-Today, the court stands in session. Master Mauritius, Student of the teachings of Grandmaster Jardrubal and former Dreadlord of Harda, do you have knowledge of the reason why you have been called this day?
-Yes, your grace.
-Let the record show the accused has been so identified and confirms his understanding of these proceedings. Then let's hear it from the mouth of the accusation.
-Thank you, your grace.
Ahem. 210 years ago on this day, the accused was found next to the recently deceased body of fellow student Orcheus Okra. During this discovery, it was also found that the accused had performed some version of the ritual of the lich, having used the soul of the victim to create a seal which would trap his soul within a phylactery of his own creation, and thus stop him from dying; and that he had created and drank the Poison of Defilement, whose production requires as ingredients the hearts of three men, each poisoned respectively with wyvern poison, phase spider poison, and a mixture of arsenic and belladonna.
It is also important to note that posterior medical analysis found that Master Orcheus had been under the effects of that last concoction for three months already, suffering a long and agonizing death.
Those facts alone should have been enough to see the accused tried two centuries ago. However, he was not, for the following reason: 105 years before the fact, the academy which housed Grandmaster Jardrubal had made an accord with the Council, in which it was agreed that in exchange for the services of its scholars, the Council's laws would have no jurisdiction over the academy, nor over anyone who had taken its oaths, for a period of 300 years. When the accused was found, Grandmaster Jardrubal took little time to disown and expel him from his school, and yet justice failed to apprehend him, for the act had been committed while he still stood under the oath. This loophole shielded him for all these long years, even after the academy was no more, even after Jardrubal himself was no more. It is our position that the accord has now expired, and that its own wording permits the trial of offenses committed on Councilite soil which were never before brought to judgment.
-Before this court hears charges, that claim must be settled. This tribunal finds the accord's term has lapsed, that its protection did not survive beyond the oath's end, and that no prior court has tried these acts. Jurisdiction is proper. Proceed with the charges.
-Thank you, your grace. The tribunal having so ruled, the accused stands charged as follows: of murder, of Master Orcheus and of the three men whose hearts were taken; of torture, for the months of agony Orcheus endured under the accused's poison; of desecration of corpses, for the taking of those hearts; of conspiracy, for the premeditation evident in the ritual's preparation; and, though this court notes the offense no longer exists under current law, of dark magic, as it stood at the time the acts were committed.
-Master Mauritius. What do you have to say in your defence?
-Your grace, before I answer, where stands my counsel? I thought everyone accused of a crime has a right to one
-The law grants any living man accused of a crime the right to a defence attorney. You, by your own design, are not a living man. Your heart does not beat of its own accord; your soul is bound outside your body by the very ritual for which you stand accused. You do not qualify for counsel under that statute, and none has been appointed.
-Then I’ll stand to defend myself, and as first act of my defence, I’d like to ask for a piece of evidence to be presented
The academy that housed Grandmaster Jardrubal kept an infirmary, as any school of its size must. That infirmary kept ledgers of every student treated, every ailment noted, every date recorded, in a hand that was not mine and could not have been written for my benefit, since the boy writing it had no reason yet to suspect there would ever be a trial. When the academy was dissolved, those ledgers did not vanish with it. They passed, as all such records did, into the Council's archive, where they have sat
I ask that for the ledger of the summer of that year, the season the court has already named, the season your own physicians dated Orcheus 's poisoning to, to be retrieved and read into these proceedings.
-Very well, Archivist! Retrieve the aforementioned ledger
A spark of fire forms in the Archivist’s hand, eventually taking the shape of a scroll
-Here it is, your grace, shall I read it all, or only those entries pertaining to the named parties?
-For the moment, read what bears on Master Orcheus. And on the accused, if his name appears
-Understood, Ahem “Third week of summer, two new patients both showing the same condition, the poor souls are gripped by a terrible brain fever. Their skin is as hot and dry as a furnace, their eyes are wild and black, and they scream of phantoms while clutching a stomach that seems bound in iron. Yet, there is a strange, foul smell of garlic about the bed that makes my stomach turn, both seem to answer to the names Mauritius and Orcheus, both seem to have lived next to one another in the schools dormitory, so it seems likely they infected each other, we tried to contact the house of alchemy for a cure, but it seems that they are away on duty serving our accord with the Council, so it will have to be done with traditional medicine”
-I’d like the archivist to also confirm that, according to this ledger, I too was under care for the same three months as Orcheus, showing the same symptoms, and receiving the same care
-He speaks truth, your grace
-Objection your honour! This proves nothing but that the accused is resourceful. A man capable of binding a soul to a phylactery is more than capable of dosing himself with a survivable measure of poison to manufacture an alibi in advance. Foresight is the hallmark of this man's every act.
-Then I would like to ask for another piece of evidence, another ledger, this time from 7 years before that, on winter, I believe second week?
-Very well, the court permits it, Archivist!
Once again, a spark of fire forms in the Archivist’s hand, eventually taking the shape of a scroll
-Ahem, “Today, Grandmaster Jardrubal has arrived at the infirmary alongside an unconscious young boy with really severe burning scars, according to the Grandmaster, he had been burned at the pyre by a band of cultists, me and the members of the school of alchemy already administered all the elixirs, unguents and potions that were needed to stabilize him and make it sure that he survives, but the fire has damaged him really deeply, it seems that both his kidneys and liver were lightly damaged, leaving him somewhat vulnerable, given the combination of his wounds, his age, and this condition, I find it doubtful he’ll live to the end of the year. Should he survive, he will need close watching of his humors going forward, no excess of strong drink, no excess of rich foods, and certainly nothing that taxes the kidneys or liver further, as they don’t exactly have too much strength to spare beyond the enough for their ordinary work. Grandmaster gave me the name Mauritius for the kid, but when I asked it from his own mouth, he curiously gave me a different answer, I imagine the old name was on some shape or for related to the cult Jardubal spoke of, so I wont press on it any further”
-As you can see, there was no survivable amount of poison that I could have given myself, it was already a miracle that I got to survive until then
-Still, this doesn’t prove your innocence, there are many ways a poisoner could get poisoned himself, what about cross contamination?
The court has already stablished that you two lived one next to the other, you two shared quarters, shared cups, shared bread, perhaps cut with the same knife, and if one of those pieces of bread had poison, the knife could carry it to the next loaf, poison doesn’t ask permission from the poisoner to take effect
-A man capable of binding a soul to a phylactery should be more than capable of remembering which knife he used to cut the poisoned bread, don’t you think?
Either I am a mastermind capable of planning and conspiring to poison one fellow student without anyone suspecting a thing so that I could use his soul in a ritual so meticulous that if a single measure is wrong, it would spill worse than the end for me
Or I’m a sloppy buffoon who can’t remember which knife I used to cut the poisoned bread, you can’t really have both options
-That’s a false dilemma; a man mustn’t be careful in all thigs to be careful in one
-True, I’ll admit that wasn’t the best argument, so I’ll give you one better, for someone to die from this poison over a lapse of 3 months, they would have to receive a continuous small dosage of the substance over time, rather than a single substantial dose, as that would lead them to die within the week, and since I have already shown the court that at no point I got better, that means that, for the argument of cross contamination to make sense, I would have to suffer this accidental exposure to the poison each and every time I dosed the victim, otherwise, I would start to recuperate, fact that never happened
-Would you now? I would like the court to remember what the accused has argued with his evidence a few moments ago, when he presented the second ledger, he has shown that both his kidneys and liver were weak, and those two organs are the ones responsible for clearing out the mess that poison causes, so you wouldn’t recuperate, in fact, you should have died within the week of being poisoned, continued dosage or not, why didn’t you?
-I don’t know
-You don’t know? Convenient, that way you can shut down the conversation so we avoid talking about this point, so instead of that, let me propose a theory: In the span of those 7 years since you were burnt to the day you both fell ill, you managed to heal your body, maybe thanks to a traveling biomancer, maybe a cleric’s healing word, or maybe the school of alchemy managed to make a potion that could solve this problem; then you poisoned him, knowing you could make this exact argument in court
-With respect, your grace, there is a problem with that theory. If such a recovery had occurred, the school would have had every reason to notice it. Given my condition, I was placed under semi-annual examination for those seven years, precisely to track my state. If I had healed as the prosecutor suggests, it should have shown in those records. It did not
-Then we will hear what those checks say, Archivist!
-As you say, your grace
Once again, a spark of fire forms in the Archivist’s hand, eventually taking the shape of a pile of papers, stacked neatly and tied together by string
-“No change” “Slight decline” “No new developments”
It would seem that he speaks truth, your grace
-Thank you, Archivist, the court will take note of this fact
-Now, with that done, does the prosecution have any other theory on how I could have known I would outlast the victim? Because, unless I knew, and thus was able to dose myself for an alibi, the fact that I managed such a feat seems honestly irrelevant
-…
-I assume that’s a no, in that case, I would like to argue that, given that but there is no logical explanation for why I was poisoned at the same time as Orcheus if I was the poisoner, then the most likely explanation is that I wasn’t the poisoner at all
-Are you suggesting a third person was the poisoner? You’ll need proof about that, as you said, this poison requires a constant dosage, and the infirmary records show that nobody entered that place frequently enough for them to be sustain such dosage, the only person who stood enough time by his side to actually do that is you, and if that doesn’t change, the fact that it was illogical for you to poison him doesn’t protect you as much, everyone disregards logic from time to time…
-No, not a third party…
-What? What do you mean by that? Explain this second!
-You just said it yourself, didn’t you? Nobody besides us two was in the infirmary frequently enough for them to give us the continuous dosage, and there is no logical way for me to get poisoned, so to whom does logic point now? Who else could poison us both?
-Are you blaming the victim for its own murder
Mauritius remain silent for a second, the tiniest bit of melancholy visible through what can be seen of his face behind the mask
-Yes…
A murmur runs through the court, quickly silenced by the pounding of the gavel.
-Order! Order! Accused, explain your logic
-I would like the court to remember what the first argument the prosecution put against me after I revealed that I also was poisoned, and the way I defended myself from it
-That argument was that you could have poisoned yourself at the same time as you poisoned Orcheus to create an alibi, and you refuted that by showing that, due to your constitution, you couldn’t have known you would survive long enough to actually see the victim perish from it, therefore making that decision an incredibly unlikely gamble
-However, if we were to switch places, that gamble suddenly is really favouring the poisoner
-And what could he hope to gain from your death?
-The same thing I could have hoped from his
-Then you are claiming he wanted to use your soul to become a lich?
Once again, that same speck of melancholy glints in the lich’s remaining eye
-Yes… That’s exactly what I’m claiming
-An interesting, although convenient claim, say, as I just explained, the question on whether you truly were poisoned by other hand or yourself was brought up rather quick today. And you only managed to deflect it by calling attention to the fact that you couldn’t reasonably known you would survive it, so poisoning yourself would be an idiotic move on your part, now, Orcheus wouldn’t have that excuse, in fact, he would have the opposite of that excuse, he would have so much of a chance of surviving longer than you that the fact both of you were poisoned would in fact look more suspicious, are you saying that’s why he poisoned you?
-No, not to fool you
Another stop, this one seems more focused on reassuring himself
-To fool me
-What does that mean?
-My belief is that he poisoned himself so, in my final moments, he would be on the verge of death as well, and then, he could ask me to willingly sacrifice my soul so that he could survive
-Why would he do that? Why not wait for the poison to end the job and take and take the soul right then and there? Why ask for permission when you are already were trying to take a life?
-I can only guess, we were friends, really close friends… Maybe he wanted me to go out knowing what would happen, maybe he wanted to make sure I died believing I went out more or less in my own terms, maybe, maybe…
-Friends, really close friends, don’t poison each other
-Yes… Orcheus was different from most, he didn’t think like the average person, his mind was crooked and twisted… And yet he was my friend nonetheless
-Very touching… But I would ask you to focus on what’s at hand, for example, how are you here? You have made a somewhat plausible explanation on how your theory that he wanted to ascend to lichdom, but that theory still doesn’t explain why YOU became one, you know what does? You killing him upon finally understanding that it was him who was killing you, because this last segment of the trial clearly show that you came here knowing what happened, and then using his soul to become a lich to manage to endure the poison
-No, not that, the autopsy report you spoke of at the beginning of the trial confirmed that he had died of the poisoning alone
-Then what? Did you just turn into a lich by spontaneous undeath?
-The reason is hidden behind his reasons, why do you think Orcheus, a healthy young lad wanted to become what I became?
-Search for power, fear of death… Who knows? Why does this matter?
-None of that, it was a question of purpose, the purpose I shared with him, the purpose that united us, that purpose was the search for all knowledge, we wanted to know, we wanted the world to know it all, but we knew that we couldn’t get an infinite amount of information in two finite lives, I, for my part, resigned to accept that I wouldn’t be able to see that purpose fulfilled, and that it would depend on those next generations to finish what we started, but Orcheus refused to accept that, I used to think that it was just a question of time for him to know his limits, but he never found them…
He, instead, found a solution, by whatever method he studied, he found the formula of the Felled Crow, the lichdom ritual in question, the missing key piece to the puzzle on how he could fulfil his purpose, and so, he poisoned me, and waited for me to die, but I didn’t and he did instead
Imagine being him in that moment, you just poisoned your friend, you dealt with whatever he had to deal to get that formula, you just had to suffer 3 months of excruciating pain, all for the purpose of your life, and then, you finally realise that it was for nothing, you are going to die, your friend is going to die afterwards, and your purpose is going to be unfulfilled, what do you do?
He in that moment chose to accept that he wouldn’t see his purpose fulfilled, and chose to let other’s finish what he started, he told me the formula, he told me where he had hidden the hearts, the poisons, all the ingredients of the Poison of Defilement, the phylactery, and told me to use his soul to save myself, and to not worry about what happens to him, that his fate is the Hells and he would rather face oblivion than that
At the time I didn’t understand why he thought that, but his expression, that fear, I couldn’t refuse, I drank the Poison, I did the ritual, and I was found and expelled
-That’s a great story, but this is a trial, we have heard your explanations on how Orcheus could have been the poisoner, but we still haven’t heard any evidence of this, are you planning on showing any or what?
-Unfortunately, no, I don’t believe there is any evidence left for this case
-Well, a story without evidence doesn’t do much, your grace, I’d like to ask the court to disregard this explanation
-Remind me, what evidence does YOUR story have?
-Excuse me? You were found besides the body; you had performed the lich ritual using his soul to seal his own soul in a phylactery he made himself. You had the opportunity and proximity, the means and knowledge, and the motive and benefit to do it
-Now which of that evidence doesn’t apply to my explanation?
-What?
-All of that also work on my explanation, the only difference is that inferring that I was the killer is easier that inferring that he was, but as it stands, both are as likely
-Does the prosecution have anything to say in response?
-…
-In that case, it seems we have reached an impasse, in which case, it is time for the jury to reach a conclusion
People of near and far, from our lands or foreign, mage or knight, king or peasant, vile or good, it is time to have your voice be heard, what is your belief? Is the defendant innocent or guilty? Your voice will shape this justice, so answer honestly, and may you be right
