Day and Night Cycle

All of Lendor, and not just the Imperial controlled Tenglan region, is governed by two daily time periods: day and night.

Day Cycle (Alleyway during the day)	Night Cycle (Alleyway at night)

The Day Cycle:

The sun begins to rise at 4am and thus begins the start of a new day of light. The sun begins to set at 8pm, and then the White Lord's barrier full of the day’s light, will release it further, providing light for another 2 hours. The light from 8pm to 10pm is saturated light, so not as potent as during the day but still bright enough to navigate the city without torchlight.
During the day, any crime is severely punished by the city watch. The guards are allowed to exact punishment immediately under the Lord’s light.

A safe alleyway during the day can become a nightmare at night.

Crimes and punishment during the day:

The City Watch walk around with their wooden baton and a standard-issue sword to hand out the Lord’s punishment instantly. They wear standard-issue leather and no body armour. The Captains use an essence baton and a blade of their choice. Crimes are graded by level; the higher the level, the greater the punishment suffered.
• Level 1: Noise disturbance / drunk and disorderly: The Guard will take you to jail for a day or give you a strong warning depending on the nuisance factor.
• Level 2: Littering: Breaking a finger of the hand that dropped the litter.
• Level 3: Littering into the Ronus Canal: The loss of a finger or hand depending on how much litter was thrown.
• Level 4: Stealing: The loss of the hand that stole the product.
• Level 5: Pulling a sword: The weapon you use slammed into the same hand that unsheathed the weapon.
• Level 6: Physical harm: The same punishment returned two-fold – once by the recipient and second by the guard. If the victim feels it appropriate.
• Level 7: Taking of a person’s virtue without consent / Torture: The removal of the genitalia that performed the act. (Often resulting in death by loss of blood)
• Level 8: Murder / Mass murder: Immediate death using the same method as the criminal.

The Night Cycle:

At 10pm, the barrier’s light extinguishes, and the Dark fully arrives. This is a period of danger for all Imperials because this is when the criminals do their business. With acceptance from the The Dark Church , criminals can conduct their shady affairs under the night of the dark lord. This is also a time when the The Queen's city watch is most prevalent as they attempt to catch the criminals hiding in the dark.

Getting home before the final bell tolls
Ten minutes before 10pm, a single bell rings every minute, and for the last 10 seconds, the bell constantly rings to warn people to get back to their homes because the dark is about to begin. Once the 10-second countdown bell stops, the darkness officially begins. All City Watch must replace their swords with a second baton and wear their armour. To roam the streets. In the streets, there are sanctioned city watch boxes that allow for easy replacement of weapons to make sure they don’t break their own curfew.

If you'd rather avoid these individuals, get home while the sun's still out.

Crimes and Punishment at Night:

The city watch walks around with only a wooden baton and full body armour. (Captains use a rare legendary essence baton). All Crimes committed at night and not under the watch of the Lord of Light cannot be immediately punished since the city watch is not under the guidance of the White Lord. Under these circumstances, the guard uses one of his batons to help apprehend the criminal and then drags the concussed recipient to jail to be processed under the Imperial Law.
For these reasons, criminals (Also known as the night stalkers) focus on committing crimes during the night because the punishment is far less severe than being caught during the day, and they have a chance to escape the less-armed city watch unless it is a captain with their essence baton.

Sometimes, the night stalkers are so eager for their pound of blood that they wait in the streets during the day. But this is risky since if the City Watch catch them; then they will be punished before their terrorising even begins. Masks are freely provided by the Dark Church for added secrecy.
If a person wants to commit a crime, the Dark Church recommends doing it at night because, from a purely practical point of view, the Queen's night punishment is far less severe than her day punishment.
Contrary to the The White Church, The Dark Church believes that when we die, we die, and there is no afterlife or grand light that we must join. Therefore, our actions in life become more important. They recommend not to worry about corrupting your light; just act according to what you want, and if you choose to commit a crime, then just worry about avoiding the practical problems of doing the act, e.g., getting caught, facing injury from your victim, or the guilt you feel after the act.
It is important to know that punishments, when processed through the courts, are more lenient: (It is considered that the criminal chose to respect the Lord of Light by doing the act under the cover of darkness. This is reason enough to offer leniency to the criminal.)
• Level 1: Noise disturbance: Person allowed to go free.
• Level 2: Littering: The person pays a fine
• Level 3: Littering into the Ronus Canal: Person pays a large fine.
• Level 4: Stealing: A person kept in jail for a period suitable to the crime. The next time they commit a crime, the sentence doubles.
• Level 5: Pulling a sword: No punishment; it is acceptable to pull a weapon during the night.
• Level 6: Serious Physical harm: Spending time in jail according to the crime.
• Level 7: Taking of a person’s virtue without consent / Torture: Life imprisonment.
• Level 8: Murder: Death sentence or if a person proves to have remorse under Lord's Pendant will face time in prison.
How long? Every life you take costs you 50 years in prison, but this can be reduced by using a lord’s pendant and working with the priest to get back on the Path to Purity. Heroic deeds can reduce sentence further but will need all those affected by the loss (loved ones of the victim) to agree.
• Level 9: Mass murderer or repeat offender of serious crimes: Death sentence.

Here, the night stalkers prowl the streets of Sky in Northern Tenglan. See the Night Cycle for the rest of Tenglan

Why is the Dark Church allowed to encourage criminals to act at night?

I can only guess the Queen (in her infinite wisdom - please note the sarcasm) wants the Dark Church to exist because it keeps the criminals in one area, is easy to manage and allows her to focus her guards on the most common criminal activity areas. I also believe she thinks it keeps her population from becoming too complacent and lazy. There must be a threat of losing the light for people to appreciate the light they have.

Written by Ricardo Butler

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