Ricasan Law (Ricasa Supplement)

Most of the worlds should consider themselves lucky; laws for the lands are the same almost everywhere, and offer options for every crime imaginable.

Not always so in Ricasa. Though, granted, many of the general laws are the same (or act it), the local and sub-laws have gotten people killed in the past. For example, it's a bit of a culture shock to go from the ancient, expansive laws of Calthoras, which trace their history back almost 700 years, to the fifteen laws of Canadia, written just forty-three years ago and barely changed since their original creation. Serlith law has over 40 distinct and separate laws aimed towards removing violence completely, while its next-door neighbor across the Bay of Gold has more laws dedicated to land distribution than Canadia has laws, period. It can be very confusing.

In general, though, obeying the Canadese set of laws will cover most all common contingencies you'll run across. It still never hurts to do a little research into local variants, but the rather blunt Canadese legal system is a good base to follow.

Law Enforcement

And of course, for every nation with laws there are men, women, and whatchacallits to enforce the laws. While no two nations are precisely alike, these fine officers generally come in several flavors:

Gendarmes

Also known as Police. Gendarmes are the typical street police- these are the men you'll see walking the cobbles every day, searching for law-breakers and no-goods. Nothing makes them happier than not finding any, usually, but bad apples do exist in this barrel, so take heed for good or ill. Though commonly the lowest form of law enforcement per se, the gendarmes definitely know how to use their weapons and will not hesitate too much to do so if threatened- they like keeping their necks as much as you do. Often incorrectly termed provosts, which are quite different.

Tolkas

Tolkas are identical to Gendarmes in every way except that instead of being a force governed by itself and the state, the Tolkas (so capitalized due to being practically an organization in their own right) fall under the jurisdiction of the military. Also commonly referred to as provosts; again incorrectly so. It is even less advisable to mess with a Tolka- being under military jurisdiction means they know how to use their weapons much better than the common gendarme.

Soldiers

If you're big enough and rich enough, you tend to attract the attention of ne'er-do-wells who would like nothing better than to get a free lunch off of you. So you either hire someone to defend you, or become able to defend yourself. This is true for both people and nations, and on the national level the defenses are these men. Soldiers may be the militia crew that rises up to ward off the goblins on the horizon or the patrolling guards who are always on watch from the castle walls, it doesn't matter. These men have pledged to defend their nation and they're damn proud of it.

As you may have guessed, it is generally inadvisable to annoy the army. Those pikes aren't meant to clean their teeth after meals- they're meant for making human shish-kebabs, and the people holding them have been training in their use. Best leave alone.

Provosts

Soldiers, as all people know, have a tendency to get rowdy at times just like the rest of us. Why do they do it less often? Because they know that if they do, they get bigger people coming to break up the fight. Provosts are the military's inner police unit- almost completely above corruption and bribery, trained to hard-honed perfection, and so patriotic you can hear them humming the anthem while they fight, the provosts are definitely not a prime target. These people have to stop the soldiers from fighting- how much trouble do you really think you can give them?

Elite Guard

This is what every lawman dreams of being- the topmost man on a heap that's growing in height every day. A nation's elite guard, in its specifics, varies- in some places it's a palace guard for the King, others it might be a ceremonial order subservient to the lord, other places it might be the whole damn government. Whatever the case, these men are the absolute best, hand-picked from the lower groups to serve in protecting the highest values- and valued objects or persons- of a nation. You can usually spot them by looking at the wall tops of the royal estate.

Elite Forces

And then in some places, there's these guys. Most places don't have anything this high-gear, but if you do, all the other countries will be thinking twice before coming over to play. Elite Forces are soldiers who are put through almost inhumane training and selection processes, then taught everything ever known about combat, then told to make it better. They usually don't socialize well, though there are exceptions, but in the most part it's a good idea to just give them the road- avoid. Not hard to do, as there's rarely a lot of 'em.

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