Re: Sources for Heortling justice.

From: bryan_thx <bethexton_at_...>
Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:52:49 -0000

>
> The heroes have not been charged yet, but they are suspected of having performed a God Learner spell. My guess is that this is a capital crime if they are charged and found guilty.
> The Greeting has been performed, and information that lead to the suspicion has come up after the Greeting. They are not suspected of having done this right now, at the clans tula, but since this is such a serious crime (against `everything'?) the priests view it as a moral/magical obligation to punish them if they really have performed God Learner magic.
>

The situation is complicated enough that I'd go with whatever would be most interesting/fun/epic for you and your players.

One possible out for the host clan, maybe, could be that if the player characters only received lower level hospitality, the chief could call them forward to continue the greeting towards higher levels...but in the process interrogate them while they are bound by the oaths of the greeting.

Something like "And I would know more of your deeds. Are you the John, Paul, George and Ringo who confronted the Four-Arms-of-Shadow?" "We are." "And how did you overcome this subtle foe?" ..... "And what was the nature of the magic that could cause such a shift? For I know no god who performed such feats."..... The idea being that if the characters reveal themselves to be no true friends (that is, they have used forbidden magic), then the chief could presumably deny them all hospitality and ask them to leave the tula....presumably with warriors on their trail to finish them off once they are off the clan lands.

Alternatively, I would presume that there is some tradition around the term of hospitality. That when it is reasonable to ask a guest to leave, the clan can do so (although the guest may in turn raise reasons why it is not reasonable for them to leave). So the host clan may go out of its way to provide them safe escort to their next destination, so that they can end their obligation.

Now, if the chief doesn't believe the accusation, but a priest is convinced, the priest might risk his own standing (given the seriousness of the crime, and how all who knew god-learners were destroyed) to inform a colleague in another clan, who could then bring forth charges. The host clan would then be obliged, I presume, to defend the characters, and the whole case would go before the king or some agreed upon jurist--and in the latter case I'm sure it would be a powerful LM priest who had truth spells and/or ability to delve into the past via magic. Should the host clan 'lose' the case, presumably some precedent could be invoked allowing the host clan to end their hospitality (like exiling a clan member).

Or finally, for a more purely magical resolution, did the characters lie or omit information during the greeting? When asked who their gods were, did they any worship/propitiation they had done to other sources that might have enabled them to learn such magic (if they did). Presumably in this case spirits of retribution could be summoned against these fiends who lied under oath, and that would prove that they cheated in the hospitality ritual, and so the clan has no obligation against them.            

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