fatal

Elf, Dark
Dark elven law is more concerned with the
age of the criminal than the crime committed. A
crime committed by a character younger than middle
age has a severity of 1-5, while middle age and older
is 6-10. Next, a character who commits a major
crime receives more severe punishment, while a
minor crime causes punishment that is less severe.
Any character accused of a crime must attend court.
Each court has a jury comprised of 13 elves
who have sworn an oath. The judge often uses magic
to aid the search for truth. The best dark elven
courts have numerous sorcerers, who cast the following
spells during the hearing: Detect Lie, Detect
Magic, Detect Surface Thoughts, and Detect
Thoughts.
Although each crime is handled differently,
the punishment is a prohibition against sex for most
minor crimes and being beaten to death with sticks
by their immediate family for most major crimes.
Imprisonment is a rare form of punishment. Usually,
a prisoner is confined in a yew tree to await
ransom or sentencing. Once convicted, a character
is never pardoned. Any character who is not a dark
elf, and who is deemed subject to their law, is sentenced
to death if found guilty of a crime.
A criminal is not punished for crimes committed
outside a dark elven community or forest.
The dark elves do not consider themselves subject
to the law of other races, including light elves.
Elf, Light
Light elven law is more concerned with the
age of the criminal than the crime committed. A
crime committed by a character younger than middle
age has a severity of 1-5, while middle age and older
is 6-10. Next, a character who commits a major
crime receives more severe punishment, while a
minor crime causes punishment that is less severe.
Any character accused of a crime must attend court.
Each court has a jury comprised of 7 elves
who have sworn an oath. The judge often uses magic
to aid the search for truth. The best light elven
courts have numerous sorcerers, who cast the following
spells during the hearing: Detect Lie, Detect
Magic, Detect Surface Thoughts, and Detect
Thoughts.
Although each crime is handled differently,
the punishment is a prohibition against playing
pranks and making music for most minor crimes
and being starved to death for most major crimes.
Imprisonment is a rare form of punishment. Usually,
a prisoner is confined in a yew tree to await
ransom or sentencing. Once convicted, no character
is ever pardoned. Any character who is not a
light elf, and who is deemed subject to their law, is
banished if found guilty of a crime.
A criminal is punished for crimes committed
outside a light elven community or forest. The
criminal is considered subject to light elven law. Light
elves will go to great expense to find a criminal and
bring them to justice.
Chapter 6: Sociality
175