Appearance
Sea Law and Guest Law
Marithel has many kinds of law because the sea creates many kinds of conflict.
A ship is never only a ship.
It is a moving workplace, private property, legal territory, cargo carrier, shelter, battlefield, refuge, shrine, crime scene, witness stand, and sometimes grave. It may carry passengers from six continents, goods owned by people not aboard, sealed letters, bodies, medicine, false names, debts, refugees, weapons, temple tokens, living cargo, and people who disagree about what law should apply once trouble begins.
That is why Maritheli law can feel tangled to outsiders.
A captain may have authority aboard, but a passenger may have rights.
A harbor may claim jurisdiction, but the ship may be registered elsewhere.
A cargo owner may demand inspection, but a healer may insist a patient not be moved.
A privateer may carry papers, but those papers may not be recognized here.
A refugee may use a false name, but that false name may be legal protection rather than fraud.
A wreck may be property, evidence, grave, inheritance, or sacred site.
Sea law answers questions of ships, routes, cargo, command, salvage, passage, and maritime violence.
Guest law answers questions of shelter, safe harbor, protection, identity, sanctuary, and what is owed to travelers who arrive in need.
Together, they shape much of the campaign’s starting region.
The central idea is simple:
At sea and in harbor, law is not just about guilt. It is about who may move, who may stop them, who must be heard, and who pays the cost of safety.
Player Summary
Players do not need to memorize Maritheli law before Session One.
You only need to understand the basic pressure points.
| Legal Topic | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Ship command | Captains can give orders at sea, especially during danger. |
| Passenger rights | People aboard a ship are not cargo unless law or crime makes them so. |
| Cargo claims | What a ship carries may be owned, sealed, disputed, stolen, sacred, or dangerous. |
| Boarding rights | Another vessel may claim authority to board, inspect, rescue, seize, or attack. |
| Guest law | Travelers, refugees, witnesses, and protected people may have rights in harbor or aboard ship. |
| Safe harbor | A port may owe temporary shelter, repair, hearing, water, or protection. |
| False names | A hidden name may be criminal fraud or lawful protection. |
| Salvage | Recovered wreck goods may be property, grave matter, evidence, or inheritance. |
| Privateering | Legal violence at sea depends on recognition, paperwork, and limits. |
| Blue Lantern law | In Windrider Freeport, some people may be heard before being surrendered. |
Maritheli law is useful for play because it turns ordinary scenes into meaningful choices.
A boarding is not just combat.
A manifest is not just paperwork.
A false name is not just a lie.
A harbor is not just a shop.
A rescued passenger is not just rescued.
A wreck is not just treasure.
Every legal claim asks:
Who has the right to decide what happens next?
Sea Law at a Glance
Sea law covers the rules, customs, claims, and procedures that apply to vessels, routes, cargo, crews, passengers, salvage, and maritime conflict.
It is not one universal code. Marithel contains many harbors, freeports, principalities, corsair states, reef communities, pilot houses, lighthouse orders, and route traditions. Laws differ by jurisdiction.
Still, several broad ideas are widely recognized.
| Principle | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A ship needs command | At sea, immediate authority prevents disaster. |
| Command has limits | Captains may answer later for unlawful or reckless choices. |
| Papers matter | Registries, manifests, letters, receipts, seals, and contracts carry weight. |
| Witnesses matter | What people saw, heard, signed, or survived may decide a claim. |
| Cargo is not neutral | Goods can create legal, moral, religious, or political danger. |
| Safe passage has value | Routes, pilots, lighthouses, and signals are protected because lives depend on them. |
| Rescue creates obligations | Saving people, recovering goods, or taking survivors aboard can create duties. |
| Salvage must be named | Taking from wrecks without process can become theft or grave violation. |
| Violence needs recognition | Privateers and corsairs rely on accepted authority; without it, they may be treated as pirates. |
| Harbor review matters | Many disputes are not settled at sea but carried into port. |
Sea law is not always fair. It is often negotiated under pressure by people with unequal power.
But because ships are expensive, routes are dangerous, and reputations travel quickly, even ruthless people often care about whether their actions can be defended later.
Guest Law at a Glance
Guest law concerns what is owed to travelers who enter a ship, harbor, house, shrine, camp, or protected space under recognized need or invitation.
In Marithel, guest law matters because so many people arrive by sea without stable protection.
A person may be a passenger, refugee, witness, pilgrim, patient, shipwreck survivor, envoy, worker, courier, child, prisoner, or protected traveler. Guest law asks whether they must be given hearing, shelter, water, food, medical aid, protection, or time before another claim is enforced.
| Guest-Law Principle | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Arrival can create duty | A harbor or ship may owe basic protection to someone accepted or rescued. |
| Need matters | The wounded, shipwrecked, endangered, or displaced may receive temporary priority. |
| A guest must not endanger the host | Protection can be lost through violence, sabotage, fraud, or betrayal. |
| The host must not exploit the guest | Shelter should not become disguised imprisonment or debt-trap. |
| Names may be protected | A dangerous true name may be hidden until hearing. |
| Claims must be tested | A person should not be handed over merely because someone demands them. |
| Shelter can be temporary | Guest status is not the same as permanent sanctuary. |
| Conduct is remembered | How someone behaves under protection affects future trust. |
Guest law is one reason freeports matter so much.
A harbor that honors guest law can become a haven for refugees and witnesses.
A harbor that dishonors it may still be profitable, but travelers remember.
Ship Command
Ship command is the most immediate form of sea law.
A captain’s authority is strongest when the vessel is underway, danger is present, or delay would threaten lives.
A captain can usually order:
| Command Area | Example |
|---|---|
| Sail handling | Who works lines, sails, anchors, and emergency maneuvers. |
| Movement | Where passengers may stand, sleep, wait, or avoid. |
| Safety | Fire discipline, weapon limits, water rationing, storm preparation. |
| Cargo access | Restricting holds, seals, dangerous goods, or guarded spaces. |
| Watch discipline | Bells, lookout, night watch, alarm response. |
| Emergency response | Fire, hull breach, illness, boarding, rescue, pursuit. |
| Temporary confinement | Holding a violent or dangerous person until harbor review. |
| Route decisions | Changing course due to weather, danger, or legal necessity. |
But command is not the same as absolute ownership over everyone aboard.
A captain who abuses passengers, murders a witness, sells refugees, steals cargo, hides disease, falsifies records, or endangers the ship may face consequences in harbor.
This distinction matters.
At sea, characters may need to obey the captain to survive.
In harbor, they may need to testify about what the captain did.
Passenger Rights and Duties
Passengers are not crew, but they are not nothing.
A passenger has duties because a ship is dangerous. They must not interfere with work, waste water, start fires, break cargo seals, hide contagious illness, block emergency routes, or create violence aboard.
A passenger also has rights depending on fare, agreement, guest status, harbor law, and circumstance.
| Passenger Right or Duty | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Right to agreed passage | The ship should attempt to carry them as contracted, barring danger. |
| Right not to be abused | Passage does not make a passenger property. |
| Duty to obey safety orders | Ship survival takes priority during danger. |
| Duty not to endanger others | Reckless behavior can remove protections. |
| Right to food and water within terms | Basic provision follows passage agreements and survival custom. |
| Right to hearing in some disputes | Claims against passengers may need review. |
| Duty to declare dangerous goods | Concealing danger can become crime. |
| Right to medical concern | Serious illness affects the whole ship and cannot be ignored casually. |
| Duty to respect restricted spaces | Holds, cabins, equipment areas, and papers may be protected. |
| Right to be recorded properly | Names, fare, destination, and status may matter later. |
Passenger law becomes complicated when someone is both passenger and witness, passenger and prisoner, passenger and refugee, passenger and debtor, or passenger under false-name protection.
That complexity is common in Marithel.
Crew Rights and Duties
Crew owe labor, obedience during danger, care for the vessel, and respect for ship discipline.
In return, crew may have rights to pay, food, medical treatment, safe working conditions within reason, shore leave, testimony, and legal standing if the captain breaks contract or endangers them unlawfully.
| Crew Issue | Possible Conflict |
|---|---|
| Unpaid wages | Crew may refuse work, file claim, or desert. |
| Unsafe orders | Crew may obey under protest or resist if command threatens the ship. |
| Injury | Treatment, compensation, or abandonment may become legal issue. |
| Desertion | Leaving ship may be crime, survival, protest, or necessity. |
| Mutiny | Serious charge; may be justified only under extreme circumstances. |
| Forced labor | A crew contract may hide coercion or debt bondage. |
| False registry | Crew may not know the ship’s legal status. |
| Smuggling | Crew may be blamed for cargo they never saw. |
| Testimony | Crew witnesses can make or break cases in harbor. |
A player character with crew background may know how to navigate these tensions.
A passenger character may only begin to understand them when something goes wrong.
Cargo Law
Cargo law asks what is aboard, who owns it, who may inspect it, who is responsible for it, and what happens if it is damaged, seized, hidden, stolen, or revealed to be something other than the manifest says.
Cargo can be ordinary or dangerous.
Sometimes ordinary cargo becomes dangerous because of context.
Food during famine.
Medicine during plague.
Rope during war.
A body during inheritance dispute.
A letter during trial.
A bell during salvage claim.
A seed during living-law violation.
A crate during boarding.
Common Cargo Questions
| Question | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Who owns it? | Determines claim, payment, liability, and motive. |
| Who loaded it? | May identify witnesses or smugglers. |
| Who sealed it? | Seal authority may matter legally. |
| What does the manifest say? | Papers may be true, false, incomplete, or misleading. |
| Where is it bound? | Destination may reveal purpose. |
| Who may inspect it? | Inspection can expose secrets or violate protections. |
| Is it dangerous? | Hidden risk can endanger everyone aboard. |
| Is it sacred? | Temple law or taboo may apply. |
| Is it alive? | Ilyrian living-law or other protections may apply. |
| Is it evidence? | Cargo may need to be preserved, not sold. |
Cargo disputes are excellent campaign hooks because they can involve law, danger, greed, mercy, and mystery at the same time.
Manifests and Seals
A manifest is the written record of cargo, passengers, route, ownership, or other ship business.
A seal marks authority, ownership, inspection status, sanctity, danger, or privacy.
In Marithel, both matter.
| Paper or Seal | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cargo manifest | Lists goods, owner, destination, and declared contents. |
| Passenger list | Names travelers, sponsors, fare status, and destination. |
| Crew roll | Names crew, role, wages, and sometimes obligations. |
| Registry copy | Confirms the ship’s legal identity. |
| Harbor clearance | Shows permission to depart or enter. |
| Temple seal | May mark sacred goods, medicine, bodies, or rites. |
| Merchant seal | Indicates ownership or contract claim. |
| Court seal | Marks evidence, testimony, debt, or legal hold. |
| Blue Lantern seal | Indicates protected review, guest law, sanctuary, or false-name procedure. |
| Quarantine mark | Signals disease risk or health restriction. |
| Salvage tag | Marks recovered goods under claim or review. |
| Broken seal | Evidence of tampering, accident, rescue, or fraud. |
A broken seal is not automatically crime. It may be broken to save a life or respond to danger.
But someone will ask why.
Boarding Rights
Boarding is one of the most dangerous legal moments at sea.
Another vessel may approach and demand to board the ship. The demand may be lawful, unlawful, ambiguous, desperate, or a lie.
Common Boarding Claims
| Claim | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|
| Inspection | A patrol, harbor agent, or recognized authority asks to inspect papers or cargo. |
| Rescue | A vessel claims someone aboard needs aid or evacuation. |
| Pursuit | A claimant says a passenger, prisoner, or fugitive is aboard. |
| Cargo recovery | Someone claims goods were stolen, misloaded, or unlawfully withheld. |
| Privateer authority | Armed ship claims legal right under letters or contract. |
| Quarantine | Health concern used honestly or as pretext. |
| Salvage right | A vessel claims the ship is abandoned, disabled, or prize-worthy. |
| Debt claim | A creditor tries to seize person, cargo, or ship asset. |
| Temple claim | A body, relic, patient, or sacred good is demanded. |
| Harbor safety | Local authority claims boarding is required for safe passage. |
The problem is not only whether the claim is true.
The problem is whether refusing the claim creates immediate violence and whether accepting it endangers people aboard.
Player Questions During a Boarding
| Question | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Who is making the claim? | Authority, recognition, and motive. |
| What paper do they show? | Legal basis may be real or forged. |
| Who recognizes the authority? | A claim valid in one harbor may fail in another. |
| What do they want? | Person, cargo, inspection, delay, intimidation, or violence. |
| Who aboard is endangered? | Passengers, refugees, witnesses, crew, captain, cargo. |
| What does the captain decide? | Ship command matters immediately. |
| What happens if they board? | Search, seizure, negotiation, combat, exposure. |
| What happens if they are refused? | Chase, attack, legal case, or escape. |
A boarding scene can be social, legal, tactical, or violent. Usually it is more than one.
Safe Harbor
Safe harbor is the idea that a ship or person in need may be granted temporary shelter, repair, water, hearing, medical aid, or protection.
Safe harbor is not the same as friendship.
It may be offered for money, reputation, law, faith, fear, political strategy, or because refusing would be monstrous.
Safe Harbor May Include
| Protection | Example |
|---|---|
| Docking | A damaged or endangered ship is allowed into port. |
| Repair | A vessel receives time and space to become seaworthy. |
| Water and food | Basic survival aid is provided or sold fairly. |
| Medical care | Sick, wounded, pregnant, or exhausted travelers are treated. |
| Hearing | Legal claims are reviewed before surrender or seizure. |
| Temporary shelter | Refugees, witnesses, or passengers are housed. |
| Protection from violence | Claimants must file instead of taking by force. |
| Burial or mourning | The dead are named and cared for. |
| Translation | Travelers are given chance to understand proceedings. |
| Passage onward | A person may seek another vessel or route. |
Safe Harbor May Be Denied Because
| Reason | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Disease risk | Quarantine may be required. |
| Harbor danger | The port cannot safely accept the ship. |
| Political pressure | Outside powers threaten consequences. |
| Cargo danger | What the ship carries may endanger the harbor. |
| Legal status | The vessel may be accused of piracy, fraud, or violence. |
| Resource scarcity | Space, food, water, or repair capacity may be exhausted. |
| Bad reputation | The ship or captain may be known as dangerous. |
| Corruption | Denial may serve private interest. |
| Fear | Authorities may act from panic rather than law. |
Safe harbor is one of Marithel’s moral battlegrounds.
False Names and Protected Identity
In Marithel, a false name can be crime, courtesy, custom, protection, fraud, survival, or legal status.
A sailor may have a ship name.
A refugee may have a protected name.
A smuggler may have an alias.
A witness may hide under court procedure.
A noble may travel without title.
A former prisoner may refuse the name given by captors.
A criminal may use an innocent person’s papers.
The question is not simply whether the name is false.
The question is what the falsehood does.
| False Name Use | Legal or Moral Reading |
|---|---|
| Protecting a refugee | Often recognized as necessary under proper procedure. |
| Hiding a witness | May be lawful if tied to hearing or protection. |
| Escaping abuse | Often treated as protection if proven. |
| Avoiding unlawful debt | May require review. |
| Avoiding lawful accountability | May be rejected. |
| Stealing identity | Crime and harm to another person. |
| Ship name | Often normal custom, not legal fraud. |
| Undercover work | Depends on authority and consequences. |
| Religious vow name | May be respected or questioned. |
| Monster-born safety | May be protected if public naming invites violence. |
Before Session One, players should decide what name their character uses aboard the Azure Aviary and whether their papers agree.
Refugees, Witnesses, and Defectors
Sea law and guest law matter most when a person is vulnerable to being taken.
Refugees, witnesses, and defectors often live inside legal ambiguity.
| Person | Common Legal Danger |
|---|---|
| Refugee | Forced return, lack of papers, family separation, food insecurity. |
| Witness | Intimidation, disappearance, false testimony, targeted violence. |
| Defector | Claimed as traitor, property, deserter, criminal, or hostage. |
| Former prisoner | Disputed status and lack of reliable identity records. |
| Debt-bound traveler | Passage or rescue debt used as control. |
| Protected child | Competing family claims or trafficking risk. |
| Monster-born traveler | Fear, mob suspicion, identity exposure. |
| Exile | Homeland demands return under foreign law. |
| Shipwreck survivor | Salvage, debt, and identity questions after rescue. |
Guest law creates a pause.
During that pause, the person may speak, the claim may be tested, and the truth may still be reachable.
But a pause is not a guarantee.
Player characters may be the difference between a pause becoming protection or becoming failure.
Salvage Law
Salvage law governs recovery from wrecks, abandoned vessels, lost cargo, bodies, and sea disaster.
In Marithel, salvage is serious because ship loss affects property, mourning, inheritance, crime, and reputation.
Salvage Questions
| Question | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Was the ship abandoned? | Determines whether salvage rights apply. |
| Were lives saved? | Rescue may create reward or obligation. |
| Were the dead disturbed? | Grave law and temple rites may apply. |
| Who recovered the goods? | Salvager claim may be valid or contested. |
| Who owned them before loss? | Original owners may still have claim. |
| Were goods illegal? | Salvage may expose crime. |
| Is the wreck evidence? | Sale or disturbance may destroy proof. |
| Was the wreck caused deliberately? | Wreckers, pirates, or saboteurs may be involved. |
| Does the site have sacred status? | Some wrecks should not be touched without rite. |
| Is the object named? | Bells, figureheads, records, and bodies carry identity. |
A salvage dispute can begin with treasure and become a murder case, inheritance battle, religious conflict, or political scandal.
Privateering and Legal Violence
Privateering is violence authorized by some legal power against defined targets under specific conditions.
That is the theory.
In practice, privateering often becomes a battlefield of recognition.
A privateer may be lawful in one harbor and criminal in another.
A letter of marque may be expired, forged, overbroad, or politically inconvenient.
A captain may stretch permission beyond its limits.
A victim may call the same act piracy.
Privateering Questions
| Question | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Who issued the authority? | Not all authorities are recognized everywhere. |
| What targets are allowed? | A privateer cannot lawfully attack anyone they like. |
| Is the letter current? | Expired authority may become piracy. |
| Was the ship properly identified? | Mistaken target can create liability or crime. |
| Were passengers protected? | Violence against noncombatants may violate law. |
| Was cargo seized correctly? | Prize law may apply. |
| Was force excessive? | Legal authority has limits. |
| Which harbor reviews the case? | Jurisdiction may decide outcome. |
| Who benefits from recognition? | Politics may shape legality. |
| Who has witnesses? | Testimony can change everything. |
Privateering is useful for campaigns because it creates enemies who may insist they are legal.
Temple Law at Sea
Temple law overlaps with sea law when bodies, healing, oaths, sacred cargo, mercy, sanctuary, confession, or resurrection are involved.
A temple may not control the ship, but its authority can still matter.
| Temple Matter | Legal Issue |
|---|---|
| Burial at sea | Was the dead person properly named and witnessed? |
| Drowned-name rite | Is someone dead, missing, or legally unconfirmed? |
| Sacred cargo | Who may touch, inspect, or transport it? |
| Healing refusal | Does a healer owe treatment under mercy law? |
| Quarantine | Medical duty and public safety overlap. |
| Confession | Sacred secrecy may conflict with legal testimony. |
| Oath | A promise may carry religious and legal force. |
| Resurrection | Identity, inheritance, marriage, debt, and guilt may all be affected. |
| Mercy violation | Helping someone outside procedure may save or endanger lives. |
| Body as evidence | Burial may be delayed, angering family or faith. |
Characters tied to temples, healing, or the dead may frequently find themselves at the edge of law and mercy.
What Happens When Laws Conflict
Marithel is full of overlapping laws.
A conflict may involve ship command, harbor authority, cargo ownership, guest protection, temple duty, foreign claims, freeport procedure, private contracts, and emergency necessity all at once.
Example Conflicts
| Conflict | Legal Tension |
|---|---|
| Captain wants to surrender a passenger | Ship command versus guest law. |
| Passenger uses false name | Protected identity versus fraud claim. |
| Cargo owner demands inspection | Property right versus medical, sacred, or legal seal. |
| Healer wants quarantine | Medical safety versus passenger liberty and trade pressure. |
| Privateer demands boarding | Letter of marque versus freeport recognition. |
| Family demands child return | Kinship claim versus child protection review. |
| Salvager claims a bell | Salvage right versus grave law or evidence. |
| Temple demands burial | Religious duty versus criminal investigation. |
| Harbor refuses damaged ship | Public safety versus safe harbor. |
| Watch detains witness | Protection versus unlawful silencing. |
The goal is not to make players recite statutes.
The goal is to make choices matter.
A character can ask: who is being protected, who is being silenced, who profits, who is in danger, and who has not yet been heard?
How Characters Can Use Law
Player characters can engage with law without becoming lawyers.
| Character Action | Example |
|---|---|
| Ask for papers | Force a claimant to state authority. |
| Protect a witness | Keep testimony alive. |
| Read a manifest | Notice cargo inconsistency. |
| Challenge a seizure | Demand hearing before removal. |
| Escort a petitioner | Help someone reach protection. |
| Preserve evidence | Keep a seal, body, bell, or letter intact. |
| Translate testimony | Prevent language from destroying truth. |
| Identify a false claim | Recognize forged marks, expired letters, or bad law. |
| Negotiate delay | Buy time for investigation. |
| Call for harbor review | Move a dispute from violence to procedure. |
| Respect guest duty | Protect someone vulnerable even when inconvenient. |
| Break unjust process | Decide that procedure has failed and accept consequences. |
Law is a tool.
So is a blade.
The question is which one preserves life, truth, and dignity in the moment.
Legal Rumors
These rumors are player-safe. They may be true, false, exaggerated, or misunderstood.
- A privateer once lost legal status because they boarded a ship before the third warning bell.
- A cargo seal from Windrider Freeport is harder to break in court than with a knife.
- A false name protected under Blue Lantern law once became more legally real than the petitioner’s birth name.
- A captain can confine a violent passenger at sea, but must answer for it in harbor.
- Some ship clerks keep private copies of passenger lists in case the official one changes.
- A salvaged bell can decide whether a ship was wrecked, murdered, or never there.
- A refugee with no papers may still have a stronger case than a claimant with forged ones.
- A privateer’s letter is only as good as the harbor willing to recognize it.
- A body cannot always be buried just because the family asks.
- A cook’s testimony once overturned a cargo manifest.
- A child’s ship name saved them from being handed to the wrong family.
- A pilot who refuses a route may be sued, praised, or killed depending on who arrives late.
- A broken seal is not proof of crime, but it is always proof of a story.
- A harbor that denies safe water to a ship in need may be cursed by sailors even if no court punishes it.
- A witness hidden under a false name is still a witness.
- Some debt brokers prefer passage contracts that passengers cannot read.
- A temple may bless a voyage and still testify against the captain.
- A salvage court once declared a crate to be grave matter.
- Guest law protects the guest until the guest turns the shelter into a weapon.
- In Marithel, the first question is not always “What happened?” Sometimes it is “Who has the right to ask?”
Character Questions
If your character is tied to sea law or guest law, answer at least three of these.
- Do you trust captains?
- Do you trust harbor courts?
- Do you understand ship papers, cargo seals, or passenger lists?
- Have you ever used a false name?
- Have you ever needed safe harbor?
- Have you ever protected someone from being taken?
- Have you ever seen guest law abused?
- What kind of claim frightens you most: debt, family, court, temple, cargo, ship, or faction?
- Would you obey a captain’s order you believed was unlawful?
- Would you break a cargo seal to save a life?
- Would you hide someone’s true name?
- Would you testify against someone who saved you?
- What do you believe a host owes a guest?
- What do you believe a guest owes a host?
- What makes a privateer different from a pirate in your eyes?
- What should happen to a wreck: recovery, burial, investigation, or silence?
- What law from your homeland conflicts with Maritheli custom?
- What would make you choose mercy over procedure?
Using Sea Law and Guest Law in Play
Sea law and guest law should create meaningful choices, not homework.
A good legal scene should still feel like adventure.
A person is being taken before they can speak.
A ship is being boarded under questionable authority.
A cargo seal is broken and no one admits why.
A captain orders something necessary but cruel.
A witness is hidden under a false name.
A refugee’s papers are incomplete, but their danger is real.
A privateer’s letter looks valid, but the target does not.
A body is evidence, but the family demands burial.
A salvaged object reveals a ship’s official story is false.
A harbor offers safe water but refuses safe shelter.
These scenes work because law is personal.
The campaign is not asking players to admire bureaucracy.
It is asking what people do when power must be slowed down long enough for someone vulnerable to be heard.