Lexicon:Modern/Fyndrecht
| Fyndrecht | |
|---|---|
| Stage | Modern CLT |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɪnd.ɾext/ |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Etymology | fynd + recht |
| Related words | Fyndra, Waendra, Froeentra, Sigring |
Fyndrecht — the finder’s right. The lawful claim held by whoever saves a person in danger on the frontier.
Notes
Recognized in all six city-states and disputed by none of them. A person found alone and in trouble beyond the walls belongs to whoever found them, and what happens next is the finder’s decision entirely.
They may let them go. They may take payment, from the person or from their city or house. They may keep them. All three are lawful and none requires a reason.
The Fyndrecht is not a punishment and is not framed as one. It follows from the same principle as the war captive: a person who chose to be out there accepted what being out there means, and the person who went and got them is owed something for it.
What happens in practice depends on who found you. A man is more often ransomed or released, because a man is worth less kept and more returned. A woman is more often kept. Nobody made that rule and everybody understands it, and it changes the arithmetic of frontier travel for her in a way it does not for him.