Wyrmteeth Gazetteer, continued

Laws, Crimes & Taxes

The most important laws of the state are included in the Constitution. They include:

• Every citizen of Wyrmteeth is free. He may be of any race, country, gender or faith (except the illegal churches of the "heretical" dragon Immortals).
• Every citizen of Wyrmteeth is protected by the law against the crimes detailed in the following paragraphs. Harm done to a citizen must be recompensed by the local authorities. If they cannot deal with it, the cause passes on to the High Courts.
• Crimes are judged by the local army, who act as tribunal, police force, and militia. Clerics of different faiths are used to resurrect the wrongful dead. Usually clerics or mages can be asked to use their spells to help find the truth in controversial matters.
• Principal crimes and punishments:
  

  Theft or Fraud

  The thief is jailed for 10 days each moon (monetary unit) they have stolen; the thief must repay the sum. If he is unable to pay, the state will provide him with the money, though each moon missing is another 10 days in jail. If two thieves rob 300 moons, then each of them must give back 300 moons; three hundred go to the victim, three hundred to the Treasury.

  Treason

  Traitors are stripped of all possessions. If the traitor has (innocent) heirs, the confiscated property passes to them; if not, it passes to the Treasury. Traitors are jailed for life. There is no death penalty in Wyrmteeth.

  Espionage

  Spies are accorded with the same as traitors. Falsely accusing a citizen of treason gets you half his potential punishment.

  Murder

  First-degree (intentional) murderers serve a sentence ranging from 20 to 100 years, depending upon circumstance (age of the victim, type of murder, etc.). They must also reimburse the church for their victim's resurrection. If resurrection is impossible they must be jailed for twice the period stated. If they don't possess the money to pay, the amount will be translated into days of jail (see "Theft") to add the punishment. Second-degree murder gets 1/5 of the punishment shown above, but must still pay the full fine. A temporarily insane killer will be examined by clerics at his expense and cured, then set free after he has paid (in money or jail days) the amount needed to resurrect his victim. An involuntary or accidental killer must simply pay back the sum to resurrect the victim.

  It is to be noted that an intentional assassin will be banished from Wyrmteeth lands, as will a two-time second-degree offender, a three-time "insane" offender, etc. Jail time is served as a hard labor period in the mines of Wyrmteeth. All the mines are directly subject to dragons, so in fact the jail period is a dragon service period. If a dragon wishes so, he can use the human or humanoid in others ways. No one usually cares if a 20 years condemned man vanishes mysteriously, and tears are seldom shed for one who dies in "jail." The dragons have the power to exile the punished instead of having them at their service. Usually, dragons don't do so.

  The killing of a dragon by other dragons of the territory is allowed. The dragons are not subject to the laws governing their subjects, but the stronger ones usually keep the less intelligent and powerful from harming the humanoid citizens. The murder of a dragon by humanoid hands has never happened since the Constitution was approved, but if such a case were to present itself, it would surely mean hard time for the assassin.

• Taxation is progressive in Wyrmteeth. Taxation is high, taking from 10% to 50% of annual income. Dragons are not taxed. Half of tax revenue goes to the Treasury, the other to the dragons, with a hierarchical distribution that is reviewed every month. Not paying the taxes is equivalent to theft against the state. If a citizen does not pay the taxes twice he is exiled. Wyrmteeth citizens don't typically mind paying the taxes, though, because the state services (army, healing, law) are good, and the progressive criteria is quite honest.

Religion

As explained before, there is no official religion in Wyrmteeth, though the country hosts the most important clerical temple and school of Pearl, the Moon Dragon. This presence has slightly reduced the religious tolerance level of the country: clerics and followers of Diamond (the Star Dragon) are no longer permitted; and those of Opal (the Sun Dragon) are watched with suspicion. However, most people of Wyrmteeth don't care about religion, and clerics are seldom zealots.

Clerics and followers of the religions must not break the Wyrmteethian laws in following their faiths and rituals, so strange religions usually are not present here. The most common immortals followed here are:

• Pearl, the Moon Dragon - The Moon Dragon is extremely popular in Wyrmteeth. His cult is very old, and many humans who are not otherwise interested in religion appreciate him because they believe that it is thanks to him and the presence of dragons (which scares ignorant outsiders) that they can live in peace and be left alone. A great order of clerics of Pearl is the Holy Blood Sword, which is detailed in this work. Many lizardmen and dragonkin also revere him.
• Kagyar (Vulcanus) - Kagyar the Artisan, sometimes known as Vulcanus by Thyatians and fire elementalists, is revered here. Many artisans are present in Wyrmteeth, most of them dwarve; most of these are Kagyar's followers.

Creating Wyrmteeth Characters

[Note: Notes on creating characters may be found in TSR's Gazetteer series. Notes relevant to Wyrmteeth are found below.]

Thyatians - Thyatians are mostly found in the city of Seel, which hosts 5,000 Imperial natives. They are by far the most friendly culture of Wyrmteeth. Although they are not so active and lively as their southern relatives, they are among the nicest people to deal with. They keep different inns and taverns in Seel, and travel often out of Wyrmteeth, many to visit their relatives in Thyatis, with whom they have still contact. Thyatians came here from three different sources: some were lycanthropes, werewolves that searched for a more easy way to live their condition; others were adventurous men who were searching for a new place to settle; still others were leaving Oceansend after the declaration of independence of the city during the Alphathian attack of 959. The Thyatians of Wyrmteeth are so concerned with feeling that they are still a part of the Thyatian Empire that many buy houses in their ancestral country, spending great amounts of time and money in order to travel there and spend some time in the company of their parents. Usually they do so in the coldest winter months. They also spend lot of time and money in order to import Thyatian wines, cheeses, and other products.

Wyrmdanners (Heldanners & other Antalian peoples transplanted to Wyrmteeth) - The Antalians are the largest ethnic group of Wyrmteeth (13,000). Heldanners and men from the Northern Reaches living here call themselves Wyrmdanners. Many of them have lost a lot of their violent cultural traits, because the mostviolent and dangerous people were thrown out the country after AC 831. They have developed a more vengeful personality, easily offended by insults, and they have a special hate for the race that has caused their exile: Heldanners nearly all escaped the Order of Vanya's attack. Northern Reaches men are mostly descendents of pirates and bandits that hid themselves in Wyrmteeth. Some of them (30%) are people of Norwold who found more safe to be under the dragon's control than be exposed to their raids. These are more similar to Northern Reaches men, and more relaxed than their somewhat paranoid Wyrmteethian cousins.

Werewolves - Werewolves number approximately 4,000. 800 are Averoignian; 1,000 Thyahian; 1,500 Heldanners or Northmen; and 700 of various other nationalities. They differ in nothing from their human neighbours, and it is nearly impossible to find who a werewolf is (though this is also because of the Wyrmteeth laws that help them remain unnoticed, as long they do not harm others). The laws forbid the use of anti-lycanthrope herbs or charms, and any visitor that is found bringing them in the country is cast out of the country, after a heavy fine. In 802, the Dragon King invited many refugees from Glantri, driven out by the persecutions and by the great plague, to settle down in Wyrmteeth. In his invitation there was an explicit mention of werewolves, so many of them undertook the long journey to Norwold. Some werewolves found it easier to settle down in that country, but others decided that they were too tired of fighting with humans, and perhaps the shelter of the dragons could protect them from the endless persecutions. In the following years, the lycanthropes tried to build themselves a new life in the country, but some of them had no intention of controlling the nature of the beast and proved often to be a threat to dwarves and other humans, so the risk of a new purge was high. The problems went on for many years, until in 831 the Constitution, approved by clerics of Pearl and dwarves, set a stop to them by imposing the exile to all troublemakers, both werewolves and humans. Many were forced to leave the country, others left of their own will, dissatisfied with the new laws. A large number remained; these were the ancestors of the Averoigne-origin lycanthropes. Soon, other werewolves from Norwold, Heldann, and Thyatis tried to secure permission to live in Wyrmteeth, and the population grew. Werewolves gained control of the Order of the Holy Blood Sword; many serve in the Army; and there is a branch of the Canine Protection Society in Seel. For more information on werewolf characters, see PC4, Night Howlers.

continued

Copyright 1999, Giulio Caroletti. All rights reserved. Used by permission.