Abington/Legal Guide

A Guide to the Law

This document, written by I, Lord Gauihu Olik, Arch Priest of Abington, shall attempt to outline and describe the Writ of the Law as well as various Edicts for the benefit of clarity to Abington's nobles in the pursuit of an honourable, and legal, way of life.

Writ of the Law, a Point by Point Guide

Section I.

I. Any Crime may be classified by the Arch Priest as either a General Impropriety, or a High Crime, depending on the circumstances. The latter shall be considered a greater danger to the Realm and bear a harsher punishment. The list of Crimes, and their Mininum Punishment, are as follows

This section does two things.

One, it classifies all crimes into two general categories, depending on the judged severity of those crimes. (This varies from case to case, but is often related to the level of blatant disregard or disrespect shown by the offender).
- A General Impropriety is a minor offense, which may not even be recognized or punished - but if it is, it always receives the minimum punishment. There is sometimes more lee-way granted to offenders guilty of a general impropriety.
- A High Crime is a serious offense. When punished, the punishment can be even higher than the minimum punishment. There is rarely any lee-way whatsoever granted to offenders guilty of a high crime.
Two, it introduces the specific crimes and their minimum punishment.

Specific Crimes

General Disobedience (Warning)

This is usually, but not always, a General Impropriety.

It is something of a catch-all term to include any noble who disobeys the letter or spirit of his liege, the Crown, his marshal or the High Marshal.

It does not include direct defiance of orders during a time of war.

Disobedience in War (10g)

This is direct defiance of orders given to a subordinate during a time of war.

Punishment is often correlated to the amount of damage incurred by the disobedience.

Thus, one who simply fails to move to one region or another can often get away without being charged.

But one who moves into foreign territory on his own, risking an international incident, usually cannot.

Sometimes, this crime is used when the overall discipline of the Armies are low, and Abington becomes at risk as a result.

As with other military-oriented crimes, the High Marshal (and sometimes an army Marshal) is usually conferred with before handing out sentences.

Conduct Unbecoming a Noble (Warning)

It would be impossible to list all conduct which becomes a noble, and that which is unbecoming. Nevertheless, it is expected that Abington's nobles know what it means to be a noble. Some severe examples of behavior which constitutes this crime include:

Showing open disrespect or disregard for one's superiors within the realm's hiearchy
Speaking with the vulgarity of a commoner, or acting like a commoner
Engaging in barbarism
Engaging in cannibalism

Most examples of this crime are much less severe, and so receive only the warning. But in extreme cases, the punishment can and has lead to more severe consequences - for example, the case of El Cidd (deceased).

General Misconduct (10g)

General misconduct includes petty crimes, and is also something of a catch-all term. It is often handed out in addition to one or more other crimes, and could be translated as "general behavior contrary to the interests of Abington and it's nobles."

Insubordination (25g)

Insubordination includes direct, often disrespectful, defiance of the chain of command and military orders.

(Law Rescinded) - Duels without Permission

Dueling was once prohibited except in cases where specific permission was given. This was a result of an overabundance of dueling, leading to wounded nobles and virtually constant minor conflict. However, it was rescinded due to political reasons and is no longer a functional or enforced law.

Trespass Borders without Leave (25g)

This is one of the more common crimes, and is typically a major issue for Abington abroad, causing much trouble historically.

In Abington, you need the permission of the Royal Council, the Crown, the Military Council, and/or the High Council members to leave the Realm, or to cross from one foreign Realm into another.

As a matter of course, orders to cross a border in the commission of a military campaign constitute "permission."

This law, important as it is, is supplemented by an additional Edict pertaining to Traders and Infiltrators.

Impersonation of Command (50g)

This law pertains to overstepping the boundaries of one's authority.

A common noble who hands out orders to the whole realm is guilty of this, as are the (unusual) cases where a noble actually claims to hold a title or position he does not.

Cowardice in War (50g)

Cowardice is very rarely attributed to Abington's nobles, even in the most dire of circumstances.

However, this crime has been charged to those whose actions (often including other crimes) can be reasonably attributed to some kind of fear of the enemy.

The most famous example is during the War of Dishonour, when Gabriel committed treason. The outlook for the war was very poor at that time, and because Gabriel had declared that not only were Abington's enemies morally superior, but that they were militarially so and that they would inevitably achieve victory. It was clear that he intended to be on the "winning side," out of a fear that he would, like Abington, come to a bad end.

Ignoring Court Summons (Warning)

From time to time, the Arch Priest issues Court Summons to various members of the realm.

In these Summons, the recipient noble is ordered to report back with certain information.
Defiance or disregard for this order is first punished by warning, but because the order is a standing one, continued ignoring of the Court Summons can lead to higher punishments (including banishment) over the course of more than a week.

Improper Police Work (25g)

An "improper" police work can be any police work that is not authorized, but almost always consists of the unauthorized hanging of rebels.

Except for region lords in their own region, or the Arch Priest, the hanging of rebels is an activity that requires permission from the government.

Looting without Permission (75g)

Any and all looting requires permission in the form of orders from the High Marshal.

Sometimes, the High Marshal will order and permit one type of looting (such as taking tax gold). In this case, burning, raping and killing would still be prohibited.

This crime is treated more severely because of the extreme consequences that wanton pillaging can have for Abington.

Unlike places such as Darka, Abington's nobles do not take pride in the act of looting commoners.

In the case of unauthorized burning, raping and killing, the crime may also include Conduct Unbecoming a Noble, since it is judged that fornication with peasants is itself contrary to noble behavior.

Consorting with an Enemy (Execution by Hanging)

This is the first crime which is always a High Crime.

"Consorting" can include any direct leaking of information, particularly plotting with an enemy noble or realm, to achieve some goal which is not authorized by the government, and which usually is against the realm in the form of treason.

Conspiracy (Execution by Fitting)

Conspiracy most often includes participating in a rebel underground.

It also can include any plotting (with at least one other individual) to harm Abington in any way.

This is the first crime to receive the execution method of Fitting, which was devised specifically in Abington to punish the worst of the High Crimes.

A famous example of this crime was when Lady Doc's Biatch, who had been a member of the Black Mambas assassin's guild, advocated to other members of that guild that Drago, and the other High Council members of Abington, should be targetted and removed through assassination. LDB however, managed to escape prison, slay Drago, and to this day is wanted for her grievous crimes.

Treason (Execution by Fitting)

Treason is something of a catch-all term to indicate betrayal of Abington in some fashion.

It can also include Sedition, which constitutes betraying words (such as openly advocating the position of an enemy during war and proclaiming service to that enemy).

Almost all those found guilty of a High Crime are also guilty of Treason.

High Treason (Execution by Fitting)

High Treason is simply betraying the Crown and the High Council, in addition to Abington.

An example is arranging an assassination attempt, or advocating such an attempt, against the Ruler, Judge, General or Banker of Abington.

LDB was also guilty of High Treason, since she advocated the death and violent replacement of the entire High Council.

Attempted Assassination (Execution by Fitting)

When one makes the individual effort to attack a High Council, Royal Council, Duke, Lord or Marshal (not in a situation of duelling), one is guilty of attempted assassination.

Assassination (Execution by Fitting)

This is nothing more than the attempt at assassination which succeeds (either through wounding or death).

Withcraft (Execution by Burning)

Witchcraft includes activities such as:

Showing unholy or unearthly-gained powers (OOC: Using knowledge gained out of character, in-character)
- Knowing the unspoken thoughts of another
- Knowing of actions which are unknowable through any earthly means
Membership in such vile and loathsome organizations or cults which are dedicated to evil and magic
- Membership in the Blackest Cult
- Membership in Darkanism
Speaking in a completely strange and unearthly manner (OOC: Routinely going out-of-character while in character. For example your noble speaking in l33t sp34k or making constant references to modern life.)

(OOC Note: Things like cheating or hacking or whatever are also included here. But of course, with any cheating or game abuse, report to the Titans happens first, not in-character punishment.)

Section II.

In the punishment of more than one crimes, fines are cumulative, and the more severe of available punishments is chosen.

This is an important section, applying to any and all crimes. Usually, those who fall into criminal activity by mistake only do it once. However, those who deliberately or constantly take criminal actions, are almost always guilty of more than one crime. Thus, when the option of more than one type of minimum punishment is presented (such as a fine and execution), the more severe one is taken. In the case of two or more fines, they add up.

Section III.

Repeat or multiple offenses may involve higher punishments, up to and including death, than otherwise.

This section deals with those who continue to commit crimes, or those who are guilty of a fair number of crimes all at once. Depending on the severity of the crimes and their total affect on the Realm, the punishment may exceed the minimum punishment up to and including execution.

Section IV.

In the commission of a Common Crime (i.e, murder, theft), a Noble may be judged instead by the Abington Common Code.

Sometimes a noble will indulge in activities not listed above - such as petty theft, or rape. In such cases, the Judge may choose to punish the noble as if he were a commoner, according to the Abington Common Code.

Section V.

In the commission of any crime, a Landed Noble may be stripped of title in addition to, or in lieu of, other punishments.

Titled nobles are held to higher standards than others. As such:

A landed noble who commits a crime may receive the additional punishment of forced resignation.
A landed noble who commits a crime may not receive the standard punishment at all, but is forced to resign.
A landed noble guilty of a very severe crime may have his title stripped and his nobility itself questioned.

These punishments all tend to require the authority of the Crown for enforcement.

Section VI.

The King and Judge of Abington reserve full right to ban or fine any troopleaders that don’t follow orders, behave maliciously against other Abington troopleaders, or do anything else that the council believes to be improper.

This is one of the eldest laws in the Writ of the Law, dating from even before Elantus (hence referring to the Ruler as King).
It is another catch-all law to include those crimes which may not be adequately covered with other laws.
It also reaffirms the sovereign authority of the Ruler, and the judicial authority of the Judge.

Section VII.

No Army shall act independently of or contrary to the wishes of the Military Council, the High Marshal, and the Sovereign.

With the creation of private armies, this law was introduced so that the chain of command would not be disrupted and that chaos would not ensue.

This law places all armies, their nobles and marshals, under the command of the Military of Abington.
It also reaffirms the complete military authority of the High Marshal.

Edicts, a Point by Point Guide

Authorization Edict

This edict was passed because existing laws for "trespass of borders without permission" were inadequate. At various times in history, Abington's traders and infiltrators have acted without permission in foreign nations hostile, neutral and even peaceful. This has caused political trouble at a strategic level, and thus the force of law was required.

It stipulates that all infiltrators require permission of the Military Council and High Marshal before taking any action in any foreign realm.
It also stipulates that all traders require permission of the Royal Treasurer before taking any action in any foreign realm.
Violation of either of these stipulations can result in banishment and even execution.
Thus, infiltrators and traders, because of their profession, are held to much stricter standards regarding trespassing in foreign realms.

Infiltrators

From now on, you will take NO action that is OUTSIDE of Abington's borders, without the authorization and approval of the High Marshal via the Military Council.

Traders

From now on, you will take NO action that is outside of Abington's borders, without the authorization and approval of the Royal Treasurer.

Religious Security Edict

When Kronos declared war and then "offered" that Abington adopt the Carelian state religion as its own, the Queen and the Arch Priest agreed that a new edict was required to prevent the threat of strange, foreign, state-sponsored religions from holding sway in the realm.

It outlaws Evgenism in totality (no priests, members, temples, shrines).
It outlaws Darkanism in totality.
It is punishable as a High Crime.

Temples and Shrines

Temples and shrines dedicated to the religions of Evgenism and Darkanism shall not be allowed to stand within Abington's borders.

Priests

Priests of the religions of Evgenism and Darkanism shall not be allowed within Abington's borders.

Membership

Membership in the religions of Evgenism and Darkanism shall be considered a High Crime and punishable accordingly.