Laws, Charters, etc.?

[NESchampion]

It feels like the prevailing stance is basically: What I say is law, to the extent that it doesn't piss off higher ups. I have a hard time believing that there is nothing codified or even communicated in what is considered to be one of the most socially enlightened areas of Faerun, including a place like Silverymoon. Don't get me wrong, I could easily see how in a place like Winter's Edge there might not be a grand ledger of all explicable laws for reference and how determining authority there would rely on political pressure; but I would also still expect that some laws would be known if only because they are explained by the guards to newcomers to keep them in line.

Qauervarr according to the source book has two important local laws: adventurers are not allowed to compete with the Whistling Stag for hunting party business, and the town prohibits public assembly of more than four well-armed persons at one time "without sanction of the Speaker". Quaervarr (before it was burnt down in server) was a town of just 900 people. The idea that even Silverymoon, a city of over 37,000 people, would have no written or even verbally known laws and that everyone there is at the whim of any guard seems silly.

[hollyfant]

The idea that even Silverymoon, a city of over 37,000 people, would have no written or even verbally known laws and that everyone there is at the whim of any guard seems silly.

To us, yes. But considering that fully codified laws didn't really come around until Napoleonic times, it's setting-appropriate.

And don't forget that the law only serves one purpose: to maintain order. Justice is a different matter.

[NESchampion]

The idea that even Silverymoon, a city of over 37,000 people, would have no written or even verbally known laws and that everyone there is at the whim of any guard seems silly.

To us, yes. But considering that fully codified laws didn't really come around until Napoleonic times, it's setting-appropriate.

Considering that Quaervarr has laws in place according to the source book for the Marches, I don't think this holds much water holly.

If that's how DMs would like characters to approach law in TSM I can work with that, but it seems highly counter-intuitive to the setting of one of the most socially advanced locations in Faerun to say that no laws written or verbal are known to anyone including those charged with upholding law.