Any Rules of Engagement, whether permanent or temporary, agreed upon by two guildmasters will take precedence over these rules as long as those two guilds do not violate the Rules of Engagement with other guilds. Violations of the Rules of Engagement are to be handled by the guildstone guildmasters of those involved. If a resolution can not be reached immediately, "peace" may be declared on the guildstone until a resolution that is satisfactory to both sides, and arrangements to avoid future such situations, have been decided upon.
I.) General:
1.) Do not attack or even kill logged out characters or players that are not aware of the attack. Try to give at least a warning before attacking, if the situation allows it (i.e. "Have at thee!", "WAAAAGH!!", "Uragshaa!!", etc.)
2.) Always make your guild abbreviation visible to others, to avoid misunderstandings.
3.) Players can not be forced to engage in player vs. player combat. If the victim refuses player vs. player combat, the aggressor may chose a reasonable alternative, possible examples include (but are not limited to)
a) demanding reasonable tribute or ransom from the victim
b) taking the victim prisoner
c) chasing the victim away, but then the victim must leave the area, running away crying for "Help!", begging for mercy or showing a similar appropiate "in-character"-reaction, and is not allowed to take part in the battle any further, be it passively or actively.
4.) Neutral ground where no conflict or alternatives may occur includes inside shops and bank areas.
5.) A hearty effort should be made to make sure that the non-lootable items of the dead are returned to their possession as soon as possible. If the situation allows it, and you know the owner well, "bag" his things and hold them while waiting for his return, or at least guard the corpse if you fear of being blamed for looting.
6.) The newly resurrected when returning to his corpse is to be considered still dead in a roleplay context. This person should remain in death robe, gather his things, leave the area without talking, and not participate in that battle or any other battles with the involved parties any further for the duration of half an hour.
II.) Looting
1.) Basically, the only lootable items are food, drinks, gems and a maximum of 500 goldpieces per victim.
2.) Other items can be "marked" as lootable, by putting them into a bright yellow bag (i.e. larger amounts of gold, orc masks for the orcs, quest relevant items, or other things you want to "offer" your opponents and may have no use for yourself)
III.) Third party involvement
1.) A participant in combat may choose to end the combat by emoting "*CEASE*" if he/she notices that there is a strong real potential for third party looting or if one of the participants received aid from a "blue" player (or even "red", if the person is not an ERPA member). Note that due to game dynamics, sometimes combat may not end (lost connections, lag, spam-reduction code, etc.)
2.) If people not in the ERPA and not involved in a mutual war (this includes chaos/order) attack, kill or loot an ERPA guild or one of their members, it will be simply regarded as mindless playerkilling, and should be treated like it, no matter what "roleplaying reasons" those people may pretend to have. Other ERPA members should help if they can, no matter what attitude they have towards the other guild or player "in character".