The justice system of the nation of
Lenif is presided over almost entirely by the
Church of Wytris. Priests of the church act as arbiters in all matters relating to laws being broken, and determining guilt of the accused. In settlements with no trained church arbiters, a local sheriff may act as arbiter for minor crimes.
Common Crimes
Theft
Nonviolent theft or burglary is generally treated very gently in Lenif, especially when motivated by poverty or necessity. Most instances are punished by having the guilty individual become employed by the church in some function. This can also frequently include forcing the guilty individual to leave the town or city they committed the crime in, to remove them from poor influences of their old life.
Property Damage and Assault
In most cases, property damage or lasting bodily harm is simply a case of making appropriate reparations. This might take the form of monetary reimbursement, working for the affected party, or some other form that can be agreed upon.
If these reparations cannot be made, the guilty party may be imprisoned for some time. They may also be excommunicated from the church until their debt can be repaid.
Banditry
The crime of ‘banditry’ includes everything from robbery, violent theft, extortion, and blackmail. Such crimes are viewed as going against Wytris’s protection of those in Lenif.
As the lightest response, those found guilty are excommunicated from the church and forced to pay reparations for damages and suffering they caused. Corporeal punishment such as branding may also be used to mark the guilty party as a bandit. In the most severe cases, a death sentence may be warranted.
Murder
Intentional murder of any kind tends to be met with a death sentence. In cases of accidental death, an arbiter must determine guilt and appropriate punishment.
Excommunication
Wytris is the patron god of all who live in Lenif. Those who die there are said to have their souls guided to the afterlife - protecting them from things like demons, evil gods, and necromancers.
Even those passing through the area are offered this protection, provided their own god doesn’t intercede.
To be excommunicated means the priests specifically praying to Wytris for her to no longer offer that protection to the guilty individual, in addition to the church not offering more mundane protection of the individual.
An excommunication can be reversed.
Indentured Servitude
By technicality, Lenif does not use indentured servitude in its justice system, nor does it practice retributive slavery.
Rather, it can be common for the accused to offer to redeem themselves in the eyes of Wytris by working for the church. This offer can be rejected if the priests do not trust the accused’s sincerity, and when they are free from this bond is determined at the discretion of the church.
