RRR:
> You *might* get a satisfactory ruling against a tree, river or Humakti,
and
> you *might* even collect. But the odds are against you...
When you *do* take a force of nature, an animal, or a ghost to court, it quickly comes down to which cult covers/is responsible for said force/animal/ghost. And what is their capacity to pay?
With the exception of capital crimes, *all* Heortling law is governed by pragmaticism, compromise, and politics. With no central authorities to enforce a decision, the tradition of Andrin is always the art of the possible. And as TR36 reminds us, you *can* take a humakti to court, though wisdom is required in this. There are many possible outcomes, from feud (not a good idea) to the cult paying wereguild or even the Sword ordering the offender to kill herself in the interests of alliance and realpolitik.
It all comes down to the relationship between a particular Humakti band and the clan in question. If there are lots of cult members living among the clan, even perhaps married and living in communal lodges (unlikely IMNSHO, YGMV) then it makes good sense for the cult to be pragmatic in most matters of Heortling law. The clan is their natural recruiting ground if nothing else. (Which makes me wonder if anyone has ever done a demographic breakdown of a humakti cult. What's an average life expectancy, and what's an average death expectancy? How fare the neighbours? And if the blighters do marry and spawn, how are their kids treated?).
But, if, say, the humakti in question is part of a large mercenary regiment based in a distant city, you'd no more think of taking him to court than you would a Lunar, a Grazer, or a Tusk Rider for that matter. You'd apply standard threat assessment - kill or beat him if he's a likely danger and you outnumber him, insult him and run away if you don't, ignore him completely if at all possible and piss in his mead if he comes anywhere near your lodge.
If the humakti cult are your weaponthanes both sides have an incentive to co mpromise and mutual respect. If they're outsiders who regularly kill your young men, then there comes a point when either legal or military action becomes an imperative for your own survival. There's no 'standard' relationship, and no 'standard' set of responses.
Hence the dice.
There might be occasional instances where a court case against humakti is carried on for particular reasons even though there's no chance of an outcome: cultic rivalry, lawspeaker heroquests, to unite the clan against the 'foreign' cult, to make a particular humakti leader unpopular or a chiefly aspirant popular, or simply for the sheer power and colour of display, argument, and ritual. The humakti may even go along with it to justify themselves and show off to the locals, even though they play by their own rules. And if they don't like the decision: no payment. What ya gonna do about it farmboy? Then again, a humakti is just as likely to win the case but offer exgratia payment anyway. They're odd like that.
I wouldn't let my daughter marry one.
John
nysalor_at_... John HughesQuestlines: http://home.iprimus.com.au/pipnjim/questlines/
nysalor_at_... John HughesQuestlines: http://home.iprimus.com.au/pipnjim/questlines/
For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks.
Powered by hypermail