Dragon Touched

Petition to the High Judiciary of the Triumvirate Realms

Filed under the provisions of the Law of Hearth and Holding (The Widow’s Charter)

To whom it may concern in the service of Law and Crown,

I, Aleric Tanim, son of no registered House, of sound mind and lawful age, hereby submit this petition for consideration before the High Judiciary under the provisions of the Law of Hearth and Holding, also known as The Widow’s Charter.

By my own testimony and by the witness of the officers of the Crown who brought me from the Aelthar’s Maw, I am without living kin, sponsor, or sworn family within this realm. As such, I am—by definition under Article I: The Right of Custodial Hearth—an orphan of standing sufficient to invoke the rights and protections therein described.

Statement of Claim

Custodial Hearth and Independent Residence: I request to be recognized as the holder of a Custodial Hearth under the Charter, granting me lawful residence and self-governance within the realm, free from house allegiance or indenture.

Representation and Counsel: Under the implicit protection of Article IV: The Guardian’s Reservation, I request the appointment of a legal representative well-versed in the codes and customs of the Crown to act as my counsel and interpreter of law until such time as I demonstrate sufficient understanding to act on my own behalf. It is my understanding that such counsel—commonly assigned to widows and foreign settlers—exists to ensure that ignorance of the law is not treated as defiance of it.

Declaration of Allegiance: In accordance with Article II: The Limitation of Allegiance, I hereby swear provisional fealty to the Triumvirate Crown and to no noble house, clan, or religious body. I acknowledge that my rights derive solely from the Crown’s law, not from the privilege of bloodline or matrimony.

Recognition of Lawful Status and Rights of Continuance: I request acknowledgment that, should I in the future establish a lawful family, oath, or progeny within this realm, such heirs may inherit the privileges afforded under Article III: The Clause of Issue and Continuance, subject to the Crown’s oversight.

Basis of Petition

While custom favors women as holders of the Hearth and Charter, the text of the law contains no such gender exclusion. Precedent for male invocation exists under the Case of Marien the Unsworn, wherein a widower of the early Exodus period was granted a Custodial Hearth following the loss of kin and later founded a recognized Blooded House.

By the plain reading of the law, I meet the same criteria: unaligned, orphaned, of legal age, and under the protection of Crown officers at the time of discovery.

It is therefore within reason and equity that I request similar treatment—not as a novelty or privilege, but as lawful protection against coercion, confiscation, or forced custodianship.

Statement of Intent

I have no desire to disrupt the order of the Triumvirate realms. My only intent is to live peaceably, contribute to the defense and prosperity of the Crown, and retain the dignity afforded to any free being within its law.

To deny this petition on the grounds of custom rather than statute would be to admit that precedent and protection apply only when convenient to power, and not in the spirit in which the Widow’s Charter was written.

Declaration

Submitted respectfully, under seal of personal oath and hand,

Corporal Aleric Tanim Formerly of the United States Marine Corps Foreign-born subject presently in custody of the Crown Witnessed at the Citadel of the Triumvirate, Capital of Atherai

(Signed in my own hand, and, where the quill failed, by the grace of a borrowed pen.)

Petition to the High Judiciary of the Triumvirate Realms

Filed under the provisions of the Law of Hearth and Holding (The Widow’s Charter)

To whom it may concern in the service of Law and Crown,

I, Aleric Tanim, son of no registered House, of sound mind and lawful age, do hereby submit this petition for consideration before the High Judiciary under the provisions of the Law of Hearth and Holding, also known as The Widow’s Charter.

By my own testimony, and by the witness of the officers of the Crown who brought me from the Aelthar’s Maw, I am without living kin, sponsor, or sworn family within this realm.

As such, I am—by definition under Article I: The Right of Custodial Hearth—an orphan of standing sufficient to invoke the rights and protections therein described.

Statement of Claim

Custodial Hearth and Independent Residence: I request recognition as the holder of a Custodial Hearth under the Charter, granting me lawful residence and self-governance within the realm, free from house allegiance or indenture.

Representation and Counsel: Under the protection of Article IV: The Guardian’s Reservation, I request the appointment of a legal representative familiar with the codes and customs of the Crown to act as my counsel and interpreter of law until I demonstrate sufficient understanding to act on my own behalf. It is my understanding that such counsel—commonly assigned to widows and foreign settlers—exists to ensure that ignorance of the law is not treated as defiance of it.

Declaration of Allegiance: In accordance with Article II: The Limitation of Allegiance, I hereby swear provisional fealty to the Triumvirate Crown and to no noble house, clan, or religious body. I acknowledge that my rights derive solely from the Crown’s law, not from the privilege of bloodline or matrimony.

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Recognition of Lawful Status and Rights of Continuance: I request acknowledgment that, should I in the future establish a lawful family, oath, or progeny within this realm, such heirs may inherit the privileges afforded under Article III: The Clause of Issue and Continuance, subject to the Crown’s oversight.

Basis of Petition

While custom favors women as holders of the Hearth and Charter, the text of the law contains no such gender exclusion. Precedent for male invocation exists under the Case of Marien the Unsworn, wherein a widower of the early Exodus period was granted a Custodial Hearth following the loss of kin and later founded a recognized Blooded House.

By the plain reading of the law, I meet the same criteria: unaligned, orphaned, of majority age, and under the protection of Crown officers at the time of discovery.

It is therefore reasonable and equitable that I request similar treatment—not as a novelty or privilege, but as lawful protection against coercion, confiscation, or forced custodianship.

Statement of Intent

I have no desire to disrupt the order of the Triumvirate realms. My only intent is to live peaceably, contribute to the defense and prosperity of the Crown, and retain the dignity afforded to any free being within its law.

To deny this petition on the grounds of custom rather than statute would be to admit that precedent and protection apply only when convenient to power, and not in the spirit in which the Widow’s Charter was written.

Declaration

Submitted respectfully, under seal of personal oath and hand,

Corporal Aleric Tanim Formerly of the United States Marine Corps Foreign-born subject presently in custody of the Crown Witnessed at the Citadel of the Triumvirate, Capital of Atherai

(Signed in my own hand, and, where the quill failed, by the grace of a borrowed pen.)

When he finished, he read it twice—once as a Marine, once as a man who knew the people reading it would be looking for any excuse to throw it out. It wasn’t perfect. Hell, it wasn’t even close. But it said what it needed to: I exist, I know your rules, and I’m playing by them until I can beat you with them.

He blew gently on the ink, watching it dry. Then he folded the parchment, stamped his thumbprint in the corner, and slid it into an envelope.

“Not bad for a guy without a JD,” he said under his breath.

He leaned back in the chair and smirked faintly. “Cover your ass, Marine. Step one in every war.”

The summons came two days later, carried not by magic but by an exhausted clerk in silver-trimmed robes. She stood stiffly in the doorway, eyes fixed anywhere but on him, as though proximity alone might draw suspicion.

“By order of the High Judiciary,” she said, her voice thin with nerves, “the person known as Aleric Tanim is to present himself before the Court of Adjudication at first bell.”

Al took the parchment, still warm from the wax seal, and looked at the symbol pressed into it—three interlocking crowns forming a triangle. “Guess my fan mail arrived,” he muttered.

The clerk didn’t laugh. She only bowed and left.

The courtroom wasn’t what he expected. It wasn’t grand or gilded, but cold—limestone and echoing marble, banners muted by age. Three seats stood upon a dais, each occupied by a woman in judicial black and silver. The one in the center, gray-haired but sharp-eyed, looked as if she’d been carved from the same stone as the walls.

To either side, nobles and legal aides from the various houses murmured, their silks whispering like wings. He recognized some of the crests: Pryce, Catrin’s lineage, Vale’s garrison. The air smelled of wax, ink, and old judgment.

He was made to stand on a circular seal worked into the floor — a sunburst of gold and white marble. A chain of light bound his wrists loosely, more ceremonial than a physical restraint.

“Aleric Tanim,” the presiding magistrate said, her tone smooth and heavy with authority. “You stand before this Court as the subject of three petitions filed by noble Houses Pryce, Catrin, and Vale, each asserting claim or guardianship over your person under various statutes of bloodline, salvage, or military custody.”

The words felt like stones dropping one by one into a well.

“By order of the Triumvirate, these claims have been consolidated for review. You are to be examined under oath and observation. Do you understand the nature of this hearing?”

Al glanced around the hall. “More or less,” he said dryly. “Back home, we’d call it a custody dispute.”

A ripple of murmurs followed. The magistrate’s eyebrow twitched. “You will answer plainly, foreigner.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They began the questioning — his origin, his magic, his conduct since discovery. Every answer he gave seemed to tighten the invisible net. When he described summoning his weapons, the clerks whispered like bees. When he mentioned the System, several of the aides exchanged knowing looks.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the questioning paused.

The presiding magistrate leaned forward, folding her hands. “You have been spoken for by three noble lines, each of which claims your protection and your service. The Court recognizes no precedence of men in law; therefore, your standing must be determined by circumstance.”

Her voice softened slightly — the ritual mercy before the hammer fell. “Before we render our determination, do you have anything you wish to say in your defense or to clarify your position?”

Every eye in the chamber turned to him.

Al straightened, taking a breath. “Yeah,” he said, his tone measured but steady. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

He reached into his coat and drew out a folded piece of parchment — crisp, sealed with wax, written in neat block letters by a Marine who knew how to write so that an officer would actually read it.

“This,” he said, holding it up, “is a petition filed under your own law — The Law of Hearth and Holding. The Widow’s Charter, I think you call it.”

A ripple of confusion passed through the chamber. One of the junior judges frowned. “That law is reserved for widows and unaligned women—”

“Funny thing about that,” Al interrupted, stepping forward. “It doesn’t actually say that anywhere. I checked.”

The presiding magistrate took the parchment from the attendant who rushed forward to collect it. Her eyes scanned the lines. Her lips moved silently once, then twice. Then she looked up at him, her gaze sharper than before.

“This law was written for protection, not for… challenge,” she said carefully.

He nodded. “Ma’am, I’m not challenging anything. I’m just asking to be treated like a person instead of a prize. That Charter’s meant to protect the unaligned and orphaned, right? Well, that’s me to a tee. I figure it’s better to live under the Crown’s law than in anyone else’s grasp.”

A murmur spread like wildfire through the chamber — shock, disbelief, and a few incredulous laughs from the nobles who clearly thought it impossible.

The magistrate’s gavel struck once. “Silence.”

Then, after a moment, she looked at him again. “You understand that this action will anger every House present? That invoking this law could place you at odds with the Triumvirate’s oldest customs?”

Al’s mouth twitched in something almost like a smile. “Ma’am, back where I come from, upsetting customs is practically our national sport.”

That earned a few snorts from the guards.

The magistrate sat back slowly, studying him. “Very well. The Court will recess to deliberate.”

As she rose, the clerks swarmed around her like crows, carrying his petition as though it were some dangerous relic.

Al stood alone in the circle, the chain of light still shimmering faintly around his wrists.

He exhaled through his nose and muttered under his breath, “Well, Corporal… congratulations. You just sued the Crown.”