Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal - part II

I'd agree, but a lot would depend on the kind of infraction, as well as how likely other people are to learn about it and not overlook it.

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Which takes a bigger bribe (and why)?
Having an official overlook an infraction or having them investigate a possible one, by someone "well placed".
=

Good points from everyone! In general, it 'costs more' to have somebody get up and out of their office to actually do something then it costs to have them look the other way or ignore something. Generally, minor issues cost minor sums and favors while major issues cost major cash and favors. Somethings, however, are not 'negotiable'; the big three - tax evasion, treason, and rebellion - fall into this category. Violations of the Great Concordat, if above ground, also are not; again, it's the social and political complications that intrude. Below ground, on the other hand, is under the heading of 'anything goes'.

Does this help, at all?

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Yes, all the comments are helpful.

OK, then, I'll take a shot, too.

Are there things that could be considered crimes that can be gotten away with under the heading of "Religious Practice"?

Not the Big Three. And if your religion, profession or whatever requires things that society disapproves of, society is likely to show disapproval.
See: slavers, invitations to parties.

How much Vigilantism is there?

That's the basis of retaliation for all crimes that aren't the big ones, AFAICT.

Any examples that you can give/think of?

I had a temple hire a PC to perform an assassination because a gang leader was offending their sensibilities. The same PC has performed a "social assassination", meaning she dropped some Zuur she'd found with the gang leader, in the personal items of someone from another clan who was becoming a nuisance with, let's say, unsavoury business practices (unrelated to drugs).
Then she dropped a hint with the elders. When they asked what she means, she said they should take care that her enemy's trade doesn't hurt the good name of their clan.
They didn't believe her, but made a sweep and the problem clan member found herself in deep trouble with her own elders, including being deprived of stipend!

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Yes, all the comments are helpful.

Are there things that could be considered crimes that can be gotten away with under the heading of "Religious Practice"?

How much Vigilantism is there?

Any examples that you can give/think of?
=

Great! I worry...

Hm. A lot of things that are crimes in our society are not formally ones in the Five Empires. The Imperium itself, like most governments that we know anything about, is mostly concerned with the Big Three and prefers not to have to deal with much of anything else. (Customs and Excise comes under Taxes, by the way.) The vast majority of what we'd consider crime is dealt with on the temple or clan level and normally none of the parties involved wants the Imperium to become interested in the affair. So, a guy defrauding a clan by an accounting trick will get his punishment from his own clan, after the defrauded figure out what's going on and they complain to the guy's clan. If there's no satisfaction to be gotten there, then the guy is quite likely to get a 'friendly visit' from the defrauded out in back of the clanhouse where he'll be shown the error of his ways and some sort of restitution or compensation will be 'negotiated'. Only rarely will either party want the officials brought in to the matter, as they tend to ask way too many nosey questions.

Political disputes, on the other hand, may be referred to the Imperium for arbitration depending the factional alignments. Depends on if somebody thinks that getting the government involved they'll get some advantage.

Religious disputes are almost always handled by the temples, as the vast majority of these are internal doctrinal disputes. Temples are pretty secretive about their internal affairs, and really don't want the government poking around the place. Inter-temple disputes are, by definition, covered under the Concordat and always get the Imperium involved, which is why the temples come down pretty hard on anyone who makes a lot of noise. The operating rule of thumb is 'live and let live', most of the time, and society keeps rolling along.

I can't think of an occasion in Phil's campaign where there was a 'vigilante' movement; it's was always clan and temple running things, with the Imperium and the legions as ultimate authority. I can think of several occasions where there was a riot, but that was more along the lines of disaffected people doing a little looting. The situation we found when we got to Hekellu, though, was a riot bordering on full insurrection; there, the various clans and temples had formed factions in the absence of a string Imperial presence - the Governor had vanished in very suspicious circumstances - and were fighting it out for control of the city when we showed up and I demonstrated the virtues of Imperial government with 600 Vriddi troopers and a few of my 'M'-level spells. The locals were suitably impressed - read 'cowed' and 'surpressed' - and we got on with things.

So, that's what I saw - is this this what you're looking for?

"You're a barbarian, washing ashore half-dead after meeting Tekumel's native sea...lifeforms. Still, you reached Jakalla! You have relatives here, though you've been told that they've gone native - and that they'd have you fill a form detailing the way your families are related, in triplicate. Still, better this than going to the Foreigners' Quarter, where the unwanted dregs of other societies pass their lives in squalor and danger, isn't it?"

Should be clear enough.