by Brenna Lyons
A warrior must ever be mindful of the nature of the crime against him. He cannot allow his pain to rule him. Capital crimes involve grave harm and disregard of innocence. Murder or rape or the attempt of either, an unprovoked attack on a warrior’s mate or child— In such a case, the interloper must pay the ultimate price as the pact demands. The warrior who exacts the ultimate price for a crime that is not capital or not in defense will face death himself from his true judge, having proven himself lacking in control and respect for the fragile sanctity of life.
Likewise, the warrior must gauge his punishment of warriors who wrong him by the rules of sanction. A warrior has the right to face the warrior he has most wronged as judge — or his house lord as case may be when the injury is to his own house or to a human not of a warrior’s household. One who acts as judge in another’s stead faces sanction by both the true judge and the warrior he judged out of place — or the warrior’s lord if he is incapable of judging for himself.
The drive to print can lead to madness in Ende Spiel. Printing can make a warrior the most stable of men unless his mate or children are endangered, but the time of printing is the most dangerous and unstable time of all for a warrior.
Warriors are not lawless soldiers. A warrior must rule his curse, lest the curse rule him. The sanctions in taking women are understandably rigid because of the great danger printing poses.
The beasts take women brutally, without care and concern. Until a warrior finds his mate — or after he loses his mate, he will require release with women aside from his mate. While he has a mate, she will provide the only true release he will find. She is a balm for his soul, calming his Blutjagd and appeasing his sexual appetite as no other woman can while she lives. He will have no need and no wish to perform with another as long as he has her.
But, a warrior who cannot control his curse is no better than a beast. A warrior may not take an unwilling woman, even if she is the woman of an enemy or an enemy herself. Neither shall a warrior use his whiles to sway an unwilling woman to some form of willingness to bed her. Such a move is dishonorable in that it exploits her innocence and does her injustice.
A lover must always be treated kindly and with respect. It is the warrior’s duty to repay the peace a lover grants him with pleasure. If she gifts him with her maiden’s blood, he must ease it from her and repay her tenfold for her sacrifice.
A warrior must never take a child to his bed. A woman shy of fifteen years, though she bleeds, is not a woman for the taking. Her body is not adequate to carry a warrior’s child until she matures, and her innocence is still largely intact.
If the woman of a warrior’s desire is the freed daughter of another warrior, she may not be taken without her father’s consent or that of her house lord if her father is dead. The warrior protecting his child is a dangerous man, and the interloper may be perceived as a threat to that family. For the safety of all, this rule must be adhered to.
The warrior who takes simple pleasure without permission from her keeper owes a solid blow for every instance to the one who would give his permission. Judgment of whether or not the warrior is worthy of the woman will then be rendered by her judge.
If the warrior takes his satisfaction in her in such a case, he must submit to that same man as judge. It is within his judge’s rights to exact one of three punishments. If he deems the warrior without either honor or control, he may take his life for it. He may take him to trial and forbid his interaction with the woman again. Or, he may take a single blow and give his consent — with any reasonable restrictions he deems fit the situation from the question of when children are appropriate to loyalties in repayment for his trespass.
In any case — satisfaction taken or no — the judge has the right to strike the woman a single open-handed blow if he feels she is without honor in her actions.
A warrior who cannot control his curse is no better than a beast. A warrior who returns to a forbidden woman a second time faces the certainty of death.
A warrior must always submit absolutely to his judge. If he raises a hand in his own defense to any warrior — judge or no — or does not meet and live by his punishment gracefully — even unto a sentence of death, he will face death, as he has shown himself without control. If the warrior lies to his judge to hide his misdeeds when asked for the truth, he will face any penalty up to and including death as his judge wishes, for he has shown himself lacking in honor.
If the woman wronged is human not of a warrior house, the house lord of the warrior who wronged her will sit as his judge. If the accused is a house lord, the stone lord will stand as judge. If he is stone lord, a council of the lords will stand as judge. In the case of the house lord, he will no longer be deemed worthy of his position and shall forfeit his place as house lord to the next in line to hold the seal. The stone will take care of its own succession as it always has.
Taking any woman — human or of a household – unwilling, automatically warrants a sentence of death, as would attempting her murder or the murder of a child. The body of the warrior would then be presented to the woman and her family and personal protection be granted them in repayment by the house lord.
If the warrior is come upon in the act, the woman’s safety is paramount. If he can be restrained and presented to his true judge, it should be done despite the fury driving the warrior who comes upon the scene. If such a thing cannot be accomplished without the threat of further violence to his victim, he should be executed as he is. She should then be tended to medically and returned to her family with proof of the attacker’s state.
If a human family wishes to exact their own punishment on a warrior, they will be permitted the right of inflicting their own beating with the protection of the warrior guard before the judge passes his own sentence. Remember always that when a warrior breaks the pact, the safety of all depends on restoring the peace with the humans injured.
Only in a challenge of trial is the warrior to defend himself physically. Only to his true judge at the appropriate time is the warrior to defend himself in words — if such is the case that there is any excuse for his actions — or to plead mercy for the woman involved. A warrior should never plead mercy for himself, as his actions are his own, dishonorable or honorable, and honor demands he take responsibility for them.
The warrior may demand his right of his true judge and no more of the warrior who places him in custody. If he raises a hand to that warrior he will be restrained or killed as the situation unfolds. Should he survive his punishment of his true judge for his first crime, he still faces death at the hands of the warrior holding custody for his lack of control. If the warrior taken into custody attempts violence to an innocent— In such a case, no move will be made to restrain him. His life is forfeit.
About the Author
Brenna Lyons lives in Haverhill, MA with her husband, three children, and a zoo of pets. She is a poet and novelist who has a stunning thirty-five offerings signed with eXtasy in addition to her other pursuits.
She enjoys the Society for Creative Anachronism and is a member of such groups as Broad Universe, EPIC, WRW and ERA.
Brenna holds a BS in Accounting and a Certificate of Computer Programming. Why? An auditing teacher commented that she would either “make the perfect auditor or the perfect thief,” and she had been writing for eleven years with little professional training – in effect, a thief of attention by misdirection.
In the years since that fateful day, she has worked as an accountant and auditor, as a stock clerk and running a cash register, as a tutor, in child care, and as a writer – always as a writer.
Brenna enjoys talking to readers and can be reached via her site at http://www.brennalyons.com
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