I would mostly agree except:
>There is a large population of outlawed Orlanthi working as labor.
>Unknown percentage of the population. Basically, anyone that is
>moving into the town is a lower class and watched carefully by the
>city watch. For many, entering city life is a chance at redemption,
>for others, their true character comes out with the new anonymity
>that comes with leaving their old society.
I don't think a significant proportion of city populations are outlaws. The lower class will be mostly the victims of failed harvests and youngsters who have left home to make their fortune and found it less easy than they thought. Some will be the children of those people who are now raising children of their own. There's an example in the HQ book on pg.91 which strikes me as typical.
I see full outlawry as very uncommon. Most clans have an example or two in their history which is trotted out as a warning to youngsters who might be tempted to do something bad. Banishment is more common, youngsters who break the law get banished for a few years as a warning so there are probably a few people in each clan who have experience of trying to live outside the clan structure. And no doubt get ignored by the youngsters when they warn how difficult it is.
>Some criminal transgressions merit non-Orlanthi punishments. Due
>to the greater presence of outsiders, including outlawed Orlanthi,
>some acts of violence and destruction may have to treated with
>physical punishment or possibly even execution. When there is no
>Family or Guild to speak for someone in the city, there is no way
>to recover compensation. The only way to discourage this behavior
>is the threat of harm or death for these actions. Just kicking the
>offender out of the city is probably viewed as no punishment at all
>for those that have little social investment in the city's
>institutions.
Equally without a family or guild to speak for them their injuries or death go unremarked. I don't think the law gets involved in most of these crimes. If you get robbed by some thug you go after him and beat him up or even kill him. Maybe with the help of your friends or bodyguards. Or you bribe the city watch to do it for you. He isn't your kin so you can kill him without breaking any law. The rougher parts of Sartarite cities are going to be as bad or worse than modern gang ridden slums. If the level of violence threatens to get out of hand the city ring will send the militia into the slums to crack down but I wouldn't expect them to take prisoners for trial.
I see public executions and similar punishments as something introduced by the Lunars. Initially used as against rebels and similar political opponents rather than criminals.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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