Peripheral Code

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The Peripheral Code is the body of case law of the Order of Hermes. It consists of the totality of the Tribunal decisions and resolutions. Regional Tribunals are bound by the decisions of the Grand Tribunal and record their own past decisions, so the Peripheral Code consists of Grand Tribunal decisions as well as the idiosyncratic case law of each Tribunal.

The Peripheral Code is discussed on pages 13-14 of ArM5 and in considerably more detail in True Lineages pages 46-56.

Authority of the Peripheral Code

The Peripheral Code cannot contradict the Code of Hermes, and a regional Tribunal cannot pass a ruling in contradiction to the Code or to relevant Grand Tribunal decisions (it can, however, reverse its own Peripheral Code). The Presiding Quaesitor should counsel the magi against any decisions that contradict the Code or Grand Tribunal, and if necessary veto any such resolution.

Peripheral Code Rulings by Topic

The following sections list known references to the Peripheral Code that occur in ArM5 canon. There are many such references so it's very likely that some have been overlooked.

We do not quote the exact wording of the Hermetic Oath or any Peripheral Code rulings due to site [policy. If you edit this page, please try to be specific about what a ruling is about and where to find it, but vague about what it actually says (so this page can't become a replacement for Ars Magica sourcebooks).

Magical Resources

• Rulings on vigilante action by Redcaps collecting debts by force, HoHTL 90.
• Extending privacy rights to Sanctum Texts, HoHTL 71.

Slaying Magi

• Forfeit immunity, HoHTL pages 45-46.

Wizard War

• Strict requirements for making a declaration of Wizard War, HoHTL page 47
• Excessive use of Wizard War ruled a High Crime in one case, HoHTL page 48
• Using Wizard War to avenge someone killed in a previous Wizard War ruled legal in one case, HoHTL page 48
• What happens if a magus is to receive a declaration of war but is absent or ignores the message, HoHS page 23

Abiding by Decision of the Tribunal

• Rulings on vigilante action by Redcaps collecting debts by force, HoHTL 90.

Voting

• Residency requirements to vote in a Tribunal, HoHTL page 49
• Magi allowed to vote at Tribunal by proxy, HoHTL page 48
• Vagrancy, HoHTL page 49

Endangering the Order

This section hasn't been researched yet.

Interfering with Mundanes

• Magi forbidden from swearing oaths of fealty to mundanes, ArM5 page 57.
• A limitation on the magical production of wealth, instituted in the Stonehenge Tribunal (HoHTL 87) but often respected elsewhere.
• The 1061 ruling forbidding direct sale of magic items to mundanes (ArM5 16). In HoHMC 111, it is revealed that Verditius magi may only sell one item per year in this manner, and that this is modified in some Tribunals; it isn't clear whether this Peripheral Code applies to all magi or just to Verditius.
• Guidelines on interactions that are permitted by the Peripheral Code of most Tribunals, HoHS page 46

Dealing with Demons

• Is a responsible for danger to redcaps resulting from his feud with a demon, HoHTL page 51

Molesting Faeries

This section hasn't been researched yet.

Scrying

• Use of forceless casting to avoid accidentally scrying on magi, HoHTL 52

Training Apprentices

• Keeping a Gifted lab assistant without providing him/her training as an apprentice, HoHTL 52

Special Clauses for House Bonisagus

This section hasn't been researched yet.