THEFT OF RATIONS IS PUNISHABLE BY EXILE

On the great walls of the ancestry chambers, laws are chiselled directly into the stone itself. Older, outdated laws have been erased and levelled for more modern iterations to take its place. The result of this is a striking surface of varying levels jutting into the lawmakers chamber. The more ancient and prominent laws that have never been overwritten remain the most prominent towards the centre of the circular room. “HONOUR YOUR KIN” and “AIM YOUR AXES TOWARDS ENEMY HEARTS, NEVER YOUR OWN” are examples of the laws that have never been iterated on.
Each of these carved laws come with smaller carved stone sheets which outline more detail to the laws which require it. These stone sheets are secured onto large pillars which are able to rotate in sections.
One law of note came into existence following the starvation of a long lost city state of Verd’ain. The city was located at the southernmost reaches of the dwarven empire and spawned from an outpost that discovered large deposits of emeralds within the depths. The folks that lived here suffered from a poor harvest and in the same year were made to suffer an onslaught of desperate goblin raiding parties breaching the city limits. The inhabitants of the city were exhausted by months of strict rationing and battling that some raiding parties were allowed to infiltrate the ration stocks. The large-scale loss of vital supplies caused the deaths of thousands and with no way to replenish the stocks, the regular workforce was weakened and unable to keep up with the agricultural demands for the following harvest. This effect was then worsened by the goblin raiding parties cutting off supply lines in and out of the city.
Over the course of two years, the dwarven population of the region had dwindled. Bodies lined the streets with no-one to give them the burial they deserved. The raiding parties worsened and pierced further into the city.
Years later once the tunnels had been re-established an expeditionary force was sent through to determine the status of the city. What they found were corpses of dwarves and goblins alike littering the streets. One phrase was repeatedly scrawled along the walls. Sometimes carved in the stone, sometimes smeared in goblin or dwarven blood.
“THEFT OF RATIONS IS PUNISHABLE BY EXILE”
The rest of the dwarven empire took this as a stark warning of what can happen in the event of unpredictable loss of supplies. From this point onwards, the dwarven councils enacted this as law, going on to form the creation of the social class below all others within society. The outcasts.

This is a submission for my first ever Summer Camp in 2024 - I hope you enjoy my writings and I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback!