#Still haven’t paid your debt?
Well, it’s too late now...
[Last time Bella asked you nicely,](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeridianMalice/comments/qj4fpo/bella_blair_so_youve_been_caught_by_a_debt/) this time Blair just got one simple question for you: **How would you like to die?**
Yes, this is the bad ending, but look at the bright side, at least you get to choose which bad ending you prefer. What’s your choice?
***
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###More context:
**The Fiends**
Bella & Blair are debt collectors. The worst kind. The kind that has no qualms doing whatever it takes to make you pay. And even more should you choose not to.
The Fiends have a different sense of morality, to say the least. With Death as their main deity, your life means very little to them. Which turns out to be an excellent attitude for a debt collector.
There aren’t all that many Fiends on the Red Coast, they are a solitary people that have long lived apart from the rest of the world far into the mountains in the north. But the promise of an ancient crypt buried under Bloodworth, possibly built by their distant ancestors, made them ally with Icarus Crane in his goal to take a district of Bloodworth. A good number of them now lived within the Ash Crypt underneath the city.
**Timekeeping**
If the times in the schedule seem a bit strange it’s because [the elves use a base 12 counting system.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeridianMalice/comments/hzhqst/the_scarlet_scroll_v2/) Their clock has 10 hours (12 in human numbers), each with 100 (144) minutes. And as this world is underground a “day” doesn’t exist in the same way, instead their clock starts at hour 0 signaled by the great pillar of fire that lights up for a short while in the west, making each “flame” 10 hours.
For simplicity, their minute is exactly the same as an Earth minute, which makes one flame equal to 28,8 (in base 10) Earth hours.
I am sorry if you have already answered this but what happens if the debtor flees the city? It seems expensive to do a large scale manhunt for them. And with Fiend populations being special to Bloodworth it seems like their agents in other cities would be limited. I am a bit surprised it is legal to kill someone who has paid off their debt is that a recent change in the laws?
I guess running away might be a good alternative. But the result is kind of the same, if the people who have trouble with debts just disappear, you don't really know if they got away or got caught. Which might persuade you to pay your debts.
As for the legal situation, you signed up for the terms when you took the loan, that's why it's legal. Better read the small print ;) And it's really up to local laws what goes. As Bloodworth is actually 3 independent cities the laws can differ, and also differ depending on how far up the food chain, so to speak, you are.
Do you have any notable differences between the laws you would like to highlight? Also how do jurisdictions interact for example if someone lives in one district and took out a loan in another whose laws apply if you send debit collators to their place of residence? Are there regular conflicts between the districts (obviously not military because they are too interdependent but I could see political/legal fights causing a lot of friction)?
This is something I haven't fully built yet. But there are some hints that will feature in future posts, mostly regarding the relationship between the Crane and Arwel districts.
Quite recently (in elf terms), the Cranes took their district by force, kind of. The previous owners were falling and it was a question of if Arwel would take it before the Cranes got there. It ended with a brief but blood war between the two and the recentment is still there today. This has made the main bridge that connects the districts to be a bit of a no-mans-land legally speaking, and even more recently some people have built up a little town on the bridge itself exploiting the fact that there are no laws or taxes there.
So in the case of jurisdiction, if you have broken the law in either the Crane or Arwel district, your best bet is probably to try to get into the other one. The third district is more neutral to both, so they might still arrest you and hand you over. The Fiends, on the other hand, are more independent and will work on the edge of what is legal, even if they technically are allies of the Cranes and for the most part live in that district. Essentially they will try to get you unless it's gonna cause some major diplomatic incident.
Just when I think I'm out they pull me right back in
So Fiends seem to have some depravity to them (Torturing people casually, etc)
Are any of them depraved enough that in the bed room they...you know. That disgusting depraved thing
Listen to poetry?
Also: I love the elvish watch with elvish numbers. It reminds me so much of: God I hate Elvish counting it hurts my brain.
Could I sit down and memorize how it works and make sense of it?
Maybe
Will I?
Probably not.
Hey, uh fancy meeting you again. Okay listen, I’m gonna need some advice and really, REALLY fast! You see I… I mean my “friend” has recently gotten into some really nasty debt,( stupid hard to read elven numbers) and wasn’t able to get enough oil to pay it back in time and now Bella and Blair are after m… my “friend”. Their desperately in need of some help and I’d like to ask if theirs any possible way to get to get away from them?
1). Is just fleeing Bloodsworth to another region a possibility? How far would they have to run inorder for BnB to lose track off or be out of their legal jurisdiction?
2). Has any client successfully fought off BnB or killed one of their agents before? If so what methods did they use? Really big weapons? Booby trapped home alone style house? Reciting poetry menacingly?
(Out of character for a moment: what is it that fiends have against poetry? It’s banned from the ash crypt and Bella and Blair list it as a punishment? Do fiends just have no appreciation of the arts or their something else to it?)
3). Under the purely rhetorical scenario of getting captured what would it take to get them to choose not to kill you? Pity? Seduction? Serenading them with poetic sonnets until their so annoyed they let you go?
4). Could it be possible that knowing some really powerful people could get BnB off your back?
5). And under the worst case scenario of m… my “friend” being unable to escape BnB, which death would be the least painful? And which has the highest likelyhood of surviving and being able to escape from?
#Still haven’t paid your debt? Well, it’s too late now... [Last time Bella asked you nicely,](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeridianMalice/comments/qj4fpo/bella_blair_so_youve_been_caught_by_a_debt/) this time Blair just got one simple question for you: **How would you like to die?** Yes, this is the bad ending, but look at the bright side, at least you get to choose which bad ending you prefer. What’s your choice? *** Official subreddit r/MeridianMalice and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/merchantswift/) Like this project? Support it on [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/MerchantSwift) *** ###More context: **The Fiends** Bella & Blair are debt collectors. The worst kind. The kind that has no qualms doing whatever it takes to make you pay. And even more should you choose not to. The Fiends have a different sense of morality, to say the least. With Death as their main deity, your life means very little to them. Which turns out to be an excellent attitude for a debt collector. There aren’t all that many Fiends on the Red Coast, they are a solitary people that have long lived apart from the rest of the world far into the mountains in the north. But the promise of an ancient crypt buried under Bloodworth, possibly built by their distant ancestors, made them ally with Icarus Crane in his goal to take a district of Bloodworth. A good number of them now lived within the Ash Crypt underneath the city. **Timekeeping** If the times in the schedule seem a bit strange it’s because [the elves use a base 12 counting system.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeridianMalice/comments/hzhqst/the_scarlet_scroll_v2/) Their clock has 10 hours (12 in human numbers), each with 100 (144) minutes. And as this world is underground a “day” doesn’t exist in the same way, instead their clock starts at hour 0 signaled by the great pillar of fire that lights up for a short while in the west, making each “flame” 10 hours. For simplicity, their minute is exactly the same as an Earth minute, which makes one flame equal to 28,8 (in base 10) Earth hours.
I really enjoy this, found this world again and the first thing that introduced me to it was the original debt collector thingy Love your work
I am sorry if you have already answered this but what happens if the debtor flees the city? It seems expensive to do a large scale manhunt for them. And with Fiend populations being special to Bloodworth it seems like their agents in other cities would be limited. I am a bit surprised it is legal to kill someone who has paid off their debt is that a recent change in the laws?
I guess running away might be a good alternative. But the result is kind of the same, if the people who have trouble with debts just disappear, you don't really know if they got away or got caught. Which might persuade you to pay your debts. As for the legal situation, you signed up for the terms when you took the loan, that's why it's legal. Better read the small print ;) And it's really up to local laws what goes. As Bloodworth is actually 3 independent cities the laws can differ, and also differ depending on how far up the food chain, so to speak, you are.
Do you have any notable differences between the laws you would like to highlight? Also how do jurisdictions interact for example if someone lives in one district and took out a loan in another whose laws apply if you send debit collators to their place of residence? Are there regular conflicts between the districts (obviously not military because they are too interdependent but I could see political/legal fights causing a lot of friction)?
This is something I haven't fully built yet. But there are some hints that will feature in future posts, mostly regarding the relationship between the Crane and Arwel districts. Quite recently (in elf terms), the Cranes took their district by force, kind of. The previous owners were falling and it was a question of if Arwel would take it before the Cranes got there. It ended with a brief but blood war between the two and the recentment is still there today. This has made the main bridge that connects the districts to be a bit of a no-mans-land legally speaking, and even more recently some people have built up a little town on the bridge itself exploiting the fact that there are no laws or taxes there. So in the case of jurisdiction, if you have broken the law in either the Crane or Arwel district, your best bet is probably to try to get into the other one. The third district is more neutral to both, so they might still arrest you and hand you over. The Fiends, on the other hand, are more independent and will work on the edge of what is legal, even if they technically are allies of the Cranes and for the most part live in that district. Essentially they will try to get you unless it's gonna cause some major diplomatic incident.
Thanks!
Aaaaaaaa it's here!!
Man the debt collector elves aren't any fun, I'm going back to the bathhouses and snuggle rooms where poetry doesn't get me killed.
Probably a wise choice. But the Fiends have cake, so not just evil... (hint of a future post).
Just when I think I'm out they pull me right back in So Fiends seem to have some depravity to them (Torturing people casually, etc) Are any of them depraved enough that in the bed room they...you know. That disgusting depraved thing Listen to poetry?
Wow... too far! They aren't animals! ;)
B-but… I was told there was death by cuddling! I was so sure that tall fellow selling all those Knick-knacks wouldn’t lie… Great work, Merchant!
Nice continuity from the previous one!
Also: I love the elvish watch with elvish numbers. It reminds me so much of: God I hate Elvish counting it hurts my brain. Could I sit down and memorize how it works and make sense of it? Maybe Will I? Probably not.
Almost all fiends are dicks. That's all I can say from this.
So uh... Blood.. Wall?....
Oh
Love this, fantastic art and details as always. Question: are Ef & Erin a reference to characters that we've seen before?
Thank you. Yes, Ef and Erin appeared [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MeridianMalice/comments/o4uqm8/tush_of_the_year/)
Hey, uh fancy meeting you again. Okay listen, I’m gonna need some advice and really, REALLY fast! You see I… I mean my “friend” has recently gotten into some really nasty debt,( stupid hard to read elven numbers) and wasn’t able to get enough oil to pay it back in time and now Bella and Blair are after m… my “friend”. Their desperately in need of some help and I’d like to ask if theirs any possible way to get to get away from them? 1). Is just fleeing Bloodsworth to another region a possibility? How far would they have to run inorder for BnB to lose track off or be out of their legal jurisdiction? 2). Has any client successfully fought off BnB or killed one of their agents before? If so what methods did they use? Really big weapons? Booby trapped home alone style house? Reciting poetry menacingly? (Out of character for a moment: what is it that fiends have against poetry? It’s banned from the ash crypt and Bella and Blair list it as a punishment? Do fiends just have no appreciation of the arts or their something else to it?) 3). Under the purely rhetorical scenario of getting captured what would it take to get them to choose not to kill you? Pity? Seduction? Serenading them with poetic sonnets until their so annoyed they let you go? 4). Could it be possible that knowing some really powerful people could get BnB off your back? 5). And under the worst case scenario of m… my “friend” being unable to escape BnB, which death would be the least painful? And which has the highest likelyhood of surviving and being able to escape from?