Police

Police in Pecháno

Pecháno has urban police forces, Sákbe Road guards, and tomb police. The police forces of larger towns and cities are considered to be part of the regular standing army: troopers who are organised, trained and armed like medium infantry. In the villages the constabulary consists only of a village headman plus a posse of bucolic deputies drafted into temporary service. His powers include keeping the peace, arresting malefactors, solving minor disputes (usually with the help of the clan elders), investigating local crimes, etc. He can only punish petty offences with a few days imprisonment in a storeroom, root cellar, or, if he is in a bad mood, the basement story of the village latrines. Those accused of more serious offences are held until a squad of police from the nearest town are sent out to collect the felon, or felons.

 

Pecháni policeman and two felons.

Detail from the Temple of Quóth in Ogréjja.

            The size of the police squad typically varies from town to town, or region. Those towns that are close to the borders usually have a larger constabulary than those located within the interior of the country. Towns on the border with Salarvyá can easily have 15 – 20 constables while those on, or near, the border with Ssuyál can have double that number whereas a town outside of Ogréjja would have, at the most, 5 policemen. Mechanéno has about 2500 full time constables on the books, with another 1000 reservists that can be called up in time of need. The actual number of on duty constables at any given time is probably closer to 800 - 1000, as many of these positions are patronage appointments where only a “pay cheque” is collected and no policing is done. The current Chægósh is said to be quite displeased with this situation and rumours of reform are being whispered by those close to the Royal Court. Ogréjja has approximately 200 constables, at most, with another 100 that can be drawn in from adjoining towns within the immediate vicinity; Teshkóa has a full time force of 500 men who are also responsible for patrolling those towns adjacent to Teshkóa, within a 50km radius. They also serve as guards at the Rekhmél’s iron mines. The Chief of Police in a Pecháni town or city is technically the highest ranking municipal official, and is supposed to be independent, answerable only to the Royal Court however, quite often military commanders are given overall command and the Police Chief is subordinate to the senior Sreddéq. 

            The Pecháni police tend to be quite efficient and professional, if somewhat overworked, and corruption is not as wide spread amongst its rank and file as it is in other nations. This is not to say that the policemen of Pecháno are ‘saints’, merely that they are less greedy than their opposites the Five Empires. The Beneshchán and Rekhmél are responsible for the upkeep of the police forces in their lands, although both clans are subsidised by the state. Curiously, the Lords of Ogréjja are not obligated to pay for policing and all funding comes directly from Mechanéno. 

Update

Well, I am still here but I have been just too busy with work to post anything new. I have some stuff I want to put up on the blog, and hopefully I'll be able to do it this week. The new game is going full speed, and although we are only playing once per month the party has made great progress. I may start posting some of the adventure logs here, but I think that I'll wait until we get a bit further in the campaign. Besides, I'm not sure whether to keep this blog purely Pecháni or add other stuff to it.In the mean time, here is a picture of the village of  Purrung’ashté located in North-Central Pecháno. It is said that the snow covered mountain the centre of the picture, Mount Harranndüllu holds a great city of the ancients within it. Whether this is a myth or a fact is unknown. One thing though that is certain, is that Ssü raiding parties often emerge from catacombs located  beneath it and lay waste to the surrounding countryside.

The Village of  Purrung’ashté

I was going through my old files the other day and I found this. I don't know who did the original, but if it's yours please let me know.


            

Shémek hiTankólel

Qímmu  1^st Kekkérja,

The Nchésh of the Splendid Slayers of Ssü.

Law and Punishments (Part 2)

Part IV.

Law, Police, Punishments, and the Arenas. (Continued)

Pecháni Magistrate issuing a verdict.

Carving on the walls of the House of Enlightened Justice,

Teshkóa.

        

             Civil courts deal with altercations between clans, temples, individuals, and other legal entities. Assault, robbery, rape, murder, kidnapping, brawling, and other crimes of violence fall into this category, as do suits involving breaches of contract (including marriage agreements), divorce, clan rights, disputes over land or water ownership or usage, embezzlement, fraud, imposture, inheritance, personal slander, and many other kinds of illegalities.

            Whenever a civil offence is committed the complainant has three means of redress: (1) he can demand Shámtla –“blood-money”-- from the offender; (2) he may take the case to a civil court, which holds a hearing and imposes a settlement and/or penalties; (3) he may resort to the ancient duelling code, “The Manifesto of Noble Deliverance”. If the matter is such that the complainant feels that he cannot gain satisfaction from any of the above mentioned methods, there is a fourth course open to him: the assassin clans. However, it should be noted that this truly is a final solution when all other courses have been exhausted or dismissed. Under Pecháni Law the assassin clans have the right to kill, commit violence, or destroy property – but only against private persons and clans, not against the state or its officials in their professional capacities. In Pecháno, inevitably, the first recourse is very often duelling. Shámtla is rarely paid out or, for that matter, sought after, and then it is usually only scribes, merchants, or foreigners that demand this type of settlement. Duels are very formalised events in Pecháno, and they are almost always to the death. There are even “facilitator clans” who are employed to arrange the type of duel, the location, and to ensure that the conditions are adhered to. Duels are often held in the Hirilákte Arenas which are present in the major urban centres of the nation, and can involve several combatants. One is reminded of the events in Teshkóa some years back (during the time of Tuhéshmu Rekhmél A.S. 1944).

Tuhéshmu Rekhmél

There was an altercation between the Thushchán and their rivals the Pahrnéb over logging rights in the Guringa Forest, situated in eastern Pecháno. This conflict festered until it ended up being so acrimonious that the clan elders arranged to gather all of their men and meet in the Hirilákte Arena in Teshkóa to settle the issue once and for all. Some 500 men appeared upon the duly arranged day and proceeded to slaughter each other with such zeal that the conflict spilled out of the arena and into the streets of Teshkóa. Numerous casualties resulted amongst the townsfolk, who were not party to the feud, and a good portion of the foreign quarter was set ablaze in the chaos. It was only the direct command of Tuhéshmu Rekhmél himself that ultimately stopped the fighting which raged for 7 hours. Even to this day these two clans still harbour animosity towards each other, and it takes very little to fan the flames.    

Social Institutions

Well its been some time since the last post. I have started a new game, and this initially took up much of my free time. However, I've gotten the story arc figured out and I can now go back the posting.

Part III

Social Institutions

            There are perhaps 50 clans in Pecháno. No one has ever done a census. The Beneshchán and Rekhmél lineages are the biggest and most powerful. Some are remote mountain clans, almost equivalent to “tribes”. A few are occupation-based: bakers, wine-makers, carters, smiths, butchers, arms and armour-makers, and the like. A couple are religious in nature: secretive and devoted to their deities. Pecháni don’t introduce their clan names with “hi”, as the Tsolyáni do. They put the personal name first, followed by the clan name. The Pecháni, like the Salarvyáni, stress hereditary family position, and noble titles, which are accompanied by both political power and wealth. An individual’s position depends upon his family and its standing in the ranked tiers of the society. Within Pecháni society the warrior lineages are considered the most prestigious. Slavery is present in Pecháno however, like the Salarvyáni, slaves are owned by individuals and not by the clan as a whole. Far more common are indentured servants and serfs who are still accountable under the law!

Pecháni Warriors sacking a Salarvyáni fortress.

Column Carving: Hall of Skulls, Mechanéno.

 Part IV

                

Law, Police, Punishments, and the Arenas

            The legal system of Pecháno is founded upon the principles laid down by the Priest Kings of Éngsvan hla Gánga. Theoretically, this should provide for a monolithic, nationwide hierarchy, which stretches, from the village headman all the way up to the highest courts in the land. There should be no local laws or ordinances: what is legal in Mechanéno should be legal in Teshkóa or Ogréjja. Reality is somewhat different, however. Like Salarvyá, Pecháno is a feudal monarchy, the Beneshchán, and Rekhmél are the absolute masters of their lands, and minor deviations of the state laws are not uncommon. The Pecháni legal system falls somewhere in between the centralised Tsolyáni one, and the decentralised Salarvyáni system. The authority of Mechanéno does manage to keep things consistent for the most part.

            There are two types of courts in Pecháno: Imperial, or Royal, and Civil. There are no ecclesiastical courts in Pecháno. Any disputes amongst the temples, or with the temples are settled in Civil Court.

            A Royal Court tries cases in which the state itself is the aggrieved party: treason, spying, speculation of state monies or property, dishonesty in a royal post, cowardice or disobedience by soldiers and a variety of other similar offences fall under its purview.

Part IV Continued next post... 

     Well, I've almost finished the first miniature, just need to paint the axe head and parts of the helmet. Should have it done in the next couple of days. I think that I'll do the second miniature as a follower of Karakán.

Here is the second part of my background on Pecháno. This time I’ll look at Pecháno’s political structure. Again, as I stated in Part I, much the following information was gleaned from Phil over in The Blue Room while it was still active, and private correspondences we exchanged. Speaking of which, I also plan on eventually posting what he had to say about the Three States of the Triangle.

Part II

Political Structure                                                                

Tapestry of the first Beneshchán,

surrounded by the Seven Deities of the Rising Peaks,

Hall of Bones –Mechanéno.

Pecháno is a feudal monarchy, which is ruled by a king, or to use the Pecháni title: Chægósh. The current Chægósh (c. 2367AS) is the senior oligarch of the old ruling clan of Mechanéno, the Beneshchán. The Chægósh is selected by his clan. The position is not exclusively hereditary to the Beneshchán, but it tends to become almost so by virtue of the fact that his lineage and his entourage make up the most powerful people in the land. Usually the Beneshchán have ruled, again by virtue of power and proximity to the ancient throne of Mechanéno. A few Rekhmél rulers are quoted in the histories, as are a sprinkling of members of other clans a long time ago. The Chægósh is not secluded, like the Tsolyáni Emperors, but goes forth with his heroes to hunt Ssü and lead heroic expeditions into old Ssuyál. The reigning Chægósh is a youngish man who calls himself just “Beneshchán,” as is the custom. If he ever had a personal name, it is never used. The king presides over the Assembly of High Lords in which the Beneshchán and their rivals, the Rekhmél of Teshkóa, predominate. Lands belonging to these two ruling houses are divided into smaller and smaller fiefs amongst descending tiers of vassals. The system is carried even further than it is in Salarvyá: every landowner, no matter how minor, is someone’s vassal, and if he sells (technically “enfeoffs”) a piece of land to another, he then becomes that person’s feudal overlord. Since no land is actually ever truly “sold,” a buyer becomes the “vassal” of the person from who he buys the land. Even the priests of the Seven Deities of the Rising Peaks are vassals because they own the land upon which their temples stand and must be responsible to some higher suzerain. The same is true of the professional clans, which own their shops and clan houses. Only those who are not landowners – i.e. clerks, employees, retainers, etc. –are not vassals and hence have fewer rights under the system.    

   

Some Miniatures

I recently “discovered” a great blog: “chirine’s workbench” http://chirinesworkbench.blogspot.ca/ . Created by a member of MAR Barker’s “Thursday Night Group”, a founding member no less, it serves as a great forum where one can learn what it was like to adventure in Phil’s Tékumel. Not only are there many wonderful anecdotes, but Chirine is also a prolific miniature collector and painter. He has miniatures dating back to the mid ‘70s, many of which were used in the game and served to represent PC’s. Ever wonder what Dave Arneson’s Capt Harchar, or Sword-Swinger looked like? Well go to Chirine’s blog and find out!

Taking this trip back in time has inspired me to dust off some old miniatures (literally) and buy some new ones. My plan is to get a good solid core of the Shemek’s old unit, the Nchésh of the Splendid Slayers of Ssü, and hopefully get them on the table top soon. In the mean time I decided to do some individual minis which I plan on using in the game I recently started. 

I haven’t completely decided on a colour scheme, but this mini (an old Ral Partha Chaos Warrior I believe) screams Vimúhla to me so I think that it will have to have some orange on it. 

The second miniature which I believe is an ancient (pre 40k) Citadel: Warrior of Chaos and I believe that I may have used him as a proxy for Shemek back in the day. 

Any way, I will post updates on the WIP, and once I get my feet wet with these two I will start to repaint the original Shemek hiTankolel.