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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WayneLigon" data-source="post: 3558146" data-attributes="member: 3649">Build a Lawful Neutral SocietyThe phrase 'There oughta be a law...' is probably the most commonly heard phrase in this society <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />The LN society is, ultimately, the bureaucratic dream: a place for everything and everything in it's place. There is at least one law for everything imaginable and quite a few that aren't (Imaginary Law or laws for situations that don't exist yet would be an interesting occupation for someone). There is no concern for good or evil, but rather the law exists because there needs to be order. Order produces wealth, promotes growth, and provides a haven for those who cannot take care of themselves (though not through any particularly altruistic intentions; the more people who can contribute, the better off things are).Now, for the most part this also produces a fairly Good society, at least outwardly. Crime is low. The streets are safe. Prices and taxes are probably very fair. Goods and services are efficient, orderly and generally available.There is of course a dark side to this. Individual freedoms are virtually nonexistant and the line where the state/community ends and the individual begins is probably very blurred. It is mostly likey a caste society: you are born in a certain position and cannot rise from it save through the most extraordinary means, though you can fall. Everything you can do is regulated by the community at large and you as the individual have little say so save in that you can convince the community to adopt what you want. It is very likely that everything from your job to your marriage and the number of kids you're allowed is set down by law, somewhere.Tradition is almost smothering. Progress brings change and change brings disruption. There is progress of course but it is achingly small and slow, with each possible contingency being looked at over and over again to minimize disruption. Many ideas and inventions are simply shelved as 'too disruptive' for the general populace.There are ceremonies and rituals for everything. Don't do them, and you're likely to be Shunned. It is likely to be a very literate society, at least. Writing things down gives them a certain finality and weight, and that appeals to the LN mind. They will have fiction, songs and poetry, but with serious restrictions on subject matter. Mavericks, loners and heroes will not be honored and admired, but pitied; how can they know the peace and belonging that comes from getting up and knowing you will make the bread today, then come home to the wife and kids? Their fiction will be about clever plans that grow to fruition through devotion and patience. Their thrilling adventure stories will be about soldiers and generals overcoming men and nature rather than about rogue heroes who live by thier own code. They will have tragedies about people caught between two duties that are mutually antagonistc. Artistic styles will take decades or centuries to change. Society is seldom gripped by fads or swayed by public sentiment.Because we're not talking about a LE society, the laws usually are not crushing burdens that breed rebels and resistance movements. They have few arbitrary laws that harm more people than they help or create gross injustices or imbalances. But 'mercy' as most societies know it is uncommon. Extenuating circumstances and loopholes have usually been considered, closed or patched with other laws over time, but the law can be harsh. There is a strong sense of 'If you can't do the time, don't do the crime'. Repeat deviants are not exiled until all other means have been exhausted. There will be some arbitrary laws, weird little things that don't really harm people but can grossly inconveience outsiders, as well as picky little things that don't seem to make outward sense.Even the most Lawful and strict of societies will have a safety valve, some kind of caste or job or area where deviations from the norm are overlooked. It's just not something that gets talked about. Those who enjoy the deviation period more than the period of being normal are asked to leave.</blockquote>

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