Neutral

Neutral can be a legal term, or a moral or personality classification.

1. Legal neutrality

1.1. Laws applicable to neutral land

1.2. Declaring neutrality

1.3. Advantages of owning neutral land

1.4. Revoking neutrality

1.5. Examples of neutral land

2. Moral neutrality

1. Legal neutrality

Legal neutrality is a way of saying "we don't take sides, so don't bother".

Legal neutrality is most often used in reference to land or territory. Any area may be classified as neutral, including a building. Upper floors of a building cannot be separately classified according to most countries' laws, meaning that a jointly-owned building cannot be 'partially neutral'.

1.1. Laws applicable to neutral land

Neutral land is not necessarily communal land. Neutral territory can be owned, bought and sold with a few extra restrictions (this, of course, applies only to places where it is normally possible to own or buy land).

These are the special rules concerning neutral land or territory:

• No power may legally declare war on the territory, invade or conquer it.
• Neutral land must not be allowed to host any armed or magical conflict. This even applies to bar fights if they get nasty.
• Anyone claiming sanctuary on the territory cannot be handed over as a prisoner to any state, power or group.
  • Unless the asylum-seeker breaks laws or is very disruptive, zie can't be kicked out.
  • Entering neutral territory and attempting to remove someone claiming sanctuary is illegal and extremely poor PR.
• People or businesses based on the territory (if applicable) may not give support to any political power or any side in a war.
• The territory is allowed to request help from a non-neutral power to defend it from attack, with restrictions on what payment or reward it may offer in return. It is allowed to maintain magical safeguards of its own, if these are exclusively defensive in nature.

For a neutral territory that's big enough to be a state or power in its own right, and is organised that way:

• The territory may not interfere in the politics or wars of other powers. Publishing satire about either side is tolerated (though it's safer to satirise both sides, or single individuals). Supporting them financially or materially is not.
• The territory may not maintain an army or amass weapons of its own.
• The territory may not hand over prisoners to any state, power or group.

If the territory started off as part of a country, it remains part of the country unless it declares independence (a separate process). However, the rules of non-favour and non-interference apply even to its parent country.

1.2. Declaring neutrality

Anyone who owns land may go through the process of classifying it as neutral. An undertaking must be signed agreeing to uphold the neutrality laws by whatever means are appropriate - hiring watchfolk, magical surveillance, etc. There are penalties for failing to uphold neutrality. One possible outcome is to lose ownership of the land, but penalties vary between countries and worlds.

1.3. Advantages of owning neutral land

There aren't many tangible or political advantages to owning neutral land (and it can be costly to make sure the laws are followed). It is more often done as a matter of conscience, personal whim or a 'gift to the people'.

Declaring neutrality is sometimes used to interrupt or prevent wars, when a disputed or strategic territory is declared no-go and thus cuts off both sides from reaching each other. Neutrality requests are sometimes denied, legally or illegally, by the host country when there is a risk of that happening.

1.4. Revoking neutrality

Neutral status can in most cases be revoked, but the process can be very long-winded. Some countries require that the original land-owner be the one to revoke the status, meaning that inherited neutral land is stuck that way.

1.5. Examples of neutral land

• Unnamed Inn at Cross'd Roads

2. Moral neutrality

Someone neither good nor evil may be classified as neutral. See Alignment.