ExaltedMUSH/Greyfalls Laws

== The Law

Greyfalls has about the same standard law-set as the Realm, so anything that would be legal in the Realm is legal in Greyfalls and anything that’s out of the question in the Realm is just as unacceptable in Greyfalls. (See the dragon-blooded core book for rules on law in the Realm.) That being said, law enforcement is a lot more lax in Greyfalls that it is on most of the Blessed Isle. There aren’t any magistrates in residence in Greyfalls, since the Blessed Isle is running out on its own and can’t afford to send one abroad, which means that dishing out the law devolves exclusively to the Dragon-Blooded and the Immaculate monks of the city.

One thing in particular that should be mentioned is Greyfalls’ legal stance on drugs. Officially, the Realm’s drugs laws are in effect: mortals aren’t allowed to have anything harder than qat, and Dragon-Blooded don’t have more options. In particular, it’s worthwhile to note that opium and heroin are absolutely illegal in the Realm and its satrapies—mortals and Dragon-Blooded alike are forbidden from touching it.

However, the law enforcement of Greyfalls hasn’t ever made much of an effort to keep anyone that can pay from getting into anything they can snort, shoot, chew, or smoke. This is beginning to change in a minor way as the Immaculate elder is taking steps to stop a recent influx of heroin into Greyfalls, but for the last few hundred years, no one has given even a cursory damn about opium and everything softer. (The exception is Bright Morning: the sorcerer’s drug is still punishably illegal for mortals to own or use in Greyfalls.)

Killing people is illegal, but there are different degrees of ‘illegal’ depending on the kind of person in question. Killing a slave usually entails a Resources 2 payment to the slave’s owner (possibly Resources 3, depending on the circumstances of the killing). Killing a free member of the Greyfalls citizenry that isn’t a patrician, a Nuri, or someone with Resources 4 or more will generally be a slap on the wrist if you’re caught, and there won’t be much of an investigation (if any) into a random corpse found in the streets.

Killing a Nuri’s a slightly different story, depending on the Nuri’s position in society. If the Nuri in question has Backing 2 in Greyfalls glass-blowing, paper-making, or civil service (or Resources 4), there’s a jail sentence and a heavy fine involved. Killing a patrician is same as killing a Nuri with Backing 2 or Resources 4. Killing a Nuri with Backing 2 (glass-blowing, paper-making, a House, civil service) or Resources 4 usually entails indentured servitude and impounding of a large amount of the killer’s worldly goods, and regardless of the patrician’s wealth or standing.

Killing an Immaculate monk usually results in slavery for the rest of the killer’s life—or death, if the monk’s standing is fairly high. Confiscated goods go to the Order’s coffers.

Killing a Dragon-Blooded carries a sentence of death, generally by back-room torture of the worst kind.

Trespassing on private property carries a fine; trespassing on one of the House mansions, or civil property, or the Order’s temple, will generally incur jail time and a heavier fine. Theft is punished by a fine and the loss of the thief’s left hand. Grand theft is usually jail-time and indentured servitude (or slavery, if the theft is heinous enough). For the purposes of determining punishment, general theft is of items of Resources 1-3 and grand theft is Resources 4-5. Jade items are treated as being worth (Their Artifact Value + 2) in Resources, regardless of the item’s function. Other Magical Material items are priceless and someone caught stealing one (presumably from the Order’s storehouse) will be treated as a heretic and dealt with accordingly.

Obviously, the degree of enforcement for these laws varies depending on your social standing and whether you’re Dragon-Blooded or not. The punishments above are always going to be correct for a mortal of Resources 1-3 and less than 3 points of Backing in glass-blowing, paper-making, or a civil service. For patricians and mortals of Resources 4+ or Backing 3+ for the above areas, punishments are going to be milder, except in cases of Magical Material theft and Dragon-Blood killing.

For Dragon-Blooded, it’s a different story. Most of the time, charges of the crimes above won’t even be brought against a Dragon-Blood. If they are, it’s usually either a large organization or another Dragon-Blood bringing the charges up, in which case the Immaculate Order, a visiting magistrate, the Satrap, or the Lictor arbitrates the dispute. Dueling is an acceptable way of settling grand theft, trespassing, and killing-a-patrician/killing-a-Dragon-Blood charges, but otherwise it’s seen as being beneath a Dragon-Blood to duel over something so minor.

||Offense||Slave...||Citizen...||Patrician, Nuri, or Upper Class...||Dynast|| ||Theft||HORROR||SUFFERING||WOE||INCONVENIENCE||