by Artemor the Wise
In Southrun, the men of the various tribes and nations believe that the law is greater than any individual sovereign, which they call Sooltan, or Sooltrop and sometimes Shayke. Once a law is made in a given barony, the Southruners believe that it may never be repealed. For this reason the laws of the Land ever increase and many learned men are charged with learning them by rote, and then reciting on command. Though such a thing is seldom necessary as every large city seems to contain large stones upon which these laws are painstakingly graven.
According to the Southruner, the basis for all laws comes to them from a legendary figure named Roo-uhh-lah who was led by some spirit to the heart of their great desert and found twenty commandments inscribed on great stone monoliths. To these basic laws, various rulers have added injunctions and commandments of their own, which may not contradict the spirit of the basic twenty-three laws, nor the letter of the rulings of their predecessors. Though it is true that the men of Midir have a different set of precedents and additions than their neighbors from Byza, both reference the same basic 20 laws.
Note that several laws contain words whose meanings are unknown. These words are not written, but contain the preferred translation of Roo-uhh-lah in parantheses.
1. If a man profanes a [god] he will be cursed to the seventh generation.
2. If a man does not show [obeisance to this law], he will be cursed to the seventh generation.
3. If a man [sours water], he will be cursed to the seventh generation, for it belongs to all.
4. If a man does not offer hospitality, he will be cursed to the seventh generation.
5. If a man does not show [reverence to the fathers of others] though the two be as enemies, he will be cursed to the seventh generation.
6. If a man commits a murder, he must be killed.
7. If a man harms a child or violates a woman, he must be killed.
8. If a man commits a robbery, he must be killed.
9. If a man is found to be a [sorcerer or djinn], he must be killed.
10. If a man violates a [stone wall that is still standing], he must be killed.
11. If a man cannot hold his [slaves, wives, camels or coin] he deserves to part with them.
12. If a man [divorces his first-time wife], he shall pay [her weight] in coin, but if she is not he shall [dismiss her] with a kind word.
13. If a man spoils [the virgin of another man], he shall pay [her weight] in coin.
14. If a man [knocks out the eye] of another man, he shall {weigh it out in coin} and pay it over ten times.
15. If a man’s [slave-woman], comparing herself to her mistress, speaks insolently to her, her mouth shall] be scoured with a handful of salt.
16. If a man appeared as a witness, and was shown to be a perjurer, he must pay [the weight of his tongue after it has been severed] in coin.
17. If a man seeks [to own property he shall establish an obelisk] and fire a bow shot in all directions from it. This property shall be his unless the bowshot is fired over water, for water belongs to all.
18. If a man [moves an obelisk], he shall pay its weight in coin.
19. If a man claims to be [an astrologer], but is known not, then he will undergo the trials of water, sand, and fire; and then pay [the weight of his tongue after it has been severed] in coin.
20. If a man is accused of any wrong and cannot prove himself, he must seek [an astrologer]; if he is proven innocent, his accuser must pay [their combined weight] in coin. If guilty, he must pay twice what the law prescribes.
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