Formatting code for CoeurUnderworld
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Back to **[[World]]** -> **[[DuchyOfCoeurDEnnui The Duchy]]** -> **[[CoeurDEnnui The City]]**
>>{{image url="http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z62/ZamahLand/Wiki/CityGuard.jpg"}}>>====__Crime, Law Enforcement, and the Underworld in Coeur d'Ennui__====
===Overview===
By the standards of surrounding cities, Coeur d'Ennui enjoys a relatively low crime rate. Most citizens in good neighborhoods go through their lives without ever being personally affected by a violent crime, though pickpockets and burglars are a problem throughout the city. Corruption is not a major issue in the Duke's Court, although every few months a minor scandal erupts. Still, the fact that the Coeur's people are scandalized, rather than accepting corruption as a matter of course, speaks to the city's generally law-abiding nature.
The city is patrolled by squadrons of two to five guards who are responsible for keeping order in their neighborhoods. Guard patrols are based out of guardhouses scattered around the city. In the Old City, patrols are regular and frequent; in the New City, especially toward the docks, this is less true. The territory controlled by the most violent [[SouthSide South Side]] gangs hardly ever sees a guardsman except when the city guard is moving in force to quell a riot or break up a major fight.
Although the Coeur's justice system is enlightened in comparison to that of the brutal Baozites to the west and the elaborate tortures practiced as public spectacle in decadent Ardashir, it is not soft. Thievery is punished by the loss of a hand; exiles are marked with brands on their hands or foreheads. Murder, treason, and the worship of dark deities -- the most serious offenses in Calantyr -- are punished by hanging or beheading, and the corpses of such criminals are burnt immediately afterward to prevent any chance of their return.
Despite the best efforts of the Coeur's city guards and the justicars who oversee its courts, however, crime is impossible to eradicate in a city so large and diverse. A vibrant and far-reaching underworld flourishes in Coeur d'Ennui, with strands that reach to the highest levels of city government and the lowest of the dockside slums.
The Coeur's underworld splits into two broad groups. They are defined more by outlook than geography, although the demographics of the city mean that the [[NorthSide North Side]] guilds are indeed centered primarily in the wealthier [[NorthSide North Side]], while the gangs gravitate to the less-patrolled and poorer [[SouthSide South Side]].
The [[NorthSide North Side]] guilds tend to be more professional in outlook: for them, crime is a career to be taken as seriously as any other, and the best guilds are as disciplined and specialized as any mercenary company or merchants' concern. Entry into such a tight-knit organization is no easy proposition; the North Side guilds do not extend invitations casually, and a prospective member must prove his worth many times over before they will finally let him in.
The [[SouthSide South Side]] gangs, by contrast, are made up of the bored, the violent, and the sort of ne'er-do-wells who are unable to maintain a law-abiding lifestyle and have drifted to crime as a less demanding vocation. Most of their members suffer from poor impulse control and general stupidity, as well as a lack of employable talents. Those who are able to claw their way up to the top of this heap enjoy an extravagant lifestyle, but seldom for very long. Turnover is quick and bloody on the South Side.
Certain [[temples]] also play significant roles in the city's underworld. Among these are the three [[Religions fell temples]]: the [[AnvhadCoeur Shadow Network]], the [[FalcoCoeur Westgate Temple]], and the [[KliastaCoeur Temple of Kliasta]]. The [[TharaciaCoeur Temple of Tharacia]] is less malign, but no less involved in the Coeur's intrigues.
Back to **[[World]]** -> **[[DuchyOfCoeurDEnnui The Duchy]]** -> **[[CoeurDEnnui The City]]**
>>{{image url="http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z62/ZamahLand/Wiki/CityGuard.jpg"}}>>====__Crime, Law Enforcement, and the Underworld in Coeur d'Ennui__====
===Overview===
By the standards of surrounding cities, Coeur d'Ennui enjoys a relatively low crime rate. Most citizens in good neighborhoods go through their lives without ever being personally affected by a violent crime, though pickpockets and burglars are a problem throughout the city. Corruption is not a major issue in the Duke's Court, although every few months a minor scandal erupts. Still, the fact that the Coeur's people are scandalized, rather than accepting corruption as a matter of course, speaks to the city's generally law-abiding nature.
The city is patrolled by squadrons of two to five guards who are responsible for keeping order in their neighborhoods. Guard patrols are based out of guardhouses scattered around the city. In the Old City, patrols are regular and frequent; in the New City, especially toward the docks, this is less true. The territory controlled by the most violent [[SouthSide South Side]] gangs hardly ever sees a guardsman except when the city guard is moving in force to quell a riot or break up a major fight.
Although the Coeur's justice system is enlightened in comparison to that of the brutal Baozites to the west and the elaborate tortures practiced as public spectacle in decadent Ardashir, it is not soft. Thievery is punished by the loss of a hand; exiles are marked with brands on their hands or foreheads. Murder, treason, and the worship of dark deities -- the most serious offenses in Calantyr -- are punished by hanging or beheading, and the corpses of such criminals are burnt immediately afterward to prevent any chance of their return.
Despite the best efforts of the Coeur's city guards and the justicars who oversee its courts, however, crime is impossible to eradicate in a city so large and diverse. A vibrant and far-reaching underworld flourishes in Coeur d'Ennui, with strands that reach to the highest levels of city government and the lowest of the dockside slums.
The Coeur's underworld splits into two broad groups. They are defined more by outlook than geography, although the demographics of the city mean that the [[NorthSide North Side]] guilds are indeed centered primarily in the wealthier [[NorthSide North Side]], while the gangs gravitate to the less-patrolled and poorer [[SouthSide South Side]].
The [[NorthSide North Side]] guilds tend to be more professional in outlook: for them, crime is a career to be taken as seriously as any other, and the best guilds are as disciplined and specialized as any mercenary company or merchants' concern. Entry into such a tight-knit organization is no easy proposition; the North Side guilds do not extend invitations casually, and a prospective member must prove his worth many times over before they will finally let him in.
The [[SouthSide South Side]] gangs, by contrast, are made up of the bored, the violent, and the sort of ne'er-do-wells who are unable to maintain a law-abiding lifestyle and have drifted to crime as a less demanding vocation. Most of their members suffer from poor impulse control and general stupidity, as well as a lack of employable talents. Those who are able to claw their way up to the top of this heap enjoy an extravagant lifestyle, but seldom for very long. Turnover is quick and bloody on the South Side.
Certain [[temples]] also play significant roles in the city's underworld. Among these are the three [[Religions fell temples]]: the [[AnvhadCoeur Shadow Network]], the [[FalcoCoeur Westgate Temple]], and the [[KliastaCoeur Temple of Kliasta]]. The [[TharaciaCoeur Temple of Tharacia]] is less malign, but no less involved in the Coeur's intrigues.
