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The Edicts: Laws Against Necromancy
The Edicts have been in force in Coeur d'Ennui for a little over two years. They were pushed through by the Citadel of the Lawgiver in a series of political manuevers following a failed assassination attempt on Anselm of the White Rose, leader of the Athyrians in the Coeur. There has never been a serious effort to repeal them, despite some discontent by the Illuminer faction of the Celestians and others in the government.The Edicts prohibit:
-- Using or dealing in poisons stronger or more exotic than those sold as "rat poison" by the Apothecary.
-- The worship of dark gods, including the ownership, creation or use of magical items that draw on their power or ritual objects which venerate them.
-- The practice of necromancy, including the ownership, creation or use of magical items that draw on necromantic power.
This was not as sweeping a change in the law as is sometimes thought. Prior to the Edicts, worshiping evil deities was already prohibited in Coeur d'Ennui, as were certain necromantic practices (mostly creating undead and summoning fiends). Using poison was also already a crime insofar as poisoning people usually causes them to suffer and die, which is generally illegal.
Also, the Edicts did not make it a criminal offense to be a necromancer, only to use necromantic magic, so a necromancer would theoretically be safe (albeit useless) if he or she simply never used any spells. It is a crime to be a priest or paladin of an evil deity, since nobody gets to channel dark divine power without being a worshiper of that deity, but that was already illegal before the Edicts, so that didn't change.
What the Edicts did change was twofold: First, the mere possession of some objects (such as poison and necromantic items) was criminalized. Previously, owning those objects was fine, as long as they were not used to harm other people.
Second, the penalties for violating these laws became much harsher, with death the usual punishment for a first offense. Previously, the penalties were generally lighter (although being a priest of a dark god would still get you a one-way trip to the gallows, and murder was usually punished by execution regardless of whether one used poison or a knife to do the deed).
The net effect of the Edicts has been to increase the price and rarity of prohibited objects in the Coeur, to slightly increase the amount of commerce done through the black market, and to greatly decrease the number of actively practicing necromancers in the city. The few who remain are either in hiding and inactive, or else so powerful, well-connected or insane that they don't spend much time worrying about the law.
There were never very many worshipers of dark gods in the Coeur, and the law wasn't much of a change for them, so their status hasn't been affected much. The number of assassins using poison has gone down, but most assassins have simply adjusted their methods to avoid having to rely on expensive and troublesome poisons.
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