Traveller Vignette 034

The austere legal system on the matriarchal world of Dulcene is administered by the so-called “Brides of Justice”, who ritually “marry” their courts, taking vows of chastity and severing all links with their families to ensure they rule without favouritism.

This cutting of family ties even includes giving up the family name; after appointment, they are addressed as “The Bride Catherine” or whatever, while their white robes of office are styled after wedding dresses.

Penalties for first offences are usually light, especially for male defendants where local stereotypes of men as the more impulsive and easily-led gender can work in their favour. However, each subsequent offence is punished ever more severely, since the previous punishment was obviously not enough to teach the necessary lesson. A first-time thief may simply be sentenced to a few months of labour on a garbage-collection detail or similar public work, but a third offence could cost him a hand.


(Author's note - This should help make a world more characterful. An NPC the characters work with might come from Dulcene, and his / her sister is considering taking vows as a bride. The NPC thinks this is a bad idea, but needs help to talk her out of it. Obviously, the prospective bride will attach much less weight to the NPC's opinion (and the characters opinion) if they are male....)


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