PAXLAIR - May 27, 1999 - Winfield, Mayor of PaxLair

*Mayor Winfield walks slowly, leaning on his staff, over to a comfortable bench in the PaxLair garden...and sits down*

Ah, you ask about the rules in PaxLair. A long time ago, we worked hard to establish a detailed set of rules. These worked well for us for quite some time and many people and visitors of PaxLair still tend to follow them when they can.

Yet any rules or laws in an open wilderness town are hard to enforce. Existence of such rules gives rise to an expectation of protection and quick justice by town officials. Such an expectation, as a result of specific rules, could not be specifically met time and time again as our town changed in culture and residency. We experienced, through our attempts to strictly follow and enforce the rules, that we encountered many debates, bad scenes and incidents, and errors in justice. This created a very confused and difficult environment for people to achieve their main goals for which they come to PaxLair. Most people's goals go well beyond raising the sword or the halberd against criminals; most work very hard to create emotion and a sense of culture around themselves and the town in general.

Over the ages, here in PaxLair, we have found a more basic and common thought which serves as a guideline for all who come:

While respect can not be enforced as a law because it is an individual concept, it still couples very closely with our three PaxLair tenets:

• Peace
• Neutrality
• Roleplaying

Some may scoff at the idea of respect in a community so open to all people. Yet, when you think about it, respect is the underlying philosophy to allow a community and many individuals to prosper, whatever their goals may be. Respect indeed is difficult to achieve but is more often a common goal of friends and sometimes even enemies. Respect of oneself and for others must be earned though; it is not given freely.

How does this help the people of PaxLair who may seek rules such as no looting (or looting of only certain things) or no reporting of criminal actions to Lord British's judicial system? Such rules are really based out of individual respect for others and an overall respect for what the town of PaxLair is trying to achieve. Yet again, this respect must be earned; not just by individuals but by our town in general.

For a new visitor to PaxLair, respect is achieved through dialog and actions. That respect may be for a person of evil, neutral, or good in nature. When respect is established and the person becomes well known, PaxLair becomes a much safer place for the person because others will come to the person's aid. Certainly, as a town official in PaxLair, I would like to see no looting or reporting of criminals. In fact, I would like to see the town remain peaceful for all people--a place in the wilderness respected by all who come. A place where people of all walks of life may gather to launch their ideas, quests, and history throughout the realm. Such a utopia, though, is impossible to achieve completely. Therefore, people must always be wary of the disrespectful person who enters PaxLair.

PaxLair is a crossroad for all people. At times PaxLair is extremely peaceful. Other times, PaxLair is more dangerous than the worst of the dungeons anywhere in the realm. This is reality; this is what we must be prepared for each day. We should respond in ways that satisfy us personally and perhaps with a conscious recognition of what PaxLair attempts to be in the wilderness.

There are a few suggestions I can make for the new person coming to PaxLair, and the veteran as well:

• Leave your valuables at home. Do not bring anything you can not afford to lose or would be upset losing.
• Get to know the people and visitors of the town: the good, the neutral, the evil. Learn who you can trust.
• Realize there are constant quests and building of history and cultures of many groups who come to PaxLair. Some quests offer a danger; some cultures are at odds with all people in the realm.
• Use your own personal judgement to report criminals to Lord British or to loot the belongings of a fallen criminal.
• Seek to aid those you have come to respect; they in turn will generally aid you.

As you can see, at this time I do not promote the ideas of hard and fast rules within PaxLair which would require a judge and jury. Such an endeavor is something we maybe able to do in the future as the town grows and people become more involved. PaxLair as a growing community will go through twists and turns, ups and downs. Patience and clear thought are virtues in our community and respect is the underlying root of all we attempt to do.

Winfield, Mayor of PaxLair