Out of Character 0: Doorway to the Cage

[Ikkit the Bastard]

discover all the things I forgot to do.

The actual Faction philosophy of PbP gamers in a nutshell!

[L'Orr-hui]

Help can be had...for a price

[Sings-With-Purpose]

The price is only your brains.

[Dare Shah]

Sorry, not to sale: I need my brain to play the king of games.

[Ikkit the Bastard]

Anyone wants a spare brain, I know a guy.

Well.

I KNEW a guy.

Anyway.

Got this brain now.

[Dare Shah]

Could I see your brain seller license? The average citizen of Sigil consumes 3.7 fresh brains a year, and good brains can easily sell for hundreds of gold pieces, making it a very important and very regulated market for the city.

As the idiom goes: "With strange aeons even death may die. Taxes however are eternal."

[Fyne]

Brain selling is allowable without a license when done between individuals. Licensure is only necessary for commercial sales.

[Akh Uur Hoon]

Please continue this discussion. Zombie population is taking notes.

[Dare Shah]

Well, there's the theory, and there's the practice.

In theory, when you receive money in exchange of an item, under any circumstances, it's a sale. And the treasury is due a certain sum on every sale happening within the city, unless the seller is exempted from taxes by the city, as are high nobles for example.

In practice, it's impossible to monitor everything happening within Sigil. Also, for infractions under a certain amount, the tax plus fine that could be retrieved aren't worth the hassle. So there are voluntary loopholes in the law to rebrand minor offenses as perfectly legal all along if need be. That way everyone is happy: Citizens aren't perpetually harassed, statistics of tax frauds are low, the office can focus on bigger fishes.

As for how the guard determines if a particular case is worth pursuing...

Let's just say that if you're named... well Ikkit the Bastard is a good example... and some guards witness you getting money for a brain in an alleyway, you're likely to be arrested under smuggling charges.
Meanwhile, if you have a first name, a middle name, and a family name, and the exchange happens on the front door of your manor, even if you're seen, you're likely to be filed in the "legal personal business, nothing to worry about" category.

Privileges oh!

[Ikkit the Bastard]

Pursuant to my license as a Freelance Salvage Specialist*, all small-scale transactions are considered as covered by the initial licensure fee, as outlined in Article Six.

As the former owner has no claim on the item, being in no condition to make use of it, I am allowed to vend on a small scale without regard to the treasury, as the service I provide by removing unwanted waste from the streets of our fair city is considered ample contribution.

In other news, any of you longshank species that are picky about where your meat comes from MIGHT want to avoid Orlok the Blue's soup stand for the next day or two.


[*Jokes aside, LITERALLY the essence of the baseline character concept...]