Perdan (Realm)/Basic Law Document

Section 01: Rights

Right to Trial: All nobles in Perdan have the right to request a trial before sentencing will be passed. Others may ask for a trial to be opened against another noble, but the request must be met with basic evidence to warrant such an action.

Right to Defense: Any accused noble will be given the right to defend themselves should a trial against them be ordered. This defense can be anything from physical proof to witnesses testifying in the defense of the accused.

Right of Dismissal and Justice: The Judge-Magister reserves the right to dismiss a trial as excessive or consolidate multiple requests into a single trial at his or her discretion. This right will only be exercised in open and shut, or repeat, cases. The Judge-Magister also has the right to reopen cases if new evidence is recovered showing guilt or innocence.

Right to Protest: The right to protest actions of protestable members of the realm shall be considered an inalienable right within the realm of Perdan. While it is asked that one not go straight to protests, and try to work things out before this, no noble shall be punished for protesting a government member.

Section 02: Noble Conduct

Conduct Unbecoming a Noble: Is defined as any act in public or private communications which crosses the line from simple disagreement to degradation. Degradation will be defined for this purpose as crude or directly insulting remarks made to bait another noble into a heated, and useless, argument.

Treatment of Adventurers: Adventurers are a resource of the realm. It is generally frowned upon for an adventurer to be beaten or arrested without reason as this chases them away from nobles that might need their services. However, this does not give them the right to disrespect or abuse nobles through price gouging or other means. Adventurers do not have the rights to stand trial, but this does not mean a case against them will not be investigated.

Section 03: Common Law

Looting: Looting is only legal when ordered to do so, with the permission of the General. Only the stealing of gold, burning of food, and damaging infrastructure are considered legal orders. Issuing orders to: kill, rape, burn; pillage and maraud; or loot an isolated village are always illegal and thus nobles are duty-bound to disobey and report if these orders are attempted.

Police Work: Lords have the right to determine if police work, of any kind, can be performed in their region or not. The first instance of unwanted police work should be the Lord asking for it to stop, then bringing it to the attention of the Judge-Magister or one of his appointed assistants. Under NO circumstances is noble to Hang Rebels without explicit permission. If one hangs rebels without permission, this should be brought straight to the attention of the proper authority for investigation.

Harassment: Nobles shall not be harassed within Perdan. Harassment is defined as continuous aggressive pressure or intimidation of an individual. Please note that this does not mean that nobles cannot disagree, nor does it mean that we cannot critique one another, but it must be done with the true intent of improvement or voicing an opinion without attacking another. Slander and libel will be counted as harassment for legal purposes.

Dueling: In times of peace, nobles in Perdan have the right to duel to surrender as they wish, however they must seek permission from the Judge-Magister for duels to the death. This is to prevent death duels from being abused and the needless loss of life. Death duels without permission that lead to death will be punished under the Murder clause of this document. In times of war, duels to surrender will need permission sought from the Judge-Magister, and death duels will be fully illegal. This is to prevent injuring each other over petty reasons, and needless loss of life in a time that every person is needed to do their part.

Section 04: Criminal Law

Rape: This does not belong in a civilized society, and therefore is deemed illegal and can be punished by as much as banishment. This includes the assaulting of peasants through looting or taking advantage of our own citizens.

Murder: To deliberately take the life of a fellow noble without cause is reprehensible and will not be accepted. This covers both the attempt of the act, whether successful or not. If one is caught trying to murder someone, they will be held in a cell until we decide what to do with them. The victim will have a say in punishment, if possible, which can include banishment.

Cannibalism: The eating of human flesh is hereby declared to be vile and illegal. Anyone caught eating anything will be banished from the realm if found guilty. There are no other punishments for this type of behavior. We do NOT eat one another.

Treason: Treason includes but is not limited to, engaging in a rebellion, participating in the underground without dispensation, willingly taking a region or duchy to another realm without permission, and creating a new realm out of Perdanese lands without permission, and giving internal secrets to other realms willingly.

Land Corruption: No one in Perdan may corrupt a region to join Perdan without the Ruler’s permission. Corrupting land to join Perdan includes by religious means, diplomatic actions, convincing a lord from another realm to join, or any other ways of getting a neighbors region to defect.

Section 05: Military and War Law

Sponsor: The sponsor maintains certain rights and responsibilities for their armies. They maintain the right to name marshals and vice-marshals, however, it is encouraged that they work with the General to find suitable candidates. If a Marshal cannot be found within three days’ time, the sponsor has the right to dissolve the army without protest. It is the responsibility of the Sponsor to keep the war chest funded to the best of their ability. If one founds an army, they pay for the said army.

Chain of Command: The chain of command applies to anyone within the army. By definition, it goes General > Marshal > Vice-Marshal > Duke/Duchess of Perdan > Any troop leaders given authority by the Marshal, for example, Lieutenants > The most senior troop leader present to be defined by the sponsor or general. Respect the chain of command for your army as insubordination will not be tolerated.

Insubordination: Insubordination is defined as the wilful neglect of duty under the relevant chain of command. Insubordination can only be called for deliberate failure to act or acting in a way contrary to orders. If the failure to act cannot be proven to be deliberate ((i.e. activity issues, which are protected)) then the noble will not be charged with insubordination. This means that if it is not deliberate, judicial actions cannot be taken.

Section 06: Trade Law

Work in Progress

Section 07: Government Duties

King or Queen: The duties of the King or Queen, commonly called “the Ruler”, of the realm is to represent the realm to the outside world and to present a visible embodiment of the realm. They may ask to be kept in the loop of all internal matters and should any government position not be able to fulfill its role, it will fall to them to either fill it or find someone else who can temporarily. As the Judge-Magister represents their law, the Ruler has the right to appoint the Judge-Magister as they wish, but the other two council members should be elected.

Imperator/Imperatrix: The Imperator or Imperatrix, commonly referred to as “the general” commands the military of the realm. It is to them that all marshals will report for orders, not their sponsors, during military actions. It is their job to set up a strategy for the realm’s armies and to assist the marshals with individual tactics when asked. While the right to declare war rests with the ruler, the way those wars are fought rests with the General. Any new army being founded should be discussed with them first so that they can find a place for it within their military plans.

Judge-Magister: The Judge-Magister, commonly called “the Judge”, is responsible for the writing of all laws of Perdan and seeing to their enforcement. They have the right to set up assistants as they see fit, are obligated to oversee trials and are to work with the betterment of the realm in mind. Any issues with the law, or this document, should be brought up to the Judge immediately for they are the only one to get the law changed.

Baillivus: The Baillivus, commonly called “the Banker”, shall oversee food and realm level taxation.

Ambassadors: An ambassador represents the Ruler on a wider scale. As they have the right to draft, and sign, treaties they will be held accountable for anything that they sign for the realm. The ruler should take caution who they appoint an ambassador because by law they are allowed to sign any treaty in the ruler’s name and said treaty will be held legally binding even if the ruler does not like how it is written to prevent international incidents.

Dukes and Duchesses: The Dukes are not officially part of the government, but do hold high political sway over some decisions, as such they may still be charged with dereliction of government duty as defined below. Dukes oversee the betterment and governance of their duchies, such as the appointment of lords, setting of taxes, and settling local disputes between the lords in their duchies. A duchy is not a separate entity to the realm, and therefore cannot deny the Crown’s Law, however, they may add additional laws to be observed within their duchy as approved by the Judge-Magister.

Dereliction of Governmental Duty: The government shall be defined as any of the above-mentioned positions. The Ruler of Perdan may be petitioned to open a trial against any of these individuals should they be found not fulfilling their duties, or in the case of the Ruler themselves, the Judge-Magister.

Section 08: Enemy Agents

Infiltration: Any infiltrators found attacking Perdan will not be protected by any law in the land, including any prisoner agreements. They will be caught, banned, and if applicable executed without a second thought. To act as an assassin is one of the lowest forms of conduct, on par with banditry, and will not be tolerated in any form.

Rogue Priests: A rogue priest is any priest caught trying to remove a lord or steal a region through religious means. They will be treated as an infiltrator, and punished as one if capable, for all intents and purposes.

Section 09: Execution and Torture

Execution: Execution may be used against any noble that has already been banned in Perdan prior. It might not be used in every case, alternatives include deportation, negotiation, or release in good faith. The Judge-Magister has the final decision in the matter of if the execution is appropriate or not but should take into account the gravity of the crime that brought the ban into account before deciding.

Torture: Shall not be used against nobles captured under honorable circumstances. Honorable circumstances include, captured on the battlefield, arrested when being found NOT performing infiltration or religious insubordination as defined below.

People captured for doing dishonorable actions will not have the protections against any punishments, including execution, deportation, or torture. Dishonorable actions include, but are not limited to:

• Infiltration Actions
• Pillaging and Wanton Murder
• Directly and Intentionally Harming of Perdan, its Territories, or Nobles
• Stealing of Regions by Religious means, aka Religious Insubordination
• Raping of Others
• Cannibalism

Note: Just because torture is allowed by law does not mean it is mandatory to be performed. It is highly encouraged that torture never is performed for a reason other than the direst of needs.

Section 10: Treatment of Prisoners

Prisoner’s Agreement: Perdan is currently one of the agreeing realms to an almost continent-wide Prisoner’s Agreement. Any realm that also agrees, and adheres to, said agreement shall be protected by it as if it were law written by the Judge-magister himself. Any realm not agreeing to said agreement, and using that fact to violate it, shall not gain the protections of said agreement within Perdan until reparations are made to the victim realms should they decide to agree later. The agreement is as follows:

1) Nobles captured in battle to be released within three days with their gold untouched.

2) Council members are to be released at the earliest opportunity.

3) Torture shall not be used against such honorably captured nobles.

4) Nobles captured whilst engaging in infiltration have no protections.

This agreement binds the realm and any Judges who take office should consider themselves bound lest they specifically choose to renegotiate terms.

Negotiated Terms: Perdan has negotiated special terms when it comes to the actions of rogue priests, as defined in Section 08, who shall be treated as immune from protections of this agreement under clause 4 as if they were infiltrators.

Agreeing Realms: The following realms have signed onto the Continental Prisoners agreement. Caligus, Perdan, Perleone, Shadowdale, Sirion, Eponllyn, and Yssrgard.

Protesting Realms: Alexandria