Laws & Customs

**Laws and Customs** of the peoples living in the Motherland of Acoesa are based on their feudal system of government.

## Legal System

### Serpent Treaty

Lords have judicial power over cases that occur on their lands. A lord will hear petitions at his local castle-court, sit in judgment at trials, and pass sentence based on the evidence. In theory, justice derives from the authority of the King of the Motherland, Lord of Acoesa. The King's power is delegated out to other great lords of the realm. This extends in a hierarchy from the king, to the rulers of the Grande Houses (such as House Etruscilla ), to major Houses, to minor Houses.

Individual lords are supposed to enforce the laws and carry out punishment on their own lands. Only the major cities (and possibly a few of the large towns) have dedicated “police forces.”

## Social Structure

The society and legal system of the Motherland recognizes a hereditary noble class set above a class of commoners, who are officially known as "no-names". Members of the nobility are also known as "**silverborn**", while commoners are known as "**crimsonborn**". Nobles officially possess more legal rights than the commoners do. Many crimes for which a lowborn peasant would be punished by having their hand cut off a noble will only be punished for by paying a fine. The noble-born also have the right to demand a Trial by combat, which isn't seen often in Acoesa.

Women, even noble-born women, do not have the same legal standing as men. Inheritance only falls on a woman if there are no males in her family ahead of her in line of succession. However, women can rule in their own right if they have no surviving brothers (and their brothers left no surviving heirs). An exception is Gloreia, which allows equal inheritance. If the noble-born heir to a lordship is underaged (or otherwise infirm and unfit to carry out their duties), a regent may be appointed to rule in their name.

Members of religious organizations are a different section of society, technically not nobles but possessing special privileges that commoners do not possess. This of course primarily applies to the clergy of Keunity, the dominant religion in Acoesa.

### Bastards

Bastards are not allowed to inherit their parents' lands and have no place in the line of succession (unless they are legitimized by special order of the king and allowed take their parents' surname, which rarely happens). Even so, the acknowledged bastard children of a noble are still technically “silverborn”, and enjoy legal rights which commoners do not possess. Unacknowledged bastards, of course, cannot confirm that they are indeed the bastard child of a noble, and thus are legally considered commoners. There is no outright law punishing noble men or women for having bastard children, instead it is considered a social and religious disgrace.

### Lordship

Gaining the title of knighthood does not make a man a lord, though many knights do eventually become lords. Knighthood is a middle-step between noble-born lords and commoners. A commoner can be knighted for valorous service in battle, but the title is not hereditary. A commoner who is knighted usually starts out as a “hedge knight”, a poor freelance knight not bound in allegiance to a specific lord (considered to be so poor that they sleep under hedges by the roadside while searching for employment). The next step up for a prospective knight is to become a “sworn sword”, sworn to the service of a particular lord. Beyond this step, a sworn sword may become a “landed knight” if his lord rewards him with land for his service, typically a smallholding, large farm or small manor with servants. Successful landed knights who expand their holdings or continue to perform exemplary service for their liege may be raised to the rank of "Lord" in time, leading a minor noble House.

## Inheritence & Legal Age

As soon as a boy reaches his sixteenth nativity, he suddenly becomes “a man grown”, and is legally considered to be an adult. Legally, girls are also considered adults at sixteen, though culturally they are often seen as suddenly becoming “a woman” as soon as they have menstruated. A girl who has had her first blood is often seen as now capable of being married.

Inheritance practices usually follow primogeniture, a male-preference winner-take-all system. Unlike how Gloreia practices equal primogeniture, in which the eldest child inherits regardless of whether they are male or female.

## Marriage

Marriages among the nobility (mostly silverborn) are rarely made for love, but as a means of securing political alliances between noble families. Arranged marriages to secure marriage alliances are very common. It is considered absurd for a member of the more powerful noble families to marry a commoner, throwing away any chance and a valuable marriage pact. Marriages into the royal family are seen as particularly valuable.

It is considered unseemly for a girl to marry before she has "flowered", but a girl as young as thirteen or so is considered a "woman" after she has first had her blood, and thus capable of being married and having children. It is frowned upon for a girl to marry if she has not bled yet, but betrothals can still be established for young girls to be married when they are older.

### Consummation

A marriage is only legally considered to be binding if it has been consummated, that is, if the bride and groom have had sex at least once. If a marriage has not been consummated, it may be annulled.

## Crime & Punishment

As a feudal society, Acoesa does not maintain long-standing dedicated prisons. There are dungeons in the major cities and castles, but these are not meant for long-term confinement of a prison population: they are more along the lines of holding pens used until sentencing through corporal or capital punishment. Valuable military or political prisoners may be confined for an extended period.

Certain serious offenses such as rape are punishable by amputation (specifically castration), though in some cases even petty theft may be punishable by amputating a hand. Treason and oathbreaking are punishable by death. In the Kingdom of Acoesa, professional executioners deal out death sentences, often by beheading or hanging.

Blood money is sometimes turned to as an alternative punishment for murder, to end a feud. In this case, the family or lord of a murderer will pay a large fine to the family of the man he killed, thus resolving the matter.

## Taxes & Fines

People do pay some taxes to the central government, but it isn't enough to sustain a standing royal army. Typically, under a manorial system, peasants pay their rent to the local lord as taxes-in-kind from the crops they raise or metals they mine. The Great Houses also collect taxes from their vassal Houses.

The crown also imposes various tariffs and fines on trade and shipping. Smugglers do try to sneak cargo past customs officials to avoid high shipping fees at ports, though the penalty if caught for smuggling is amputation.