The Swordsman of Faerûn

Chapter 270 The Prisoner's Carnival of Locke ([-])

Every intelligent race in Faerun has its own unique characteristics in dealing with criminals. The death penalty of halfling prisoners is famously "suffering to death". Dwarves are like their daring and straightforward character. Similarly, the execution of the prisoners appeared clean and tidy, with neither performance nor public onlookers.For the elves, being alone in a small, dark and lonely environment for thousands of years until the end of their lives is definitely a more terrible punishment than death. Of course, the elves also have the death penalty—graceful death (no Death penalty, exile is their greatest punishment).

But in Faerûn, there is no method of execution that inspires more frenzy and insanity than the prisoner's carnival, nor is it uglier, more cruel and hypocritical.

From the bustling cities to the remote villages, from the hot and dry southern scorched land to the icy and snowy northern ice fields, wherever there is human society, there is almost a prisoner carnival.Among all the benevolent races in Faerun, humans are the only race that uses the form of "carnival" to execute and torture prisoners. This is criticized by other intelligent races that have come into contact with human society.
The so-called Prisoner's Carnival is to place a person to be punished in public, to accept questions and trials from the public—from lords and nobles to farmers and beggars—and to judge the crimes and judgments of the person being judged according to the wishes of the public. means of punishment.It's just that this form of punishment seems fair, but it is actually a despicable drama that tramples on ethics, moral beliefs and life, and satisfies human deformed desires under the guise of "justice" and "axiom".

Every year, innocent people are sent to this stage at the prisoner carnival, humiliated, beaten, tortured and forced to make false confessions, and finally executed in a "flashy" way.To quote a polymath who has specialized in convict carnivals: "As long as one is quoted above 'carnival' - judged by 'public' unless sated by the bloodthirsty populace judge's shady Desire, even if your integrity is comparable to the most righteous paladin, and your innocence surpasses the purest virgin, you can never expect to be relieved and forgiven."

There are many reasons for this situation.In essence, the world of Faerun is a backward farming society based on agriculture. The farmers of Faerun are the most vulnerable group. They are ruled by lords and landowners who often have strange ideas, have no moral standards, and act recklessly. Threatened by a seemingly never-ending wave of invaders, or goblins, giants, or even humans themselves, beings who trample life at will and without reason.Onlookers enthusiastically participate in the Prisoner's Carnival, enjoying the thrill of watching others being horribly tortured and maimed, providing these unfortunates with a taste for power, a force that can affect the lives and deaths of others , which makes them feel falsely that they are in control of their own destiny.

Compared with elves, who have a lifespan of thousands of years, and dwarves, halflings, and gnomes who have a lifespan of hundreds of years, the lifespan of humans is undoubtedly very short. In terms of the theoretical lifespan of a hundred years, the average lifespan of ordinary humans in Faerun is even less than 40 years. less than [-] years old.Those ordinary civilians are faced with the probability of possible death every day. A lucky enough mother who gave birth to two or three children may experience the accidental death of at least one of them.

The living environment so close to death makes people develop a kind of curiosity, awe, and even fear of the world of death.The inquisitors at the Prisoner's Carnival offered the most horrific methods of execution to the judged, and thus brought a sense of joy to those who witnessed death in its most horrific form, compared with the death they themselves faced in real life. Some kind of dark psychological comfort (unless they also become defendants brought before magistrates, otherwise it is unlikely to experience the real horror)-"I have seen the worst of you One side—terrible death! So I'm no longer afraid of you."

The support and advocacy of the local lords is also an important reason for the prevalence of prisoner carnivals. They insist that the explanation for holding prisoner carnivals in their territories is to maintain social order, and this method must be used to show justice and punishment. Those peasants The cheers and applause of the onlookers at the "Prisoner's Carnival" undoubtedly expressed their extraordinary trust in the law and social order.

Of course, this is just a high-sounding superficial statement. The real reason why the prisoner's carnival is recognized by the lords is that this "carnival" can greatly relieve the uneasiness accumulated by the people under their strict rule. It provides an excellent vent, and at the same time warns those restless guys, which greatly reduces the possibility of riots in the territory.In order to consolidate their rule, many not-so-famous lords even specially find some "prisoners" to let the citizens hold more prisoner carnivals (Luskan is a typical example).

Some experienced travelers can even judge whether the local lord is a wise and tolerant good lord just by the frequency of prisoner carnival held in a certain area.One of the reasons why Silvermoon City is recognized by the entire Northland as the city with the best living environment is that this city has not held a prisoner carnival for several years in a row.

William really has never seen the prisoner carnival with his own eyes. The stupid William in the past was also puzzled by the situation in this regard. After all, Nome Village back then was just a big wild hotel. I don't have the mind to engage in that kind of hypocritical farce, even if the passing merchants talk about relevant topics, silly William can't understand, and now William is not interested in any messy carnival at all, if he has this spare time He might as well find a place to hold Qiushuidao to brew his mood.

William didn't care much about the "Prisoner's Carnival". Obviously, Leer Beauceri, who was frightened by William's fist (or knife), certainly didn't have the heart to explain it to him in detail. the inside story.

In what William took for granted, the prisoner carnival should be similar to the public court trial in the previous life, except that the protagonists of the trial were replaced by civilians. In his opinion, Selyse accepted the trial of the civilians in Locke Town completely. She deserved what she deserved, who told her to assassinate the lord of the family in idleness!What's more, if Selyse's assassination is indeed in line with the so-called "justice" and "axiom", I believe that the people who participated in the trial should forgive her, right?

In a word, William does not intend to intervene in this matter. As for those purple-robed warriors who were killed-who told the two sides to cause misunderstandings? At most, William expressed deep regret and a little bit of guilt. More people died at his hands, and William has long passed the period of entanglement with the dead.

(End of this chapter)