Laws, Justice & Punishment

Disfigurement is often used as a punishment, and is usually the most common, especially in cases where one of the Kin has committed a crime other than murder. Branding, ritual scarification, the amputation of limbs, magically prevented from healing, and even the permanent removal of a dark dwarf's hair or beard, are all forms of disfigurement used against criminals. These punishments are generally used against Khanshael who commit crimes against other Kin or against Dhe'nar, who allow the punishment to be meted out according to Khanshael law. The Khanshael, much like the Dhe'nar, hold other races in contempt, and almost never use this punishment against lesser races. Only the most valuable slaves or prisoners are punished in this manner. All others are simply killed, or starved to death, and left to rot.

The second most common punishment among the Kin is banishment. Occasionally, the banishment is not permanent, and after completing a specified quest, or after simply surviving away from Khanshael society for a certain length of time, an exile is allowed to return home.

Another less common, and more severe, punishment is the lack of a proper burial. To the Khanshael, one of their dead can only proceed into the afterlife after being given a proper burial and specific Khanshael funerary rites. In this way, his remains can be given the respect they deserve, and his spirit is then allowed to pass into the Dwarven beyond. Thieves of other races that steal from another of the Kin, slaves and prisoners that commit crimes against one of the Kin, and other offenders, are often lashed to stakes and left to starve in the Southron Wastes. Their bodies are left to rot, and they are not given proper burials. The bodies of slaves and prisoners are often used as fertilizer for the vast mushroom farms that the Kin cultivate.