The Debtors' Prisons
Debt is serious business in Anaxas, for it affects both reputation and cashflow, two things of fundamental importance to the Anaxi. As such, the laws govern administration of debt. And above all its repayment are extensive, ancient, and labyrinthine. When a particularly large debt comes due, it can be devastating to the borrower. Legally, the debtor is required to provide the whole sum of the debt owed in a single payment. This is not always possible and when that occurs, the law can exert draconian measures. A debtor might have the eventual funds to pay off what they owe, but lacking ready cash to pay it in full, they are forced to rely upon other means. Liens and forced collections are common forms of debt reclamation, as is the liquidation of assets. In many cases this is enough to cover the costs of the debts, but there are those persons who are either unable or unwilling to pay their debts, and for them, the most serious and ignominious fate is to become their own collateral, held in trust at one of the debtors’ prisons.
These are establishments of variable salubrity throughout the nation where indigent or obstinate debtors are held until their debts are properly discharged. All are private establishments run for profit and some resemble extortion rackets more than places of legal proceedings. Bribery and graft are commonplace, and a strange dynamic can arise between the prisoners and their keepers, as on a practical level, the inmates pay the keepers’ salary.
Some of these prisons resemble workhouses where the debtors are put to work at menial trades and a fraction of the value of their labor is applied to their debts. Others are more traditional prisons with locked cells and a highly regimented existence. Still others more resemble a kind of locked college where debtors might inhabit anything from common rooms to private cells, supported by their own assets or upon the largess of friends and relations. Some of the prisons allow for inmates to conduct business and even live outside the prison proper, provided they remain within the larger jurisdiction of the prison and are monitored by prison staff.
This latter, somewhat freer stateis often afforded to ladies and gentlemen of reasonably good character whose debts are believed to be recoverable through their businesses, their estates, or their relations. They are held therefore as a kind of living collateral.
The most storied and most feared of the debtors prisons lie within the confines of the old city of Vienda where enforcement of debts is particularly well established. Although there are many such establishments, those that follow are the most storied, infamous, or strange.
These are establishments of variable salubrity throughout the nation where indigent or obstinate debtors are held until their debts are properly discharged. All are private establishments run for profit and some resemble extortion rackets more than places of legal proceedings. Bribery and graft are commonplace, and a strange dynamic can arise between the prisoners and their keepers, as on a practical level, the inmates pay the keepers’ salary.
Some of these prisons resemble workhouses where the debtors are put to work at menial trades and a fraction of the value of their labor is applied to their debts. Others are more traditional prisons with locked cells and a highly regimented existence. Still others more resemble a kind of locked college where debtors might inhabit anything from common rooms to private cells, supported by their own assets or upon the largess of friends and relations. Some of the prisons allow for inmates to conduct business and even live outside the prison proper, provided they remain within the larger jurisdiction of the prison and are monitored by prison staff.
This latter, somewhat freer stateis often afforded to ladies and gentlemen of reasonably good character whose debts are believed to be recoverable through their businesses, their estates, or their relations. They are held therefore as a kind of living collateral.
The most storied and most feared of the debtors prisons lie within the confines of the old city of Vienda where enforcement of debts is particularly well established. Although there are many such establishments, those that follow are the most storied, infamous, or strange.
Merlowe Prison - (Kingsway)
Situated within the Kingsway district and near to various financial institutions, Marlowe is one of the more ‘genteel’ of the debtors’ prisons. Formed from rowhouses and more secure establishments around two great courtyard, Marlowe contains both a ‘common’ and a ‘master’s side’. The former houses the most destitute of the prisoners and living conditions can be best described as slightly less than squalid. The largess of the prison extends only so far as to feeding the inmates a thin gruel, and twice a week a ration of rum or gin with citrus juice to prevent outbreaks if scurvy. Inmates find whatever lodgings they can within the confines of the common side and fights among the debtors are routine.
By contrast, the master’s side houses those debtors who can afford a more significant upkeep and might even occupy private rooms. On every Third, Sixth, and Ninth, those housed within this part of the prison may receive visitors and carry out what business they can. Some inmates are sure they can pay off their debts over time, and so live reasonably comfortable lives, building up a store of funds with hope of eventual release.
By contrast, the master’s side houses those debtors who can afford a more significant upkeep and might even occupy private rooms. On every Third, Sixth, and Ninth, those housed within this part of the prison may receive visitors and carry out what business they can. Some inmates are sure they can pay off their debts over time, and so live reasonably comfortable lives, building up a store of funds with hope of eventual release.
Terringdon Yard - (Oldwater)
A dreary, cold, and uncomfortable place, Terringdon, an edifice of grey stone, is built around a modest quadrangle of perpetually dying grass. Like Merlowe, it contains both a common and a master’s side though the divisions are less clear, and most inmates mingle within the same dour and dreary grounds. Its cells, though not kept locked, are drafty and damp and the fog from off the Arova permeates the place.
Those inmates who can afford it are able to carry on their business, provided they pay considerable bribes to the turnkeys who operate the place. They gain the privilege of private cells, of access to a bar that serves watery drinks, an indifferent cookshop, and even a small and comfortable library. For the rest, Terringdon is a cold and miserable existence.
Those inmates who can afford it are able to carry on their business, provided they pay considerable bribes to the turnkeys who operate the place. They gain the privilege of private cells, of access to a bar that serves watery drinks, an indifferent cookshop, and even a small and comfortable library. For the rest, Terringdon is a cold and miserable existence.
Balfour Court - (Smike’s End)
From the exterior, Balfour Court looks something like a small college or one of the Inns of Court. Along the narrow Coven Alley, the brick buildings that form the outer edifice appear as townhouses arranged about several inner courtyards. Inmates in the Court are assigned to rooms in these houses and are required to maintain themselves on what funds they can muster. Although the outer gates are usually locked, the Court is the prison most amenable to personal and commercial visitors and there are even guest chambers for those who, for some strange desire, wish to stay for several days.
Most inmates held in the Court are there either as indigent debtors or as defendants in civil matters who are held for contempt. The smallest population is of those felons convicted of financial crimes or public corruption, as it is thought that the harsher environs of the more traditional prisons are unsuitable to these crimes.
The Court is therefore an oddly professional and commercial place, and over the years business have come to operate within the Court itself. Dodgy insurers, high risk money lenders, and cut-rate lawyers have all found homes there, as have disgraced physicians, and publishers found guilty of obscenity and libel.
Most inmates held in the Court are there either as indigent debtors or as defendants in civil matters who are held for contempt. The smallest population is of those felons convicted of financial crimes or public corruption, as it is thought that the harsher environs of the more traditional prisons are unsuitable to these crimes.
The Court is therefore an oddly professional and commercial place, and over the years business have come to operate within the Court itself. Dodgy insurers, high risk money lenders, and cut-rate lawyers have all found homes there, as have disgraced physicians, and publishers found guilty of obscenity and libel.
James Street Laundry - (Thripping Bite)
James Street Laundry is an unpleasant and uncomfortable prison. Here are housed many debtors whose indigency is considered to be hopeless. Imprisonment here is often less about recovering debt, than trying to wring some little restitution from the defaulter. That, and having the linen washed.
James Street Laundry is, as the name suggests, a laundry, and one on an industrial scale. Inmates here are made to attend to all matters related to the laundering of cloth. It is a harsh, hot, and backbreaking life, full of caustic chemicals, gouts of steam, and dangerous machinery. Great washing tubs steam day and night and thousands upon thousands of yards of cloth are washed and dried in the long hall that runs the length of James Street from Martifer Lane and Penrose Street. Great hotels and houses make use of the institution, as to hospitals and other large institutions. The debts will be replayed, if not in coin, then in labor.
Dozens of poor wretches work twenty five hour days amid the plumes of steam and tubs of scalding water. All are clad alike in a heavy and shapeless white overall, and their hair wound up in long strips of cloth. They sleep in a common dormitory and subsist off a diet of porridge and the occasional pickled vegetable. The food is flavorless, colorless, and depressing, it is also reasonably nourishing as the operators of the Laundry do not wish to have only the weak at their disposal.
Amidst the debtors are others who have fallen into misfortune. The truly destitute, the abandoned, and those deemed unfit for polite society but not so far gone as to warrant the madhouse. Beggars who have the misfortune to have no trade, not even bootblacking, are not uncommon, nor are the mostly young women who have had, well, ‘family difficulties’.
James Street Laundry is, as the name suggests, a laundry, and one on an industrial scale. Inmates here are made to attend to all matters related to the laundering of cloth. It is a harsh, hot, and backbreaking life, full of caustic chemicals, gouts of steam, and dangerous machinery. Great washing tubs steam day and night and thousands upon thousands of yards of cloth are washed and dried in the long hall that runs the length of James Street from Martifer Lane and Penrose Street. Great hotels and houses make use of the institution, as to hospitals and other large institutions. The debts will be replayed, if not in coin, then in labor.
Dozens of poor wretches work twenty five hour days amid the plumes of steam and tubs of scalding water. All are clad alike in a heavy and shapeless white overall, and their hair wound up in long strips of cloth. They sleep in a common dormitory and subsist off a diet of porridge and the occasional pickled vegetable. The food is flavorless, colorless, and depressing, it is also reasonably nourishing as the operators of the Laundry do not wish to have only the weak at their disposal.
Amidst the debtors are others who have fallen into misfortune. The truly destitute, the abandoned, and those deemed unfit for polite society but not so far gone as to warrant the madhouse. Beggars who have the misfortune to have no trade, not even bootblacking, are not uncommon, nor are the mostly young women who have had, well, ‘family difficulties’.
Old Halliwell’s - (Painted Ladies)
One of the oddest of the debtors’ prisons is the perpetually shabby collection of houses and buildings known as Old Halliwell’s. Here, just off Marlowe Street in the Painted Ladies debtors might find themselves in luck, or into a whole new world of trouble. In the common yard, on every odd numbered day, various financial kovs stroll about, offering services, business advice, and above all, offering to buy the debts of the incarcerated. The debt buyers generally secure a debt for tallies on the concord, betting that the creditors would rather get some of their money back, guaranteed, than be perpetually waiting on funds which will never arrive. It often works, and the debt buyers come into the possession of both a potentially grateful revenue stream, and an asset that can itself be traded.
Debt buyers might set up shop in other prisons (Balfour Court being a perennial favorite), but they swarm particularly thick at Old Halliwell’s.
The life for a prisoner here is perhaps similar to Merlowe Street and Balfour Court, in that Old Halliwell’s is constructed around a set of small courtyards and inmates can pay various fees in exchange for more comfortable cells, private rooms, and access to food and drink. The turnkeys at Old Halliwell’s are notoriously corrupt and susceptible to bribes and more than a few inmates have bought them off so completely, that it might be said that they are masters of the place.
Debt buyers might set up shop in other prisons (Balfour Court being a perennial favorite), but they swarm particularly thick at Old Halliwell’s.
The life for a prisoner here is perhaps similar to Merlowe Street and Balfour Court, in that Old Halliwell’s is constructed around a set of small courtyards and inmates can pay various fees in exchange for more comfortable cells, private rooms, and access to food and drink. The turnkeys at Old Halliwell’s are notoriously corrupt and susceptible to bribes and more than a few inmates have bought them off so completely, that it might be said that they are masters of the place.
The Bailiffs and Tipstaves
Collection of debts can be an annoying and complicated business and special agents are often employed to ensure compliance, payment, or arrest. Officers of the Courts, rather than the Seventen are usually employed in the legal duties of the civil law, and this is particularly true with respect to the laws surrounding debts and contempt of court. The bailiffs are general officers who serve warrants and writs, enforcing subpoenas, and other judicial enforcement. Some are even employed by inquisitorial magistrates to investigate civil cases or financial crimes, those such bailiffs are rarer.
As the service of writs and the enforcement of court warrants and arrests for debt have become more and more common, the bailiffs have often delegated part of their enforcement authority to individuals known as ‘tipstaves’ in account of the small clubs or staves they carry to mark their office and carry warrants. Also derisively called bum-bailiffs or spongers a tipstaff is usually a person of the lower classes empowered with very minimal judicial authority. They track down debtors and other civil miscreants, and bodily seize them to haul them off to prison or before the courts.
Generally a much-hated lot, tipstaves are prone to disguise and subterfuge in making their arrests. This has only further endeared them to the public.
As the service of writs and the enforcement of court warrants and arrests for debt have become more and more common, the bailiffs have often delegated part of their enforcement authority to individuals known as ‘tipstaves’ in account of the small clubs or staves they carry to mark their office and carry warrants. Also derisively called bum-bailiffs or spongers a tipstaff is usually a person of the lower classes empowered with very minimal judicial authority. They track down debtors and other civil miscreants, and bodily seize them to haul them off to prison or before the courts.
Generally a much-hated lot, tipstaves are prone to disguise and subterfuge in making their arrests. This has only further endeared them to the public.
The Ten-Day Gentlemen
By ancient law and inexplicable custom, arrest for debt is forbidden upon Ten-Days, and those who find themselves in danger of arrest upon any other day of the week can be seen abroad on Ten-Days. They might visit friends and allies, attend social functions, or any other of the ordinary activities of life. Over time, these strange fellows have become known as ‘Ten-Day Gentlemen’ and have become stock characters in comedies, often as vain schemers and parasites living off hapless patrons.
The Liberties
Debtors, especially those who can otherwise continue to support their day-to-day lives, often take refuge in The Liberties of the Colleges, where quirks of law forbid any arrest for debt. In a curious way, the Liberties are also prisons of a kind, for the debtors cannot stray from their precincts or else they risk arrest, but life within the Liberties is still much freer and more pleasant than in any of the true prisons.
