To my understanding, there are only a very few 'crimes' among the Orlanthi. Any crime is punishable by death. Crimes are things like consorting with chaos and other actions that among Orlanthi are known to lead to chaos (secret murder, rape).
The Orlanthi justice system is all about restitution and its purpose is to de-escalate violence.
So if someone doesn't like one of the heroes and publicly kills that hero, there is no crime. If no-one steps forward to demand restitution (or publicly kill the killer or beat the killer to a pulp and demands restitution), then that is the end of the story. As no-one is demanding justice, then obviously, there is no need for justice.
The protection that travelers have against random violence is the Orlanthi system of hospitality, as ritualised in the Greeting. Once the Greeting is initiated, anyone who breaks its terms has broken the basis of the community that they represent (usually their clan). Many of that community's magical defences will decay until the clan can fix the issue (restitution to the victims is usually the best approach). On entering a clan's tula, travellers will actively look for a clan member to initiate the Greeting and once it is started, they are under a magical bond of mutual protection against violence, theft and even lack of courtesy etc.
And there is no weaseling around this. A clan that has exchanged the greeting with another Orlanthi is bound to defend them against all threats, including from the tribal king or high king.
The sources for this are in King of Sartar (which will be re-published this year) and Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes, available from http://moondesignpublications.com
regards,
Charles
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