Country Alignments

[Quadhund/Greenhouse]

This topic was brought up recently in another post and i would like to get people's views on what it exactly means to be living in a lawful good country.

I believe this means that as stated, the country's government adheres to a strict group of laws. Likewise, the good portion, means that these laws are set in place for the betterment of its people (i.e. no slavery, social services like funding outposts and farmers, murder theft and the like are not tolerated). I do NOT think this means that all the government officials all carry the alignment LG. The only person I would hazard to guess carries the alignment would be the King/Queen of the land as they must decree new laws. Heck, even Alusair is NG.

This also does not mean the government is in fact infallible. I would think that, like most governments run by people, that there are flaws. And thus a person can exploit those flaws, whether it be the weakness of an individual, or twisting an unclear law to mean something else.

So i'd like other people's insight into this as well, perhaps views on how other society's might act under different alignments.

[ShadowCatJen]

Alright, I'll bite.

What it means to live in a Lawful Good country is that you will generally find people of good hearted nature living there. Laws will be expected to be followed, people will be charitable and compassionate, most will be willing to help if it does good for others.

Let's take Kale for example. Kale is not a bad sort. He'll grumble at some for not paying their tab on time, but he wouldn't turn away a mother with a starving child away from his inn. He may offer her that if she would wash the cook pots for the day that they can stay and eat some food for free, but not heartlessly turn away. He will however gather the guard if someone is causing a ruckus in the inn and ask for them to be taken out because they are disturbing the peace of his inn.

In Cormyr's case, the government is in a tipsy balance. They just lost their king and the new king is just an infant, leaving it's ruling (temporarily) to those who might not have been quite ready for the position. For those higher up who are seeking more power this is a perfect opportunity to gain more for themselves. Granted, not all of the nobility are going to be this way, but those that are will have to be subtle.

Those who are not higher up that are opportunistic will see this as a good way to earn some quiet backing from those same greedy nobles and officials. Evil in a Lawful Good society gets vanquished easily, unless they are crafty. To get backing from an official that is higher up will make it easier for crimes to be committed and this happens in any society, from LG all the way down to CE.

And that's my take on it.

[ShadowCatJen]

Er, to add:

Let's take a place like Luskan.

Luskan, I would have to say, is most certainly a Lawful Evil city. With the five city Captains and the Arcane Brotherhood in charge the order for the day is "go and get more of it." And that "it" is everything from gold to knowledge to lands to power and everything in between.

The government for them is really just a farce. The five city Captains keep those of the Alliance (Waterdeep, Silverymoon, ect) off their backs to show that there is some law in Luskan. Corruption goes hand in hand with Luskan government and gold can buy your way through a good deal of red tape.

People in Luskan simply look out for thier own. Greed is a daily occurrence. People there live on just to get by, survive, and see the next day. Strangers that come to Luskan are looked at with suspicion and sometimes contempt.

Law is only adhered to because it keeps them out of the attention of those wanting to bring justice to Luskan. They try to keep subtle with their dealings outside of the city. To get caught means more palms will have to be buttered in order to escape Lawful Good law and justice.

[soulfien]

She said what I was going to say so I agree with her whole-heartedly

[olwentheold]

Nicely said.