ankles. For professions that need mobility, it is acceptable to have skirts that end a fraction above the ankles however.

This societal norm is the same for both nobles and commoners alike.

High-ranking religious figures always wear ceremonial robes that extend to the ankles when conducting formal rituals. However, day-to-day robes are adjusted to the appropriate length for their age and gender.

In Ehrenfest, it is common for male children to wear shorts, when the weather is warm enough for it, up to the age of 10. After turning 10, they are expected to cover their entire legs. This custom is the same for nobles and commoners.

As a societal norm, it is expected for women to wear their hair up once they come of age. Girls that have not yet come of age are expected to not have hairstyles with all of their hair up. Hairstyles that leave at least some of the hair hanging down freely or in braids are accepted.

This societal norm is practiced in noble and commoner society alike.

To decline or simply ignore a letter of invitation from someone with a higher status within the same profession, while not breaking any law, can still often lead to losing one's job and can even extend to family members.

For example, when Myne got a letter of invitation from Corinna, a very important person within the field of fabric workers, not going could easily have resulted in Myne's mother and sister losing their jobs, despite all involved parties being commoners and neither Effa nor Tuuli working directly for Corinna or even being part of the invitation.

It is common for people of all walks of life to display their status in part by the sleeves they wear. Poor people generally wear clothing with short or very tight sleeves. The higher ranked and influential a person is, the longer and wider their sleeves get, to the point where particularly high ranked and rich commoners and nobles would find it hard to do physical labour without the sleeves getting in the way.

There are only few activities where people of such high status will forego wide and long sleeves and put on more purpose-oriented clothing, like hunting or brewing.

An exception to this norm are knights and soldiers who naturally wear tight-fitting uniforms and armour when on duty.


 * The law that forbids archduke candidates from becoming Sovereign nobles, in any way other than marriage, was put in place by Zent Gesetzkette, many centuries in the past