The severity of the punishment would usually match the severity of the crime committed in some ways, but it varied from person to person, rather than having a set system in place for the criminal underworld.
It was usually seen as something like an eye for an eye, as the person giving the favour and not having it paid back would see themselves as the victim, and the person who did not pay it back would be seen as the wrongdoer.
The victim would expect punishment or payback equivalent to how they viewed it would be most appropriate.
Some would seek out an equal punishment that took away what was equal to what was lost, while others would judge it in another way to determine how much they viewed what had been lost was worth compared to the worth of what could be given back from another.
When it came to people and how they viewed certain things, they judged the worth of things quite differently, especially when all kinds of differences in power, status and wealth were concerned.
