Dueling

The Laws of Dueling

Although previously popular as a method of conflict resolution within House Reticulum, dueling spread through the Empire following the implementation of the Formal Agreement of Noble Grievance Resolution (FANGR) by decree of the Masked Emperox, who aimed to prevent war from afflicting the Empire ever again. Although chiefly used to resolve grievances that the other legal mechanisms of the Empire would be unable to act upon, it has been increasingly common to include duel clauses alongside arbitration clauses in business contracts.

Navigating the tradition and procedure of dueling is a tricky process, an intricately locked mess of law and social custom, the latter varying incredibly from house to house, from family to family. Although Reticulum duelists are praised for their martial supremacy, their hidden value is their unique familiarity with this sprawling nexus of tradition and legal procedure, further safeguarding their clients’ reputations.

Before the Duel

When anyone of noble blood feels that an affront has been committed against them, it is their right to declare a challenge to a Duel, as codified in FANGR. The noble names the noble who committed grievance against them and the pair, or the champions who volunteer to fight on their behalf, must soon join in conflict. First however, they must make a filing to House Crux.

A Formalized Intent of Grievance under Honorable Treatment (FIGHT) form should be submitted and approved by the office of your local Crux Richter prior to the duel, their vetting and review process taking longer the greater the duel’s stakes. Duels over trivial matters can often be approved on the spot, duels to the death days or weeks. The rare duel with even greater stakes, stakes with consequences that would be felt across the Empire, could take months to properly process.

Filing following the duel is also permitted, but it is more likely such would be overturned when they reach the Richter’s desk. For this reason, it is uncommon to file after the duel for anything but the most minor grievances.

A FIGHT form consists of the following pieces of information:

A Statement of Grievances

Prepared by the challenger, the list of grievances that will be be formally considered acknowledged or resolved, regardless on the outcome of the duel. By law, all grievances at the time of the duel must be aired, they cannot be reserved as valid grounds for a future duel. The law is very lenient on what could be considered a grievance, allowing practically anything.

The Terms

Reached upon by mutual agreement of the challenged and the challenger, the terms outline the weapons permitted in the contest, and the conditions for victory, be it first blood, submission, or death. Sometimes, the terms also include instructions to follow the combat, outlining the actions the winner or loser are obligated to take. The office of the Richter holds the final say over the terms, and may override terms presented to them, or set terms when the two sides may not reach an agreement.

Although duels are, for the most part, martial conflicts, the structures of a duel permit resolution through unconventional means, such as through tests of endurance, tests of artistic merit, and tests of highly tempered skill.

A Witness

Witnesses are parties deemed to be neutral to the conflict at hand. They must uphold the Terms as they pertain to conflict, ensuring that the contest ceases when one side claims victory, and that neither party claims more than their due.

The dueling parties may nominate a Witness they feel would be an appropriate neutral party, although the Witness may be replaced by choice of the Richter. Parties unable to find their own Witness may also ask to be nominated one by the office of the Richter. A Witness chosen in this way is always of House Reticulum.

The Right of Nobility

Duels may only be conducted on behalf of two nobles, and witnessed by a third. Noble blood and title is a requirement of representation, and proof of such must be included with the filing. If either noble has nominated a champion to represent them in the duel, that champion too must be of noble blood.

After the Duel

Following the duel, a filing of the results must be made to House Crux, containing the following:

The Testimony

The Witness reports on the results of the duel, and the conduct of both combatants. Although for all intents and purposes, the Witness often determines the results of the duel, the office of the Richter holds the ultimate right to determine the victor, taking their testimony under advisement. Based on the report of the duel, the Richter may also prescribe penalties for any illegal activity conducted.

The Recording

It is only under the Witness’ authority that a duel is permitted to be recorded, by any manner, chiefly for the use of determining a victor to otherwise break a tie. Any recording of the duel must be submitted alongside the results to House Crux.

Appealing a Duel

Although exceedingly uncommon, the results of a duel may be overturned. Often it is because new information comes to light about misconduct during the duel, but there are other cases as well.

Quite famously a Crux mother petitioned for one her daughter’s duels to be overturned. The daughter fought on behalf of her mother’s honor, not her own, and lost. The mother proved that she could not have given the daughter permission to do so, and the presiding Richter saw fit to overturn the results, provided the mother fight the duel in her daughter’s stead. Accounts vary on if she won.

Social Customs

Hiring a Reticulum duelist is not only for their skill in combat, they have tirelessly studied the various customs surrounding dueling across the Empire, and offer expert consulting on braving those tricky waters without committing a social error. Navigating this correctly is critical, risking ostracization or offending further parties and leading to further duels. These rules are held by the locales themselves, rather than strictly the nobles fighting in them, but duels according to foreign traditions are not uncommon, and are oft regarded as an exciting and exotic deviation from the status quo.

It is important to remember that these rules can be broken, and that breaking them only risks the social derision of your peers, though it is nigh guaranteed. To make a legal duel, all one must follow is the guidelines laid out above.

The record of the various dueling traditions that follows is by no means meant to be exhaustive, nor does it acknowledge the divisions in practice between different social circles, there are simply too many to be charted on this page.

Common Traditions

Although the traditions of dueling are as disparate as the many worlds under Imperial rule, there are several traditions that are overwhelmingly prevalent across the Empire. Any duel between two nobles is expected to be conducted at least as thus.

When the challenge is first made, the Challenged sets the contest and the conditions for victory, however, the challenger is permitted to counter and make a single modification to these terms, escalating the stakes or subverting the means of the challenge for their own purposes. If the two are unable to come to an agreement in this method, the terms revert to a duel by the sword to first blood, or a duel to first hit by a pistol, by choice of their Witness. Failing to reach an agreement on this is a grave stain on the reputation of whichever party is deemed to be at fault, be it an unsuitable contest proposed by the Challenged, or refusal to compete by the Challenger.

Although not a strict requirement of the law, it is highly unusual to have a duel witnessed by anyone but a Reticulum, their level of training and cultural expertise leaving them unequivocally qualified to report on the results, and to intercede in the event of foul play.