KADI: Ottoman Judge

Justice is a scale. On one side, your conscience. On the other, your purse.

The 1300s. As the Ottoman banner spreads across three continents, you are a young kadı — a judge. Your first post takes you to the district of Gemlik in Bursa, your seal in hand and a lifelong trial before you. For dispensing justice in these lands is easy; staying true to it is the real test.

▶ The verdict is yours Every day a new case arrives at your door: an unsettled inheritance dispute, a merchant cheating his scales, a wrong left unanswered. Each province has its own cases, drawn from the real historical events of the era. Hear both sides, weigh the evidence, and deliver the right ruling under the law of the time. Because a wrong verdict changes more than a single case — it changes your fate.

▶ When duty ends, life begins Once you set down your seal, you are not a judge but an ordinary man — and your household is waiting. Each evening you face a crossroads:

• Go to the tavern: Here you may befriend a wealthy merchant. He'll smile, open his purse... and one day, when his case lands before you, ask for "a small favor." Your pockets grow heavier, your conscience lighter.

• Read at home: Through knowledge you grow wiser, strengthen your sense of justice, and win the people's hearts. You earn little, but you stand tall.

The balance is entirely yours. Will you be an honest kadı, or a name that rises in the shadow of dark companions?

▶ Live a life, carry a lineage Advance far enough to reach the province of Damascus and you'll no longer be alone — you marry. At the next post, perhaps a child arrives. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? But beware: a difficult spouse can ruin your finances, tear you from your books, and drive you into the arms of bribery. The needs of your wife, your child, your home may never end. Sometimes the hardest trial is fought not in the courtroom, but in your own house.

▶ Rise through justice Serve across ten provinces, climb the ranks while keeping your honor, and chase the dream: reaching Şeyhülislam — the highest religious-legal office in the Ottoman Empire. But every bribe pushes you one step further from that summit.

Which kadı will you become? A symbol of justice that history remembers, or a name with a full purse and an empty conscience? The choice is yours.