Crime in Styx
Saint Patrik of the Snow White Peaks, a minor saint of the Church of Serkatha wrote these verses at the dawn of the Great Revolution;
"Since there have been laws, there have been criminals
There have been thieves since there's been property."
And they ring true, in a city with as many laws as there are in Styx there is bound to be an immense amount of crime both petty and grave. The Code of Serkatha lists thousands of minor and major sins against the world that the Spider Goddess Serkatha intended, those that commit them are usually punished harshly by the Stygian law if found out with the only mitigating factor being that Stygian officers of the law are infamously open to being bribed. With enough Coin one can get away with most violations of the law in Styx as long as one does not get on the bad side of the Great Unions and the Temple Parliament. The most common crime in Styx is most likely blasphemy, followed by attempted bribery (its only a crime if it doesn't work) and petty theft.
Most district within the city have their resident gangs that run the neighorbhoods extracting protection money from the common people and stealing their livelihood. The Stygian law attempts to wrestle this problem with urban recon and crime prevention units of the Stygian armed forces as well as militias that patrol each neighborhood but the gangs tend to operate fast; as soon as a ring leader is taken out and put into Fangham Prison a lower ranking member rises and the circle of abuse and crime continues.
Some of the gangs claim to be making their neighborhoods safer for the ordinary people and enforce their own version of Stygian law within their territory but for the most part the gang leaders are undemocratic despots who enjoy the power trip that few people in a society that aims to be as equal as possible get elsewhere. It is said that before the Great Revolution those that craved power became factory owners, were nobles or served as the sword arm of nobility, now they run petty neighborhood gangs.
There is one thing however, that keeps the gangs of Styx from devolving into complete chaos and prevent a violent breakdown of all that is considered civil: the Code of Rogues. The Code of Rogues, usually just called the Code by those who follow it is a rudimentary legal system that those who refuse to follow the common laws of Styx tend to uphold. Those that break it one too many times usually end up face down in the Eastern Serpent River.
"Since there have been laws, there have been criminals
There have been thieves since there's been property."
And they ring true, in a city with as many laws as there are in Styx there is bound to be an immense amount of crime both petty and grave. The Code of Serkatha lists thousands of minor and major sins against the world that the Spider Goddess Serkatha intended, those that commit them are usually punished harshly by the Stygian law if found out with the only mitigating factor being that Stygian officers of the law are infamously open to being bribed. With enough Coin one can get away with most violations of the law in Styx as long as one does not get on the bad side of the Great Unions and the Temple Parliament. The most common crime in Styx is most likely blasphemy, followed by attempted bribery (its only a crime if it doesn't work) and petty theft.
Most district within the city have their resident gangs that run the neighorbhoods extracting protection money from the common people and stealing their livelihood. The Stygian law attempts to wrestle this problem with urban recon and crime prevention units of the Stygian armed forces as well as militias that patrol each neighborhood but the gangs tend to operate fast; as soon as a ring leader is taken out and put into Fangham Prison a lower ranking member rises and the circle of abuse and crime continues.
Some of the gangs claim to be making their neighborhoods safer for the ordinary people and enforce their own version of Stygian law within their territory but for the most part the gang leaders are undemocratic despots who enjoy the power trip that few people in a society that aims to be as equal as possible get elsewhere. It is said that before the Great Revolution those that craved power became factory owners, were nobles or served as the sword arm of nobility, now they run petty neighborhood gangs.
There is one thing however, that keeps the gangs of Styx from devolving into complete chaos and prevent a violent breakdown of all that is considered civil: the Code of Rogues. The Code of Rogues, usually just called the Code by those who follow it is a rudimentary legal system that those who refuse to follow the common laws of Styx tend to uphold. Those that break it one too many times usually end up face down in the Eastern Serpent River.
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