A Village Elder.
In the Old World, Village Elders, are respected peasants that have positions of authority amongst their brethren.
Bretonnia[]
Bretonnian nobles are responsible for bringing justice to the peasants. If they hear of a crime, they make sure that someone is punished. As long as it's a peasant, they do not worry about which peasant. In some cases, the lord has hanged the victim.[1a]
Most peasants would prefer to avoid such “justice.”[1a]
Instead, they turn to their Village Elders, respected residents of the village. These old men listen to the details of the case and then hand out punishments. Often these involve paying reparations to the victim, normally in labour, but sometimes the Village Elders arrange “accidents” for the criminal.[1a]
The quality of this justice depends entirely on the quality of the Village Elder, as there are no checks on his decisions. A senile elder is still capable of handing down something less than justice. However, it is still almost invariably better than appealing to the local lord.[1a]
The Empire[]
In The Empire, the role of the village elder is usually much more formalised. The elder typically leads a council of local villagers and makes official decisions regarding the village.[2a]