02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

124 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
and paladins are particularly zealous in pursuing
criminals and sometimes clash with local authorities—
especially in cases where the watch has little interest in
investigation.
In general though, anyone is allowed to pursue
criminals and bring them to trial, and bounties are
occasionally offered. Hunting suspected criminals
is a perilous endeavor, of course, and individuals
found to be maliciously surrendering innocents to
the authorities with no proof are often assessed heavy
penalties and typically clapped in irons themselves.
Trials
Cryx
The Cryxian decree amounts to: “Lord Toruk is
all things including the law. Disobey and you die.”
Any of the Dragonfather’s senior agents and priests
can, at will, bring to trial anyone they wish and inflict
whatever punishment they deem fitting. However,
abusing this power in such a way as to harm Lord
Toruk’s interests often sees the offender slain and
corpse bound (pg. 129).
Cygnar
Cygnar’s courts have become far more just than
in past generations due in large part to the decrees
of King Grigor Malfast in the late 400s. Vinter the
Elder eliminated some of these edicts, but King Leto
Raelthorne has since reinstated them. Trials take
place before a single judge who has the authority to
determine guilt and pronounce sentencing. If the
accused was arrested by the authorities, he is presumed
to be guilty until he can prove his innocence. If others
brought him in, the judge weighs the evidence from
both sides carefully. The notion that the courts should
not convict the innocent is slowly making its way
through the system such that few courts are willing to
convict on the say-so of a single person unless he is a
watchman.
In recent years, Leto has discouraged the use of
the more grisly punishments for minor crimes, so fines
and flogging with the birch or cane are by far the most
common punishments these days. Serious crimes still
carry penalties of death, however.
Ios
Iosan suspects receive elaborate trials overseen by
regional courts based in the three major elven cities.
Hearings comprise long procedures that can last for
weeks. On the whole, these trials reach a fair result,
but few in the lands outside Ios know anything about
them. Elven justice assumes that non-elves within Iosan
territory are criminals, and it is acceptable to brand
and send them away (usually near the borderlands),
though it is more common to execute them on the
spot.
Khador
Khadoran law is harsh and without mercy. Almost
all cases are treated as crimes against the Motherland,
and the judges are encouraged to consider the affect
of the crimes on the country. In almost all minor cases,
the guilty must repay his debt to Khador through
forced labor. In lesser crimes only one tribunal
oversees the case, but trials of serious crimes are heard
by a tribunal of three to as many as eleven judges and
are decided in a court through debate and proof of
evidence. The judges are all authorized by Khadoran
law to pass sentence once they feel the case has
been presented adequately. The tribunal’s decision
is determined by a majority vote, and deliberations
between judges have sometimes been heated, violent,
and in rare cases, even fatal.
Since all cases are weighed based on their impact on
the Motherland, what might be considered improper
speech in Cygnar could easily be construed as treason
in the Khadoran courts, and what might have resulted
in a light flogging in another country could quickly get
an outsider sent to a northern labor camp where he
may be “forgotten” by the authorities.
In the most remote regions of Khador, justice is
an ages old tradition relying on trial by combat. In
principle, disputes are settled between the accuser
and the accused through force of arms. A sanctioned
arbiter, typically a village elder, observes the physical
trials. Anyone is allowed to step forward to act as a
champion on either side—usually because a participant
is unable to fight on his own—and a championed party
may choose to accept or decline the offer. An accuser
who withdraws after a champion steps forward merits
a heavy penalty, sometimes even death! Any evidence
of interference in the procurement of a champion, if