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Jail, The Constable & You

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~~~ You're having a bad day and decide to take it out on the towns people by casting a maelstorm, killing a few & injuring many....Before you know it you are whisked off to jail.. and they have stripped you of ALL the belongings on yer person! ...Then the guards drag you off to jail and you are then standng in the courtroom as they slap an enormous fine on you! ~~~

First of all, you should know better than to attack, kill or maim anyone in town or anywhere else for that matter. Killing someone is not an acceptable thing to do in Elanthia except in consentual roleplaying situations. This is just one example of how you will get arrested...You can be thrown in jail for any number of reasons.

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The Crimes

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Hooliganism -- Most tend to get arrested for hooliganism such as attacking the town Mutt, Flowergirl, WestGate Guard, The Monk and other such mischief... The fine is usually about 200 silver

Petty Theft -- Thievery of a fellow resident of Elanthia whether in or out of town is frowned upon by many. If stolen from in town, usually someone ACCUSEs of STEALING to the constable. The fine is usually about 100 silv

Theft -- A more serious crime where you have tried to steal from a merchant or shop. The fine is usually about 500 silver.

Assault -- You can get this one by attacking a resident with spells or your fist but not killing them. The fine is usually about 250 silver if ACCUSEd and found guilty.

Assault with a Deadly Weapon -- A more serious crime of assault. This is if you use a weapon of sorts to attack another person but not killing them. The fine usually starts at about 1,000 silver if ACCUSEd and found guilty.

Endangering Public Safety -- Casting any form of area spell like a cloud, tremor, or implosion will land you in jail (even trying to blast open boxes with call lightning). The fine is usually about 5,000 silver.

*Abuse of Demonic Summoning -- Dateline 5/22/2004:

CITY GOVERNMENTS BAN DEMONS FROM THEIR TOWNS

After many months of deliberation, city governments have finally decided that it is in their best interests to keep demons out of their towns. They have begun employing a sect of mages who specialize in the detection of demons and their owners to patrol their cities.

The towns of Ta'Vaalor, Solhaven, and Ta'Illistim reiterate that they consider demonic summoning crimes extremely abhorrent and will come down particularily harshly on offenders. Interestingly, though, sorcerers around Elanthia have recently been reporting that the troops previously deployed around Ta'Vaalor, Solhaven, and Ta'Illistim to patrol for demons have been thinning and that it now seems as if the enterprising sorcerer could sneak a demon into these cities.

The Zul Logoth government, like many others, has banned demonic summoning within its walls and currently holds the offense illegal and punishable. A few revenue-hungry town officials have suggested the idea of selling permits to sorcerers to allow them to keep their demons at their sides and to allow the city to easily keep track of the demonic beings. More details will follow on this plan once the dwarves have worked out their fisca..err, safety needs.

The town government of Icemule Trace, in consultation with its Sorcerer Guild, has restated its position of tolerance for demonic beings but warns that it can and will change this policy if sorcerers do not conduct themselves responsibly.

Anyone arrested or issued a warrant for demonic summoning prior to this announcement should ASSIST to have the arrest removed and their money replaced.

Murder -- Killing a fellow resident or several residents in town. It doesn't matter how they ended up dying or how long after you had attacked them that they did die. If they die in town, you get arrested, no acceptions. The fine varies here. Nobles tend to end up paying more, but the fine is always high regardless and goes up per victim. EX: Jypta accidentally casted implosion in the catacombs, killing 4.. and being a Noble, the judge was far from leniant...her fine was 2million

High Treason Against The State -- Attacking the constable is not a smart idea The fine for attacking the constable is 50,000 silver

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Paying The Fine

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When thrown in jail, everything that you were wearing and all else in your containers at the time of your arrest is placed into a box at the constable's office.

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The OLD way...

When you do go to trial they will give you a one hour time limit from the moment you come before the court..but you may actually only have 30 minutes to get your items back.

Do not take your time trying to pay the fine! To pay your fine you can do one of two things. You can get the silvers if you have them (or borrow from friends) and pay off your debt at the town clerk/bondsman. Or you can go to the bank and try to WITHDRAW and DEPOSIT until the constable steps in to take your silvers away from you.  If you are unable to pay the fine within the given time, Everything in the box is gone forever.

It's still pretty much the same now with a few extra changes and punishments... |

The NEW way...

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THE JOYS OF TAR AND FEATHERING

Each town will have its own judicial processes and punishments fitting to the design and character of that town. For example, a petty thief in River's Rest would find herself scraping barnacles off a boat's hull, while a murderous ruffian in Wehnimer's Landing might be subject to something as severe as a hanging. Victims will now have the ability to drop/lessen charges if, for example, a box trap was set off in town, killing several people. Criminals who are more charismatic or hold more influence may have the ability to sway judges in certain towns. Additionally, the one-hour "real time" fine penalty will be altered. |

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JAIL

When a criminal is first sent to jail, they are stripped of all items (including cursed items). These items are stored in a box for the criminal to collect later.

The old justice system randomly selected a criminal to get pulled from jail to go see the judge. This has been changed to work on a FIFO (First In First Out) system, to keep everything fair. The wait time is based on the number of people in jail before you...so if you're tenth in line, for example, you may have a bit of a wait.

It is theoretically impossible to escape from jail, or die in jail. Society abilities don't work, magic doesn't work, and you're healed of all wounds/disease before you're put in (for a slight fee).

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JUDGE

When the criminal goes in front of the judge, there are three punishments that are available to them: Incarceration, Fine, or Community Service. The criminal may make his or her choice using the ANSWER FINE, ANSWER INCARCERATION, or ANSWER SERVICE commands. If the criminal does not answer in a timely fashion, they will be charged with contempt and thrown back in jail. They should not be able to leave the courtroom until they do ANSWER.

However, criminals that have a significant and serious criminal history may find that incarceration and community service are not available to them. Also, a criminal who previously selected a fine, and then got jailed before they could pay it off, will automatically get fine again, with a extra fee added on for the judges trouble.

Criminals that choose a fine as their punishment will now have game time (rather than real time) to pay their fine. The amount of time is directly related to the amount of the fine... with a minimum time of 20 minutes, and a maximum of 4 hours. If the criminal does not pay his or her fine in time, his or her items will be sold to cover the fine (see below).

A criminal that chooses to pay off his or her fine with incarceration will randomly get either stocks or prison time. The amount of time to serve in prison is based on the fine they are paying off with his or her time. Again, it's a minimum of 20 minutes, and a max of 4 hours.

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Stocks:

Stocked criminals will be brought to public areas around town (TSW for Wehnimers, for example). Their actions will be severely limited in the stocks, and fruit will be made available to be tossed. Great fun for all! A clerk will be on-hand to ask the criminal questions and ensure that he/she is focused on their situation rather than daydreaming. If the criminal fails to answer, or answers incorrectly, more time will be added to the sentence.

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Prison:

Criminals sentenced to prison are carted to the local prison and shoved in a cell. Similar to the clerk when imprisoned in stocks, prison guards will occasionally make sure you're on your toes. It is theoretically impossible to escape from prison at this time.

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At the end of his or her sentence, the criminal will still need to finish his or her current task and then CHECKIN again, lest they be charged with jailbreak. Anyone that runs off on doing his or her community service will be charged for jailbreak as well, and his or her items will be sold, with the proceeds going to the local government.

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A person that lets the time run out on his or her fine will find his or her items sold to cover the fine. These items are looked at one at a time, and if possible, fed into the local pawnshop system. The value of armor and weapons will be updated before they are sold, based on our item valuation system.

Only the amount of items needed to cover the fine will be sold. If there are any items leftover, the criminal must pick them up in a timely manner (in game time), lest the equipment be sold, with the proceeds going to the local government.

A criminal that completes thier punishment or pays his or her fine off in time must pick up his/her items in a timely manner (in game time), lest the equipment be sold, with the proceeds going to the local government. Same as above if they don't get his or her stuff in time.

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BANISHMENT

A criminal that racks up a significant and serious criminal history may eventually find themselves banned from town. Criminals will be informed as such when they pick up their items from the constabulary after serving their punishment. If they're told to leave town, they have a very short period of time before a lynch mob might track them down and enforce the departure. If the mob finds them, they might be forcibly removed, tarred and feathered, or if they've been reaaaaaly bad, hung. In either case, they'll be expelled from town.

Criminals do have the ability to enter town again anytime they wish... but the law can catch them, people can ACCUSE them, and there is a random sweep that will nab. It's possible to stay in town, just have to stay near constantly hidden/invisible. Getting caught will result in a high crimes charge, and banishment again. Rinse, repeat.

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ACCUSE

ACCUSE has been enhanced. If someone punches you, you can go ACCUSE them, and if believed, they'll be charged for assault. Same with being cast at, swung at with a weapon, etc. Accuse can also be used to dismiss the charges of someone if they are still in the pre-judge mode (aka, still in jail, haven't chosen punishments yet). See ACCUSE HELP for more details. You've got to accuse the criminal in a timely manner, otherwise the accusation may not be believed. Also, the mechanics to allow witnesses to some crimes is available, but is yet to be implimented. Also, it is possible to accuse someone falsely, though it will be rare that you are believed.

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SERVICE REFUSAL

Mechanics are in place to allow shop owners to refuse service to known criminals. While the mechanics are available, shops have not yet been modified to take advantage of this system.

Northwest to the Beginning of Merchant Road and North to Hearthstone and Hearthstone Porch as well other surrounding areas of Northgate are all Jurisdiction of the Constable.

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© 2004 Jypsie's Elanthian Library
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