Decrees of the Epochian Span
Considering itself to be a land of laws, the Epochian span seeks to protect its citizens with rights they see granted to them by the gods. But, these laws are only afforded to citizens of the Span. Meaning that those who are not citizens are not protected by the decrees.
The Decree of the Personal Sovereignty
All Lawful Citizens of the Span are decreed to be protected under their own personal sovereignty. This right protects mind, body, soul, and legal and taxed physical possessions worn or stowed. Any willful act (magical or mundane) that unlawfully removes autonomy of mind, body, or physical possession from a Lawful Citizen goes against this decree.
Satisfaction will come in the form of monetary compensation to the victim, maiming, or in the most heinous of offenses, death.
The Decree of Candid Surrender
All Lawful Citizens of the Span are decreed to be protected when offering a true and honest Surrender. If an aggressor discards their arms and offers themselves in surrender to the authority of the Span, another Lawful Citizen must accept the terms of the surrender. A surrender is forfeit upon any deceitful act or malicious attempt to harm those that accept a candid surrender. A lawful citizen that has offered a candid surrender is not protected under the Decree of Personal Sovereignty while under a candid Surrender. The accepter is permitted to use all means necessary (provided the means do no permanent harm) to subdue and transport the surrendered to the nearest local authority that is equipped to accept the surrendered.
Satisfaction will come in the form of hard labor, monetary compensation to the victim, or death depending on the outcome of not accepting a candid surrender.
The Decree of Life's Pursuit
All Lawful Citizens of the span are protected under Life's Pursuit. No citizen shall have their life unlawfully extinguished by another. A Citizen who has perished under unnatural circumstances have the right to return to the mortal world should they so choose. A Citizen who has died will be granted an audience with local clergy to speak their case through death.
Satisfaction from willful violation will come in the form of death.
The Decree of Charity and Vow
The taxed and legal property, tangible and intangible, of All Lawful Citizens of the span are protected under Charity and Vow. A Lawful Citizen may gift legal personal property to another citizen as long as the gift doesn't exceed an appraised value of 500 gold. A gift is taken to an appraiser, valued, and if deemed under the legal limit, it may be claimed on their Tax Writ by the notary at no cost. If over the limit, a 5% tax is collected at the local Bank of the Span to be paid immediately upon transference of ownership.
A legal vow is considered intangible property and taking back a vow, once given is tantamount to theft. A legal vow can be registered with the notary to which the terms and conditions are put upon paper, as well as satisfaction if the vow is broken.
Satisfaction will come in the form of monetary compensation to the victim.
The Decree of Tethering Progeny
All Lawful Citizens of the Span, and their progeny, are decreed to be protected under the Tethering. A child belonging to a Citizen of the Span is afforded all rights that would be afforded to the parent against all other Citizens of the Span. In this way, the child is considered to be the extension of the parents Own Self. If a parent loses their Lawful Citizenship, the child does as well. A parentless child is not offered this decree and are not considered Lawful Citizens until they reach their races minimum adulthood.
The Decree of the Gods
A lawful citizen is free to worship any god that they wish as long as the tenants do not conflict with the Common Laws or Decrees of the Span. As part of becoming a Legal Citizen you must declare your primary deity. You may revere other gods, but your primary is where your afterlife lies. Decrying or blasphemy is punishable by excommunication.
Satisfaction requires atonement.
The Decree of One's Own Self
All Lawful Citizens of the Span are considered to be exempt from all decrees when relating to one's Own Self. The Citizen of the Span is considered to be its Own Self and is exempt from all actions against their Own Self that would break a Decree. An amendment to this decree is when a Citizen of the Span breaks the Decree of Life's Pursuit. A Citizen who wishes to end their own life must submit their wealth and assets to the Bastion, to be appraised and liquidated into standard currency. That liquidation is then separated into 20 equal piles. The piles are distributed as such. 3 piles go to the Bastion as tithings to the gods, 2 piles go to the local lord as taxes, all debts are then paid with the remaining liquidations, what is remaining is gifted to the widower of the Citizen, if no widower exists it is gifted to the Progeny of the Citizen, if none exist it is gifted to the nearest family member in order of lineage, male to female.
The 7 Common Laws
1. The unjust killing of a surrendered foe will be met in kind.
2. The removal of ones personal property shall be returned 10 fold.
3. Unjustly subduing a Free-man outside of the law shall be returned 10 fold.
4. Breaking a spoken or written vow shall require compensation to be mediated by the courts is requested by the offended party.
5. Offending the Span by larceny is punishable by hard labor, maiming, or death.
6. Offending your god within the span results in Excommunication.
7. No one shall trespass within the Pestilence without written approval from Bastion on pain of death.
Enforcement
The authority to enforce these laws comes to the local leadership. The 15 cities of the Span have their own elected Governor. This governer is elected by popular vote from the magistrates within the city, usually from their own ranks, and the magistrates surrounding lands under its influence. Epoch stands as the exception and is governed by the The Bastion of Ascension. The First Son tends to act as leader of the Bastion and governer of Epoch.
The governer appoints a sherriff to the city, and to all villages and towns in its influence. The sherriff of each settlement has the authority to deputize citizens allowing that deputy to apprehend law breaking offenders to an inquisitor, to determine if a law has been broken and if the accused is indeed guilty, and then to a Justice to sentence the accused.
Finally, once the Justice has sentenced the guilty is punished by hard labor in many of the houses mines, payment to the wronged, or by the executioner's axe as fitting for the crime.
