THE LAW OF THE
MARKET
In
the wastelands the only law is survival of the fittest,
what you can
keep is yours, alternatively what
you can take is yours. In the Market things are
calmer, safer,
and more civilized. Through special
arrangements and tenuous agreements, City, State and
federal law
enforcement stay out of the nomad market. The
closest they come
is to put up a strict
checkpoint
on the roads the civilians use to get in and out of the
market, and a
looser one on
the
southern road the
nomads use. Unofficially the
Nomad Market is a no man's land, and the government will
not try to
move in for fear of a full scale and possible nation
wide revolt from
the nomads. The nomad community and by proxy the
Nomad Market
have their own rules, and in the market, the only laws
enforced are
those laid down by the Nomad Council:
All merchants must
have
Tribal SponsorshipWhile anyone may trade with anyone else in the Market, merchants who set up shop must have a recognized Tribe sponsor them. If you are not affiliated with a recognized Tribe, several offer temporary sponsorship for a price (varies but usually around about 1/10th the Market value of what you are selling). Sponsorship is necessary because if you sell defective products, your Tribe is held responsible.
Violence inside the Market is not permitted, especially against Statics
If you are caught fighting you will be given a choice, settle it by combat or be banished from the Market for a month. If you kill or rape someone, then the Tribe of the victim has the right to challenge you to combat to the death, if they forfeit that right you are banned for a year. For second offenses, you are also branded. Third offense you are banished for life. If the victim in any of these cases is a Static, you
will be
handed over to
local authorities without question. The
Council will
tolerate no
incident which brings
Static law into
the
Market.Stealing inside the Market is not permitted
If you are caught stealing from anyone in the market, you will be banished for a month, and restitution will be made to the victim of your goods equaling the lost property as closely as possible.
Trading faulty goods, or misrepresenting goods, is not permitted
This is considered the same as stealing and will be dealt with the same way, if you have already left, the consequences will fall on the Tribe that sponsored you.
Minor disputes will be settled by the involved families, major disputes will be settled by the Council
If you can't settle a disagreement by yourselves, then your Tribal representative will step in. If the problem is between people of two different Tribes, then the problem will be taken to the council, however the council is very busy, so it had better be important. The word of the Council is final. Any dispute that cannot be solved by any
other means will be settled by
combat. (Either
by Battle Race, The
Dome, or
Checkers, yes
checkers.........
this keeps it fair for those
who are obviously outclassed. If the two in
dispute can't agree
which venue to take, a die will be rolled and the choice
will be made
for them.)You are responsible for any illegal goods you are caught with after you leave the Market
Once you leave the Market, you are on your own and the local, state, and federal laws apply to you again. If you are caught with drugs, illegal weapons, or any other contraband then expect no help from the Council
Council law is
enforced in the Market by the Lawgivers. Lawgivers
have cut ties to all tribes and
families, and have permanently allied themselves with
the Council
itself. They are easy to spot, due to their
"uniform" of black
leather and face masks. In addition to providing
door security
and manning the defenses on the wall, Lawgivers also
roam the market in
groups of no less than two at a time. Joining the
Lawgivers is
simple, and only requires that you prove
your ability to
fight, you
must have at least five
people
vouch for you,
and you
must denounce all
other loyalty
and swear
allegiance
to the Council. You must
serve the
minimum of at
least
one year (after which time you can
quit any time
you wish) and you must
be willing to do your job without prejudice. To
ensure this,
Lawgivers who have been on less than a year are always
partnered with
someone who has been on at least three years. The
senior Lawgiver
will be required to make reports to the council on the
status and
performance of the new member. (Lawgivers have the
secondary
special ability: Authority, but it only works inside the
Nomad Market)
Only one group has
authority over the Council, the Paladins. The
first Paladin was a retired Hi-Way cop named Sean Wayne
whose family
was killed by Raffen-Shiv in 2011. For two years
he traveled
undercover with the nomads trying to find the ones
who killed his family. Originally he was bent on
revenge towards
all nomads, but as he traveled with them he came
understand and
embrace their lifestyle. Eventually he revealed
his true identity
and decided it was time the
nomads had their
own brand of justice and
order. He became the first Paladin, and wandered
the roads and
wastelands, helping any who needed him, fighting
injustice and
villiany
wherever he found it. A blacksmith named Khan
forged the first
Gunblade for him, presenting it as a token of gratitude
for saving his
daughter from a corrupt Hi-Way cop. The Gunblade
would become the
Paladin Badge of office. In 2014 he
was wounded while fighting of
a band of Raffen-Shiv
marauders while
the caravan he was traveling with
escaped. He managed to run them off, but lost his
left arm and
the lower half of his right leg in the process. It
would have
been the end of the Paladins, but his
story and his
reputation had
spread, and he
had
attracted
followers who wished
to take up
the
cause. Five men and women were in that first
group,
and Wayne spent a year training them. Khan agreed
to craft a
gunblade for each of them, and any new recruits who felt
the
calling. 
As the years
passed
the reputation of the Paladins
grew. Now they are accepted as the only authority
on the open
road, the Council has bestowed upon them their full
blessings. In
the nomad community Paladins have the authority to solve
any dispute,
enter any vehicle, and join any caravan. Even
in Static society
there are people
who have heard of
Paladins, especially among the
Hi-Way, who have even been known to work with a
Paladin on
occasion. Raffen-Shiv on the other hand have an
open bounty of
1000eb on any Paladin brought to them alive. Becoming a Paladin isn't easy. First you must be accepted for training by Wayne, who
evaluates
you while
you
train for six
months. During this time you are
required to
permanently cut all
ties to
family, tribe,
and nation. After wards you are assigned
to a senior Paladin to act as apprentice for a full 2
years before you
become a full fledged Paladin. Your Gunblade is
awarded to you
after the first six months if you are seen as
worthy. Other than
the two year apprenticeship, no two Paladins ever travel
together. It is a life of solitude and constant
danger. It
is also a life of grays. Unlike police who have a
strict set of
laws to guide them, Paladins are expected to
judge each and every situation on its own merits of
right and wrong,
and necessity. Paladins often travel with others
for at least a
few days before they continue on their journey, riding
with a caravan,
or even just another lone
wanderer. Forming permanent ties is
forbidden, some Paladins take it so far as to vow
celibacy. If
needed, a Paladin can call for backup from
the others, though
it rarely
happens. Paladins are too scattered, and too hard
to
contact. Alternatively, a Paladin can
"deputize" a posse if
the situation requires it. All this talk of
authority must be
taken in context, a Paladin has no "official" power, and
anyone can
refuse him, but to do so brings immediate suspicion on
anyone who
dares, both from the Paladins, and from other
nomads. In a city,
or anytime he deals with Static society, a Paladin has
no power
whatsoever. Paladins are
required to check in with Wayne for
updates and possible assignments every 2 weeks.
The Gunblade a Paladin
carries, while fully functional
as
both a firearm and a sword, is more a badge of authority
than a primary
weapon. It is simply too heavy to be effective
(though some
nomads do use it almost exclusively somehow).
Instead a Paladin
usually carries at least a sidearm as his primary
weapon. No two
Gunblades are ever the same. If a Paladin dies,
his Gunblade is
to be returned to Wayne Ranch in Texas. Anyone not
a Paladin
caught carrying a Gunblade by a Paladin may be executed.
Corruption
is an ever present threat to the Paladins, and any
Paladin
found breaking their oath is to be hunted down and
executed by the
other Paladins. Paladins may retire, but once they
do they must
turn in their Gunblade. (Paladins have the
secondary special
ability: Authority, identical to the cop special
ability, but it only
works in the nomad community.)