The Law of the Land

Proclaimed in the Throne Room of Albion, and kept at every gate in Tir Anferth.

Article I – Of the Hand

Let any citizen use whatever tool, trick or contrivance they can lay hands on to ease their labour: the macro, the helper, the patient script. The realm has no quarrel with a clever hand.

Article II – Of the Soul

But let the hand have a soul behind it. A citizen who works shall be present at their work.

Article III – Of the Vigil

The Watchman may at any hour ask a citizen one question. Let it be a different question each time, and let it be answered within five minutes. A citizen who answers well has one mark struck from the Watchman's list.

Article IV – Of the Hollow

A body that works while the soul is away is Hollow. The Hollow is not wicked; the Hollow is absent. The realm treats the absence, not the person.

Article V – Of the Reckoning

For a Vigil left unanswered, a strike on the Watchman's list. The first strike is a warning and costs nothing. From the second, skills come slower with each strike, and the Watchman calls more often. At the seventh strike the citizen is set in the Stocks of Albion beside the gate for ten minutes, and must answer a Vigil to be let out. Those who answer are sent back to where they stood, Hollow for an hour, and then the list is cleared. Those who come to the Stocks again and again are named Outlaw, and for a day their skills come slowly. The worst cases are heard by the Stewards.

Article VI – Of Mercy

Every Vigil answered strikes one mark off the list. A citizen who stays present is never slowed for long.

Article VII – Of Appeal

Any citizen may appeal to the Stewards. The Stewards shall hear it. The Watchman shall abide by what they say, and grumble about it.

Article VIII – Of the Open Door

The Hollow of yesterday is a citizen of today. Come back, and the gate is open.

Article IX – Of the Registered Hand

A citizen who would keep a helper at work in their absence may declare it to the Herald and sign the book. The Registered work in the Workyard, in plain sight, for the good of the commons, and the Watchman asks them nothing there. Beyond the Workyard, an empty coat is Hollow.

The Watchmen keep a Vigil. If you work at one task for a long stretch without a pause, a Watchman may ask you a simple question. You have five minutes to answer. Click the answer and carry on. The Law of Honest Hands asks only one thing of you: that you are present.

Short version: use your tools, be there when you use them, and answer the Watchman when he asks. See the Rules for the plain-language version.