An Afternoon Trial (The Prosecution)

[Thomas Fulmer]

After most of the party gets a nap in and get something to eat, word spreads that the trial is about to begin and as everyone in the party are potential witnesses both to some of the events and to Caela's prior bad acts, they are told they must attend.

When the party enters the feasting hall, it is mostly as they remember it, although some benches/tables have been re-positioned to make more space in the center of the room where the slaves are standing in shackles. The head table has been removed and Ivar sits in a chair all alone in its former position. Runa and Hogni stand off to the side between the slaves and Ivar. There is a distinct lack of lawyers to be seen anywhere.

Many of the men and women from the village are present, they are sitting in chairs positioned around the room. A slave approaches and leads the party to some chairs off to the side. Other slaves are moving about the room and providing drinks.

Eventually, Ivar raises his hand for silence and people quickly halt conversations. He stands, "We're here this day to hear charges against these slaves brought by Runa Hognisdottir. They are accused of kidnapping, sedition and attempted murder." He looks to Runa, "Speak your oath and the charges."

Runa and Hogni exchange quick glances and Runa steps forward into the center of the room. She is no longer wearing bandages, her bruised and cut wrists/ankles being on display. She's wearing much more normal garb again, back in her tightly fitted and skin exposing skins and furs. She has obviously cleaned up for the occasion though, leaving no trace of the earlier dirt and mud of her ordeal.

She begins her speech, "I am Runa, Hognisdottir, I swear before Wodin, the gods and my lord Ivar to the truth of my words today. Last night, during the feasting I went with the other women of the town to rituals. After which, I was dirty and needed to wash before returning to the feast and thus left the grouping of the rest of the women. Any of the women of the town could swear to this."

Ivar waves this off, "I'd expect that is unnecessary, continue." The slaves look terrified, except for Caela who seems almost disinterested in the affair.

Runa continues, "While at the river, I was attacked, by these slaves you see before you and one other who was killed in the caves. The female Caela was their leader. They took me by surprise, although I resisted as much as possible. I was bound and blindfolded and carried off, thus I accuse them of kidnapping."

"Are there witnesses to this?" Ivar asks at her pause.

Runa shakes her hair, "No lord, I was alone." 

Ivar nods and Runa continues, "They took me into the mountains, I broke free at one point and fought again, but they managed to subdue me again and took me into the caves. They had an alter set up and they chained me down. I heard the female slave, Caela, explain how they were going to sacrifice me to their god and their god would make them powerful enough to defeat the Wodinfolk. One of the slaves wanted to rape me, so I threatened to kill him. They likely would have succeeded at killing me had not your son Ragnar led a group to rescue me. Once free I slit the throat of the one who wished to rape me to make good on my threat. The rest I accuse of sedition and attempted murder."

She looks to the party, "I have witnesses who can swear to this. I'd ask Ragnar Ivarson to so swear, and should more witnesses be needed, I'd ask for his outlander friends to also swear."

Ivar looks to Ragnar, "Ragnar Ivarson, these are serious charges, give us your oath and statement on the crimes Runa described."

After Ivar speaks he looks to the other party members, "Do any of the rest of you wish to take an oath and provide information about these crimes?"

The slaves looked terrified, except for Caela who looked quite composed and watched the party with curiosity.

((Anyone in the party who wishes to go under oath and give an account may do so, Ragnar is obligated to. The defense speaks after this))

--GM / Thomas

[Ragnar Ivarsson]

Ragnar steps forward, casting a quick glare at Caela and then taking his oath, "I am Ragnar Ivarsson, Dragonslayer,  I swear before Wodin, the gods an' my lord an' father Earl Ivar Eberhardsson to the truth of my words today." 

"Yesterday mornin' after you left, Papa, Hogni Staeinbiornsson came to me, asking whether I'd seen his daughter Runa since she'd gone to the women's handwavin' stuff the night before.  I hadn't seen her, and soon my mother Gudrun Oddarsdottir told me to take Hogni and my outlander friends to set out to find Runa, which we did."  

"The women in our group led us to the handwavin' grove and from there our trackers the drakyr Darc, the hobbit Kevlon an' the elf Ivyian Nightblade followed one set of woman's footprints to the stream [ooc: can't remember if all 3 of these PCs are trackers or just Darc and Kevlon.  Ragnar would know, of course].  At the stream our trackers saw signs of a struggle where four other sets of prints came up on the woman's.  From there, there was only four sets of prints, but the trackers said they were deeper, like they were carryin' a load.  We figured they were carryin' Runa tied up.  We followed the trail for some ways.  At one point the trackers said a fifth set of prints appeared again and went off in another direction but the other prints followed.  Again our trackers said there was a struggle and then again just four sets of print, carryin' a load."

"Finally we reached the mountains and the trail led into a cave and a maze of dark tunnels.  Eventually we followed the trail to an underground chamber where we found Runa Hognisdottir chained hand an' foot to an altar an' this looney slave Caela leadin' these other slaves in some hocus pocus chant an' raisin' a knife over Runa.  We charged in - these male slaves dropped their weapons an' cowered - an' Annadin an' Ivy knocked out the looney Caela who was jus' standin' there crowin' about how she knew we'd come."

"Almost right away, two apeps came toward the altar from two side tunnels - seems like they'd been called by the hocus pocus or maybe smelled the people, maybe both.  Apeps are these snake monsters with huge crocodile jaws an' surrounded by shadow, so you can't see 'em at all til ya kill 'em.  So some of us fought the apeps as they were tryin' to get to the altar where Runa was lyin' while Ekie an' Thariania picked the locks to free her.  After a bit, Annadin killed one apep, an' Vesser an' I killed the other."

"Here's a fang from that second apep."  Ragnar points out one of the wicked-looking teeth on his necklace, "So it's pretty clear this looney Caela had Runa chained to the altar in order to feed her to the apeps.  She'd also drawn a knife on Runa just before we barged in - probably meant for the smell of Runa's blood to attract the apeps if the chantin' didn't work.  Also, Runa's wrists and ankles you see were hurt from the chains they put on her."

"But there's more on this looney Caela.  Down in Alandoria near Custiwald, she led a cowardly tricksy attack of invisible sheep men on me and my friends here, probably 'cause we'd killed an apep friend o' hers near Minot."  

Ragnar pauses and points out another fang on his necklace, "That's this one here.  The looney told us when we captured her that she an' her friends had been watchin' us with handwavin' mirrors since we killed that apep near Minot."  

"Anyway, we killed nearly all of those invisible sheepmen near Custiwald and captured this looney Caela and one other sheepman.  When we questioned her, the looney was proud to say she'd committed human sacrifice to her gods.  She belongs to this cult I call the Nidhoggkissers 'cause they hang out so much with Nidhoggspawn, but their own name mentions Shadow an' Flame - where, I guess, the apeps and the black Nidhoggspawn tie in with the Shadow, an' the red Nidhoggspawn tie in with the Flame."  

"Anyway we turned over the looney Caela to Count Lendres of Custiwald 'cause Annadin said we had to 'cause her attack happened on the Count's land.  She was supposed to be executed down there, but we were told later by the Count that she'd vanished from prison while we were gone slayin' the huge red Nidhoggling at Canigli."  

Ragnar pauses and points out an even larger fang on his necklace.  "That's this one." 

Ragnar smiles and then continues, "Um, yeah, so the looney's Custiwald guards were all found asleep, probably Nidhoggkissin' handwavin' hocuspocus, an' there was a big scorch mark in her cell.  We'd hoped she was dead from goin' up in flames or somethin', but she's turned up here in Wodinland, rounded up more sheepslaves, an' kidnapped Runa an' tried to sacrifice her to her sneaky snake gods.  She must die, Papa, she must die today."

Ragnar / Eric

[Nils Lindeberg]

Grim will wait until others have been called, then he will make a short appearance.

"As most of you know, I have sworn my life to Wodin. He asked me to help Ragnar and the others and I did. Runa and Ragnar speaks the truth, Caela is guilty, may Wodin strike me down if that isn't so." Grim takes a short breather and looks up.

"I am willing to carve the blood eagle on her back or sacrifice her to Wodin by hanging, even though she isn't a man. She sure has caused more trouble than any man I have ever met and well deserves her fate."

/Grim

[David Bofinger]

Vesser: "Runa said she would ask me if I was needed, but I don't know who is going to tell me whether I am needed, so unless someone is about to say I'm not needed, I suppose I should speak just in case."

She pauses to let someone stop her. If no one does:

"Caela was known to us before we came to these lands. She openly boasts of her human sacrifice, and is a repeat attempted murderer. If you are in doubt of what punishment is appropriate,  I would advise a harsh one. Should you for some reason decide not to punish her,  we would like to have her, for crimes committed in Alandoria."

"The slaves we found with her struck me as more foolish and desperate than evil. If you are considering mercy, then this is where I would advise you to employ it. I understand one of them threatened rape but I believe he was dead before I could talk to him so I'm not talking about that one."

"I can describe our expedition and meeting Caela's group if asked but it seems to me that's been covered by others."

---
David for Vesser

[dpo...@comcast.net]

  IVY:   Ivy watches the goings  On. He will step up if needs be, his  words will be short. He  has  his   Dragon/apep fangs on display as well.".. I am Ivyian Nightblade. I member of this group since the beginning. This evil woman, has caused us , much trouble, and has a lot of Blood on her hands, More..if you count those  who were slain because of her mindless Cult..."  He looks over at her, and Back to Ivar,"...She should have been put to death...awhile ago...I even offered to do it myself. But sometimes, those who are better persons then I...tend to be misguided..because of that..those who have died, between that time and this..because of her...is on our heads. If nothing else? I hope, Your wisdom will end that flow of blood, but ending her life..."

 

 His hand Motions to Vesser,"...As good Vesser  said. Should  you seek some for  of mercy for this group, it should be placed upon the shoulders of the slaves, who fooled this maniac. From LAdy Runa's words. I assume the worst of them  now lies dead."

---

From: "David Bofinger" <bofinge...@gmail.com>
To: mithras...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, December 8, 2014 4:12:07 PM
Subject: Re: [Mithras][Q2:TheCult] An Afternoon Trial (The Prosecution)

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[Neal Setchell]

Figol will quietly study the surroundings, keeping alert for any sign of attack or magical infiltration.

Figol

[Sirius Mason]

"No further testimony is needed.  Ragnar Ivarsson, Dragonslayer, has spoken naught but truth. But, know this.  The witch Caela will welcome death because her gods demand she die for her repeated failures. And she will welcome torture and pain as she would welcome an all consuming fire.  Her suffering would only bring her honor in the after-life.  So, if you do judge to send her to judgment, let her be unceremoniously drowned. Let clean, cold, ice-melt be her final breath that she may know that there are powers greater than the fire her gods command."

Good Fortune,

Richard / Sirius

[Thomas Fulmer]

Ivar listens to Ragnar's telling of events carefully, "So the only evidence to the kidnapping is interpretation of tracks. Perhaps one of your skilled trackers will take an oath and tell us of those, as it may be the only evidence Runa has to that point."

((Ivy is studying tracking but hasn't gained the mIQ to learn it. Anyone can make an unskilled roll if they want to try, they just have a low probability of success))

He looks to Darc and Kevlon, "Do one of you trackers wish to tell us your interpretations of what happened near the river where Runa claims she was kidnapped?"

--GM / Thomas

[Thomas Fulmer]

Ivar seems noticeable less interested in what Grim says than he was about Ragnar's statement or the statements that follow from other witnesses, "Noted..." He says and looks to the next witness.

--GM / Thomas

--

[Thomas Fulmer]

Ivar listens to Vesser, "So then you claim she has committed murder before and this behavior Runa describes is in pattern for her. I also take it since you are not providing additional details, you agree with Ragnar's summary of events as he provided them."

Ivar nods a few times and looks to the next witness.

--GM / Thomas

--

[Thomas Fulmer]

Ivar listens to Ivy speak, "More claims to her previous crimes. It definitely seems she has a long history."

--GM / Thomas

[Thomas Fulmer]

Ivar seems slightly amused at Sirius' ideas. "We normally hang criminals, although if I'm ever in need of something more creative, I'll definitely try to find you."

"I note your agreement with Ragnar on all the points, good. I believe that the accusations provided by Runa have a good backing in terms of witnesses."

--GM / Thomas

[David Bofinger]

Vesser smiles: "I can't confirm every detail,  and we might have a polite disagreement or two about exactly who was principally responsible for killing what, but as far as anything relevant to Caela's guilt or innocence, yes, as he said it."

OOC: I haven't gone back and checked. Do I have to?

"Caela's following a pattern of human sacrifice, if that's what you mean by murder. Also she tried to murder us, though with notable lack of success. Her tactic of recruiting the incompetent and clueless is also a pattern, in the sense she has done it twice. Apparently she must be persuasive, or maybe she has a magical device to help her, she has a lot of those."

--
David for Vesser

[David Bofinger]

> So the only evidence to the kidnapping is interpretation of tracks

Vesser: "And multiple confessions by helpful prisoners."

---
David for Vesser

[Ragnar Ivarsson]

Ivar listens to Ragnar's telling of events carefully, "So the only evidence to the kidnapping is interpretation of tracks. Perhaps one of your skilled trackers will take an oath and tell us of those, as it may be the only evidence Runa has to that point."

Ragnar stands there, looking puzzled for half a minute, pondering, and then says, "Um, well, no, Papa.  We found Runa in chains deep underground, very far from home, with wounds on her ankles an' wrists, an' with the looney Caela standin' over her 'bout to stab her."  

"For this not to be a kidnappin', you'd hafta think Runa just decided to skip out on her parents, makin' everyone worry, an' that she started a daylong journey to the mountains in the middle of the night with no food while wearin' her evenin' dress.  An' then you'd hafta think that, when she got to the mountains, she went underground of her own will, passed through an impossible maze of tunnels until she found a cave with an altar with shackles - an' that there she decided it would be a good idea to lock herself to the altarpiece an' see what would happen.  An' then she decided she'd made a mistake an' started yanking on the chains til her wrists an' ankles bled.  An' only then did looney Caela an' her sheepmen show up by chance in the very same chamber, deep underground, in a maze of tunnels - and just by chance this looney decided to chant some hocuspocus about sacrifice to her gods and then raised her dagger to stab Runa who just happened to be lyin' there on the altar all nice an' chained up."

"So, Papa, unless you have some reason to think Runa is just plain nuts, suddenly wantin' to kill herself by bein' monster chow, then where an' how we found her, far away from home and in chains and in big danger, is also evidence she was kidnapped."

Ragnar / Eric

[Sirius Mason]

"With respect, young Ragnar, your father is right to ask for evidence.  It is also possible that Runa could have been meeting with Caela of her own free will.  Perhaps the situation got out of hand, but King Ivar is just in questioning how she ended up in that cave.  You too, Ragnar are just in trusting your instincts.  Runa has provided a very credible story, and none have offered an alternative that matches the facts."

Good Fortune,

Richard / Sirius

--

[Ragnar Ivarsson]

Ragnar shrugs, "I'm not objectin' at all to Papa's askin' for more evidence from Darc an' Kevlon. I was just respondin' to his sayin' that the only evidence to the kidnappin' is the tracks.  If Papa had found me locked up and chained in that prison in Minot, I don't think he'd be stoppin' to ask me whether I'd signed up for such hospitality before he concluded' I was bein' held against my will.  Chains can tell you a lot all by themselves - that's evidence."

Ragnar / Eric

[Thomas Fulmer]

Ivar raises his hand for silence, "You all can debate the merits of the legal system when the trial is over."

He continues, "There may be a conclusion I draw about how something happened, but that is not the same thing as having evidence. You telling me someone else saw tracks that were evidence is not the same thing as evidence. Without those tracks, all you know is that you found Runa chained up in a cave. As the old man says, she might have gone there on her own."

"So if there is evidence of this crime, then when the slaves try to claim in their defense that Runa came there on her own, this can be refuted."

"Runa could have claimed the crimes of attempted murder and sedition, of which there seem to be many witnesses and which carry a death penalty themselves. But she has chosen to also accuse of kidnapping, as such, she needs to prove that she was captured and taken away. Right now, the only proof of those events is tracks as she admits there were no witnesses other than herself and the slaves."

"When the slaves get to talk, perhaps they will confess to this or perhaps they won't, but Runa should have every chance to make her case, as such, I'll hear from one of the trackers telling me what they saw and why they think it proves or supports her claim of being kidnapped."

Ivar looks to Kevlon and Darc expectantly.

--GM / Thomas

[Sirius Mason]

Sirius turns to Kev and Darc.  "Will you describe the tracks you found again?  Thariania asked you to go search in the direction that Violet last saw Runa leave the ceremonial clearing.  You investigated.  Please tell the King what you found."

 

ooc:

 

The post you're looking for is from Thomas on March 20, 2014:

After a few minutes, Ivy jogs back to the group as they are about to

leave the grove. If Vesser wanted to follow she can have met up with

him on his way back and returned or continued on to Darc.

 

When he gets back he indicates towards the woods, "Darc found her

trail and it led us to a large creek up ahead. There is more blood

there, Darc says it is the same animal blood as here. Then another set

of tracks, maybe a half dozen human's worth of footprints came from

another direction. There are signs of a struggle then they move off

towards the north."

 

"He sees no more tracks for Runa, but the tracks from the others seem

heavier, like they are maybe carrying a heavy weight."

Good Fortune,

Richard / Sirius

[Brenda Fredrick]

Darc wasn't used to this. "I followed her trail and found the ground all torn up. There had been a struggle and a big one Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[Brenda Fredrick]

(Sorry. Hit send to fast and thanks.) Darc paused. "The same animal blood was at both sites and the tracks leading south were deeper like they were carrying something, her tracks stopped."

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

From:"Sirius Mason" <sirius...@gmail.com> Date:Thu, Dec 11, 2014 at 11:22 AM Subject:Re: [Mithras][Q2:TheCult] Re: An Afternoon Trial (The Prosecution)

[Nils Lindeberg]

When there is a paus, Grim will speak again.

"Mighty Lord Ivar, you speak of evidence and a just trial. Then I will speak of more than just my support for Ragnar."

"I acted as the eyes and ears of the rescue party, and got a good look at the cultists and heard what they were saying before the rest of our group charged in and put a stop to their sacrifice."

"Runa speaks the truth when it comes to the rape allegations, they were talking about it, but Caela said no, since the gods would appreciate the extra effort of giving them a virgin sacrifice. And yes Runa did threaten the would be rapist with a slit throat. Caela then declared that once they were in charge, he could rape as many wodinfolk women as he wanted. According to one of the slaves Caela had promised that they would rule the wodinfolk once their gods showed up. So you can add attempted treason as well to the list of their crimes. They did not treat Runa with any respect, their name for her were Wodinfolk 'mistress', not fallen sister, traitorous bitch or gullible fool that would have been more appropriate if she had walked there on her own. The way they said it showed that this was also some sort of payback for them being slaves. And they said they were worried that Runa might be missed and that they would be blamed for it, once they got home late and people put two and two together when Runa did not come back at all. Abducting her seemed to have been their plan all along, but time was running out for them because they had to wait for nightfall for the sacrifice."

"Further more, most of you know me and knows that I speak the truth, even if it is not always welcomed. Some of you, not all, but some has sought my advice and I have asked the All Father on your behalf. I know not one who has been fooled, tricked or steered wrong. The reason I joined in this search for Runa was a vision from the Spear Wielder himself. I did not go to punish the guilty, but to rescue the innocent. Had Runa been a part of the cultists he would not have asked me to save her but to kill her instead. And if she was not part of the cultists, why on earth would she have joined them in a long secret trek up in the mountains after a long night of feasting and womanly mysteries? I can see no other explanation than the one she has given us, Runa must have been abducted, carried away, put in chains, threatened with rape and prepared for a very messy sacrifice by people whos character are vile and beyond redemption."    

[Thomas Fulmer]

On Thu Dec 11 2014 at 2:27:28 PM Nils Lindeberg <018.5...@telia.com> wrote:

When there is a paus, Grim will speak again.

"Mighty Lord Ivar, you speak of evidence and a just trial. Then I will speak of more than just my support for Ragnar."

"I acted as the eyes and ears of the rescue party, and got a good look at the cultists and heard what they were saying before the rest of our group charged in and put a stop to their sacrifice."

Ivar listens to Darc describe the tracks with a few nods. He then listens to Grim's account of the conversation he overheard while scouting ahead of the others.

"I think Runa has presented sufficient witnesses and evidence to substantiate her claims against the accused. Now we'll hear what the slaves have to say."

--GM / Thomas