The First Trial

Last night, I think it is fair to say, did not go entirely as I expected (which is a good thing). A little background: In Eversink, most crimes that make it through the corrupt court system are punished by slavery. Only one crime is punished by the horrific bloodleeching, and that is anyone having anything at all to do with the worship of Yorrine, Goddess of Disease and Pestilence. (This isn't too surprising in a crowded city in a swamp.) Unfortunately, one PC (a sorceror/rogue) infiltrated a temple seven years ago to steal some information from them. But that's long in the past, right? It'll never come up now...

As the game began, the PCs were waiting in the Commodity Exchange, which was sporting (a) a new skylight courtest of the lightning bolts and flame strikes, (b) a spider infestation courtesy of the creeping doom, and (c) a dead body of a former Doge (mayor) courtesy of a. and b. The guards arrived. The Captain takes a look at the wreckage, the victim, and the PCs, and informs them that if they want to flee now, there'll be less paperwork in it for him. No one leaves. He invites them to let him know if they plan to use their weapons or magical items. They are left with all of their belongings, and an initial statement is taken.

After the body is removed, the PCs are taken by gondola to the jail. They are invited into a cell (remember, they're relatively well-known, and a big question-mark in the political hierarchy) and brought beer. The cell door is left unlocked. "Why?" asked a PC. The guard looked at him dispassionately. "Could you escape if you wanted to?", he asked. "Yes," admitted the PC. "That's why," answered the guard, and left to start his paperwork. Much discussion ensued, including examination of the 3 people in the next cell; a skaven (rat-man), a drunk, and a florid man who kept glancing at the sorceror/rogue PC. A Detect Thoughts spell from the sorceror's brother, a bard, revealed that he thought he knew her. Then the sorceror remembered - he was an under-priest in the church of Yorrine. She whispers this to her brother.

Questioning ensued, accompanied by a truth-scrier. The PCs explained their plan and why they attacked the man. The bard made the mistake of mentioning that the other prisoner was a Yorrine-worshipper; in the ensuing questioning, it came out that the sorceror had once been, too. They returned everyone else to the cell, and hauled her away for further questioning; when she returned, she was sporting a magical ankle-bracelet that would supposedly stop her from escaping. She was also FURIOUS that the information had slipped.

As it turns out, the PCs didn't have enough in magic items and cash (or didn't want to hand it over) in order to make bail. They (to my surprise) also refused the offers of the Merchant Houses to pay their bail, knowing that they might then be indebted to them. Half the group decided to stay in jail, where they couldn't get into any more trouble, while the others paid bail and went to go investigate a way out of this mess. They intend on hiring the best Counselors in the city, and (if they can) the best judges too!

So, lots of wonderful role-playing and dilemma-solving, not too much action, but much fun. Now I have the party split, which ought to be interesting. I think that they are going to have their lawyer attempt to plea-bargain.. they'll offer to wipe out the temple to the God of Disease, if they let the sorceror off the hook. That just might work. Meanwhile, some Merchant Houses are furious at them, and others might want to ally with them.. but EVERYONE is curious. Eversink is a fairly decadent and gossipy place, and the PCs are now the talk of the town..

It's an interesting dilemma. Half the people didn't post bail because if they commit a crime, they lose their bail money.. and that means they become debt-slaves to the House that fronted them. I think they were afraid that after a House posted bail, they would arrange for the PCs to break the law, just to make them slaves. It could happen, of course, but it IS very illegal if you can prove it. On the other hand, if they DON'T go make alliances, they're in trouble - because (as they know) the justice system is politically based, and Lord help them if they don't get a favorable judge. How do you get a favorable judge? Ally with an important house, of course, and give them a reason to WANT to protect you. But if you do that, you'll anger some of the other Merchant Houses, and they sort of just DID kill off an important political figure, and one PC might just be the technical head of the second most powerful House - if she can wrest away enough political clout...

My big challenge for next game will be coming up with a way of running the game so that half the party doesn't have fun while the others rot in jail. Hmmm..

An interesting twist: the cleric (14th lvl) is considered a walking saint by many, as he was made a Proxy (ie direct servant) of Calphas, the God of Protection, a few years back when all sorts of evil threatened the world. When the angels descended and filled him with divine might (which he has since lost), *every* worshipper of Calphas on the globe heard the angels' voices. Most didn't know what it meant, of course, but that has led to some much-despised hero worship by almost every worshipper of Calphas he runs into. Here in Eversink, instead of trying to avoid his fame, he has finally decided to embrace it - and is about to formally announce as church doctrine that the Speaker of God's Will, the Saint Made Flesh, will be *very* irked if Justice is not properly served. In addition to the fact that he hopes to hire a fanatically loyal lawyer (You want to stop your Saint from going to prison? No pressure!") through the temple, he plans to raise the worshippers of Calphas as a political force that no one is counting on. Although most people in the city worship Psorga (the sea god) or Korok (the God of money and chance), it ought to be interesting!