Re: OT: Corpses, etc. (was: Re: Gender in conlangs (was: Re: Umlauts (was Re: Elves and Ill Bethisad)))

--- Isidora Zamora <isidora@...> wrote:

> > > That's a *huge* gallows.  How big is the
> > > town?
> >
> >Big. It probably had three or four million
> >humans
> >in it. No one knows for sure how many Daine
> >lived there at the time.
>
> Wow.  That's big.  I have no idea how large
> Sovchilen is, but it is
> definately not over one million, and the
> population might be as low as 50,000.
Mind you, Hoopelle was the biggest city around;
and the center of the most powerful kingdom in
the region. Its hegemony spread all around to the
point that it becam called an "empire"; and at
its height controlled lands overseas and all the
way to the Redwoode Kingdom two oceans away. They
came pretty close to the lands (and seas)
controlled by the Patirri, down in the antipodes.

I suspect Auntimoanye has about a million people.
Codeis, Pottenne, Pylicundas, Alixavaundria, they
have perhaps 300.000 to 500.000 each. Small
cities like Narfoun or Clunnie might have 7.000
to 10.000 people in them.

> > > Well, of course, if it spreads outside the
> > > pub
> > > or threatens to become a
> > > riot, then the authorities need to step in.
> > > That goes without saying.  I'm
> > > sure that they keep an eye on any
> > > establishments that they know to be
> > > habitual offenders in this respect.  I
> > > mean, if a place has a reputation
> > > for producing a brawl every night, they'll
> > > watch it.
> >
> >That they will. Probably taking bets.
>
> LOL
>
> (I think I need to proofread more carefully in
> the future, keeping careful
> track of the possible anteceedants to my
> pronouns, especially when you're around,
> Padraic.
No need for that! That's half the fun, reading
double and treble entenders into everything.

> Was that actually the way you
> first read the sentence (it
> is ambiguous),
No. I figured you meant "they'll watch it [the
situation in that pub]".

> But seriously, although I said that they didn't
> go looking for bar-room
> brawls to break up, if they do happen to
> witness one, then they are
> required to break it up and arrest all parties
> involved, who will then be
> sentenced by the judge to be publicly whipped.
> (Not with one of the
> metal-tipped ones that they use on thieves,
> just with something that hurts.)
Fiat lex!

> Fighting is considered a criminal
> offense, so the military has to
> intervene if they witness it, even if they
> don't go looking for it.
Ah. In most of the lands around Westmarche (and
including Westmarche) fighting is considered a
normal process of human (and Daine) behaviour.
Only if it gets out of hand will the Guard
intercede. It's even taxed. Part of the entrance
fee to one of the city's pits goes to the
maintainance of the city's justice system.

Many large pubs sport a modest pit somewhere in
back, or down in a basement. What it is: a room
perhaps 20' by 30', low ceilinged, and having a
15x15 pit sunk perhaps four feet into the floor,
and having a stone or wood wall up to about four
feet above the floor. Throw a Daine and a
gladiator in there and watch the blood flow! A
kind of boxing and a kind of kick boxing were
also very popular. In the Daine slums, they made
smaller pits (perhaps 7x7) in which they'd "play
at rats". Place a rathound in there and dump in a
tub-o-rats and see how many he can kill in a set
time. All in good clean fun, as they'd take the
dog out, give him a good nosh and cook up all the
dead rats. Survivors were kept for the next dog.

> And
> even though fighting is a criminal offense, a
> man who is in the habit of
> brawling will not be considered a criminal,
> just rowdy.  "Criminal" is
> reserved for thieves and killlers, especially
> thieves.
Fighting in and of itself isn't criminal; but
some of its side effects are, like destruction of
property and disturbing the peace (if you do it
too loudly or too bloodily or in the presence of
vested clergy).

Padraic.


=====
fas peryn omen c' yng ach h-yst yn caleor peryn ndia;
enffoge yn omen ach h-yst yn caleor per la gouitha.
   [T. Pratchett]

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