The Order of the Just, and its adjudicators, aided in interpreting laws in remote regions of many nations. As impartial and autonomous arbiters, they could be trusted when even government authorities could not. Adjudicators often served as lawmen, in addition to judges, and many were skilled warriors. They operated on the outskirts, with the permission of various governments, to allow a nation to expand without putting its own government agents in harm’s way.
The Order of the Just started as a reaction to the influence of magi over the laws of many nations. The order argued that as a tiny, privileged group the magi could not understand the everyday needs of common people. The order gained popularity by standing up for the poor and disadvantaged, and in its earliest rotations might have had truly altruistic goals. As generations passed, the power and wealth of the Order of the Just grew, and any original philanthropic mission fell away. The order attempted to overthrow several governments where magi held too much influence – in the opinion of the order. Nations with a toppled government would need new rulers, and the Order of the Just had every intention of being the replacement government whenever possible.
An ill-fated plan to attempt to supplant the Empire’s Magistratum was discovered long before it could be carried out, but by then the Order of the Just was already unpopular with the ruling body of Empire for interfering in a myriad of minor ways with the imperial government. The Order of the Just was expelled from Empire. After its banishment from Empire, the order gained a new mission: to bring about the destruction of the Magistratum in any way possible.
The Order of the Just remained free to aid in interpreting and enforcing laws in other nations, and the adjudicators used this opening to proselytize against Empire. People in the large cities often saw the adjudicators as dangerous and obsessed, but rural communities or towns on the edge of the wilds found the adjudicators friendly and useful in legal matters or interpersonal disputes.
The symbol of the Order of the Just was a tome with long, satin bookmarks demarcating several important pages. The depiction is sometimes called the Tome of Laws, and is supposed to be a book written by one or more of the nine Creators with a perfect list of laws for governing. In times of war, adjudicators would ride under a flag with the symbol to bring ceasefire negotiations to the other side. Despite the order being known for their conflict with the Magistratum, many adjudicators were honorable agents of law.
Kristofor Loren Carlson 