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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amaroq" data-source="post: 1370471" data-attributes="member: 15470">Issue #9: Milo's Trial. Episode 2Before she meditates, Miriel leaves her room to find Myrs and ask her about the writing on the ring. When the young priestess points out the writing on the inside of the band, Myrs examines the ring closely. “That’s weird,” she comments, “It says ‘shield’ in Slytherin.”“Have you seen magical rings before?” Miriel asks, “And if so, what do you think of it?”“This might be the activation word,” Myrs tells her in a slow, thoughtful voice, “The word of power by which a magical ring’s powers are invoked. Sometimes it is carved into the ring, so the owner won’t forget it.”“Wouldn’t we have to say it in Slytherin?”  “Yes,” Myrs says, “But that’s easy. I can teach you how to say it.” They spend a few minutes with Myrs teaching the pronunciation of the sibilant ratman word. Miriel learns quickly, but when she thinks she may be ready to try it on the ring itself, Myrs warns her, “I should also point out that, in rare cases, someone puts a fake activation word inside a magic ring, as a trap.”“Maybe I shouldn’t try it just yet,” Miriel concludes. “Thank you for the information, and the warning!” She retires to her room to memorize the truth spell.Paks and Goldpetal find Taryn outside, supervising more of the repairs. It is mid-morning, and the lord is working just as hard as his people; he wipes sweat from his brow, even though the day has not yet reached the heat of afternoon. “What can I do for you?” he asks, leaning on a shovel. “Two things,” Paks says. “We’ve decided to try Milo for the crimes committed; we expect his defense to be not guilty by reason of enchantment. We have a prosecutor, a defense counsel, and jurors – but its your freehold, and your people who were harmed by his actions. We would like to invite you to be the judge.”“Very well,” Taryn says. “I frequently sit as judge when my people have disputes. When are you having this trial?”“Miriel is meditating to learn a spell which will compel the halfling to speak the truth,” Paks says. “I think she should be ready by noon, and we would rather not delay.”“Let us do it immediately after lunch,” Taryn agrees. “What was your other question?”“We would like to offer your hold some of the silver we found.” “You’re not only defending us, but you’re giving us money?”“No,” Paks says, shaking her head. “This is the loot from the fight.”“Oh,” Taryn says. “That’s different. In the absence of any other agreement, the standard rule for dividing money from a fight is that everyone gets an equal share of the gold.  There were seven of you, and 24 of us, so we should each get one thirty-first of it.”“That sounds quite reasonable,” Paks says, “Though I hoped some of it might go towards covering your repairs.”“I think we’re in good shape,” Taryn says. “How much are we talking about?” “Two hundred and fifty silver,” Paks says. “Not much, really.” Each of the defenders winds up with eight silver pieces. The shares include one for Delonia, and one for the families of each of the freeholders killed in the defense. Milo does not get a share.Taryn has set up the largest room off the main hall as the location for Milo’s trial. There is room for about a dozen people, seated, with additional room in the back if any of the freeholders which to stand and watch. The four jurors – Paks, Stone, Telryn, and Miriel – sit at a long table facing the rest of the room. Taryn’s chair sits at the position of prominence in the center of that table. In the middle of the room, a single chair sits empty, flanked by two small desks which are angled to face both it and the jurors. Each desk has a single chair: Chuck sits at one; while Goldpetal goes to the other. Behind them, there are another six chairs, occupied by other townsfolk. Myrs, Delonia, and Llewyn are all present in the audience; a few more people stand at the back.Stone stands and says, “Today is Hedraday, Hedrada’s Day. That is a good omen for a judgment.” He bows his head in silent prayer for a moment, and sits back down.“This court is now in session,” Taryn says. His voice seems to have grown stronger with the gravity of the situation, and echoes in the small chamber with the weight of authority. “Bring in the prisoner.”Milo is brought in by two of the freeholders. One of them is Garth, the grizzled guard who Milo tricked into abandoning his post when Milo went to free SySy. Garth is grim-faced, and not overly gentle with the bound halfling. He pushes the little man into the chair in the center of the room.Paks begins the proceedings by explaining the plan to Milo. She stands, and says, “We’ve discovered a spell,” she says, “Which will compel the truth from every person in the room. Under the laws of this town, you’ve committed a capital crime, and we’re going to hold a trial for you.” “But I didn’t do anything!” Milo protests.“That’s what the trial is for,” Paks says, “To determine your guilt or innocence. Goldpetal will be the prosecution, and Chuck here will be your defense.” “Can I say something?”“Let me finish,” Paks says firmly.Chuck, sitting next to Milo, whispers to him, “I advise you not to speak.” “The rest of us,” Paks says, gesturing to include Taryn, Telryn, Miriel, Stone, and herself, “Will be the jury.” Stone waves. “Hi, Milo.” “Hi! Are you feeling better?” the halfling asks him, with apparent sincerity. “Yes,” Stone assures him, “Thanks.” Paks interrupts this aside to finish her explanation. “If you are judged innocent,” she says, “You can stay with us, and come to the swamp freely. If you are found guilty, you may be put to death.”Milo shudders, and immediately begins to question the process. “It hardly seems fair,” he says, “That you all may keep your secrets from me, while I get to keep no secrets.”Paks considers this for a moment, and a brief scowl crosses her normally pleasant face. “I must agree,” she admits. “Miriel? Goldpetal? May I speak with you for a moment?”The three of them step aside to confer, briefly. Their conference is short, and when she returns to her place, Paks announces, “We will cast the spell on you three times. In return, Miriel will cast the spell on each of the three of us, once – you can ask each one of us one question while we are under the spell.”Milo nods, and adds, “I’d like you to repeat that plan under the effects of the spell. At this point, I have no reason to trust anything you say.”“I can do that,” Paks says. She sits back down.“Let us begin,” says Miriel. She bows her head. “Madriel, may you cast your blessing on the work that is done here. Let us not be lead into evil choices; let the truth be known.” She casts the zone of truth.Paks explains the plan again, under the spell. She is concise, and her story is precisely the same as it was before the spell was cast. “May I ask my questions in private or public?” asks Milo.“It’s your choice,” Paks tells him. “Goldpetal, please begin.”“What is your name?” asks Goldpetal.“Milo,” the halfling answers.“Did you go into the orchard three times on the night of the siege?”“Yes, I did.”“Were you captured the second time you went out there?”“Yes. I was spotted before I could kill any of them. They pursued me for hours, and finally they caught me. They interrogated me, and beat me up. I don’t remember everything about that time. Finally, they freed me, instructing me to set fire to the barn. I snuck back into the freehold.”“Nobody saw you. How did you get back inside?”“Most of the guards were at the south end, near the tower and the gates. I climbed over the wall to the north. If the ratmen had attacked from that side, you guys would have had a lot more trouble!” “When you were inside, did you set fire to the barn?”“I remember it only vaguely, as though in a dream. I snuck into the barn, and spread grease around. I lit a small fire in the corner, and snuck out past the people working on the catapult. It was really dark, and they…”“Did you then help SySy to escape?” the elf cuts him off.“Yes, I did, but because she cast a spell on me. She cast this spell, and then made me run away and help her escape detection.”“How did you get to her?”“I found him,” he points to Garth, “Guarding the witch, and I told him that he was needed at the fire. Then I unbound her. As soon as I took the gag off of her, I found myself compelled to follow her orders.”“How did you get outside?”“We slipped out through the main gate. It was easy; everyone was preoccupied with the fire. After we escaped, we went to the ratman camp.”“When you were in the ratman camp, did they cast a spell on you?”“Which time?”“The first time.”“I think so. I’m not sure.”“Did you see them cast a spell on you?”“No, but I was blindfolded. I couldn’t see.”“Did you feel anything strange?”“I felt friendly towards them, which is odd, since I had gone into the orchard trying to kill them.”Telryn whispers in Paks’ ear, “Charm person.”Goldpetal’s questioning continues. “And they told you to set fire to the barn?”“Yes, and so when I got inside the walls…”“Stop! We know. Did a spell make you free SySy?”“No, the spell didn’t make me do it! The shaman did, after I was put under the spell. He told me to…”“So, when you took the gag off of SySy’s mouth, you were under the influence of a spell?”“Yes, at least I think I was, I don’t know how long the spell would last…”Miriel interrupts the proceedings. “He is clearly trying to waste the time of my spell,” she says angrily. “Which has expired; you should continue your questioning after I cast the next one.”There is a brief break between the spells. The jurors, prosecution, and defense adjourn to a small chamber next to the courtroom. Paks looks around, and suggests, “In the second invocation of the spell, I’d like the defense to ask more questions.”“I’m satisfied so far,” Chuck says.Telryn adds, “His description of ‘feeling friendly’ towards the shaman and the captain sounds like the effects of the spell charm person.”“Goldpetal, you should ask the same questions again,” advises Miriel, “Since Milo might have resisted the spell the first time.”Taryn adds, “You should also ask him when he felt like himself again, after the charm person spell.”When everyone regroups in the courtroom, Taryn bangs a small gavel against the table. “We are now in session. Miriel?”Miriel again casts her spell, invoking Madriel to create the zone of truth a second time. Goldpetal continues the questioning, again beginning with direct questions. “When you were captured by the ratmen, did they cast a spell on you?”“Yes, I already told you, they cast a spell on me, and they made me do things.”“This spell made you free SySy?”“Yes, because the shaman told me to.”“Where did you come from?”“From the orchard.”“No, I mean, before we saw you in Southport. Where were you born?”“Where was I born? I don’t see how that’s relevant! How does my place of birth…”“Are you part of any organizations?”“Part of any organizations? That’s hardly relevant, either. You didn’t say you were going to ask questions about my background!”Miriel interrupts. “You’re wasting time. Stop wasting my magic!”Goldpetal directs him, “Don’t repeat the question, or repeat your previous answers.”“But you ask me the same questions…” Milo begins complaining, but Goldpetal cuts him off.“You said that SySy cast a spell on you after you took off her gag, and that the shaman cast a spell on you. Were you under the influence of two spells at the same time?”“I cannot answer that question given your prior requests.”“Why not?” asks Goldpetal, clearly taken aback.“In order to answer that question, I’d have to repeat something I said earlier, and I was explicitly asked not to repeat myself.”“This is a different question.”“Nonetheless, to answer it would require that I repeat something I have already said.”“Never mind. When did you feel like yourself again?” “What do you mean?”“You said you felt friendly towards the ratmen, that it felt like things happened in a dream, and that SySy cast a spell on you. When did you feel like yourself again?”“When you guys woke me up the following morning.”“The spell has worn off,” Miriel interjects.After time runs out, Milo requests a private conference with Chuck for his defense, and everyone leaves the room to give them privacy, save the two guards. The jurors and Goldpetal discuss final questioning, in the hall, but cannot come up with better questions than Goldpetal has been asking. Chuck calls them back into the courtroom before anyone has hit upon a good plan.When everyone has seated themselves, Milo asks, “How much longer will this be?”Miriel tells him, “We already told you how long it would be. “I’m thirsty. Can I have food and water?”“You’ve had breakfast, and you’ll get dinner after the trial.”“We’re ready to begin,” interjects Paks.“Okay,” Milo says, “But you can’t ask questions about my past.”Miriel cuts him off. “You can’t have conditions,” she says, “As we do not have conditions on the questions you can ask us, and you did not ask for them when we all originally discussed the plan.”“May I cross-examine myself?”“No,” Miriel says firmly, without consulting the other jurors. “I am going to cast the spell.”As she prepares herself, Goldpetal tells Milo, “I am going to ask you yes or no questions. Please answer with yes or no – only yes, or no.”“But yes/no answers can’t fully answer the questions,” Milo complains, while Miriel casts the zone of truth for the final time.“The spell is finished,” Miriel says. “Begin.”Goldpetal asks questions immediately. “The shaman cast a spell on you, while you were captured.”“Yes, I think so.”“The shaman ordered you to set the fire in the barn.”“Yes. He said it was a diversion, to distract you with.”“Did you know that the dead-eaters would attack us?”“Dead-eaters? What are dead-eaters?”“Never mind. Did you know that the shaman had an attack planned to coincide with your fire?”“Isn’t that what ‘a diversion’ means?”“Yes or no answers, please. Did he order you to lie to Garth?”“No, but he told me to untie SySy, and Garth was in the way.”“So you lied to him.”“Yes! It was better than attacking him, wasn’t it?”“Did you think of freeing SySy?” “Yes, once she cast the spell on me.”“Did you mean to help SySy?”“Yes, but only because of the spell.”“Where was SySy during the attack?”“I don’t know,” Milo says. He is sweating and looks extremely nervous. “She said that this was not her fight, and refused to help the shaman and the captain, and she left. I wanted to go with her, but she ordered me to stay.”“And you helped the ratman directly attack the freehold.”“I did not choose to help the ratmen attack the freehold! I was under SySy’s spell, and if I had not been under her spell I would not have attacked the freehold or helped the ratmen attack the freehold.”“Did she explicitly ask you to attack the freehold?”Before Milo can answer, Miriel says, “The spell has expired.”“Do either of you have anything else to add?” asks Taryn.“I would say only that I think the testimony has shown that Milo was under the influence of several spells,” Chuck says, “And cannot be held accountable for his actions.”After a brief silence, Taryn bangs his gavel. “This court is adjourned. Garth, please return the prisoner to his cell.”Miriel dismissively suggests, “Chuck, why don’t you feed and water Milo while we’re discussing the case.” The courtroom begins to empty, as all of the watchers, plus the guards, Milo, and Chuck and Goldpetal as well, file solemnly out through the doors.</blockquote>

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