Memory 7: Trial
Sep. 18th, 2011 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baddecisiondzurWhat Happened
Tazendra, her three friends, the Dragonlord she remembers sharing a prison cell with, and another male Dragonlord are led into an audience with His Majesty the Emperor and a lot of important people. She is fussing over her appearance and deportment to make sure she makes the right impression, and isn't intimidated at all by the fact this is the first time she's been face-to-face with royalty. She's probably still in rumpled traveling clothing, rather than anything actually appropriate for being around the Emperor. But she's going to wear that with style dammit.
His Majesty asks who they are -- she learns that her cellmate is the Baroness Kaluma and accused of murder, and the other Dragonlord is the murder victim's son, Uttrik, and that she and her friends are Guardsmen in the Red Boot Battalion. Aerich also gives his full name -- Aerich being an alias, as he was born Temma, Duke of Arylle and Count of Bra-moor, and is claiming County Shaltre.
Tazendra introduces herself, and His Majesty comments that it's another assumed name, and she explains that she renounced her titles. We debating this in chat, and we're not sure if it means she was born under a different name, or merely that His Majesty was commenting on the fact she didn't introduce herself as Tazendra, Baroness of Daavya. The latter might make more sense; the Emperor might not know what a typical Dzurlord name was, but could guess that a member of the House of the Dzur should have some claim to nobility, even if it's 'third child of Baron Y'. OTOH, the Orb is, among other things, the Emperor's own personal database, so he might actually be able to check.
Pel and Khaavren introduce themselves, and His Majesty comments with surprise that Khaavren actually gave his full name and title**, since apparently aliases are trendy in the Guard these days.
Baroness Kaluma steps forward to surrender herself to justice, and admits that, yes, she did kill the Marquis of Pepperfields, but is sorry she did so. Uttrik mentions that because they've become friends, he's willing to absolve her from the crime and forgive her.
His Majesty asks what the rest of them have to say about their crimes, and Khaavren tell him that they have no idea what they've even been charged with, and can't think of anything they've done wrong. We find out the charges are murdering Count Shaltre and Lord Garland -- which Tazendra objects to, in front of the Emperor, because she's not got a strong brain-to-mouth filter, and Pel has to quickly apologize for her -- and the Cavalier Kurich, who happens to be the Warlord Lytra e'Terics' younger brother.
Here Tazendra actually is a bit flippant about it; she did kill him, but wouldn't consider it murder, because it had been a duel, albeit an illegal one***. I should mention that the Warlord is standing in the room, right next to His Majesty. And she's also in Tazendra's chain of command in that every soldier directly attached to the Emperor's service is under her command.
Khaavren takes the lead and tries to explain things: he puts Kaluma's deed off the table, as everyone agrees on what happened there. He tells that Kurich died in something like a duel that Khaavren was present at, and would not wish Tazendra prosecuted for his death, and names some other Guardsmen who were present as possible witnesses. Shaltre's death was caused by Aerich, but Shaltre was challenged in front of witnesses -- the six of them, Lord Adron e'Kieron and Lord Garland -- and when Shaltre tried to sneak-attack Aerich, Aerich killed him. And Garland isn't dead as far as they know, just running like a coward.
His Majesty asks if they're willing to testify under the Orb -- the Orb being able to determine truth and falsehood -- and all agree. The Warlord suggests that they only need to question one of them, and Khaavren is volunteered, as he seems to be the leader. Furthermore she is asking the questions -- you might have noticed she's not exactly unbiased here. (Tazendra also doesn't know the Warlord was part of the same plot that Shaltre and Garland were; she might assume that it's just being annoyed at her brother's death.)
So, the rest of them are escorted from the room while Khaavren is questioned. They stew in the anteroom for a while while the narrator focuses on showing Khaavren trying to clear their names, and are called back in for sentencing. The Emperor seems to be in a much better mood, joking that if they continue their recent activities, historians will remember them and not him. He returns their weapons -- Tazendra makes a joke about how she feels naked without her sword -- and he pardons Kaluma under the condition that she serve a term in the Phoenix Guards, and clears the rest of them of the charges. He even gives them some money to go have a drink in his honor.
Khaavren insists they aren't done, so they wander the palace a bit, where he locates one more of the conspirators -- the wizard Seodra -- and tricks her into giving him some information. Here Tazendra would at least get they would have been executed if they had been found guilty. He also makes sure she won't try anything to bother them in the future. Khaavren and Pel take their leave to go chase down someone in the Jhereg.
The rest of them retrieve Mica -- Mica, as a peasant, had to wait while they saw the Emperor -- and go home. Yay home!
** Such as it is; Khaavren's family lost their formal title some generations ago, so he's Khaavren of Castlerock.
*** The law permits duels to the death; this one was illegal merely because no one bothered to go find a witness and actually follow the forms.
What Honor Learns
-- House recognition: 11/17 (Seodra is an Athyra)
-- Well, I guess that's why I was in prison. That's a relief: I thought I might have done something really wrong.
-- Corvus continues to have a record of cute murderers.
-- Honor will continue to have problems keeping her mouth shut. Look, if she doesn't think that maybe objecting when the Emperor accuses her of murder is a Bad Idea, she's not going to care about the Judges.
-- Also a bit of casualness about killing people. I don't know if this is a reflection on the fact Dragaerans know for a fact that the afterlife exists and souls are reincarnated, or just that the nobility is spoiled rotten, but death is not seen as a Big Deal if it is handled in a legal matter and the victim isn't helpless. Honor already has this in Sabra from the revivals -- the fact her first revival was barely adequate is probably the only thing that would keep her from trying to go for death over maiming. But it really makes her look like a sociopath.
She'd still object to killing people who cannot fight back. Heck, it's one reason she asked Corvus to hit her first in the GM/Soldier game, because she'd rather have a fistfight, even a very strange and formal one, than to slug people, especially teammates. She's also honorable enough that since the laws of SLT only permit killing in the games, it would take a lot to push her to kill anyone outside of the games.
She's also fairminded enough that she won't hold her own death personally against anyone here, unless they did so in a treacherous manner. For examine, if, in Gambler's game, she had been killed by Sion, if he stuck to the rules they had agreed on, she'd totally be okay with that.
Tazendra, her three friends, the Dragonlord she remembers sharing a prison cell with, and another male Dragonlord are led into an audience with His Majesty the Emperor and a lot of important people. She is fussing over her appearance and deportment to make sure she makes the right impression, and isn't intimidated at all by the fact this is the first time she's been face-to-face with royalty. She's probably still in rumpled traveling clothing, rather than anything actually appropriate for being around the Emperor. But she's going to wear that with style dammit.
His Majesty asks who they are -- she learns that her cellmate is the Baroness Kaluma and accused of murder, and the other Dragonlord is the murder victim's son, Uttrik, and that she and her friends are Guardsmen in the Red Boot Battalion. Aerich also gives his full name -- Aerich being an alias, as he was born Temma, Duke of Arylle and Count of Bra-moor, and is claiming County Shaltre.
Tazendra introduces herself, and His Majesty comments that it's another assumed name, and she explains that she renounced her titles. We debating this in chat, and we're not sure if it means she was born under a different name, or merely that His Majesty was commenting on the fact she didn't introduce herself as Tazendra, Baroness of Daavya. The latter might make more sense; the Emperor might not know what a typical Dzurlord name was, but could guess that a member of the House of the Dzur should have some claim to nobility, even if it's 'third child of Baron Y'. OTOH, the Orb is, among other things, the Emperor's own personal database, so he might actually be able to check.
Pel and Khaavren introduce themselves, and His Majesty comments with surprise that Khaavren actually gave his full name and title**, since apparently aliases are trendy in the Guard these days.
Baroness Kaluma steps forward to surrender herself to justice, and admits that, yes, she did kill the Marquis of Pepperfields, but is sorry she did so. Uttrik mentions that because they've become friends, he's willing to absolve her from the crime and forgive her.
His Majesty asks what the rest of them have to say about their crimes, and Khaavren tell him that they have no idea what they've even been charged with, and can't think of anything they've done wrong. We find out the charges are murdering Count Shaltre and Lord Garland -- which Tazendra objects to, in front of the Emperor, because she's not got a strong brain-to-mouth filter, and Pel has to quickly apologize for her -- and the Cavalier Kurich, who happens to be the Warlord Lytra e'Terics' younger brother.
Here Tazendra actually is a bit flippant about it; she did kill him, but wouldn't consider it murder, because it had been a duel, albeit an illegal one***. I should mention that the Warlord is standing in the room, right next to His Majesty. And she's also in Tazendra's chain of command in that every soldier directly attached to the Emperor's service is under her command.
Khaavren takes the lead and tries to explain things: he puts Kaluma's deed off the table, as everyone agrees on what happened there. He tells that Kurich died in something like a duel that Khaavren was present at, and would not wish Tazendra prosecuted for his death, and names some other Guardsmen who were present as possible witnesses. Shaltre's death was caused by Aerich, but Shaltre was challenged in front of witnesses -- the six of them, Lord Adron e'Kieron and Lord Garland -- and when Shaltre tried to sneak-attack Aerich, Aerich killed him. And Garland isn't dead as far as they know, just running like a coward.
His Majesty asks if they're willing to testify under the Orb -- the Orb being able to determine truth and falsehood -- and all agree. The Warlord suggests that they only need to question one of them, and Khaavren is volunteered, as he seems to be the leader. Furthermore she is asking the questions -- you might have noticed she's not exactly unbiased here. (Tazendra also doesn't know the Warlord was part of the same plot that Shaltre and Garland were; she might assume that it's just being annoyed at her brother's death.)
So, the rest of them are escorted from the room while Khaavren is questioned. They stew in the anteroom for a while while the narrator focuses on showing Khaavren trying to clear their names, and are called back in for sentencing. The Emperor seems to be in a much better mood, joking that if they continue their recent activities, historians will remember them and not him. He returns their weapons -- Tazendra makes a joke about how she feels naked without her sword -- and he pardons Kaluma under the condition that she serve a term in the Phoenix Guards, and clears the rest of them of the charges. He even gives them some money to go have a drink in his honor.
Khaavren insists they aren't done, so they wander the palace a bit, where he locates one more of the conspirators -- the wizard Seodra -- and tricks her into giving him some information. Here Tazendra would at least get they would have been executed if they had been found guilty. He also makes sure she won't try anything to bother them in the future. Khaavren and Pel take their leave to go chase down someone in the Jhereg.
The rest of them retrieve Mica -- Mica, as a peasant, had to wait while they saw the Emperor -- and go home. Yay home!
** Such as it is; Khaavren's family lost their formal title some generations ago, so he's Khaavren of Castlerock.
*** The law permits duels to the death; this one was illegal merely because no one bothered to go find a witness and actually follow the forms.
What Honor Learns
-- House recognition: 11/17 (Seodra is an Athyra)
-- Well, I guess that's why I was in prison. That's a relief: I thought I might have done something really wrong.
-- Corvus continues to have a record of cute murderers.
-- Honor will continue to have problems keeping her mouth shut. Look, if she doesn't think that maybe objecting when the Emperor accuses her of murder is a Bad Idea, she's not going to care about the Judges.
-- Also a bit of casualness about killing people. I don't know if this is a reflection on the fact Dragaerans know for a fact that the afterlife exists and souls are reincarnated, or just that the nobility is spoiled rotten, but death is not seen as a Big Deal if it is handled in a legal matter and the victim isn't helpless. Honor already has this in Sabra from the revivals -- the fact her first revival was barely adequate is probably the only thing that would keep her from trying to go for death over maiming. But it really makes her look like a sociopath.
She'd still object to killing people who cannot fight back. Heck, it's one reason she asked Corvus to hit her first in the GM/Soldier game, because she'd rather have a fistfight, even a very strange and formal one, than to slug people, especially teammates. She's also honorable enough that since the laws of SLT only permit killing in the games, it would take a lot to push her to kill anyone outside of the games.
She's also fairminded enough that she won't hold her own death personally against anyone here, unless they did so in a treacherous manner. For examine, if, in Gambler's game, she had been killed by Sion, if he stuck to the rules they had agreed on, she'd totally be okay with that.
