Quoted By:
>The civilisation gets +5 Cohesion and Happiness.
After a great deal of passionate debate, the heads of the families and the leaders of the many villages that span the Croglatol come to a decision. Together, under the watchful eye of the chieftain and the saint, they shall decide upon a basic set of laws that all of the chiefdom shall follow. Murder, rape, assault, theft, property damage and other significant crimes are to be given clear definitions and standardised punishments, ranging from enslavement to the seizure of shell money.
As these rules are written over the course of many great feasts, it is discovered that there are many grey areas that the village chiefs cannot agree upon. What counts as inadequate handling of livestock? How should disputes of land ownership be resolved? When the tribal leaders cannot achieve a reasonable consensus and the chieftain and saint have no input to offer, they accept that there can be no common ground regarding these issues – it remains the responsibility of the village heads to judge and arbitrate in these situations, with no common law to guide or constrain them.
A middle ground of sorts is achieved. Despite the establishment of a basic legal code – the <span class="mu-s">Cromavicibrul</span>, the <span class="mu-i">value of land and men</span>, etched into stone tablets using a Protadrol script – villages will still retain some autonomy. Tribesmen who believe that the leader's judgement goes against these common laws are welcome to demand an appeal, that shall be heard at the next seasonal feast to be held at Ancron. There, the chieftain and the saint – or more commonly, those who they deem worthy of representing them – shall determine whether or not the leader's verdict contradicts the Cromavicibrul.
In the grand scheme of things, not too much changes. The many villages of the Croglatovic are brought a little closer together by these shared laws, yet most of the tribal leaders are pleased that they still get to keep a great deal of agency and control over the settlements that they rule. As for its actual impact on crime across the Croglatol, it's minimal – in some cases, the enforcement of law has been streamlined while in other cases, it has become complicated.
Twenty-five years pass.
The last of the Sitrunic abandon their devotion to the first saint. Though they still appreciate the part she played in the formation of the chiefdom, she is not to be worshipped – merely respected. They merge seamlessly with the Crodrocravic and the Anamilivic, who also cease to exist as independent denominations. Together, they are simply the Croglatovic, the men of the lake, the devoted children of An and Il who carry the light of life within their bodies.
