The Culture Column
Common Elements
Regardless of which court the laws fall under there are things which apply to all of them. Most of the responsibility for carrying out justice falls to the cunhoppus, or hundredmen, and the ullancus, or wandering judges. Hundredmen are recruited by the Lords and are employed to enforce the laws at the behest of the wandering judges, who are chosen by the king and are usually given authority within a single court. Hundredmen are not restricted to any one court and are put in the service of this ullancu or that one as the wandering judges move in and out of the region.
Ciel pu'Filups: the Court of Forests
The word "filup" is usually translated as forest, since most forests are indeed owned personally by a noble (rather than land just being governed by a noble). As his personal territory the laws of a forest can be as loose or as strict as he desires and do not have to match with the laws of any other court. Lords try to keep the laws at least simple, and include easy-to-access copies of all laws in written form, for the benefit of ullancus who may not be familiar with that particular forest's laws. A noble will usually have a couple of people, called forestrers or folusbiuls, who keep an eye specifically on his forests.
Ciel pu'Geirpus: the Court of Guilds
Trade organizations may petition the king for his recognition and the privilege to make their own laws. With its petition a guild must state its intended territory, a definition of its involved profession or professions, the laws by which it operates, and an explanation as to why the king should grant their request. For example, the guild of masons of r'Iseub, or r'Yacconuliu Geirpus pu'r'Ieusb, petitioned to be recognized as having authority in the cities r'Iuesb, Flanshissuyunt, and pu'Vivu. Within these cities they had authority over all workers in masonry construction, glassmaking and other work when it applied to buildings (meaning that only the members of this guild could, say, make windows or doors). Among their laws were that each member would need to pay regular dues both to help with administrative costs and to provide for a fund for those who had achieved full membership in the guild but could no longer work (or for their families if they were dead) and that murdering one of their members was punishable by death and/or the seizure of the murderer's assets (if the presiding ullancu ruled that he was guilty, of course). Of course, by having authority in those cities and over those particular people the guild was also responsible for their actions.
The king may edit the petition as he wishes and then send it through the Royal Senate (the one instance in which the king himself may put something through). Should it pass, the guild-to-be may accept the altered petition or drop the matter. Many times a king will use a guild to affect the Lord or Lords in whose domain the guild will exist as they represent an element which that Lord no longer completely controls. No more than once every five years the Royal Senate may vote over a proposal to dissolve the guild.
Ciel pu'Virrus: the Court of Towns
This is the simplest of the courts and covers everything not included under one of the other three courts. Peasants, soldiers, merchants, metalworkers, and more are all within the jurisdiction of the Ciel pu'Virrus (assuming that they do not belong in a guild). Among its curiosities is that corpses can be dug up and put on trial if the deceased is suspected of committing a crime in life. Should the corpse be found guilty, its remains will be divided into ten pieces which will be scattered, and its burial mound will be desecrated.
Ciel pu'Yinalshus: the Court of Kings
Despite its name the Court of Kings applies to more than the king. The king, his family, the Lords and their families, and the counts and their families are all under the jurisdiction of the Ciel pu'Yinalshus.
The country is divided into twenty Lordships or suignuelius and each Lordly family can determine the matter of succession in its own way. Some put it to a vote by the entire extended family, others pass the suignueliar office to the eldest eligible male, and yet others to the eldest male descendant of the last Lord. In three generations, too, succession can be determined three different ways (it is ultimately up to the reigning Lord to decide). In any case, women aren't eligible.
Lords manage their suignuelius more or less independently, collecting taxes, raising and maintaining armies and/or militias, funding great works of arts, and adding additional laws to their Lordships.
r'Sunabu Loyar: the Royal Senate
Piyinis pu'Granshu is a popular monarchy with a tricameral legislature called r'Sunabu Loyar. At the head of the Royal Senate are the one hundred censors (who form r'Sunabu Cubsuels), who are appointed half by the Lords and half by the king. They may not be members of the nobility or of any guild, and may not have children or wives. Their sole ability is to place a veto upon any law which makes it through the bottom two senates and only twenty-eight vetoes are needed in order to prevent the law from passing. Once it does, however, it cannot be removed from the body of laws.
Immediately below the Senate of Censors is the Senate of Lords, r'Sunabu Suignuels, whose membership is logically enough made up of the twenty Lords of Piyinis pu'Granshu. The Senate of Lords is not permitted to introduce legislation but is solely responsible for the monarchial election (with their decision capable of being vetoed by the r'Sunabu Cubsuels, of course) and may also (with great difficulty) remove the king from his station. Upon the departure of the king from his office (whether through death or senatorial decree) the Senate of Lords must convene within two months and make its decision. Eligible candidates are comprised of the king's father, uncles, brothers, male first cousins, nephews, and any male descendants. If the chosen king is younger than twenty then another will act as regent (his mother, or his eldest aunt if he has no mother; if he has neither mother nor aunt alive and at least twenty-five years old then he is not eligible). Of course, the decision must still pass through the Senate of Censors (who in this one instance may actually vote, in order to keep the process going quickly, but need a majority vote to block the Lords' decision and to choose their own). The lowest of the three senates is the Senate of Counts, or r'Sunabu Alisbiclaius. Legislation of any kind must be proposed in this senate and passed here before it can enter the upper two senates.
The word alisbiclaiu translates into "count" more often than not but can also be interpreted as "companion" (which was the original meaning of "count" itself) or "governor." Each Lord is able to appoint any man as one of his three counts and is able to give each count any amount of land from his domain to administer in his stead. In addition to their seats in the r'Sunabu Alisbiclaiu, a Lord's three counts may act in his stead in the Senate of Lords if they are able to display his written permission and can agree unanimously on what action to take. The king is able to take ten counts of his own (who may not be given territory, as the king has no inhabited land of his own). This only makes up a seventh of the counts in the Third Senate, meaning that he may introduce legislature through them but cannot guarantee that it will pass. Combined with his lack of influence over the Senate of Lords (except in the rare situation that an entire Lordly family dies out and a replacement must be found), this makes it difficult for the king to pass legislation through. Due to his ability to handpick a full half of the censors and the need for only twenty-eight out of his handpicked men to veto any piece of legislation, however, while the king may not be able to create laws easily he only rarely needs to deal with the passing of a law which he does not like.
Recreation
While dogs have their place in Piyinis pu'Granshu boars are even more respected. Pigs in general are intelligent and capable of following commands and are common enough to be a staple food source for the country, and the Granshi people have bred their pigs for loyalty, strength, courage, and large tusks (and also good meat, because most pigs are destined for the dinner table despite the use that a few others are put toward). Nobles frequently go out on hunting expeditions with their boars and neighboring countries which scoff at this have apparently never seen a boar attacking something.
Coin games are common entertainment especially among the rest of society, and include games similar to two-up, pitch and toss, and toad in the hole. Drinking games are also popular, especially Nouep pu'Cuop (or "neck knot") where the object is to get out of a noose before you suffocate and die. Players will start without any drinks, and after each round will take another drink until all but one of the players have withdrawn (or died).
Salt
Salt is the glory of Piyinis pu'Granshu and the source of its wealth. Its very name means "fields of white," referring to the great salt desert (possibly the remains of an old sea which had dried out long ago) which lies at the center of the kingdom and which is the forest of the king's. Only the Salt-gatherer's Guild, or r'Sur-ceuirruels Geirpus is permitted to harvest the salt from this place. The nobles and certain guilds (or the empowered representatives of either) are able to purchase salt from the guild (which pays a percentage of the profits to the king) and because the salt tax is traditionally seen as the sole domain of the king another taxing method is chosen. Each Lord (and his counts) can coin his own currency (which is either backed up by salt reserves or valuable in its own right) and this currency usually has an expiration date. Once it is useless it can be brought to a representative of the Lord who will reforge the coins, return nine coins for every eleven given to him, put the tenth aside to deliver to the taxman, and keep the eleventh as his payment.
Salt is incredibly valuable of course (it is even used to brush teeth) and incredibly sensitive weighting systems have developed, with merchants regularly using scales which measure in grains of wheat. Three to four scales are used in most dealings: grains/suyuncus (a seven-thousandth of a pound), hands/yaons (two-hundred-fifty-sixths of a pound), ounces/inshus, and pounds/rivlus. Quarters/bliyusbus and hundredweights/cunbrivlus (25 and 100 pounds) are occasionally used as well. Nearly everyone has at least the three lowest scales, often on their person, and within the Ciel pu'Virrus falsifying scales is punishable by the loss of a finger and ten times its weight in salt. Guild, Forest, and Kings' Courts can override this but often with an even harsher punishment.
Next Month: A collectivist and militaristic society where the king is never the biological son of the last king, running yourself ragged until you can barely breath is a religious activity, and communications can be sent across hundreds of miles by way of drum.
Note: Back in July I started up a segment on Thoughtbucket.blog.com where I'm constructing a pantheon which, just as with these cultures, can be dropped into a setting with little-to-no adaptation necessary. It's been designed to be more realistic than the usual fantasy pantheon, with attention being paid to how it would have developed from its beginnings as a tribal mythology, with interactions and mythological cross-fertilization with a foreign nation. It takes up the Tuesday Story Idea update and will continue for a full twelve months. If you like this column you should check it out.
