Chaosium Digest Volume 20, Number 9 Date: Monday, July 21, 1997 Number: 4 of 5 Contents: Irish Brehon Law, Section 2 (Mike Maxwell) PENDRAGON -------------------- From: Mike Maxwell Subject: Irish Brehon Law, Section 2 System: Pendragon ======================================================== Section 2, Copyright 1997 Mike Maxwell, mmaxwell@mbl.edu ======================================================== II. Offenses Offenses in Irish law can be grouped into three broad categories: those against another's body, those against another's property, and those that involve a loss of eineach. In secular law, a payment can atone for virtually any offense. In this section, I list offenses under secular law, along with the associated payment and consequences to eineach (when appropriate). The GM should consult the "Dishonor Table" in _Pendragon_ (page 200) to determine the amount of Honor lost. The offenses below can be considered to take place outside of the Church's jurisdiction. The Church can be thought of recognizing these offenses plus others, such as working on Sunday. Church law generally employs the death penalty more often than secular law. The Chuch recognizes three forms of crime and punishment: a crime of lesser value than the culprit, where the culprit makes a payment; a crime that equals the culprit's value, where the culprit is enslaved; a crime of greater value than the culprit, where the culprit is killed and his kin pays a fine. In secular law, the death penalty is an option when the culprit cannot or will not pay. A. Offenses to the body. 1. Illegal injury. To start with, the law texts recognize circumstances under which is it lawful to harm another. These include cases in which the injury is intentional, such as in a duel, during battle, in self-defense, by an enforcing-surety on a delinquent principal, against outlawed individuals, by someone attempting to stop a crime, or a non-fatal fight between women. In other cases, the injury is accidental, such as during a game or during work. When an illegal injury occurs, the victim is brought to his home and tended by his kin and a physician for nine days. If the victim dies, then the culprit must pay the fine for murder (see below). If the victim is alive after nine days, then a physician formally examines him. At this point, the culprit must pay for the injury. The actual payment depends upon the nature of wound and the status of victim, for which the law texts go into great detail (e.g., one heifer for every 20 hairs pulled from the head of a virgin bishop). A simple rule is to have the culprit pay the victim's eineach for each Major or Mortal Wound, and to pay half of the victim's eineach for each Light Wound. If the physician judges that the victim is unlikely to recover from the injury, then the culprit additionally pays the victim's eineach; this fine releases the culprit from further liability for the victim's fate. If the physician judges that the culprit needs further treatment but will recover, then the culprit must take the victim on sick-maintenance (folog n-orthrusa), but only if the injury will detract from the victim's capacity for work, action, or movement. Under sick-maintenance, the victim and his retinue (if any), are brought to the house of a kinsman of the culprit. The culprit's kin and the victim's kin exchange pledges, and a surety guarantees that the culprit's kin will meet the following obligations. First, the culprit's kin must assume any further medical expenses, as well as providing food and proper accomodation (i.e., no noise or fighting in the house). Second, the culprit's kin must provide a substitute to do the victim's work. If the victim is married, then the culprit's kin must pay half of the victim's eineach for "barring procreation." If the victim is an excessively lustful man, then he may have his wife with him on sick-maintenance in order to protect the women of the nursing-house. Third, the victim must be returned home safely. Certain types are not entitled to sick-maintenance. These include members of the aos da/na, as it is considered to be difficult to find proper substitutes for them. Those of high rank, such as chieftains, bishops, and wealthy lords, do not receive sick-maintenance, as their retinues would be excessively burdensome. Dangerous individuals, including lunatics, werewolves, and viragoes, are not entitled to sick-maintenance. 2. Illegal murder. As with injury, the killing of another is lawful under some circumstances: in a duel, in battle, or in self-defense. Thieves in the act of stealing and outlaws may be legally killed. As discussed below, unransomed criminal captives (cimbid) may be killed, as can fugitive murderers in a blood-feud. Under secular law, an illegal killing can be very expensive for the culprit and his kin, as it involves two payments. The first is the body-price (e/raic), which is a fixed fine of 7 cumals for the killing of any landed man within the tu/ath. Six of the cumals go to the victim's derbfine, and the other cumal goes to the victim's mother's kin. The second payment (cro/ di/re) is actually a collection of fines paid out to the male members of the victim's derbfine. For each of the following fines, the payment is based upon the eineach of the kinsman in question, not the victim's eineach: * the victim's sons and brothers receive their full eineach; * the victim's father receives his full eineach; * the victim's grandfather, the victim's paternal first uncles (i.e., father's brothers), and paternal first cousins receive half of their eineach; * the victim's great-uncles (i.e., grandfather's brothers), second uncles (i.e., father's cousins), second cousins (i.e., sons of the second uncles), fosterfather, and fosterbrothers receive one-fourth of their eineach. Two forms of killing carry severe penalties. A secret killing is where the body is concealed and the killer fails to acknowledge the crime. Here, the killer must double all of the fines in the second payment (cro/ di/re). Kin-slaying (fingal) presents a horrific paradox. When the victim and culprit are of the same kin, how can the kin pay itself? Furthermore, if the other kinsmen avenge the victim, then they too will have slain a kinsman, the culprit. Thus, the usual punishment for kin-slaying is banishment from the tu/ath, leaving the culprit an outlaw. If the culprit's kin is unwilling or unable to meet the payment for murder, then the victim's kin takes the culprit into custody. The victim's kin can legally put the culprit to death, enslave him, or hold him as a criminal captive (cimbid) until the payment is made. If a non-paying killer flees from the victim's kin, then the victim's kin and his fosterfather and fosterbrothers are obligated to carry out a blood-feud (di/gail), through which the fugitive may be legally slain. For murder, the Church prescribes the death penalty and a payment of 7 cumals by the culprit's kin to the victim's kin. Merciful churches lay down an alternative penalty of 14 years' penance and a payment of 14 cumals to the victim's kin. Murder by a clergyman entails a 10-year exile, seven of which must be spent in penance and abstinence. Upon completion of this exile, the killer pays the victim's kin 7 cumals and offers himself as a servant to the victim's parents. 3. Violation of protection. In the law texts, every man of the tu/ath can provide legal protection (sna/dud) to another for a period of time. This protection includes the protector's house and immediate surroundings (e.g., yard, garden, enclosure). A GM may wish to set the number of days of legal protection equal to the protector's eineach. Whoever injures or kills someone under protection must pay the protector's honor price as well as the appropriate fine for the attack to the victim or his kin. It is illegal to provide protection to absconders (e.g., runaway slave or unfilial son or wife, or a fugitive killer). Protecting a fugitive criminal reduces the protector's eineach to 10 dairy cows. 4. Rape and harassment. Irish law recognizes two forms of rape, forcible rape and unconsenting sex (i.e., seduction of a drunk or sleeping woman). For either form, the culprit must pay the eineach of the victim's legal superior (i.e., husband, father, son, or guardian). If the victim is an unmarried girl of 14 years or older, a chief wife, or a nun, then an additional body-price of 7 cumals must be paid. If the victim is a concubine, then only 3 cumals are additionally paid. In forcible rape, the culprit must provide for the rearing of the resultant child. There are also penalties for harassing or touching a woman against her will. Half of the woman's superior's eineach is paid for kissing or touching her flesh; one-quarter eineach is paid for making contact with her clothes. In some cases, no redress can be sought by an assaulted woman. These include a promiscuous or adulterous woman, a woman who invites a man into a bush or bed, a married woman who goes unaccompanied into an ale-house, or a woman that conceals the fact that she has been raped. B. Offenses to property 1. Trespassing and damage to property. For minor forms of trespassing (e.g., looking into a house unbidden, opening a door without permission, crossing one's courtyard or enclosure without permission), the trespasser pays one heifer to the aggrieved party. If one uses another's property without permission, such as a mill or kiln, then the aggrieved party is paid one dairy cow. There is no penalty if stress or urgency compels one to trespass or to use another's property. When property is damaged, the owner can demand compensation only if he has stored or maintained the property in a safe and appropriate manner (e.g., keeping tools in a shed, upkeeping fences around a garden). Irish law recognizes damages caused by humans and that caused by animals. If a human damages one's property, then the culprit must fix or replace the damaged property and pay the injured party's eineach. Damage by animals typically involves the fouling or eating of a neighbor's crops or the killing of the neighbor's livestock by dogs. Owners of animals are expected to take measures to restrain them properly. A GM may wish to have each landowner make a Stewardship roll against each of his neighbors once per year. If the landowner fails his roll, then one or a group of his animals wanders from his farm. Those neighbors that fail their rolls have inadequate fences, and the escaped animals invade their farms, but the neighbors cannot claim compensation for any damage. If all neighbors make their rolls, then the animals breach some neighbor's fence 50% of the time. In this case, the neighbor can legitimately demand compensation. The owner of the trespassing animals must fix or replace the damaged property and pay half of the injured party's eineach. If it is determined that there was malice or neglect on the part of the owner, then the trespass is counted as an offense "by humans", and the neighbor's full eineach is paid. Owners of animals are not liable for trespasses by animals in heat/rut or by animals that are frightened by another party. In the latter case, he who frightened the animals fixes or replaces the damaged property and pays the injury party's full eineach. 2. Theft. Irish law allows for some theft. For example, anything may be taken from a battlefield, a burning building, or a great depth (lake or sea). Additionally, stress or urgency can exonerate theft: taking a horse, weapon, or vehicle in the face of danger; a hungry wanderer taking a piece of food; taking herbs for the sick; taking a morsel of food for a pregnant woman. For illegal theft, the thief must return or replace the stolen item and pay the victim's eineach. The thief must return or replace three times the value of the item if the theft occurred in the victim's house or immediate surroundings (i.e., yard, garden, enclosure). The habitual thief (e.g., three convictions of theft) has his eineach reduced to 10 dairy cows. Stolen goods cannot be legally sold. One who receives stolen goods is guilty of "middle theft", though only if he is aware that the goods are stolen. A culpable "middleman" is treated as Accessory 1 or 2 (see section D, below). If a thief brings stolen goods into an unknowing party's house or enclosure, then he pays half of the party's eineach. C. Offenses that bring a loss of eineach. The previous offenses, those to the body and those to property, do not necessarily bring shame to the culprit, except in extreme circumstances (e.g., the slaying of a kinsman) or for repeat offenses (theft). Other offenses result in dishonor to the culprit. For gaming purposes, I quantify "dishonor" as the reduction of one's eineach to 10 dairy cows, which is the lowest eineach value given on page 54 of _Pagan Shore_. All of the following offenses reduce the culprit's eineach to 10 dairy cows. 1. Betraying one's oath. This offense includes perjury: swearing a false oath or giving false testimony in court. Breaking a contract (e.g., lord-client, co-operative farming) is also betraying one's oath. This extends to the implict contract between the Church and the laity: misused offerings and donations can be legally recovered, and churches that become places of sin can be destroyed. Similarly, an immoral populace can be excommunicated. Divorce or the premature termination of fosterage, however, do not involve losses of eineach to either party. 2. Fraud Misrepresenting one's work (e.g., a poet overcharging for a poem, a craftsman overcharging for shoddy goods, a brewer selling adulterated spirits). 3. Degrading Oneself Performing tasks contrary to one's rank (e.g., a king doing manual labor, travelling alone, or fleeing battle). 4. Injustice. This especially applies to breitheamhs. A breitheamh can be charged with injustice if he passes a biased judgement, passes judgement after hearing only one side of the case, passes judgement based on bribery, or refuses to give the "judge's pledge" before the case (see Section IV.B). An unjust breitheamh is deprived of his office, a blotch appears on his cheek, and disaster may befall the chieftain who appointed him. Chieftains and lords can be also charged with injustice, as they are expected deal fairly with their clients and to function as ready-made judges on occasion (see Section III.C). Clients can terminate their periods of service with an unjust lord without having to return the loaned goods. Unjust chieftains lose their right to rule. In theory, several signs indicate that a chieftain or lord is unjust: infertility in women and cattle, crop failure, defeat in battle, and disasters (e.g., plague, storms, floods). The GM may want to use these events as plot-hooks. 5. Refusing hospitality. Most members of the tu/ath are expected to provide hospitality to all other tribesmen and members of allied tribes. An exception is the base client (betagh), who, due to his small holding, is required only to provide a feast to his lord (with retinue) during winter. Those who fail to provide hospitality when expected lose eineach and must pay the refused party's eineach. Fugitives and outlaws are not entitled to hospitality. If one shelters a fugitive from the law, one loses eineach and is considered an Accessory 1 or 2 (see below). 6. Unjustified satire. A fili/ can legally use satire to exert pressure upon a wrongdoer to get him to submit to arbitration or to make amends for an offense. Unjustified satire includes publicizing an untrue story, mocking another's appearance, or satirizing the dead. The unjustified satirist loses eineach, and must pay the victim's eineach and give a public retraction. 7. Tolerating satire. In order to avoid this offense in the case of justified satire, one must pay whatever fine he owes or give a pledge to do the proper action (e.g., submit to a legal case). With unjustified satire, one must receive one's eineach and a public retraction from the satirist. Otherwise, one loses eineach for tolerating satire. D. Special considerations. 1. Accessories. Irish law recognizes three kinds of accessories ("crime of the eye"): * Accessory 1: he who instigates the offense, accompanies the culprit, and exults in the aftermath, but does not act (i.e., does not harm, damage, or steal). This accessory is liable for the full penalty of the offense. * Accessory 2: he who exults or instigates, and may accompany, but does not act. This accessory is liable for half of the penalty of the offense. * Accessory 3 (the onlooker): he who accompanies but does not instigate, exult, or act. This accessory is liable for one-fourth of the penalty of the offense. Church law especially penalizes the onlooker; in many cases, the onlooker pays the full penalty of the offense. Several kinds of persons may witness the offense without being liable as accessories. These are those who attempt to stop the offense, as well as those who cannot act to stop the offense (e.g., clergy, women, children, the senseless and the senile). 2. Women and children. If a woman commits an offense, her legal superior pays the penalty. An offense against a woman is considered as an offense against her superior, and her superior is paid his eineach. Similarly, a dependent child's father or guardian pays for any offenses committed by the child. Offenses against young children (i.e., between baptism and 7 years) bring a payment of 20-29 dairy cows to the father or guardian, reflecting the Church's elevation of the status of young children. Offenses against dependent children over 7 years result in a payment of the father's or guardian's eineach. 3. Church. Clergy members that commit secular offenses must pay the same fines that laymen do. The Church additionally imposes penance upon wrongdoing clergymen. Offenses against the clergy or Church property come under Church law. The Church recognizes three basic kinds of crime and punishment, described at the beginning of Section II. When a fine is to be paid, the Church typically charges twice the eineach of the aggrieved clergy and twice the value of its damaged property. =============================================================== End of Section 2, Copyright 1997 Mike Maxwell, mmaxwell@mbl.edu =============================================================== --