OotS 406

[Nifft]

And, personally, I think that having a LG foil violently oppose the OotS is *much* more interesting than having a clear-cut villainous fallen blackguard cliche.

Hinjo is still around. He's a better foil, because nobody hates him.

(Not that Rich will fall too easily into the cliche trap...I trust him enough even if Miko does fall).

Oh, man. She's fallen so hard, she's going to have to look up to see Nessus.

Cheers, -- N

 

[WarlockLord]

What's so wrong about Belkar+Miko?

 

[Storm Raven]

This is all well and good, but it only works if the powers-that-be play 'by the rules'. If, instead, they engage in show-trials, having prejudged the situation, then they make a mockery of justice. If the public are aware of this, they lose faith in the system, and law breaks down - since in reality there is no justice, and so no reason not to stab your neighbour, provided he doesn't have any great influence.

On the other hand, if the 'powers-that-be' are succeptible to corruption, and instead acquit criminals who should be found guilty (or happen to 'lose' evidence, or have the jury replaced by the ghostly remains of the father of the accused), then again they make mockery of justice. And, again, the public lose faith in the system, and law breaks down - only this time you can stab your neighbour if you have sufficient influence.

This is all well and good, but you have the slight problem that the correct legal verdict was reached, even though the verdict was prejudged. It was prejudged with a full review of the evidence (provided by Roy's father, which is presumably accurate), and nothing broght forth at the trial itself changed the information Shojo had on hand before he sent Miko out to retrive the OotS. So, even though it was a "show trial" it was only a "show trial" in the sense that the facts were already known, and the legally correct outcome already known to everyone except for the members of the Sapphire Guard.

 

[Herobizkit]

Dang paladin threads.

Killing a non-evil person is NOT evil to the paladin, if said person is directly in line of causing evil or allowing evil to happen as a result of his or her action or non-actions.

If a paladin happens to serve a Lawful Neutral Lord (hoping to sway him to Good) and learns that said Lords employs assassins, for example, the paladin must:
a) Leave the Lord's service, as said Lord willingly and knowingly associates with Evil people;
b) Kill all of the assassins;
C) Bring the Lord who hired them to justice, or summarily execute him on the spot for his transgressions.

Remember, the Law in Paladin's Lawful Good is Divine Law, not "law and order" law.

 

[Nyaricus]

The one thing I keep thinking is ...

This is how Anakin Skywalker should have fallen to the Dark Side.

I think this storyline really shows how someone can become and do evil while at the same time telling themselves they're doing good.

/M

My thoughts exactly: I love how Star Warsian this strip is right now

 

[Nightfall]

Oh, man. She's fallen so hard, she's going to have to look up to see Nessus.

Cheers, -- N

That or to see Asmodeus' ass.

 

[Grog]

Dang paladin threads.

Killing a non-evil person is NOT evil to the paladin, if said person is directly in line of causing evil or allowing evil to happen as a result of his or her action or non-actions.

If a paladin happens to serve a Lawful Neutral Lord (hoping to sway him to Good) and learns that said Lords employs assassins, for example, the paladin must:
a) Leave the Lord's service, as said Lord willingly and knowingly associates with Evil people;
b) Kill all of the assassins;
C) Bring the Lord who hired them to justice, or summarily execute him on the spot for his transgressions.

Remember, the Law in Paladin's Lawful Good is Divine Law, not "law and order" law.

So paladins committing cold-blooded murder is okay with you, so long as they think the victim is/was up to something bad?

 

[Nightfall]

Grog,

Welcome to D&D morality!

 

[Paragon Kobold]

Ther has been a lot of talk about Paladins in this tread. I think it is worth noting that Miko also is a Samurai (As a title not as a Class).

As I understand it cutting your boss in two when he didn't ask you to is pretty high up on the list of things samurai are not supposed to do.

 

[Herobizkit]

So paladins committing cold-blooded murder is okay with you, so long as they think the victim is/was up to something bad?

So long as they KNOW the victim is/was up to something bad. Paladins are the ultimate vigilante. They will tromp all over the laws of Lawful societies if they differ from or oppose their own moral compass, provided it is in the realm of their Deity's will.

Combine that with the unswerving sense of duty of your "traditional" romanticized samurai and you have the most focused loose cannon of them all.