Freelance
TravellerTallis Quinarra
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2025 issue.
Tallis Quinarra, 785AC9
Advocate, age 34, 1 term Pupillage, 4 terms Advocate:
Corporate, Rank 4
- Homeworld:
- Pryden (Deneb 0316 A75A956-F)
- Species:
- Human (Vilani descent)
- Characteristics:
- STR 7 (+0), DEX 8 (+0), END 5 (-1), INT 10 (+1), EDU 12 (+2), SOC 9 (+1)
- Skills:
- Advocate 4, Investigate 2, Admin 1, Deception 1, Diplomat 1, Electronics (computers) 1, Language (Galanglic) 1, Language (Vilani) 1, Persuade 1, Animals 0, Art 0, Carouse 0, Drive 0, Flyer 0, Streetwise 0, Survival 0
- Relationships:
- Contacts×2, Enemy×1
- Contact:
- Jerf Yunom, Estate Manager of Minor Duchy on the Spinward Main
- Contact:
- Porla Wery, IISS protoarcheologist from the University of Sylea
- Enemy:
- Marc Swaden, Mercantile Syndicate CEO
- Equipment:
- Legal Compendium (TL12), Jussets, Courtwear, Signal Cap
In the early years of the Third Imperium, the Kamarov Expansion Syndicate filed a commercial claim over a supposedly artificial planet they had discovered somewhere Spinward of Deneb sector. The world, which the Syndicate’s scout who made the discovery had designated XU-51, was reported to possess kilometre wide tunnels spiralling through its crust. Some vertical, some horizontal, some twisted into bizarre shapes. The planet’s surface was barren, but its interior was rumoured to be “inhabitable, mechanical and resonant to touch”.
Litigator Tallis Quinarra, then working for the Ministry of Commerce’s Claims Office in Lishun sector, was tasked with verifying the Kamarov Syndicate’s application. She soon discovered anomalies in the sensor logs – too regular to be natural, but too imprecise to be artificial. Drawing on her background in investigative litigation, she traced the origin of the claim to the scout’s journal, written in a hybrid mix of Vilani technical script and archaic Galanglic metaphor. The diary described “a world like a knot of God’s own intestines, echoing with iron laughter”.
Quinarra’s four-year inquiry spanned multiple worlds, bureaucratic archives, and a costly expedition partly funded by the Protoarchaeology Department of the University of Sylea. Her final report concluded that the so-called ‘wormworld’ was in fact a natural planetoid of unusual basalt composition and thermal instability. Subterranean lavatubes, combined with a strong electromagnetic field and distorted sensor returns, had produced the illusion of vast tunnels. Atmospheric harmonics had created audible infrasound resonance inside the particular make of ATV the scout was using. This produced a psychological effect that was most likely magnified by stress and the poor insulation of the vehicle.
The Wormworld claim was voided in 342. The Kamarov Syndicate sued for damages and lost. Their financial collapse followed soon after and Quinarra was hailed across Deneb sector as “the advocate who cross-examined a planet”. Following these events, the MoC’s Claims Office tightened up on its regulations regarding the filing of claims of exceptional theoretical value which didn’t, until that time, mandate precise locations for five years, only that sufficient detail be submitted to demonstrate good faith.
In the centuries since, the Wormworld illusion has attained the status of folklore among scouts and belters who dream of discovering similar worlds. Some conspiracy theories insist the site was sealed by the IISS due to findings not included in Quinarra’s report. Another set of conspiracy theories suggest the Syndicate had actually lost the precise location of XU-51 and that Quinarra entirely fabricated her report after enjoying a long period of travel and exploration. Others maintain the tunnels were real and simply abandoned.
Tallis Quinarra would later go on to write two influential books on legal forensics in frontier regions. However, her enemies in the merchant guilds ensured she never held office again. Though retired from public office, Quinarra’s methodical dismantling of the wormworld claim remains a landmark case in Imperial legal history. Her reputation for forensic thoroughness and rhetorical restraint made her both feared and admired throughout Deneb sector. Law students often select the Wormworld illusion as a case study for assignments. The way it interleaves science, psychology and legal ambiguity along with vivid personalities and anomalies makes for fertile ground for discussion and argument.
Advocates Scales (Jussets) and Signal Cap
Long obsolete by the turn of the millennium (the last recorded formal use was in 903), advocates of the Third Century often carried a personal set of miniature scales and symbolic weights as part of their formal court attire. Known as jussets, these had no actual measuring function but represented the balance of justice and the weighing of arguments. Sets typically came in a velvet lined case and included The Arm, The Weights and The Light. The Arm was a folding triple-arm scale of finely wrought alloy. The Weights were a selection of engraved token weights each stamped with concepts like ‘rendaasi’, ‘simukhige’, ‘statute’ or ‘sikeshe’ (‘court’, ‘intent’, ‘statute’ or ‘ethics’). The Light was a tiny-lens case inscribed ‘sizidelaa simule’ (‘Lex per Lux’ or ‘Law through Light’) which contained a prism by which advocates could identify applicable codes on early datavaults.
The performance of ‘Drawing Out’ and ‘Setting Up’ the scale during pre-trial motions or final arguments was both ceremonial and theatrical. It was popular in the more coreward sectors of The Imperium where it was felt such spectacle lent gravitas to proceedings.
Even more distinctive was the ‘signal cap’ worn by advocates in full court wear. Styled differently by region, the most common design was the single-tassel tricorn with raised filigree above the brow. In some courts, advocates would pull or twist the tassel in set patterns to discreetly signal objection, recess, or their readiness to cross-examine. This form of legal semaphore is now only seen in historical holodramas and satirical plays.
While the jussets and signal caps are no longer used in practice, they are fondly remembered and occasionally revived during ceremonial re-enactments or graduations from elite law academies.
The Palatine Lexicant
The Imperial Academy of Law was founded in 276 and one of its oldest establishments is The Palatine Lexicant on Imlaar (Deneb 2212). It is the oldest continually operating legal academy in the Third Imperium. It was founded during the reign of Empress Porfiria, originally to train advocates for service in the turbulent border zones of the Spinward Marches, Corridor and Trojan Reach. Today it retains a reputation for both eccentric tradition and exacting legal scholarship.
Often referred to simply as ‘The Lex’ by its alumni, the academy offers degrees in:
- Imperial Law and Precedent (ILP),
- Frontier Arbitration,
- Xeno-Jurisprudence,
- Contractual Infrastructure Law (CIL), and
- Interstellar Claims and Asset Recovery.
Its faculty include retired justiciars, treaty architects and former advocates from high profile cases across the marches and Deneb sectors.
Lex students are required to carry a miniature jusset case during examinations and moots as well as wearing a court-tabbed cloak with ornamental clasp. The latter is a stylised depiction of the academy’s crest: a blindfolded advocate holding a legal tome and a flaming star.
Graduation includes a formal staging of a historical trial – complete with signal caps, dramatic objections and students assigned to roles drawn from history. These reenactments are open to the public and often attract curious travellers.
Notable alumni include:
- Advocate Tallis Quinarra: famed for debunking the Wormworld Illusion in 342 (which is now studied in media law and ethics modules);
- Justiciar Corwin Vess: drafted the legal framework for the Carrillian Amnesty of 517 (which led to the Articles of Assembly of 519);
- Senator Kalaya Rinn: an architect of the Dawnworld red zoning in 610.
Currently, The Palatine Lexicant offers a teaching style which is often described as “quaint, performative and thoroughly rigorous”. It remains a destination for aspiring advocates who want not only legal knowledge but a commanding courtroom presence. Its graduates are considered particularly well suited to postings in disputed subsectors or cultural regions, on border worlds looking to join the Imperium, and in high-value litigation or inter-species arbitration.
Library: well stocked with both print books, journals, statutes and cases as well as online access and huge digital holdings. Two common rooms on the ground floor give staff and student study space.
Dormitories: The Court of the Paupers and the Court of the Indigents house the students with some staff apartments on the top floors.
Grove: a wild wood much loved by students for a change of space away from their texts and screens.
Main Quad: a grassy area for outdoor teaching and lunches.
Moot Court: a fully functional court room is here along with other teaching spaces and lecture rooms.
Walled Garden: a quiet sanctuary with many nooks and corners with lean-to glasshouses on the southern side. Two full time gardeners tend and maintain this space and the rest of the grounds to a very high standard.
Arbamon Hall: a balconied meeting hall and performance space with refectory and additional staff accommodation.
Rectory: the home of the Rector, the Chancellor of The Palpatine Lexicant.