Law

The fundamental level of law everywhere is the clan or family. Clans vary in size and status, ranging from powerful extended clans with hundreds of members to small nuclear families. All clans are headed by an individual (the clanhead) who has almost total authority over clan affairs and members. Clanheads have the right to arbitrate disputes among kin and to punish clansmen for antisocial behavior. They also have the right to approve all marriages and to expel members from the clan for cause, powers that are the origin of the terms in-law and outlaw. Although most clanheads try to be fair in their judgments, being a close relative to one may be crucial.

Succession Laws

When a clanhead dies or is removed from office, a succession council of clan adults will be convened to choose a new clanhead. Most often, the eldest son of the deceased is chosen, but councils have been known to ignore such traditions. The preference of the deceased, expressed in a will or testament, may be decisive, as might the concerns of a liege when title to feudal lands or property is involved. Rival candidates are often allowed to plead their cases before the council. Succession disputes that cannot be resolved may be decided in feudal courts. Among small, unextended clans, the formality is less; the eldest surviving son will usually inherit by default.

Tribal Law

Just as Hârn’s “civilized” realms all have a legal system, each of the island’s tribal societies also has its own social and ethical code.

A major difference between the barbarian peoples of Hârn and their civilized cousins is their respective freedom. The feudal order is based upon a social contract that requires peasants to sacrifice legal freedom in exchange for security. The vast majority of Hârnic folk are born into a feudal culture and lead a relatively peaceful but unfree life.

Conversely, essentially all barbarians are freemen. They are not bound by law to their tribes, only by bonds of blood and friendship, and need not fear the retribution of an armed and annoyed overlord should they desire to leave. Of course the dangers lurking in their surrounding wilderness tends to keep tribesmen close to home, as leaving it is often fatal.

Law is established by tribal custom and handed down by the chieftain. Judgments can be harsh, but a cruel or unjust chieftain is easier to depose than a knight or baron.

Although the vendetta system is fading from Hârn, it is the seed from which most legal institutions have grown and it still dominates in Orbaal and Ivinia. The foundation of the system is the belief that most crimes are private matters between families. The power of the clan, the fear of its retribution, is the principal force for the maintenance of social order.

Wergild

Vendetta justice revolves around the concept of wergild (“man gold”), which is compensation for the death or injury of a clansman. The amount to be paid is negotiable and varies with the status of the victim and the degree of his injury. If the accused cannot pay, the entire family are liable unless they cast out the miscreant by declaring him outlaw.

Duels

In matters of vendetta and honor, many Ivinians prefer single-combat duels, or einvigi, especially the more formal, rule-bound version known as holmgang. These duels are not always fatal, as the combatant first injured or the first to depart the circle of battle in any manner is judged the loser.

Injustices and Feuds

Vendetta law has two major weaknesses. First, guilt and innocence tend to be more a matter of power than right or wrong. Women, children, the aged, and the infirm are often denied justice. Criminals often go free because the injured party may be dead or his family intimidated into silence. Second, there is a great tendency for the system to inflame protracted clan feuds. Families get involved in vicious, ongoing, bloody brawls. Such feuds may last for generations, with the origin of the dispute forgotten and each side simply responding to the other’s latest atrocity.

The dominant form of government in civilized Hârn is feudalism. In this system, all land is (theoretically) owned by the king, who then grants fiefs to trusted magnates so as to provide local government and defense of the realm. Such grants are inheritable, although the monarch may revoke them for treason, rebellion, or other just cause. The great nobles of the kingdom, called tenants-in-chief, will themselves grant portions of their fiefs to lesser persons, a process known as subinfeudation.

Nobility and the Law

The distinction between noble and common blood is the most significant in feudal society. Nobles are automatically assumed to be superior and legal systems always protect the privilege of rank. Their exclusive privileges include the right to bear heraldic arms, carry chivalric weapons, ride warhorses, organize military forces, and build and hold fortifications. Short of rebellion or treason, a noble can commit few crimes. Any time a commoner is rude or familiar to a noble, he can expect swift punishment. It is not a crime for a noble to maim or slay a commoner for cause, although the victim’s family may have a tenuous claim to compensation.

Feudal Obligations

When a noble accepts a fief, he becomes a vassal of the person (liege) who bestowed it. He pays homage to his liege and swears an oath of fealty to him pledging absolute loyalty. Each individual contract between liege and vassal depends on the personalities involved, local custom, and the current situation, but some generalities may be made concerning their mutual obligations.

Justice

All feudal lords are responsible for justice in their fiefs, administered by holding informal and irregular feudal courts. Subinfeudation creates a natural hierarchy of feudal courts, ranging from the manorial court of a knight to the royal court of a sovereign. Tenants with a grievance may apply to be heard and then argue their case before the lord. Feudal justice is a complex mosaic of local custom, the king’s law, and personal edict. Justice can be extremely arbitrary in that the lord is both judge and jury, and sometimes the prosecutor as well. But most lords administer justice in a fair and friendly way in an effort to maintain the loyalty of their tenants.

Defense
The lord of the manor is obliged to protect his lawabiding tenants from outside interference. Together with his yeomen, the lord will police his lands, and if some great danger threatens the fief, he will organize and lead the peasant militia.

Military Service
Fiefs are usually granted in return for providing military service to the liege. An earl who is obligated to provide 100 knights to the king ensures he can supply them by granting manorial fiefs to a sufficient number of knights. Depending on land quality, a fief of 1200–1800 acres will provide enough revenue to support one knight. Service will be in the army or household of the liege for 30–60 days each year, although scutage (“shield money”) will normally be substituted in years of peace. Scutage is traditionally about 20% of the fief ’s annual revenue.

Merchet
The betrothals of tenants-in-chief are highly political and of vital concern to the king. Similarly, tenants-inchief are very interested in the nuptials of their own vassals, as are manorial lords with regard to their serfs. In addition to the basic right to forbid or arrange the marriages of his vassals, a liege is entitled to merchet when permission is granted. This tax, payable by the bride’s family, is typically 5–10% of the holding’s annual revenue.

Aids
An aid is an incidental tax levied on vassals. They are traditionally levied when the lord wishes to knight his eldest son, marry his eldest daughter, or ransom his person from enemies. Special aids, such as to finance a war or build a castle, may also be levied, but this practice is normally reserved for kings.

Heriot
Heriot is a death tax assessed on the estate of a deceased vassal. For a serf or minor landholder, heriot is typically the family’s best animal or its equivalent in cash or kind. Larger estates are assessed a one-time tax that usually equals their current annual net revenue, with payments generally spread over several years.

Wards
Minors will often have their inherited estates placed in the trust of their lord, while they themselves are made wards until they attain the age of 21. Widows may be treated similarly until they remarry. A liege will often overwork ward estates to the verge of impoverishment. It is considered unseemly to then require payment of heriot.

Feudal Tenants

The power of the nobility is ultimately vested in its control of land. Agriculture employs and sustains 90 percent of all Hârnians, and feudal lords control most productive land. Hence, the vast majority of Hârnians are rural tenants of some feudal lord.

Slaves
Slavery on Hârn is prevalent only in Rethem, Tharda, and Orbaal, where they are called thralls. Obviously, slaves have minimal, if any, legal rights.

Serfs
Sometimes called unfree tenants, serfs make up 70–90 percent of the rural population but should not be thought of as slaves. While they are bound to the land and the lord, and may not marry without the lord’s permission, serfs can not be deprived of their land without just cause and are entitled to the lord’s protection and justice. Serfdom is a contract between lord and tenant. Each is bound to the other.

Serfdom usually arises not by force but by necessity. A freeholder suffers a series of poor harvests (through the caprice of poor weather, bad management, or rampaging brigands) and seeks the protection of some powerful magnate. Hence a contract is struck, with the tenant agreeing to provide free labor working on the lord’s own estate, a reasonable request in a largely cashless society, and to yield other rights in exchange for land and basic security. Such agreements are verbal and may be established almost by default. The tenant renders services traditionally owed by serfs and the lord provides aid that implies such a contract exists. The compulsory nature of serfdom is that most agreements are inheritable; the parties bind their heirs as well as themselves.

The annual service owed by a serf household is three to five days per acre held. The amount of land held varies, ranging from five to 40 acres. The labor owed will usually be on the estate of the lord (demesne), or substituted by cash or kind of equivalent value.

Serfs are completely dependent on the judgment of their lord. When disputes arise, serfs will first seek the mediation of their village reeve, the chief serf or tenant. If the parties to the dispute are not satisfied, they may appeal to the lord. If a serf disagrees with the lord’s decision, his only recourse is to run away. If he reaches certain special jurisdictions, such as chartered freetowns or mining settlements, and manages to avoid capture for a year and a day, be will have legally become a freeman. If he is unable to achieve free status, he will remain an outlaw to his dying day. Few lords have sufficient manpower to waste chasing serfs; most take the simple expedient of treating their serfs fairly, weakening the incentive to flee. It is also possible for a serf to convert his status to that of a freeholder, sometimes at the pleasure of his lord, but more likely by payment of a substantial fee.

Freeholders
Freeholders are simply individuals who hold land on which no serf-like obligations are due, a distinction that is often ambiguous and problematic. Freeholders almost never own the land they work (the lord, or more properly the king, does) but pay rent or crop shares for its use, a process known as farming the land. The major difference between freehold and serf tenants is with their legal status. Freeholders have the right to come and go as they please and grow whatever crops they please, although ignoring the wishes of the lord may be unwise. They also have the right to appeal the lord’s justice to the king’s law. However, since they do not own the land, they cannot sell it, and any tenure or inheritance right they possess is purely at the discretion of the lord. In many ways, a serf has greater security in land tenure than a freeholder.

The legal distinctions between serfs and freeholders are often blurred. There are numerous instances on Hârn where freeholders cultivate some land on which is owed serf labor (usually seasonal) and some wealthy serfs own freehold land parcels. In fact, the legal status of an individual, free or unfree, is a leading cause of dispute in the countryside. Such cases are generally tried before royal courts, where the lord will attempt to prove that a serf relationship exists.

Yeomen
On most manors, there are one or two special freeholders called yeomen. Typically, each yeoman will hold 60–120 acres in return for providing the services of a man-at-arms for 30–60 days per year. Yeomen assist with policing and defense of the fief and perform other duties they and the lord agree upon.

The establishment of a system of royal courts is a recent development on Hârn. There have always been royal courts under feudal law, where kings dispensed final and personal justice, but the new system of royal justice has far expanded this narrow concept. The wise monarch is eager to cultivate respect for the law and feudal courts are plagued by jurisdictional problems and widely differing customary laws. The preservation of local custom is a high priority of royal courts, but some uniform laws have emerged. These are referred to as the king’s common law, a body of legal tradition that is shared by most of the realm.

Shires and Hundreds

The royal court system is open to any freeman but not to the unfree majority of the Hârnic population. Most of civilized Hârn is divided into judicial provinces called shires, which are further subdivided into hundreds, each with their own legal organs. The chief officer of a shire is called a Sheriff (“shire-reeve”); that of a hundred is termed the Bailiff of the Hundred. Apart from their judicial responsibilities outlined below, these officers are the agents of the crown. They collect the king’s taxes and provide him with intelligence on local affairs.

Moots and Assizes
Royal assizes (courts) are usually held in shire and hundred moots on a regular basis, monthly in each hundred, quarterly in each shire. The bailiff or sheriff presides, sets the agenda, and enforces whatever decisions are made. In each jurisdiction, there are six to 12 jurors, usually local knights or yeomen, who must attend the assizes as part of their feudal obligations. The plaintiff and defendant present their case to the jurors, supported by the testimony of sworn witnesses when possible. The jurors’ answer (the verdict) may be influenced by local gossip but will at least be based on some kind of evidence and common law rather than superstition or raw power.

Felony

Under vendetta and feudal law, legal action can be initiated only by the injured party or his clan. The concept of felony (crimes against the king’s peace) has revolutionized law over the last century and is largely responsible for the growth of royal justice. At each assize, the question is put to the jurors, “whether any man present knows of any felony or of any felons dwelling in the community.” The jurors are sworn to give the particulars of any cases of which they know and the assembly may have the accused brought before it for trial. In effect, the state has accepted the burden as prosecutor for some (but not all) crimes.

Royal Writs

Writs are simply written commands to a royal court that a plaintiff ’s case be heard. They were originally granted as favors by the king, but their wording and form are now standard and sold by the crown for a fee, usually 6–12d. Most writs are issued in the king’s name by a sheriff or bailiff and their use is now mandatory in most royal assizes. Noting the benefits of this procedure, the practice of writs has been adopted by some feudal lords with respect to their own courts. Writs are only issued to freemen but this includes those disputing their unfree status.

Appeals

The royal courts have a definite hierarchy. Appeal from a hundred assize can be made to a shire assize. From there, the final level of appeal is direct to the king, a rare privilege. Royal courts are considered higher than feudal courts, although the latter have absolute power over the unfree in their jurisdiction. Feudal lords have the right to hear all cases arising in their fiefs, but freemen may appeal to the hundred moot. It is possible, of course, for various officers to interfere in the appeal process at any level.

Entire hundreds are sometimes designated “royal forests,” where a special and onerous legal code has precedence over all other laws. These forests are not just woods—they can be heath, cropland, or any other land. “Forest” is a legal term, not a terrain type.

Although the exact nature of forest law varies from one forest to the next, the main objective is to preserve wildlife for hunting. Typically, manors may not assart new land, trees cannot be cut or felled, and grazing, especially of pigs, is limited. Royal law also dictates that certain animals, often great deer, swan, and heron, may only be killed by the king and those he licenses.

Poaching is probably the most common crime on Hârn. This is particularly dangerous in royal forests, which are often policed by royal foresters who can sometimes be over-zealous. The forests have many frontier characteristics and justice can be quick and rough. Officially, foresters only have the power to apprehend miscreants and bring them to the shire moot for trial, but many act like hired thugs. A first offender might be severely beaten; a repeat offender will be lucky to escape with a branding, as some are summarily hanged. Peasants dread visits by the foresters and a hush will fall over any inn they enter. Such abuses are tolerated by an otherwise liberal monarch because the forests are considered to be a vital royal privilege.

The charters of most towns include the right to operate their own courts. Town law is quite different from rural justice and is sufficiently complex to support a guild of litigants. As centers of trade and sometimes of scholarship, there is a somewhat greater dependence on written statute and precedent in town law. Financial transactions and guild activities are common, hence civic penal codes often view economic cases as being at least as important as crimes of violence.

The legal officers in towns are called aldermen. Most towns have six to 12 such officials. Parties to a dispute may seek a hearing from a specific alderman and then argue their cases (with or without litigants) before him. The alderman may pass judgment and levy and collect fines. Aldermen may also issue writs and warrants when one party is unable to bring the other party voluntarily to court for judgment.

Appeals may be made to a town court of the assembled aldermen. Important or complex cases will usually go directly to the town court. Because towns are inhabited mainly by freemen, an appeal to the royal assize of the shire moot is also available to most citizens.

The majority of cases are heard informally by a single noble or officer who will listen to the arguments and render his verdict, but other trial forms exist.

The Sworn Inquest

The sworn inquest is largely restricted to royal courts, although variations exist in temple courts. Any freeman may demand a sworn inquest by first obtaining a royal writ. The basic form is for the presiding officer to appoint a sworn jury to hear evidence and give a verdict. Witnesses may be called and obliged to testify under oath.

Trial by Ordeal

Formerly common at all levels of justice, ordeal is now rarely used except by temple courts. There are a variety of methods used, for each temple has its own traditions. A common ordeal is trial by water. The accused is dropped into consecrated water; if he sinks, he is deemed innocent and is rescued. The essence of ordeal is a belief in divine judgment, but when this is not forthcoming, this method favors those with small bones and little fat.

Trial by Combat

A vestige of the vendetta system is the right of the accused to meet the plaintiff in fair combat. It is generally only the nobility, those trained in arms, who attempt to exercise this right. In the more “enlightened” kingdoms of Melderyn, Kanday, Kaldor, and Chybisa, the right is often denied, especially by royal courts.

Warrants and Arrests

The presiding officer of a legal court has the right to issue warrants within his jurisdiction. Warrants may command either the arrest of the accused or demand his appearance at the next court session. The accused will usually be brought before the next session of the court but might languish in a dungeon for years. Some criminals are apprehended by the citizenry, seized off the street, often by a pursuing mob exercising a quaint custom known as the hue and cry, and brought (hopefully in one piece) to an officer for arrest.

Pamesani Games

In Rethem and the Thardic Republic, sentence to the Pamesani arena is used as punishment for criminals. Miscreants can be sent to the arenas for virtually any crime, although this punishment tends to be reserved for serious or repeat offenders. The duration of punishment can range from a single combat for a minor crime to life imprisonment for a major crime. The treatment a convict receives depends on the whims of the slavemasters.

Some gladiatorial training and assignment to a fair combat may be given, but many are condemned to participate in a “spectacle” in which the survival rate is rather low.

Torture

Torture is considered a legitimate means to extract evidence from reluctant witnesses. In some jurisdictions, notably Kanday and Melderyn, its use is limited as much as possible. In Rethem, the arts are polished to the highest degree. The Sindarin and Khuzdul never use torture. There are as many methods and techniques as there are torturers, the rack being the most popular device among zealous investigators.

Outlawry

Very often, the accused evades capture, escapes custody, or otherwise cannot be found. However, a detail like this does not prevent his being tried. When an “in absentia” conviction occurs, the penalty is limited, in practical terms, to outlawry. A declared outlaw may be slain by anyone without fear of prosecution. Any legally constituted court, right down to the lord of a manor, can declare the status of outlawry, although other jurisdictions may not acknowledge the declaration. If an outlaw is considered particularly dangerous, a reward may be offered for his capture, dead or alive, and a number of bounty hunters wander Hârn in search of business.

The Death Penalty

By tradition, death by the severing of the head is an honor reserved to the nobility. Simple folk are executed in various interesting ways, hanging being the most common. The cadaver of an executed criminal is often locked into a gibbet and hung in plain view as an example of justice.
Gibbets are not commonly used in Chybisa, Kanday, or Melderyn, but one can be found at most crossroads in Rethem. A rather macabre sight at Tashal is Orgael Wood, where ten gibbets hang in a row.

Many of the concepts of law discussed are not universal throughout Hârn. They mainly apply to the feudal kingdoms of Kaldor, Kanday, Chybisa, and Melderyn, although there are differences even among those. In general, the stronger a central government, the more business likely to come before its royal courts.

Azadmere

The body of common law used in Azadmere is known as the King’s Law, a mixture of the vendetta system, traditional Jarin Trehaen Law, and elements of lowland feudal law. Most disputes are handled internally by each clan, whether Khuzdul or human. Law is administered in the city by justiciars and elsewhere by circuit court judges. Final appeal is to the King’s Court, which is mandatory when the death penalty is imposed.

Evael

The Sindarin rarely transgress against their customs. Clanheads are well able to settle most disputes, and the king may be called upon if necessary.

Orbaal

Vendetta and family law rule the north; central government is weak and there is no royal justice system. The internal affairs of clans are handled exclusively by the valhakar (clanhead) and his thrangaad (council). Lesser tributary clans may appeal to the judgment of the valhakar of a great clan, but in disputes among the great clans, feuds dominate.

Rethem

Rethem’s judicial system is notorious for corruption and abuse. The legal landscape is complicated. While the kingdom’s laws are mostly based on Kandian feudal law, they include a mixture of old Corani imperial law, Agrikan temple law, and even Kuboran dispute-settling practices. While there is social pressure to observe the legal procedures, the importance of the form of the law often takes precedence over the search for justice. Rethem’s nobles are not known for their mercy.

Thardic Republic

The Thardic Republic has a judicial structure that is somewhat alien in the Hârnic context. The Thardic Senate in Coranan is the supreme court, but only important cases can appeal this high. Judicial administration in each province is headed by a provincial magistrate and each province is divided into districts, each headed by a legar. Most legal disputes among common folk, however, are handled informally by the client/patron system that dominates Thardic society.

The following is a guide to what are considered appropriate penalties for various crimes on Hârn. It should be noted that “aiding and abetting” will generally bring the same penalty as the actual crime. Unless a crime is noted as a felony, accusation must be brought by the offended party or kin.

State Crimes

Actions against the sovereign. These are deemed the most serious of crimes and are usually the only laws enforced against nobles. They are all felonies.

Espionage
Sabotage of crown property, spying, etc. Penalty: death by various means.

Rebellion
Taking up arms against a lawful liege. Penalties: loss of property and title, banishment, or death.

Regicide
Killing or attempting to kill a member of the royal family. Penalty: death (usually after torture); in Rethem: death by flaying for perpetrators, accomplices, their immediate families, and all first-born male cousins.

Sedition
Verbal treason. Encouraging others to commit treason, disputing the authority of the crown. Penalty: banishment, death.

Treason
Obstructing, disputing, or conspiring against royal authority, sabotage of crown property, etc. Treason can only be committed by citizens of the country; foreign nationals are prosecuted under sedition or espionage laws. Penalties: loss of property and all hereditary titles, banishment, or death.

Privilege Crimes

Crimes concerning the abuse or usurpation of some kind of privilege, obligation, or right. An offence against the social order.

Abuse of Trust
Abuse of office or position, including graft, embezzlement, accepting bribes, dereliction of duty, etc. Where a royal official is concerned, this is considered a felony. Penalties: loss of office, title, and property; imprisonment, banishment, death.

Breach of Rank
Bearing heraldic arms or chivalric weapons without lawful right, disrespect for a person of noble rank or for a lawfully appointed official. Penalties: flogging, imprisonment, branding, death.

Oathbreaking
Perjury (lying under oath) or oathbreaking, breach of contract, etc. Penalty: fine, restitution, confiscation of property, loss of privilege or office, banishment, severing of the tongue, scolding, death by stoning.

Obstruction of Justice
Hindering an officer or noble in performing his duty. If other felonies are involved in the obstruction, this crime is deemed a felony. Penalties: pillory, fine, imprisonment, hanging.

Social Crimes

Crimes of violence against commoners. As a general rule, only common folk will suffer the more severe penalties. A noble’s liability is usually limited to restitution in cash or kind, if that.

Abduction
Detention of a person against his will without lawful cause. Penalties: restitution, fine, imprisonment.

Battery
Common assault causing injury. Penalties: restitution, pillory, flogging.

Cannibalism
Eating or skinning human bodies. The latter is not illegal in Rethem. Generally deemed a felony. Penalties: death by starvation, thrown to wild dogs, or burning.

Manslaughter
The accidental slaying of a commoner. This is generally considered a felony. Penalties: restitution, fine, imprisonment.

Murder
Killing a commoner without due cause or provocation. This is generally considered a felony. Penalties: restitution, fine, hanging.

Obscenity
Engaging in some prohibited sexual act, such as prostitution, indecent exposure, etc. Penalties: pillory, imprisonment, death by stoning.

Rape/Adultery
Sexual assault of a maiden, or sexual relations with a married woman. Penalties: flogging, restitution, castration, death by stoning.

Slander
False accusation, malicious gossip, etc. Penalties: scolding, removal of the tongue, restitution, flogging.

Economic Crimes

Secular crimes that cause only economic harm. None are felonies unless royal privilege is invoked.

Breach of Guild Privilege
Usurpation of the lawful rights of a guild or guildsman, violation of guild monopoly. Penalties: confiscation of property, fine, restitution, banishment.

Forgery/Fraud
Forging documents or coinage, possession of same, etc. Penalties: fine, restitution, imprisonment, death.

Harming Another’s Slave
In realms where slavery is legal, battery or manslaughter against another’s slave is considered an economic crime. Penalty: restitution, flogging.

Hoarding
Hoarding food in time of famine, violation of any rationing laws in effect. Penalty: flogging, death by starvation.

Horse Theft
Usually applies only to warhorses. Penalty: hanging.

Larceny
Theft. Penalties: pillory, restitution, fine, flogging, imprisonment, mutilation, hanging. Theft over 12d value usually merits harsher penalty.

Piracy/Highway Robbery
A felony. Penalties: fine, imprisonment, death.

Poaching
A felony on royal lands. Penalties: restitution, fine, flogging, branding, banishment, hanging.

Smuggling
Possessing, selling, or transporting any proscribed or contraband goods. A felony. Penalties: fine, imprisonment, hanging.

Tax Evasion
Avoiding payment of any lawful toll or tax. A felony. Penalties: restitution, fine, pillory, flogging, death.

Temple Crimes

Most realms have laws against “unlawful religious practice” that are used to stamp out the activities of faiths proscribed in that realm. These are state crimes, punished by the secular authorities. Penalties vary by kingdom but can include banishment, mutilation, or death.
Churches that are legally recognized have the right to hold temple courts and judge a variety of religious crimes, but only after the accused has been bound over by the secular authorities (likely after all appeals have been exhausted). Trial by ordeal is common but secular consent is needed for executions.

Blasphemy
Lack of respect for a lawfully recognized deity. Penalties: scolding, removal of the tongue.

Breach of Temple Privilege
Impersonation of a priest or cleric, usurpation of temple rights. Penalties: flogging, burning, impalement.

Desecration
Theft of or damage to the property or relics of a lawfully recognized church. Penalties: flogging, branding, death.

Heresy
Contradicting, denying, or disputing official church doctrine. Penalties: mutilation, burning, impalement.

Witchcraft
Conjuring or consorting with demons, disposing of souls, casting inimical spells, etc. for the purpose of unlawful personal gain. This is something of a catch-all crime and often very dubious. Not enforced in Rethem or Tharda. Penalty: impalement, drowning, hanging, burning.

As arms and armour are the potential tools of rebellion, limiting their widespread use is obviously in the interest of any ruling class. The nobility’s hold on power is challenged by weapons in the hands of simple folk. On the other hand, the gentry may require military assistance from those lower on the social ladder and benefits from having a supply of trained warriors. The bigger the army, the more powerful the sovereign, assuming the sovereign can control the army. Good government, in a feudal sense, is largely a matter of keeping the right number of people armed.

In theory, like land, the right to bear arms devolves from the sovereign whose ultimate duty it is to defend the state. Obviously, those charged with the defense of the kingdom must be privileged to bear arms.

In the strictest sense, only those explicitly granted the right or those who can trace their right to a grant from the sovereign, through his vassals, have the right to bear arms. The practice, however, is more liberal.

Like knighthood, the right to bear arms may be delegated by anyone who possesses it, so that a gentleman can arm his retainers, as long as they remain in his employ. Of course, a gentleman is responsible for the behavior of those he arms. They are his representatives, and the obligations and duties acquired by both parties can be quite complex.

Official military organizations, such as fighting orders and legions, lend the right to bear arms to their members. This right is generally retained when an individual is honorably discharged, especially if the individual remains available for military service. Most mercenaries are former soldiers, or claim to be. The sons of soldiers often claim their fathers’ right to bear arms, a dubious claim that, nevertheless, may go unchallenged.

Towns charged with their own defense are usually given charter rights to organize militia and/or hire mercenaries. To assure themselves of legality, however, they nearly always hire knights to take charge.

Defining Weapons

One of the main difficulties is in defining weapons and armour. What constitutes a weapon and what a tool? Which is clothing and which armour? There are two subclasses of weapon: chivalric weapons, which may only be used by gentlefolk; and common weapons, which may be used by everyone else. Unfortunately, there is no universal standard by which all nations judge.

Custom defines a weapon as a tool used for fighting on the battlefield or field of honor and excludes items that are used by craftsmen in their day-to-day work. Unfortunately, some weapons and tools cross the line. A maul can be a simple mallet, or it can be iron-reinforced for use in combat. Similarly, a grain flail reinforced with iron becomes a war flail.

A treatise on Kaldoric etiquette called Manners and Affectations is the accepted authority on the subject. Written in 398 by Lady Calfona Astrin, this volume has seen wide circulation and has been translated into several languages. Manners divides arms and armour into three broad categories: tools, weapons, and chivalric arms.

Social Class

For the purpose of bearing arms, society may be divided into three basic classes: the unfree, simple freemen, and gentlefolk (nobility). Generally speaking, the unfree can use “tools,” simplefolk can use “simple weapons,” and gentlefolk can use whatever they wish.

The Unfree
The unfree have no right to bear arms nor wear armour, except as granted by their liege-lords. Gentlefolk are extremely hesitant to grant this right. Some lords reluctantly allow their unfree tenants the temporary right to bear arms during militia training or when repelling an invasion. The unfree have certain rights in exchange for their servitude. The most important of these is the right to the protection of their lords. A lord who conscripted his unfree tenants for onerous military service would probably be violating the contract between his family and theirs.

Simple Freemen
The gray areas have always been for simple freemen. Most gentlefolk acknowledge that it is appropriate for simple freemen to bear common (nonchivalric) weapons. This varies according to occupation and situation. A heavily armed mercenary is appropriate when on duty in a war zone, but not otherwise. A modestly armed freeman will rarely be challenged. Many freemen make a point of carrying some visible symbol of their right to bear arms, a shortsword for example, on the theory that asserting a right is the best way to retain it. In some regions, this practice is required by law.

The Gentry
The right to bear arms is most easily defined for the nobility. They can bear whatever weapons and armour they please. The social elite do, however, have social restraints. Nobles prefer to express their class, in part, with the weapons they bear, namely chivalric weapons. Woe betide any simple man who bears such weapons. Gentlefolk consider certain weapons to be dishonorable. For example, while bows are acceptable for use in hunting, no gentleman would carry one into battle; they are cowardly weapons and a gentleman is no coward. Bows are weapons that kill at long range and a true gentleman fights only hand to hand, close enough to his opponent to introduce himself.

Although gentlefolk consider the use of bows in combat to be beneath their own dignity, the less conservative are willing to accept the presence of a properly disciplined contingent of longbowmen. These at least require some skill to use. Even so, most knights deem it inappropriate for archers to shoot at knights, as this sets a poor precedent of simplefolk killing gentlefolk.

Crossbows are loathed by nearly all gentlefolk and even by most common soldiers. A crossbow is a coward’s weapon, used by thieves and murderers from ambush, or occasionally by a hunter with warped sportsmanship, but never by a gentleman and rarely by a simple soldier of “good virtue.” Bearing a crossbow is likely to be met with a violent challenge by any noble.

CATEGORIES OF WEAPONS AND ARMOUR TABLE

Weaponcrafters

Weaponcrafters are in a special position and are generally exempt from the normal limitations for simple freemen. In effect, they are “honorary gentlefolk.” Their right to carry the products of their craft is rarely questioned, but those attempting to pass themselves off as weaponcrafters without the appropriate proof of guild membership will run afoul of the law.

“I’m a simple man, it’s true, but I am also a weaponcrafter. I am taking this wonderfully balanced battlesword, this mail hauberk, this fine steel helm, this knight’s shield, these excellent mail leggings, and this plate cuirass of exquisite design out to be tested. Why am I wearing them? Well, er… they’re very heavy and I want to evenly distribute the weight. Yeah, that’s it… I need to distribute the weight. My guild papers? Oh, I’m sure I have those around here somewhere…”

Weaponcrafters support, although sometimes reluctantly, the customary constraints on weapon use and are expected to refuse to sell chivalric weapons or armour to a customer unable to prove his gentility. In any event, the price of chivalric weapons is prohibitively high, deliberately so, for most simplefolk.

Foreigners

Special Weapons

The longknife (vagorsereq) is a Sindarin weapon. When seen by humans, it is often mistaken for a shortsword or long dagger. As such, it is generally presumed in human society to be a simple weapon.

The mang and mankar are associated with the gargun and someone bearing one would be viewed with suspicion. A mankar is sometimes mistaken for a heavy, foreign-looking shortsword or small falchion, but the mang is unique to the gargun and unmistakable. Pikes are rare, and while they may be infantry weapons, they are too often mistaken for lances to be safely carried by most simplefolk.

Conclusion

Bearing any unusual weapon or excessive armour will attract attention. Medieval society is xenophobic and not particularly tolerant, especially of well-armed strangers.

The main difference between bearing arms unlawfully and other types of social offense is the people likely to be offended. It is one thing to offend an innkeeper; the worst he will do is throw the offender into the street, hopefully not though a third floor window. It is another thing entirely to offend a knight, who may feel it his solemn duty to preserve the privilege of rank. Commoners must be especially careful of passing themselves off as gentlefolk to justify the arms they bear. Breach of rank is a serious offense in all civilized jurisdictions of Hârn. Some courts deem the bearing of chivalric arms as proof of guilt of this crime.

Some players ignore inconvenient elements of game life. They arm their characters to the teeth for a quiet stroll around town. Some seem fused to their armour, not changing it for weeks, a habit that would make anyone smell like a sewer rat in a hogshead of dragon dung. But hygiene and body odor considerations aside, there are other, powerful customary limitations on the bearing of arms.

Guard: Is there a war on somewhere?
PC: No. Why do you ask?
Guard: Then what’s all the armour for?
PC: I always dress like this.
Guard: Why?
PC: Well ... when there’s trouble, I don’t have to put armour on. It’s right there. And I save a lot of time this way. Putting armour on and taking it off again takes hours. Waste o’ time that is.
Guard: What kind of trouble were you planning to make.
PC: I wasn’t going to start it…
Guard: Start what? You’re fast enough with denials. And didn’t you just say you’re often in trouble? Perhaps you’re planning an attack on the
citadel (some of his fellow guardsmen laugh).
PC: No, no, it’s nothing like that. I just want to be ready to defend myself…
Guard: Against what?
PC: Ruffians, thieves, and outlaws, of course.
Guard: So, you lack faith in our ability to police the town and protect honest citizens from harm?
PC: Yes. I mean no. These streets can be dangerous at night and you aren’t around much then, are you?
Guard: Are you saying we shirk our duty?
PC: Oh, no! Not that. No, sir. It’s just that there’s more ruffians than guards at this time o’ night.
Guard: I see. So, you like to wander about town armed like a knight in the middle of one? (Chuckles at his pun.) Are you a knight?
PC: Er…well, no. It’s like I said, I’m just an honest citizen heading home from a late night at the tavern and…
Guard: Or from your attack on the citadel?
PC: I wouldn’t start any trouble.
Guard: You just attract it, eh? And you just want to be prepared?
PC: That’s right …well, sort of…
Guard: Sort of ? Well, I trust you’re prepared to come to the castle where we can spend a few pleasant days checking out who you really
are, whether you have the right to carry these “tools,” and if you’re wanted for any felonies, or somethin’.
PC: But I don’t have time for all that…
Guard: Of course you do. You have all that time you saved by not donning and doffing your armour.
PC: But I’ve committed no crime…this is unfair.
Guard: So’s your odor. We’ll have to dip you in the moat before we lock you up. The other prisoners might object. Grab him, men!

If a typical town guard reacts this way to an excessively armed commoner, imagine how polite a street gang or an offended knight might respond. Being inappropriately armed (more than tunic and sword) challenges some and intimidates others.