Sunday 6 November 2016

Deathpride Rights

Here is an example of human-Ythrian fusion on Avalon:

"'It is written in the Compact...Humans inhabiting Avalon have the deathpride right of free speech, publication, and broadcast, limited only by the deathpride rights of privacy and honor and by the requirements of protection against foreign enemies.'" (Rise Of The Terran Empire, p. 495)

Human concepts
rights
free speech
privacy
honor (archaic?)
defense

Yhtrian concepts
honor
deathpride

Ythrian penalties
weregild
outlawry
exile
enslavement
Oherran

If noncompliance with a Khruath decision or with the Wyvans' judgment in a case is seen as important, then the Wyvans cry Oherran, calling on everyone in the territory to attack the offenders. But the Wyvans have no way to enforce Oherran and:

"If the call to Oherran was rejected...then the Wyvans who cried it had no acceptable alternative to suicide." (p. 498)

This is deathpride - and not the human way.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

The quote from the Compact reminded me of the First Amendment to the US Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Additional legislation added qualifiers as regards slander, libel, and treason (defined by the US Constitution in Article III, Section 3).

Sean