This is the practical user manual for the High Ledger. The full Order page is at High Ledger Guide; this page focuses on what to do when you walk in needing something.
The Ledger Hall is in Britain (Trammel, around 1476, 1645). Most services live at named furniture inside the Hall, not at NPC counters.
Quick Answer
| You Want To... | Where | Who Else Has To Be There |
|---|---|---|
| File a contract with another player | Contract Filing Desk | Counterparty (in-world) + a Recorder+ Ledger member or Velgar Thorn within 4 tiles |
| Read recent contracts | Public Records Wall | None |
| Read a Civic attestation | Public Records Wall (or quill-derived viewer) | None |
| File a Civic attestation | A Ledger member's tool flow | A Ledger member willing to file |
| Use a Bail Contract on yourself (you're a prisoner) | Inside the prison region | None |
| Deliver a Bail Contract for someone else | Within 3 tiles of any Warden NPC | None |
| Use a Parole Deed (same delivery rules as Bail) | As above | None |
Quick Facts
| Hall location | Britain Trammel (~1476, 1645) |
| Public records access | Walk up to the Public Records Wall, double-click within 3 tiles |
| Witness for contracts | Recorder+ Ledger member or Velgar Thorn (fallback NPC), within 4 tiles |
| Contract filing fee | 500g (player witness) or 1,500g (fallback NPC) |
| Refused-contract refund | 50% of filing fee back to the initiator |
| Daily contract cap | 5 contracts per initiator per day |
| Per-counterparty cap | 3 pending contracts, 60-min cooldown between filings against same person |
| Pending grace window | 7 days for the counterparty to sign or auto-Refuse |
| Term length limits | Title ≤ 60 chars, Terms ≤ 500 chars, expiration 1-30 days |
Step-by-Step: File a Contract
For two players binding themselves to a written agreement (commission, loan, joint venture, anything you can spell out in 500 characters or less):
- Both parties travel to the Hall. The Hall's Contract Filing Desk is the entry point — there's no other way to start a contract.
- Find the witness. Either a Recorder+ Ledger member or the fallback NPC Velgar Thorn must be within 4 tiles of the desk at the moment the filing gump opens. Velgar's always around; a player witness is cheaper.
- Initiator double-clicks the Contract Filing Desk within 2 tiles. The system prompts: "Name the counterparty for this Contract. They must be a person, present in the world."
- Initiator targets the counterparty (a player who is alive, not a pet, not the initiator themselves — the Code forbids self-naming). The Filing Gump opens.
- Initiator fills in Title (≤ 60 chars) and Terms (≤ 500 chars), sets an expiration (1-30 days), picks a witness from the list (any qualifying Recorder+ within 4 tiles, plus Velgar Thorn if present).
- Filing fee withdrawn from the initiator's bank: 500g for a player witness, 1,500g for the fallback NPC.
- Contract enters Pending state. The counterparty has 7 days to either sign or refuse before it auto-Refuses.
When the counterparty signs (Pending → Active), both parties are bound by the terms. When both parties later mark the contract fulfilled (each from their side, separately), the contract closes as Fulfilled.
If the counterparty refuses, the initiator gets 50% of the filing fee back.
Filing Limits
| Constraint | Cap |
|---|---|
| Contracts initiated per day | 5 |
| Pending contracts naming the same counterparty | 3 |
| Cooldown between filings on same counterparty | 60 minutes |
| Title length | 60 characters |
| Terms length | 500 characters |
| Expiration window | 1-30 days |
| Pending grace before auto-Refuse | 7 days |
Step-by-Step: Mark a Contract Fulfilled
Both parties have to mark the contract fulfilled separately for it to close.
- Visit a Ledger Hall. The contract resolution gump can be opened from any party member at the Hall.
- Open your active contract. The system shows the title, terms, expiration, witness, and a "Mark Fulfilled" action.
- Mark from your side. The system messages the other party: "<name> has marked Contract #N fulfilled from their side. Visit a Ledger Hall to mark your side fulfilled and close it."
- The contract closes when the second party marks — at that point both are notified, and the witness (if a Ledger member, not Velgar) gets a "clean witnessing" credited to their record.
Step-by-Step: Read the Public Records Wall
This one's simple — anyone alive can do it:
- Walk to the Public Records Wall in the Hall. It's a tall framed bulletin board in the Ledger's indigo identity hue.
- Double-click within 3 tiles. The Public Contracts Viewer gump opens.
- Browse open and closed contracts. Search and pagination work the way you'd expect; closed contracts list their resolution state (Fulfilled / Refused / Expired).
This is the Hall's transparency surface. You can use it to vet a counterparty before signing — if someone has a string of refused or expired contracts, that's the public record.
Bail Contracts
Bail isn't a gold bond paid at the Hall. It's an item crafted by a Ledger member (Recorder+, rank 2+) at the Civic Authority gump, then handed to the prisoner or delivered to the Warden.
| Crafter Rank | Sentence Reduction |
|---|---|
| Recorder | 5 min |
| Witness | 5 min |
| Arbiter | 10 min |
| Chancellor | 15 min (full release from a 15-min sentence) |
| Proctor | 15 min |
| High Registrar | 15 min |
To use a Bail Contract:
- If you ARE the prisoner and have the deed in your pack: double-click it inside the prison region. Sentence reduced; deed consumed.
- If you're delivering on behalf of a prisoner: walk to within 3 tiles of any Warden NPC, double-click the deed, pick the prisoner from the list. Sentence reduced for them; deed consumed.
There is no civic-standing penalty for the bail-poster if the released prisoner reoffends — the deed is just a sentence-reduction instrument.
Parole Deeds
Parole is a separate Ledger instrument, crafted by a Witness+ Ledger member (rank 3+). Unlike a Bail Contract, a Parole Deed releases the prisoner immediately (regardless of remaining sentence) AND extends their post-release writ protection window.
| Crafter Rank | Protection Window (replacing the default 45 min) |
|---|---|
| Witness | 45 min (parole, not bonus — same as natural release) |
| Arbiter | 90 min |
| Chancellor | 120 min |
| Proctor | 150 min |
| High Registrar | 180 min |
Delivery is identical to bail: prisoner self-use inside the prison, or hand-delivery within 3 tiles of any Warden NPC.
There are no parole conditions — no travel bans, no activity restrictions, no check-ins, no companion limits. Once the deed is applied, the prisoner is free with a longer-than-default protection window. The Ledger system doesn't enforce ongoing behavioral terms.
Civic Attestations
A Civic attestation is an immutable public record of a witnessed fact filed by a Ledger member.
- Filed by: a Ledger member, via their attestation tool flow.
- Body length: ≤ 200 characters.
- About: any named target player.
- Mutability: zero. Per the Code's first point, an attestation cannot be altered, withdrawn, or deleted once filed. The only correction is a new attestation that narratively supersedes the old one.
Service attestations (the Chirurgeon-side variant patients file about treatment they received) are a separate flow with auto-generated body text — patients don't write free text for those.
Crown Writ Pathways (Ledger Members Only)
If you're a Ledger member, the Civic Authority gump opens additional capabilities at higher ranks:
| Capability | Min Rank |
|---|---|
| Crown Writ Posting (NPC targets) | Recorder (2) |
| Bail Contract crafting | Recorder (2) |
| Parole Deed crafting | Witness (3) |
| Expedition Charter buff (+5/+10/+15 min by tier) | Witness (3) |
| Writ Promotion (officialize a Player Writ) | Arbiter (4) |
A non-member can't post a Crown Writ directly. The closest equivalent path for a non-member is to find an Arbiter (rank 4+) willing to officialize an existing Player Writ via the Writ Promotion gump — the writ keeps Branch=Player but gains Crown branding and a token reward boost based on the Arbiter's tier.
Common Mistakes
- Filing a contract with vague terms. You only get 500 characters; vague terms produce disputes the system can't help arbitrate.
- Filing a contract without a witness in range. The gump won't let you complete the filing if no Recorder+ or Velgar Thorn is within 4 tiles.
- Forgetting the 5-per-day cap. Heavy contract days cap at 5; plan accordingly.
- Treating bail like a gold bond. It's an item. The Ledger member who crafted it decides whether to give, sell, or trade it; you don't pay the Hall.
- Expecting parole to come with conditions. It doesn't. Parole = release + protection window, full stop.
- Trying to alter a filed attestation. Impossible by design. Re-file with a superseding attestation if you need to correct the record.
- Asking to post a Crown Writ as a non-member. Crown Writs are Ledger-issued. The fallback for non-members is Player Writ filing through the Bounty Board (5,000g Crown seal fee — see How to Place a Bounty).
When to Use the Ledger vs Other Systems
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Two-player binding contract with terms | Ledger Contract Filing Desk |
| Anonymous trade, no terms needed | Auction House |
| Quick gear exchange | Direct trade |
| Murder accountability | Civic Justice + Bounty Board |
| Player Writ on someone | Bounty Board (/bounties), via Public Writ Deed |
| Crown Writ on yourself / your NPC target | Ledger member crafts at Recorder+ rank |
| Reduce a prison sentence | Bail Contract from a Ledger member (Recorder+) |
| Get out of prison early with a longer protection window | Parole Deed from a Ledger member (Witness+) |
Where to Read Next
- For the Ledger Order page (ranks, ladder, exam mechanics), High Ledger Guide.
- For the bounty system the Ledger backstops, Immortal Realm Bounty Hunting.
- For the broader civic justice layer, Civic Justice.
- For commission-style direct contracts, Immortal Realm Crafting.
- The download page is the on-ramp when you're ready.
