THE LAW OF THE
MARKET

In
the wastelands the only law is survival of the fittest, what you can
keep is yours, alternatively what
you can take is yours. In the Market things are calmer, safer,
and more civilized. Through special
arrangements and tenuous agreements, City, State and federal law
enforcement stay out of the nomad market. The closest they come
is to put up a strict checkpoint
on the roads the civilians use to get in and out of the market, and a
looser one on
the southern road the
nomads use. Unofficially the
Nomad Market is a no man's land, and the government will not try to
move in for fear of a full scale and possible nation wide revolt from
the nomads. The nomad community and by proxy the Nomad Market
have their own rules, and in the market, the only laws enforced are
those laid down by the Nomad Council:
All merchants must have
Tribal Sponsorship
While anyone
may trade with anyone else in the Market, merchants who set up shop
must have a recognized
Tribe sponsor them. If you are not
affiliated with a recognized Tribe, several offer
temporary sponsorship
for a price (varies but usually around about 1/10th the Market value of
what you are selling). Sponsorship is necessary because
if you
sell defective products, your Tribe is held responsible.
Violence inside the Market is not permitted, especially against Statics
If you are caught fighting you will be given a choice, settle it by
combat or be banished from the
Market for a month. If you kill or rape someone, then the Tribe
of the victim has the right to challenge you to combat to the death, if
they forfeit that right you are banned for a
year. For second
offenses, you are also branded. Third offense you
are banished
for life. If the victim in any of these cases is a Static, you
will be handed over to
local authorities without question. The
Council will tolerate no
incident which brings Static law into
the
Market.
Stealing inside the Market is
not permitted
If you are caught stealing from anyone in the market, you will be
banished for a month, and restitution will be made to the victim of
your goods equaling the lost property as closely as possible.
Trading faulty goods, or
misrepresenting goods, is not permitted
This is considered the same as stealing and will be dealt with the same
way, if you have already left, the consequences will
fall on the Tribe
that sponsored you.
Minor disputes will be
settled by the involved families, major disputes will be settled by the
Council
If you can't settle a disagreement by yourselves, then your Tribal
representative will step in. If the problem is between people of
two different Tribes, then the problem will be taken to the council,
however the council is very busy, so it had better be
important. The
word of the Council is final. Any dispute that cannot be solved by any
other means will be settled by combat. (Either
by Battle Race, The
Dome, or Checkers, yes checkers.........
this keeps it fair for those
who are obviously outclassed. If the two in dispute can't agree
which venue to take, a die will be rolled and the choice will be made
for them.)
You are responsible for any
illegal goods you are caught with after you leave the Market
Once you leave the Market, you are on your own and the local, state,
and federal laws apply to you again. If you are caught with
drugs, illegal weapons, or any other contraband then expect no help
from the Council

Council law is
enforced in the Market by the Lawgivers. Lawgivers
have cut ties to all tribes and
families, and have permanently allied themselves with the Council
itself. They are easy to spot, due to their "uniform" of black
leather and face masks. In addition to providing door security
and manning the defenses on the wall, Lawgivers also roam the market in
groups of no less than two at a time. Joining the Lawgivers is
simple, and only requires that you prove your ability to
fight, you
must have at least five people vouch for you,
and you
must denounce all
other loyalty and swear
allegiance to the Council. You must serve the minimum of at
least
one year (after which time you can quit any time
you wish) and you must
be willing to do your job without prejudice. To ensure this,
Lawgivers who have been on less than a year are always partnered with
someone who has been on at least three years. The senior Lawgiver
will be required to make reports to the council on the status and
performance of the new member. (Lawgivers have the secondary
special ability: Authority, but it only works inside the Nomad Market)

Only one group has
authority over the Council, the Paladins. The
first Paladin was a retired Hi-Way cop named Sean Wayne whose family
was killed by Raffen-Shiv in 2011. For two years he traveled
undercover with the nomads trying to find the ones
who killed his family. Originally he was bent on revenge towards
all nomads, but as he traveled with them he came understand and
embrace their lifestyle. Eventually he revealed his true identity
and decided it was time the
nomads had their
own brand of justice and
order. He became the first Paladin, and wandered the roads and
wastelands, helping any who needed him, fighting
injustice and
villiany
wherever he found it. A blacksmith named Khan forged the first
Gunblade for him, presenting it as a token of gratitude for saving his
daughter from a corrupt Hi-Way cop. The Gunblade would become the
Paladin Badge of office. In 2014 he
was wounded while fighting of
a band of Raffen-Shiv marauders while
the caravan he was traveling with
escaped. He managed to run them off, but lost his left arm and
the lower half of his right leg in the process. It would have
been the end of the Paladins, but his story
and his
reputation had
spread, and he had attracted
followers who wished to take up
the
cause. Five men and women were in that first group,
and Wayne spent a year training them. Khan agreed to craft a
gunblade for each of them, and any new recruits who felt the
calling.
As the years passed
the reputation of the Paladins
grew. Now they are accepted as the only authority on the open
road, the Council has bestowed upon them their full blessings. In
the nomad community Paladins have the authority to solve any dispute,
enter any vehicle, and join any caravan. Even
in Static society
there are people
who have heard of
Paladins, especially among the
Hi-Way, who have even been known to work with a Paladin on
occasion. Raffen-Shiv on the other hand have an open bounty of
1000eb on any Paladin brought to them alive.
Becoming a Paladin
isn't easy. First you must be accepted for
training by Wayne, who evaluates you while
you train for six
months. During this time you are
required to
permanently cut all
ties to family, tribe,
and nation. After wards you are assigned
to a senior Paladin to act as apprentice for a full 2 years before you
become a full fledged Paladin. Your Gunblade is awarded to you
after the first six months if you are seen as worthy. Other than
the two year apprenticeship, no two Paladins ever travel
together. It is a life of solitude and constant
danger. It
is also a life of grays. Unlike police who have a strict set of
laws to guide them, Paladins are expected to
judge each and every situation on its own merits of right and wrong,
and necessity. Paladins often travel with others for at least a
few days before they continue on their journey, riding with a caravan,
or even just another lone
wanderer. Forming permanent ties is
forbidden, some Paladins take it so far as to vow celibacy. If
needed, a Paladin can call for backup from
the others, though
it rarely
happens. Paladins are too scattered, and too hard to
contact. Alternatively, a Paladin can "deputize" a posse if
the situation requires it. All this talk of authority must be
taken in context, a Paladin has no "official" power, and anyone can
refuse him, but to do so brings immediate suspicion on anyone who
dares, both from the Paladins, and from other nomads. In a city,
or anytime he deals with Static society, a Paladin has no power
whatsoever. Paladins are
required to check in with Wayne for
updates and possible assignments every 2 weeks.
The Gunblade a Paladin carries, while fully functional
as
both a firearm and a sword, is more a badge of authority than a primary
weapon. It is simply too heavy to be effective (though some
nomads do use it almost exclusively somehow). Instead a Paladin
usually carries at least a sidearm as his primary weapon. No two
Gunblades are ever the same. If a Paladin dies, his Gunblade is
to be returned to Wayne Ranch in Texas. Anyone not a Paladin
caught carrying a Gunblade by a Paladin may be executed.
Corruption
is an ever present threat to the Paladins, and any Paladin
found breaking their oath is to be hunted down and executed by the
other Paladins. Paladins may retire, but once they do they must
turn in their Gunblade. (Paladins have the secondary special
ability: Authority, identical to the cop special ability, but it only
works in the nomad community.)
Written By Deric
"D" Bernier, images from
Deric "D" Bernier, Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond
Thunderdome, Warriors of the 21st Century, Spacehunter, Battletruck,
Damnation Alley, Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared Synn, Warriors of
the Lost World, Transformers, Death Race 2000, Warhammer, Neon City,
Akira, Tank Girl, Dragon Staff, Final Fantasy, Tempus Fugitive, Dragon
Chiang, Nausicaa, Porco Russo, Windaria, Red Skies, Waterworld, Ghost
in the Shell, GITS: Stand Alone Complex, GITS: Innocence, The Fifth
Element, The Postman, The New Barbarians, Back To The Future 2, Car
Warriors, GI Joe, Mad Police, Corvette Summer, Gunm, Star Wars,
Appleseed, Truck Battles, Buckaroo Banzai, Solar Babies, Spy Hunter,
Genesis Climber Mospeada, Urban Warriors, Exterminators 3000, Urban
Warriors, Cyberpunk 2020, Deadland: Hell On Earth, Rifts, Gurps, Macho
Women With Guns, Mekton, Ratbike zone, Cyberspace, Road War, Street
Fighter, D20 Future, D20 Apocalypse, Road Avenger, Redline, Dark
Future, Twilight 2000, The Lawless Land, and various other unknown
films, anime,
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