Law Baton

The Law Baton is a weapon and badge of office wielded by the Shogun’s Bailiffs of Calin. It consists of a steel shortsword, with two pins that can fix the blade in place within a metal scabbard. When so fixed, the weapon is blunt and functions as a Club, serving as the primary weapon of the Bailiffs.

The Law Baton’s origins lie with the military of Marin Bay in the wake of the Great Contagion, adopted into the Calinti arsenal when that state was annexed by Port Calin in the wake of the Calibration War (along with the throwing batons also used by the Bailiffs). Today, while most equipment and weaponry granted the Bailiffs is the responsibility of the Daimyo assigned as patron to that force, the Law Batons are issued directly by the Shogun (though only rarely presented in a personal audience) to each new Bailiff, and few would consider insult against that honour by selling the weapons on the open market. To forge an imitation of the weapon is a crime the Bailiffs take very seriously, resulting in a heavy fine and assignment to a work gang.

The scabbard of each Law Baton bears the metalwork motto ‘Preserving Peace’. Blows with the weapon will often leave clear imprints of a portion of this text.