thirteenth rune; frost; video

[deadelfwalking]

[Hello, friends. A cold-eyed elf with a fairly significant skin condition stares at the camera, his jaw set, his mouth a thin, inscrutable line.]

Talk of a council is all well and good, but we have another matter in front of us.

As many of you have pointed out, there is no formal system of law in place. At present, those of you who acted as peace officers have simply continued as you were in your own worlds. If you brought others to justice, if you spoke about justice -- you have continued to see this as your right.

[His eyes narrow, drawing his long eyebrows together.]

But it is not your right. Your laws are not universal. Your morality is not sacrosanct.

We must decide on appropriate conduct as a whole, with consideration given to perspectives outside of our own.

I propose that any code we settle on be simple and direct. For example:

1. Murder shall be abolished. In the case of murder, execution.

2. Theft shall be abolished. In the case of theft, the hand shall be cut off at the wrist. Repeat offenders shall lose both hands.

3. Conspiring with the United Earth shall be considered treason. In the case of treason, suspected or actual, execution.

4. Bodily autonomy shall be respected. Knowing efforts to mind control, telepathically invade, steal, or otherwise forcibly take spiritual or physical authority over another sentient being will constitute assault. In the case of this assault, execution.

And so forth.  These are merely ideas, of course.

[His lower lip twitches, suggesting that he's perfectly aware of the extremes he's recommended. Suggesting that he's just trying to get your attention, to get you to think about how you would define your own terms. What constitutes murder? Theft? Conspiracy? Justice? He's only asking.

Maybe.]

[After several hours, the post is edited with a very carefully recorded text attachment.]

Proposed countermeasures to theft:
public humiliation 
fines
time locked away

Proposed countermeasures to murder:
temporary exile
(where?  to a safe place?  to a random location in time?

General countermeasures
better jail system (?)
compassion (???)
mercy (???)
trials (how?  who receives authority?  who takes what position?  what verdicts should result?)
jail time (general solution?)
punishment via the VR room (?) 

Comments

[deadelfwalking]

Mercy and compassion are general feelings. They are not practical responses.

[He has to laugh at the thought of her kicking his ass in any capacity. Just a little. Just gently.]

[legal_eagle]

[STOP LAUGHING, ANGELINA JOLIE]

They're not feelings. They're concepts. They're the overriding principle that it's better to forgive than to seek revenge. Or does that not exist in your world?

[deadelfwalking]

Revenge was the guiding principle of every death knight's existence until very recently. The forced principle. We left the rest to the living. The paladins. The priests.

You seem to think I want this code to be adopted. I do not. If I did, I would not be protecting some of the filth currently held in our makeshift cells. But this severity is where I come from. And I am not the only one.

[legal_eagle]

Yeah? Well, it's shit. Typically, in polite society, when you see shit, you don't point to it and ask everyone else to look.

[deadelfwalking]

This is not a polite society.

[legal_eagle]

You know what a figure of speech is?

[deadelfwalking]

It doesn't apply. We have no society. We have nothing. We are starting from the ground up.

But if you would prefer to rail against cultures you do not understand and glare at me as though I have personally carried out something against you, that is your right, I suppose.

[legal_eagle]

Yeah, we have a common fucking understanding that you don't fucking chop off hands. Oh, I'm sorry, or is that me not getting your culture?

[deadelfwalking]

Oh? We have that understanding? Recent events suggest otherwise.

[legal_eagle]

There's been a relative paucity of maimings, as I understand it.

[deadelfwalking]

The woman with her magic sliced from her body would disagree.

[legal_eagle]

And notice how the one who did it's being held for it being a crime? Do you think that might indicate that it's not seen as a legitimate method of punishment?

[deadelfwalking]

Does he regret his actions? Has he gotten what he deserves? Do you think so?

[legal_eagle]

Me, personally? [An unpleasant laugh.] If I had my druthers, we'd be using little hooks to turn his rectum inside out. But what I think is also wrong.

[deadelfwalking]

Yes. And the extremity of the Ebon Blade is not correct for what we want to build, either. But what we decide needs to be collective. I do not care if you dislike how I've begun this discussion. It is begun. That is all that matters to me.

[legal_eagle]

Hon, it was begun two weeks ago. You're not kindling a fire; you're throwing a match on one already burning and thinking that, damn, you did a good job.

[deadelfwalking]

I do not think such a thing at all. I think we have spoken of a council. I think we have spoken of conduct. I think we have no specifics on the latter.

Am I wrong? Point to me where people besides your lot have brought up any ideas.

[legal_eagle]

Yeah, why is "my lot" excluded?

[deadelfwalking]

You're not. But the rest of us should not be excluded, either. The people who are not human. The people who are not from Earth. And so on.

[legal_eagle]

Ohhh, I see. So this was all just a bid for equality.

[deadelfwalking]

[He makes a frustrated noise in his throat.] No. This is a useful discussion. I have been clear and reasonable in --

[He stops; shakes his head.]

No. You dislike me, and so you are going to continue missing the point. There is nothing more to say to you.

[legal_eagle]

No, I dislike what you said here. I found it pointless and asinine. And if you're so badly prepared to deal with people attacking the points you raise, probably you shouldn't raise them.

[deadelfwalking]

You have not attacked my 'point'. You have attacked trivialities and misdirections, and substituted them for the point. You know the purpose. You simply don't like it. But the others have responded well, and fruitfully.

[he shrugs.]

Snipe away, if you wish. Or offer something I can record for later use.

[legal_eagle]

[Sardonically:]

"How can you eat with only one hand?" "Which hand should be removed?" "Should executions be public?" All so fruitful and helpful. Definitely not scaremongering that just makes people even more freaked out and even less likely to like the possibility of laws.

So yeah. There's my fucking offering for you. In doing this, in starting this line of dialogue because you wanted to be some big-dicked smug motherfucker, you have further brought down the level of discourse. You have scared people. You have thrown up another obstacle in the way, because people are going to hear chatter about hands getting cut off and resist even more the possibility of getting anything in place. Does that make you and your ego happy? Well done; you've made an impact upon the population at large.

[deadelfwalking]

People are offering alternatives, as I expected them to do. That you choose not to read them is, of course, your business.

[He smiles the smile of someone who doesn't have to prove that he's a big-dicked motherfucker to anyone. He already knows he is. His voice is soft; gentle, despite the guttural quality.]

I eagerly await your next insult, Ms. Karimov.