Black Article

A Black Article, formerly known as a Black Order, is the most severe judgment that the Crownsguard can issue. A Black Article is issued only in the case of an extreme threat to either the magical or mundane communities, and it can target either entire families or organizations. It is never issued against an individual.

Once a Black Article has been placed on a family or organization, all members of the targeted group are considered dead, and every other magician is obligated to eliminate or capture them in every encounter. As a result, the family or organization is completely wiped out, ensuring that the danger they posed is eliminated.

Targets of a Black Article
As a Black Article is issued as a response to an extreme threat to the magical or mundane communities, the effects of a Black Article are equally severe. Every member of the targeted family or organization are marked for death, regardless of guilt, under the belief that they could one day become a threat to the community. Human costs

Issuing a Black Article
A Black Article is an incredibly powerful decree, and as such, only the High Council of the Crownsguard is granted the power to create and issue it. The Black Article requires a supermajority (6 of the 9 members) of the High Council to vote in favor of the Black Article.

Once the Black Article is approved, it is added to the registry of magicians, and any member of the targeted group is identified and marked for death. Pamphlets containing the names and any descriptions of the members are issued to all magical organizations, which are then obligated to circulate that information to their own members.

Fulfilling a Black Article
Pamphlets containing the names and descriptions of the members of the targeted group are issued to all magical organizations, which then circulate the information to their individual members. All magicians are made aware of the Black Article and its targets and are obligated to kill or capture any members they come across.

The Crownsguard immediately moves to the main home or headquarters of the family or organization. Any members of the group at the building are killed, and the building itself is destroyed. Any attempt to stop this is met with extreme violence and will result in the deaths of bystanders.

Captured members of a targeted group are turned over to the Crownsguard. After a brief period of imprisonment (often only a few days) the members are executed and their bodies cremated. As there are no members of the family to claim the ashes, they are stored deep in the Crownsguard headquarters in Los Angeles.

Removing a Black Article
It is possible, though unlikely, for a Black Article to be removed from a family. A Black Article becomes eligible for removal after 100 years of being in effect, and a powerful magical organization or family (such as a House of the Guild of American Magicians) may petition to the High Council to remove a Black Article from a group. By this point, it is believed that the group, if any members continued to survive, would be so drastically reduced as to pose little threat to the magical or mundane communities.

Uses of a Black Article
A Black Article has been issued 6 times throughout the past 200 years.

The Frankenstein family was placed under a Black Article in 1862 following an incident with a reanimated corpse that led to the deaths of nearly 30 people. After other members of the family were found to be attempting similar experiments, the High Council determined that they were a danger to the security of the magical community, and thus, a Black Article was issued. House Dreyfus petitioned for the Black Article to be removed in 1972, and following the granting of the removal, the few remaining members of the family became sworn magicians of the Guild under House Dreyfus.

A Black Article is currently in effect for any members of the Scholars of the First Sin. Issued in late 1998, the Black Article facilitated a larger mobilization of magicians during the Grey War. The Black Article became the legal basis for the arrest of even former members of the Scholars, though these people were simply imprisoned rather than executed.