Pacification

If a Magister infringes the Articles of Magic or his Order’s own constitution, it is a matter for the Colleges to deal with; although, the Witch Hunters often try to lay claim to this responsibility. The Colleges do not take this duty lightly; to do so would be the first step to their own corruption and downfall.

Punishment can range from flogging to exile, to execution, or worst of all for a Magister, Pacification.

Pacification, as opposed to execution, is a punishment reserved for those Magisters who are found guilty of Gross Misconduct, Traitorous Acts, and most of all for Defaming the Good Orders of the Colleges of Magic. Essentially, if a Magister embraces the Dark Arts, rejects his Order and College, becomes a threat to the Empire at large, and even more importantly, does something to focus the frightened eyes of the Empire’s public on his actions and therefore the College and Order to which he belongs, College authorities always seek to have that Magister captured alive. Death is too good for such traitors. The public’s fears that the Colleges do not police their own well enough, or even that the Colleges should not be permitted to exist at all, need to be addressed very visibly.

Pacification is the worst possible punishment for a Magister, and it takes considerable effort to achieve. Not only is it spoken of in dire tones to young apprentices, the actual processes involved are kept a closely guarded secret. All Wizards are aware that it involves a type of Aethyric gelding—a cutting away of the part of the soul capable of seeing and casting magic. It is unclear as to whether this involves removal of actual flesh, but the very thought of a sundering of the soul is enough to make all but the most thick-headed recoil.

As Wizards progress within their Order, this apprentices’ tale is ornamented somewhat with additional facts. Each order seems to have slightly different and conflicting rumours about the process of this mental mutilation—including what happens to the poor unfortunates afterwards. The Amethyst Order simply maintains that the soul in question is allowed to die in accordance with their loudly screamed wishes. Other Orders maintain darker tales of tormented souls entombed within their own skulls or used as fodder for those daemons it suits the Light Order to consort with. Some believe the fires of the Bright Order’s flaming towers are fed by more than the wind of Aqshy.

Pacification is known to have been performed only six times in the history of the Colleges, as most traitors are either captured and killed before they do anything to attract the public gaze, or the public never realises that the evil sorcerer sacrificing their children to daemons was once a Collegiate Magister. As a rule, Black Magisters tend to stay out of the public eye even more than warlocks or sorcerers, meaning it is fractionally easier for the Orders to track him down without having to make a graphic example of him to appease the witch hunters and the public at large.

Source

 * Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Realms of Sorcery (pg. 69-70).