Law enforcement in Artograch

Law enforcement in Artograch varies heavily coutnry by country, and even within countries, has varied from time to time historically.

Ancient Lizardman Empire
In the Ancient Lizardamn Empire, the police force was initially not separated from the military.

Throughout most of its existence, the Empire's army was divided into three branches:
 * Ćhöu Gier (literally: earth-army, mud-army, soil-army), being the local rural auxilias, also serving as the police force in rural areas
 * Thá Gier (literally: stone-army), being the urban militia, serving as the police force in cities during peace time, defending the cities during war time.
 * Gür Gier (literally: air-army), being the actual legions, or standing army, specialized for mobility.

The first two were normally under the control of the local civilian governors (provincial prefects for the rural Ćhöu Gier, the city's mayor for the Thá Gier), but any military commander above the rank of General had the right to temporarily deprive control over those troops from the civilian governors and assume control over those units, temporarily adding them to his army.

Over time, however, the police force gradually became independent of the military, with new specialized police units being created for crowd control (riot police)), for preventing theft and apprehending thieves, for solving more complicated cases, etc. The larger provinces were also subdivided into smaller prefectures to allow for easier handling of local cases without having to both the province's governor. Despite the growing separation and independence, an implied duty to support the military in times of war remained, with agents of law enforcement typically being equipped with weapons of war in case they'd have to perform double duty as the city's defenders.

As crime became rampart during the decline of the empire, vigilante activity became coming. The empire defunded the police as a desperate attempt to reduce spending, which further fueled the growth of vigilante groups that organized their own courts, and typically wielded quarterstaves instead of weapons of war.

Etrand
Law enforcement in Etrand is a fairly localized affair, even if the laws themselves are not (with only the Earldom of Etrancoast, Autonomous Dwarven Region and Autonomous Lizardman Region having high enough autonomy to be allowed to have their own laws, and even them only to a degree) - cities like Grandfolk, Steelhelm, Dracfold and Copperport largely rely on citizen militias composed of part-timers to enforce the laws, with performing guard duty being a viable alternative to paying taxes. These militiamen are subservient to a small group of professionals who are trained to know the laws: militiamen have the right to apprehend suspected criminals, but as they don't necessarily know the laws, the right to make the actual arrests is reserved for their more professional law-knowing superiors.

In rural areas, the responsibility to enforce the laws falls to the local nobles, who typically mimic the cities by forcing a fraction of their serfs to perform guard and police duty instead of working on farms and paying taxes. Because aristocratic courts of law and their police can be quite biased, the royal authorities routinely send inspectors to the countryside to ensure that the laws are actually enforced in a satisfactory manner, and that the local noble doesn't try enforcing any of his own special laws (or ignore actual royal laws) - nobles who violate lawful conduct (via failing to enforce royal laws, or illegally introducing their own laws) are brought to the royal court and punished depending on the severity of the crime.

Froturn
Froturn is possibly the only state in Continental Artograch to have something that resembles a professional police force - enforcement of the law is a profession in Froturn, and those who pursue it are expected to be familiar with the law. Police officers in Froturn typically carry wooden cudgels and shortswords, and are expected to resort to the lethal sword only in case of a life-and-death situation, and should otherwise default to smacking their opponents on the head with their cudgels to incapaciate them.

Dragoc
Dragoc has no official police force, just like it has no official standing army - every able-bodied citizen is trained to fight with the sword and the bow from an early age, and the laws are simplistic enough for most Dragoci to learn. As such, in Dragoc, law enforcement is the duty of all citizens, just like the defence of the country in times of war. When a crime is commited, all witnesses are expected to attempt to apprehend the perpetrator and carry the criminal to a dedicated prison house, where they'll be detained until they are brought to a group of druids to be judged. This kind of law enforcement however suffers from one major flaw: it is effectively a form of mob justice.