Ethical Debates in the Game
Guys,
Just to be perfectly clear on what's occuring in the game: yes, I am intentionally throwing you a curve ball. What the miller has done in the last post, essentially, is questioned your authority in legal terms, and claimed that if you damage him he or his family will file suit against you with the magistrate/reeve.
Selby-by-the-Water is a trading town, and the judicial bent is generally "If it harms no one else, and is not harmful to trade, we don't care what you do." Even so, they do enforce the concept of weregild because feuding is bad for business. (Read Romeo and Juliet for an example of how feuding can be interupted by lawful authority and then still spill violence onto the streets. Or visit [Modern City of Choice].) Weregild came up tangentially in the main ("at the table") group when a boat captain hung a party member for murdering another party member.
Unless there is any doubt, sacrificing children counts as an evil act in my book, regardless of what you hope to accomplish by so doing.
RC