Roleplay City
Oberon Castle => General => OBERON CASTLE: Drink Today, Die Tomorrow => Life In Oberon Castle => Topic started by: Existentially Odd on February 06, 2007, 10:51:36 PM
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The Kingdom
Oberon Castle stands as the primary jewel in King Kestrel\'s crown but his dominion - the land known as Elaria - is quite extensive. Four other major Elarian cities fall within his protection - each boasting a keep of their own - as well as numerous hamlets scattered between the prominent points of the near-quincunx.
To the north lie Aberdeen and Helmsworth, to the west Calendria and in the farthest reaches of the south east, Ravenshom (the only coastal city). Each castle has its own militia and laws but all swear fealty to the one king. This impressive English-speaking empire occasionally faces challenge in the form of skirmishes with the foreigners at its borders, but between the principalities, an impressive army can be gathered and such struggles have very rarely escalated to full war.
Elaria is a prosperous country that some might say has grown lax in its years of continuous peace, but each metropolis strives to uphold the ideals and sense of fairness embodied by its monarch, meaning that there is rarely any need for conflict. Any problems there are, are usually internal and dealt with in the same manner.
The Law
There are three levels of law in operation in the cities of Elaria.
The First
The king has supreme rule and will intervene only on highly controversial matters of state. He might listen to the facts on high profile, upper class cases (such as murders), treason reports or legal issues relating to his rule, but he won\'t ever get involved with anything less.
The Second
A judge appointed by the ruling monarch - accompanied by a team of lawyers, usually - travels around the five cities of Elaria hearing the more prestigious cases involving nobility and merchants. Generally he is called upon to settle mercantile disputes, the laws of which are exclusive and beyond the realm of the basic level of law enforcement. Because the judge rules over very prominent cases, his movements are generally kept secret, for he in unpopular with those he has ruled against (and since they are the ones with enough money to hire certain people to do a little something about him... one can never be too cautious). The judge travels with an entourage and is passed from one set of guards to the other for safe keeping when it is time for him to travel to the next castle.
The Third
The guards are the every day face of the law, fighting crime at the ground level in every keep. All have an ecclectic complement of soldiers whose job it is to deal with every crime known to occur within the confines of a bustling city - and those that rear up in the distant reaches of the farmlands, too. The guards view their job very simply and are empowered to act within their own best judgment. Although the Captain of the Guard is the ultimate decision maker in all common law crimes, the job is often shared out amongst the Lieutenants for the sake of efficiency.
Although there are cells to be utilised in the guardhouse of every city, once the captain has weighed the crime, the evidence and passed sentence, lawbreakers are generally thrown into the dungeons - for however long the guards decree they should stay. Vindictive captains have been known to abuse their authority and literally leave people to rot in the bowels of the keep, but these days it is rare for such powermongers to ascend the ranks of the militia without detection.