Generic Local Laws

The following law code is by no means exhaustive, but represents the basic laws in effect in all villages, towns and cities. There may be variations town to town, but all travelers and adventurers should make themselves aware of them.

I. On the Peace of Settlements

1. Any man who draws blade shall pay a fine, or lose his hand if blood be drawn.
2. The end of the Fourth Watch shall ring at sundown; none may wander without a lamp save by leave of the Watch, or else be imprisoned on suspicion of theft until noon of the third day following.
3. Those who brawl, shout treason, or disturb the peace shall spend three nights in the pillory and pay a fine.

II. On Trade and Craft

1. No man may sell goods unless he be a freeman of the settlement or in service to one who is.
2. All bread must be weighed; bakers who give short weight shall be pilloried and their loaves burned beneath them.
3. Butchers may not sell meat more than two days old, nor fish that stinks. Violators shall be fined or flogged.
4. All measures (yard, stone, gallon) must be honest and marked by the Seal of the Guild. False measures will be smashed, and the seller fined.

III. On Streets and Sanitation

1. No one shall throw dung, offal, or chamber-pot into the streets under pain of a fine per offense.
2. Each householder shall sweep before his door by the end of the Dawn Watch on market days.
3. Dead beasts must be removed within a day or buried outside the walls.

IV. On Guilds and Apprentices

1. No trade, craft, nor employment may be practiced except by those enrolled in the appropriate Guild.
2. Apprentices must serve until dismissed as journeymen. Masters may take no more than two apprentices at once.
3. Foreign tradesmen, craftsmen and employees may petition the Mayor or Elderman to practice their trade but must pay a fee daily for a paper medallion.

V. On Justice and Courts

1. The Mayor's Court shall be held every Windsday, with access to all freemen. 
2. The Baron's Court shall be held every Wavesday, with access to all who are subject to his jurisdiction. 
3. Such courts will be convened so as to not interfere with the King's Court every Firesday, but rather to have appeal to his justice.
4. Justice will be dispensed according to the station of the claimants, then in order of summons issued, and then first come thereafter.
5. No trial shall proceed without witnesses or sworn oath, save in cases of theft caught in the act.
6. Disputes must be settled by arbitration or oath before the appropriate Guild or else the Elderman or Mayor.
7. Trial by combat is forbidden within the walls of a city, within the sight of a child, or earshot of a maiden. 

VI. On Crime and Punishment

1. Thieves caught red-handed shall forfeit their goods and serve branding or whipping, at the discretion of the lawful authority.
2. Murderers shall be hanged unless they have a claim of sanctuary.
3. Coin-clippers and forgers shall lose a hand and be cast out.

VII. On Fire and Safety

1. Every house must keep a bucket and ladder. In case of fire, all able-bodied men must attend or pay a fine to ransom their cowardice.
2. Every able-bodied man and armed woman must respond to the Hue and Cry or be held on suspicion of accessory until noon of the third day following. At the very least they shall pay a fine to ransom their cowardice. 
3. No open flame is to be left unattended after the Fourth Watch. Innkeepers violating this shall be heavily fined or shuttered.
4. Ovens and forges may only be kindled and kept by those who have license of the appropriate Guild.

VII. On Wizardry and Witchcraft

1. No spell may be cast within the walls of a city, within the sight of a child, or earshot of a maiden; except is be for self-defense (and with witnesses to attest), and by leave of a chartered College.
2. Any who use flame, lightning, or inclement weather by magic within the town shall be fined, and if harm is done, shall answer for it.
3. No mage, hedge-witch, or warlock may go about invisible, nor may they encourage fear, nor alter their form, conjure illusions, and/or beguile others in order to deceive, upon pain of death. Those who do such things for entertainments must be authorized by a chartered College and the appropriate Guild.
4. It is forbidden to conjure spirits or fiends. Familiars are likewise forbidden if they be larger than a dog, possessed of more than two mouths or walking upon more than four legs.