Laws of Ellistown Landing
The legal code governing Ellistown Landing operates on a 10-class severity system, and that structure tells you most of what you need to know about how Dominus Columbia thinks about crime. Class 1 is trivial: public intoxication, petty theft, the kind of offenses that cost you Shells in fines and nothing else. Class 10 is treason against Dominus Columbia, and only the Senate can authorize the punishment it carries.
Between those extremes, the code maps out a progression that reflects the settlement's priorities. Unauthorized use of Death Brew without a permit, a method of peering into the Mortis Amaranthine, sits at Class 2 alongside non-lethal assault and minor tax evasion. The classification is deliberate: unauthorized Mortis access is treated as a regulatory infraction at the lower end and a serious offense at the upper end, scaling from Class 5 to Class 8 depending on the degree of interference. A society that regulates access to the realm of the dead with the same precision it applies to tax collection is one that takes both obligations seriously.
The punishment tiers follow the severity scale. Classes 1 through 3 result in fines paid in Shells. Classes 4 through 7 introduce Restriction, Probation, and Geas, the last of which is a compulsion enforced through ritual or psionic means. The fact that magical compulsion is a standard mid-range punishment speaks to the available tools of justice in Dominus Columbia. Classes 8 through 10 escalate to Infection loss, Exile, and Outlaw designation, consequences that strip away standing and safety in escalating measure. Permanent Death sits above the scale entirely, reserved for the Senate alone.
The code distinguishes between three tiers of legal personhood. Citizens receive full trial rights. Residents and Travelers receive progressively fewer protections, though the specific differences are not fully enumerated in the available records. The distinction creates a justice system where your rights before the law depend on your relationship to the settlement.
A 124 DC addendum grants the New Dawn Templars first-refusal rights on radioactive materials within Ellistown Landing's jurisdiction, one of the latest dated entries in the legal code. The addendum's timing, near the end of the functional DC era, suggests it was added under circumstances that made radioactive material control a pressing concern.
Between those extremes, the code maps out a progression that reflects the settlement's priorities. Unauthorized use of Death Brew without a permit, a method of peering into the Mortis Amaranthine, sits at Class 2 alongside non-lethal assault and minor tax evasion. The classification is deliberate: unauthorized Mortis access is treated as a regulatory infraction at the lower end and a serious offense at the upper end, scaling from Class 5 to Class 8 depending on the degree of interference. A society that regulates access to the realm of the dead with the same precision it applies to tax collection is one that takes both obligations seriously.
The punishment tiers follow the severity scale. Classes 1 through 3 result in fines paid in Shells. Classes 4 through 7 introduce Restriction, Probation, and Geas, the last of which is a compulsion enforced through ritual or psionic means. The fact that magical compulsion is a standard mid-range punishment speaks to the available tools of justice in Dominus Columbia. Classes 8 through 10 escalate to Infection loss, Exile, and Outlaw designation, consequences that strip away standing and safety in escalating measure. Permanent Death sits above the scale entirely, reserved for the Senate alone.
The code distinguishes between three tiers of legal personhood. Citizens receive full trial rights. Residents and Travelers receive progressively fewer protections, though the specific differences are not fully enumerated in the available records. The distinction creates a justice system where your rights before the law depend on your relationship to the settlement.
A 124 DC addendum grants the New Dawn Templars first-refusal rights on radioactive materials within Ellistown Landing's jurisdiction, one of the latest dated entries in the legal code. The addendum's timing, near the end of the functional DC era, suggests it was added under circumstances that made radioactive material control a pressing concern.
10-class severity code governing crime, punishment, and legal status in Ellistown Landing.
