Lismore City Jail Rules
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The Lismore City Jail is a base of operations for the Lismore City Guard. These jails also serve as a prison for the Island of Lismore itself. Though the city guard operate within the building, every faction houses their prisoners in the city jail.
As a prisoner
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As a prisoner you are provided with food and water twice a day, a bucket of water with a sponge for bathing, as well as a chamber pot to do your 'business' in. The bathing bucket and chamber pot is cleaned and replaced daily by NPC (non-player characters) guards, though occasionally PC (player character) guards may RP some of these actions themselves.
Other than the basic necessities to keep you alive during your stay in the city jail, you are provided with nothing else by NPC's. Anything other than the basics for life, such as books, writing materials, access to visitors, must be granted to you by an official PC guard during role play. If you wish access to anything an NPC cannot provide, but a PC guard isn't around, leave a message with a PC guard (via IM) and they will make an effort to RP with the prisoner, which will give you the opportunity to ask for anything. Whether or not you receive what you ask for, is at the guard’s IC discretion.
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NPCs
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NPCs are used to feed and tend to the prisoner’s basic needs so that a PC will not have to RP this out two times a day. They cannot be bribed or used in an escape plot. They can, however, be used by the prisoner as simple messengers, a prisoner may send a message to PC guards in any faction, or to citizens via IM. These messages can not be anything other than a request for the recipient of the message to come see the prisoner in jail. More complex messages that involve any other information cannot be sent through an NPC guard, and must wait for the PC who was requested to arrive.The arrival of that person however is up to that individual, they do not HAVE to come see the prisoner..
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ESCAPE
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Escape is an option available to every character who spends time in the city jail. Though this option is more of a gamble on your character's fate. If you are considering this option there are a few things you as the player must consider.
1) You can attempt your escape only if a PC guard is inside the city jail, or on it's premises.
2) Chipping away at the stone walls of the prison, fiddling with the hinges of the cell doors, filing away at the metal bars, using magic to blow a hole in the wall, bashing away at the door until it swings open, destroying parts of the building to initiate your escape can only be done if a GM okays it. As it is for any other building in Lismore.
3) The timing of your escape is important for your success. If the entire purpose of you getting arrested was so you can escape for an RP plot, that is best discussed with the guards OOCly before you get arrested. In fact the guards are far more likely to make the escape easier for you if they agree your plot is worthy of making the guards look bad. If you've already been arrested and you're now considering escape, you could discuss a time with the guards so they can be present in the guard tower for you to attempt it.
If you manage to outsmart the guard and get away, then you've succeeded in escaping! If you're recaptured however, your sentence will grow, perhaps even the time you spend in the cell. If you've already been sentenced, and your sentence was death, and you're now considering an escape, the opportunity for you to attempt your escape will likely be on your execution day. If you fail, it will likely become your execution. This will be the least likely time you will actually succeed in escaping, so think carefully about when you wish to attempt to do this!
4) Your escape attempt is your plot. Do not expect a guard to come up with a plan for you, or make it easy for you. The more extravagant or cleaver your plan of escape, the more confusing it becomes. Being inconspicuous about it is the most likely successful way of approaching it. Brute force only works for you if you actually have the force of a brute and are skilled enough to actually win. If your arrested character is a powerful character indeed, then do not be surprised if more than one guard is around during your escape attempt.
5) You'll likely only be given one chance at escape. Guards do not wish to prevent your escape every time they walk into the jail because you really want out. So do plan your escape attempt carefully.
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SENTENCING
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Your character will be sentenced based on the crimes they have committed. If you landed yourself in jail for a night because of a drunken rumble with another player, you can expect your sentence to be laid on you there by the guard who arrested you. Short visits to the jail for minor crimes require a quick sentence, and doesn't really require much investigation or for the Lord of Lismore to hear about every time the bar got rowdy. If your crimes are more serious, your sentence could be passed to you immediately or over time. The more complex a web your criminal character created, the more IC investigating the PC guards must do to verify your crimes. This will result in a bit more time spent in the jail. The time your character spends in the city jail will be fair based on your crimes. If the guards take a RL week or more to sentence you for a simple theft, you'll likely be released at the time your sentenced for time served. Remember that IC actions equals IC consequences. If too much RL time has passed, a week or more, and you've heard nothing about your sentence, contact the appropriate faction members to ask about the status of your sentencing.
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RELEASE
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Once your sentence has been determined by an official from the City of Lismore, an Elder of the Temple, or high ranking member of the Zenko, depending on which authority arrested you, your character will be expected to undergo the pinishment it was sentenced to, and then your character will be released. If a PC guard isn't physically present to release you after you've served your sentence, you may assume an NPC guard released your character. Remember that when serving time, the guard who informs you of your sentence will tell you IC days and OOC days. Every 1 RL day is equal to 6 IC days. If a guard sentences you to 1 IC week, you may release yourself after 24 RL hours. If your character were brought in just for bring drunk and causing too much noise, you can be released as soon as the character sobers up.
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JAILERS
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If you jail someone, you are required to start a thread in the Lismore City Jail thread on the Lismore Forums (
http://sculptyworks.com/lismore/index.php?board=8.0 ). The information on how to fill it out can be found there as well. This step is important, because it makes a record of when that person was arrested, and allows the appropriate people to make the right sentence for the arrested individual, and makes sure they do not spend far too much time in the jail without a sentence. It's easy to forget about prisoners who do not have a record, and forget what their crimes are. So please do not forget this step.
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ESCAPE ATTEMPTS
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If a prisoner contacts you requesting an attempt to escape, and you agree to it and play through. Even if they attempt but fail to escape, update their arrest in the Lismore City Jail thread in the Lismore Forums to say they had attempted it, if they do manage to escape, update it to say they have escaped. If they have been recaptured, update the same thread. This is to make sure the prisoner doesn't try multiple escape attempts with different guards.
If a prisoner wishes to attempt to escape and asks you to be present, and you agree, please do not overkill their chances. If you think the prisoner might be a little too powerful for you, ask another guard to tag along and aid you. Though It shouldn't require 4 guards to block 1 person's escape attempt, remember that just getting the door open is challenging enough for them, it hardly seems worth the effort if their chances past that point are 0%. Play fair and have fun with it, and remember that even if they succeed, they can't evade the guards forever.
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SENTENCING
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If you arrest a person for a simple crime that barely warrants their arrest and you believe should only land them a night in jail, it is fine for you to sentence them for that night, which OOCly, is only a few hours anyway. Simple crimes would be something along the lines of ICly stealing from an OOC street vendor and cooperating and returning the item when arrested, Though do be sure to check the Lismore City Jail thread to be sure they aren't repeat offenders of simple crimes. Repeat offenders of simple crimes or more serious crimes can only have sentence passed down on them by the City Guard Captain, High ranking Temple guardians, or high ranking Zenko members. Depending on who's authority is arresting the prisoner. The most serious crimes, murder, conspiracies, war criminals, or high priority criminals can only be sentenced by faction leaders themselves.
ACCESS
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The doors and cells of the city jail lock automatically upon closing. The only means of opening them is via key. Keys are held by City Guards, Commander, and Lord of Lismore, Temple scouts, Temple Guardians, Elders, and High ranking members of the Zenko. The locks cannot be picked and the keys cannot be duplicated without a true original copy or without GM consent. If you wish to visit a prisoner, you must speak with a keyholder to have them escort you. Though some visitations may be permitted, a keyholder has the right to refuse escorting a visitor to a prisoner. Remember this is a jail, not a social club.
If all you wish is to visit a prisoner without the implication that an escape attempt would be made then, and nobody in charge of the Jail is available to go through the process of escorting you, a simple IM to anyone in the sim's staff to get clearance to have an NPC guard provide for your visit is enough. Just let us know what's going on, to avoid misunderstandings.
HEARING
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The doors are big and heavy, and the walls are thick and made of stone. From any floor of the jail you're not likely to hear much from the floors above and below you. And if you're outside the jail, you're not going to hear what's going on inside. Be mindful that you don't react to what's going on in a jail cell, from the stone steps outside the jail.
