Loa Laws
The Loa Laws (sometimes referred to as Everyman's Right; Acirian: Diritto di ogni persona) refer to the set of laws created by local administration in Aciria in the 16th century, which forbid all Loa from setting foot in Aciria. The punishment for Loa making landfall on Acirian soil was death, which is where the controversial Acirian term "Everyman's Right" comes from, referring to every man's right to kill Loa on sight. The law was only officially repealed in 2018 following a law student who killed a Loa citizen visiting Aciria, and was allowed to walk free due to the Loa law never having officially been removed. Similar laws have existed, albeit with far less lethal consequences, under the Navidadian System in Navidadia and the Delepasian Commonwealth.
Background
Despite known contact between the Loa and Acirians existed before, the establishment and spread of the Loa Empire across Vallos 15th century onwards meant contact between the two parties became more commonplace. The Marinai sailors often acted as the middlemen between the rest of Aciria and the Loa due to their superior seafaring ability and tolerant culture compared to the other Acirians. The expanded contact between the two was mostly peaceful, even if the catholic Acirians were disgusted with the faith and culture of the Loa.
.jpg)
It wasn't until 1587 when a Marinai trade vessel had made landfall in Vallos and were foraging for supplies in the land. The foraging eventually lead the sailors to discover a herd of coconut crabs roaming; coconut crabs had become somewhat of a delicacy among the Marinai during this time, which meant the sailors quickly killed as many coconut crabs as they could carry before making for their camp. Unbeknownst to them, the Loa revered the creatures and these crabs in particular were used for divination purposes by the Loa. The shepherd responsible for the crabs spotted the sailors leaving the scene with the coconut crabs, and alerted the authorities. Later that night the Loa authorities raided the camp, and discovering the crabs being cooked, slaughtered the sailors.
One of the slaves of the expedition had been tasked with gathering herbs nearby, which allowed him to be away from the camp during the massacre. Horrified by the act, the slave found his way to the closest Acirian vessel where he spread the word of what he had seen. The word of mouth quickly spread across the Marinai region, and from there the rest of Aciria, which prompted local administration to forbid Loa from stepping foot on Acirian soil. Cantiere, then a small port, was designated as the only port Loa were allowed to conduct business on, and even then the Loa were forbidden from stepping out of their vessels.
Aftermath
The Loa Laws, even when first introduced, were controversial in parts of Aciria. Figures such as Fulvio Pisani wrote about how the massacre was just a result of lack of cultural knowledge, which traders should have at least a basic understanding of. The Loa Laws resulted in a natural decline of Loa goods circulating in Aciria, and the monopoly Cantiere was given over trade with the Loa meant Cantiere grew quickly to be a wealthy port city, something it's famous for today.
The laws were largely forgotten until 2016 when a Loa citizen was stabbed to death by Evano Sartini, a 23-year old law student. The following court case resulted in Sartini walking free due to the law clearly stating any Loa on Acirian soil was legal to be murdered. The law then went through both the People's and Imperial Senate in 2016 and 2017, finally being repealed in 2018 by Ignazio I, who described the incident as "a tragedy".