By Staff or by Sword: A Gavel Against the Tide In the heart of the Cezeri Empire, justice has never been simple—nor safe. When the High Council condemns Commander Goland of the Tedi Ilk, the gavel that falls does more than seal a man’s fate—it cracks the fragile peace that binds empire, mystic, and law. As his brother Gorrit dares to challenge the decree, the court becomes a battlefield of tongues and tempers, and the ancient factions stir: the Oericles who serve the law, and the Innocents who are the law. Beneath the grand chamber’s silence, loyalties shift, power awakens, and the very meaning of justice begins to drown beneath the tide. Caught between the Staff and the Sword, between mystic decree and mortal law, the Empire must decide: will it uphold its judgment—or be consumed by it?