Pavisite quibblings

From: Julian Lord <jlord_at_free.fr>
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 17:17:35 +0100


Peter :

> >The Destori hero killed Garreth in a regular duel, not
> >secretly and not cowardly. He (and only him)
> >discovered his chaos allegiances, but there was
> >another Orlanthi chieftain (NPC), Degan Stormson, who
> >witnessed the duel, uncertain whom to aid but sure
> >that Garreth appeared suddenly mad and murderous.
>
> Given that the campaign takes place in Pavis, the only
> proper authorities are the Lunars and Pavis city
> authorities. There's no tribal or clan authority capable
> of handing out judgements (and Pavis is too lawless
> to respect them even if they existed).

That's not quite true, actually. The Dorasings use their own variation of Heortling justice, for instance, not to mention the fact that the local dwarves, aldryami, zebra folk, Mani's people, and others are efficient sources of authority.

Where I agree with Peter is that Pavis has no _single_ source of political authority, apart from Lord Pavis' own extremely punctual, even-handed, illuminant, vague, arcane, secret, divine interventions, so that the real freedom of the place does in most cases look more like simple lawlessness and/or radical parochialism.

OTOH Pavis is also a place where Green Age forces are alive and kicking, so that eventually, any actions against the harmony of the EWFey ideals of the place may invite some sort of exclusion, opprobrium, and retribution.

AKA the GM ... ;-)

> >He has to pay a thane weregild (50 cows) to Garreth's
> >kin, prove to a jury his self-defense intent (not
> >difficult, he has a witness, Degan), prove Garreth
> >allegiance to chaos (more difficult, but not
> >impossible) and finally "purify".
>
> Pavis doesn't have a jury and even if they did, the
> Lunars would not allow primitive legal proceedings
> to deal with such serious matters when their
> enlightened tribunals are readily available to deal
> impartially with such matters.

Sure, but much would depend on the exact political balance you've established IYG. The important question is one of military control. IYG, who controls the court where the legal proceedings are taking place, and does he do anything to contest that authority, effectively or otherwise ?

The laws of whoever's in charge should normally apply. The possibility of appeals against the decision will depend on whether any pertinent authorities are imbued or associated with dominant military control.

> Why should he purify himself? Killing isn't
> against Orlanth's laws.

Peter's detailed analyses are, as usual, excellent.

> >Finally, is the Destori kin to the Storm Voice who
> >initiated him, according to heortling law?
>
> No. Kinship is primarily through family and clan
> ties. One can acquire kinship through many
> ways (such as marriage) but mere initiation alone
> is not sufficient.

I generally agree with Peter, but this is something that can vary from clan to clan. One common exception is that it's not uncommon for groups of initiands to create a bond of brothership between them, as a common theme of
PC-group-related campaign-building ... :-)

But the basic answer, as Peter suggests, is no.

Ask yourself instead : Did the Destori and the Storm Voice establish a kinship relationship during the initiation Quest or not ?

Most likely not, but YGWV.

Julian Lord

--
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