14.4 AVENGER JUSTICE

Syntax:

  o PK STATUS
    Shows whether you are careful or not and lists suspects and those upon whom
    you can claim vengeance. Also shows whose lists you are on as a suspect.

  o PK CAREFUL [ON/OFF]
    Sets your PK carefulness. If you turn on being careful then Avechna will
    warn you when you try to attack someone who lists you as a suspect, telling
    you to stay your hand. In other words, it will make it impossible for you
    to initiate an attack that would cause the target to gain vengeance
    against you. Having it off, of course, means you can initiate an
    attack with anyone, regardless of the consequences.

  o VENGEANCE UPON <target>
    Calls an Avatar of Avechna to claim vengeance.

Lusternia operates with a PvP (player vs. player) policy with an innovative
twist, which is called the Avenger Justice System. Avechna the Avenger has been
charged with protecting the prime material plane against oppressors. An
oppressor is someone who repeatedly kills or attacks another. What this means
is that if you were killed on the prime material plane, you will be under the
protection of the Avenger against that person for one RL month. That person is
now a "suspect". The FIRST hostile action against you by a suspect will allow
you to call the Avenger once. If you do not respond with any hostile action and
die to that person, you may call the Avenger a second time. If you initiate a
hostile action against a suspect (except in "open PK zones; see below), the
Avenger will assume you are taking matters in your own hands and remove that
person as a suspect. Note that the Avenger will attempt to detect if a team has
cooperated to slay someone and will treat all of them the same as it treats the
individual killer.

To claim vengeance, you must travel to the top of Avenger Peak and invoke
VENGEANCE UPON <oppressor>. The Avenger will then, at some point in the
near future, surprise that person by descending on him and killing him.
Further, the Avenger will award you approximately the amount of experience
you lost by the oppressor. Depending upon the number of suspects on his list,
your oppressor may also find himself pacified for a period.

Examples:

  o If Galt kills Chade, then Galt is placed on Chade's Suspect list.
    After 30 days, Galt is taken off Chade's Suspect list.

  o If Galt makes any hostile attack on Chade while on Chade's Suspect
    list, Galt is then placed on Chade's Vengeance list.
  o o Chade may now invoke the Avenger at his leisure (Chade must travel
      to the Avenger and invoke "VENGEANCE UPON GALT").
  !!!NOTE!!! Galt remains on Chade's Suspect list but subsequent
             hostile actions (that don't kill Chade) won't allow
             Chade to *stack* Galt's name more than once until Chade
             invokes vengeance (after which Galt can again be placed
             on Chade's Vengeance list by making yet another hostile
             action against Chade).

  o If Galt kills Chade, then Chade can invoke the Avenger twice against
    Galt, once for a hostile action and once for the death.
  !!!NOTE!!! Galt remains on Chade's Suspect list so long as Chade
             has not made any hostile action in return.

  o The only way Galt's name can be taken off Chade's Suspect list is if
    Chade makes any hostile action against Galt. If Chade is first
    attacked by Galt and then attacks Galt in self-defense (instead of
    running away), Galt will be placed once on Chade's vengeance list but
    taken off Chade's Suspect list. If Chade attacks Galt first, Galt is
    taken off Chade's Suspect list and may kill Chade again at any time
    without fear of Chade taking vengeance.

In sum, the Avenger Justice automates a very tough system of controlling
PK (player killing). Potentially, an oppressor who kills someone will find
himself dying twice each time he subsequently kills that victim within a
30 day period (assuming the victim never makes a hostile action in
return). If that person attacks a victim unprovoked but fails to kill that
victim, he will still find himself dying to the Avenger (even if the
victim turns the tables and kills the oppressor, the oppressor will die
twice, once to the victim and once to the Avenger). Invoking the Avenger
is optional and a name on the Vengeance list will be deleted from the list if
not invoked after the 30 day limit on the name expires.

EXCEPTIONS:

o  The Avenger will NOT protect you if you die on another plane.
   Travel to other planes at your own risk. Also, the Avenger will NOT
   protect you if you enter territory where you've been declared an enemy.
   These are "open PK" zones. As stated above, suspect status will not be
   dropped when you attack suspects in open PK zones.

o  If you get yourself on the suspect list of 15 or more people then each
   additional time you get on a suspect list, your victim will also get an
   immediate chance of vengeance.

o  During events of crisis and conflict, the Avenger recognises the need
   to let combat unfold without interference. Whenever this is the case,
   you will be notified upon login, and surveying in an area will tell
   you if the Avenger is not protecting that area.