Law

The Law Skill

The law skill provides the character with knowledge and understanding of all the intricacies which make up the Su'ndi legal system. The system it relates to is a complicated web of laws added on top of other laws which makes any legal documentation produced by someone without this skill rarely have legal worth. Higher levels of skills will make legal actions done by the skilled character harder to negate through the legal system itself.

The details of the legal skill(s) are generally assumed. When a player needs to make a document that has legal power he/she makes a legal document object, names it appropriately and then puts the details important to that specific document onto the object using the craft system. Thus if a character with legal skill wishes to write a will for Susan he/she would create a legal document and use the crafting system to rename the legal document to legal document: Susan's will. He/she would then use describe to add the details important to that specific will.

Another use of the legal skill is in the defense of an individual who has been accused of a crime. In these cases the legal skill could be used, via +check, to add strength to your argument in the same way as the other social skills.

Legal Documents

When a specific type of legal document is required the quality of the document directly relates to how perfect the legal fine points have been made by the lawyer. The legal jargon is assumed however so that only the sections which are important to the players needs to be written down.

Legal Document Types

Wills
Contracts
Deeds of Ownership

Criminals, law and order

The Su'ndi do not have a well developed criminal law system compared to what we are used to in modern society. There is no police force as the Su'ndi generally believe that the House is responsible for the punishment of its members. Any serious civil disorder problems are handled by the military. Punishments include fines, banishment, branding and/or maiming depending on the crime. The Su'ndi do not imprison individuals not even whilst they are awaiting trial.

When an individual has been accused of a crime it is solved in one of several ways:

  • The first level is to challenge the patriarch and/or matriarch of the accused persons House. An arbitrator may be called upon to manage this. This scenario can either be resolved by the paying of compensation or it may be resolved by the traditional duelling system that has long been observed by the Su'ndi people.
  • When duels and arbitration fail between two houses one of the patriarchs/matriarchs may take the matter before council. This is something that most houses are loathe to do as much of the council given justice depends upon the political strength of the involved houses at that moment. It is easy for a crime brought to council in this way to end up costing both families a lot in influence, reputation and bribes.
  • When an individual does not belong to a House his/her justice is meted out by a Council elected Justice. The Justice has the authority to try and sentence anyone brought before him unless they are part of a family or have the support of the Temple.

law-and-order