A few guards head off to look for the woman. After a few moments one is returning with her following behind him. It looks like her shoulder has a bandage wrap around it. Though she still looks very shaken. The guard salutes you tells you he found her in the kitchen, where one of the cooks took care of her. The blonde woman than steps forward. "You wanted to see me duchess?" She asks nervously.
Rose turns from Rodia. No need for formalities. How are you? What happened?
"I'm fine..." She says quietly. She then said a little more clearly, "We had an argument this morning about personal things...He left and I had not seen him all day till a short while ago. He came in looking very drunk and hissing threats towards me. I told him if he kept this up I was going to leave him. And with that he just lost it, he pulled out the short sword he carried on him and managed to slash me, then well... You know the rest..." She then grew quiet and was looking at her simple brown leather shoes.
He is.
"...Yes... We are... Married..." She responds slowly. Then says more quickly, "Though if an example must be made, then an example must be made. Are you thinking imprisonment? Torture? Death?" You hear a slight tone of hopefulness in her voice.
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None of these, though he may wish for it by the end. We cannot afford to be without workers. We have too few as is, torture, has possibilities, but is not without it's problems. If you wish it, you may separate with my permission, but what I have planned, perhaps when it is over he will be more...appreciative of you. Rose turns to the guards. Get a runner to tell everybody there will be a meeting tonight. Make sure the prisoner is there.
How many ways can one realistically prepare rat? Lershoth muses to himself as he finishes his "rat-kabob". As he begins to leave the dining hall he notices a man running. I say, our home isn't that big that it requires running about like a Kobold late for dinner. Lershoth calls out to him, slightly annoyed.
After hearing from the man about the meeting that evening, and drilling him for several minutes over the details, Lershoth thanks the man, and let's him be on his way. Musing to himself I wonder how Rose will handle this, it's no good having bus fighting with each other but taking too hard of an approach may worry people. Then again not dealing with it severely enough could carry the same baggage.
Curious, Lershoth heads back to his room to grab his notebook and then to the meeting hall. As he waits he starts to jot down notes for the students for tomorrow. His tail twitches occasionally, betraying the unease the Tiefling felt over the attack and its ramifications.
I will soon move it to the third day. After Rose's meeting.
Jalel came about near the end of the scene. He saw the Red headed man being taken away by the guards. Once again a situation had already been taken care of by the time he'd arrived. He watched the man being taken away and started to follow.
Perhaps I could... no best to observe how the new Duchess deals with openly unlawful acts for now...
Everyone gathers inside the main cavern for the meeting. The prisoner has his hands tied behind his back and is standing in between two guards, whom both have a hand on each of his arms.
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Earlier today, this man attacked one of our fellow citizens. specifically his wife. He swung a short sword at her and I and the guards had to end the matter quickly. In our current condition keeping him imprisoned isn't practical. We have too few as is and thus killing is a solution I'd prefer to avoid. So that begs to question what do we do about such a heinous crime. I have an idea, but first, I'd like the criminal to say a few words on his behalf.
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Wel, at least she didn't beat around the moss.
Larshoth sits back and eyes the man.
The red head criminal, who you heard a guard call Zack. Looks at the crowd still fairly drunk, then at you and says with a slight slur, "I'll do whas I will, with what isth mine." He then growls the next part with his slur more apparent. "And sno womans sgonna tell me disrent!" He could also have a slight concussion.
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Perhaps my solution will adjust your attitude. For the crime of attempted murder! I sentence you to no less than a year and a day's hard labor! From this moment to the day you are released you own nothing, and the citizens own you! Any citizen has the right to order you to do anything they want, so long as you aren't in service to the state, it is not illegal, nor detrimental such as killing yourself. Your meal privileges come at the discretion of the state, for now it will be two per day. One in the morning and one at night.
Rose looks away.
Take him away and properly prepare him for his new life. As to the rest of the citizens, know this, this punishment is not given lightly, and is given to him not only to discourage similar crimes, but to keep him useful during a time we cannot allow him to be idle. If you have any questions, you may ask them now.
The black haired man that held the small wooden mallet asks, in a very clear voice, "What if he refuses a command? And will he have a guard around him at all times, in case he goes off again?"
It looks like a lot of the citizens were wondering something similar. As they look at Rose, intently.
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He is for all intents and purposes a slave, and will be treated as one. He will be assigned to workforces and he will work, if he does not, he will not eat. He will need to be guarded yes, but if he proves himself trustworthy with his work assignments he will be given freedom to move around on his own and he will not be given jobs that include things he can easily use as a weapon. I hope this will make him humble. I am considering that if a criminal does not complete his assigned punishment, they will be branded and have no legal recourse against a citizen in good standing, but that is merely a thought at this point, and hopefully it won't come to that.
The crowd mumbles to and fro, but seem to have no further questions.
At least none they are asking you.
Emily, (The red head from the debates) asks, "We are low on guards as it is. And now one is a prisoner and now one." She looks at how big Zack, is. "or two guards will be on him." She gestures towards Zack. "Reducing our numbers to a measly seven, on patrol. How will make up the loss?"
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Times are tough for us all. Yes you are few, but we know each other, a citizen can come and get you from your posts when necessary, with our current numbers 8 guards should prove sufficient as a peacekeeping force. I am hesitant to divert yet more miners, but if you have a suggestion I'll be happy to listen to it.
The crowd is quiet and seem ready to go back to their lives.
It was a good day for mining. 1 BP earned
The night goes without further incident. It is now the morning, of day three.
He is sitting in his cell. head cradled by both hands. "Gmmgh..." He mumbles, without looking up at you.
I should have posted this from the start but better late than never, I suppose.
There a five tunnels the North tunnel (Now blocked off) The Northeast tunnel. (Another tunnel that was never fully explored.) The East Tunnel. (Most rats come from here and where Tag and Tal, currently are.
The West tunnel. (The widest tunnel. Miners seem to have their best days in here)
And the South tunnel. (Shortest and where the door to check on the fog is)
Sorry, for not putting this up sooner. Hope it helps in some way.
He gives no reply.
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In case you were too hung over to remember, you have one year and one day to prove yourself changed. If you don't work, you don't eat. But we'll allow you to drink water. Have a good day. On the way out Rose informs the guards to take him to Jalel's and have him help the wizard with his gardening projects.
** spoiler omitted **
He begins to quietly look around and motions for Tag to follow.
Tagolan nods when he see's the motion to be quite. He straps the staff to his back, and readies his claws as he follows Talirin.
Lershoth wakes up the next morning and prepares for another day of teaching. Gathering his notes and the hybrid recipe he worked on the night before he heads out to the lab to wait for the apprentices to arrive. I hope Rose doesn't sentence that Buffoon here... Then again, if he acts up maybe I can use him to try and see if those older chemicals are still any good, it be funny to see his reaction at the very least he thinks as he goes about retrieving some of his sparse ingredients.
Maybe I should give them a break tomorrow, it'll give me I me to go out and collect ingredients. Probably would be best to go with Tag and Tal, that way I don't end up lizard chow or something.
Eventually the apprentices arrive.
Alrighty everyone, here's the deal, today I'm going to split you into 2 groups, you two, pointing towards the Dwarf and a student who had not been doing great in the practical parts of lab work. You will focus on solving this here recipe, and directing he other three on what they need and how to do it. You three pointing to the other three you will get the materials, measure things out, and run the experiments. I'll give you the basics so you can get started while they start working on the calculations. We will work like this today, then tomorrow we will take a break, and then resume on the following day. Alright, get to it.
Lershoth hands over a copy of the recipe, with pieces intentionally left out for the two students to solve. Then he gives out the basic starting ingredients and how they will need to start to the other three.
Swishing his tail he starts taking stock of what supplies are low and what he will need for the recipe.
Benny starts off the training for the day by making the guards pair off and begin mock-combat. Defense would be the name of the game today and Benny intended for every guard to be able to do more than just flail about if presented with an attacker, whether man or beast.
"Okay, Benny has easy job for you today. Practice of not getting hit! Each of you will take turns being on the offensive and being defensive. You will score points for a proper block and a proper hit. Benny wants each person to score at least 10 points or i'll have you cleaning all the weapons and armor!"
Jalel listened with a smile as the guard explained what Rose's orders were with Zack.
"Hello Zack. So you've come to join the rest of us working in my gardens."
He looked up at the guard. "Your name was Gil, wasn't it? I have some tools I need you to fetch for me to demonstrate. Who knows, you might even learn some things.
His eyes began to glow a bright yellow as he began to utter arcane words.
Jalel's smile deepened as Gil began to walk away and he turned his attention back to Zack
"Now you and I are going to become fast friends I think." His eyes began to glow yellow again.
Jalel's smile deepened, his eyes lightened with a moment of pure joy to see his magic take hold, as Zacks face went from terrified confusion to calm relaxation as he now looked across the table from his 'friend'.
"Well now, Zack, you are in quite a bit of trouble with our new Duchess. Due in large part because of your drinking problem. Nasty habit, by the way. Alcohol is little else but an essence of decay and should be viewed as such. As you have become aware having been a prime example." he said with a dismissive sniff. "But I want you to know that no matter what happens when others have you at their beck and call, my gardens are a place you can call a... sanctuary. he opened his right hand to the small area he called home. With his left hand he reached over and clasped Zacks shoulder.
"While I myself am your friend."
Benny instructs the guards to keep practicing whilst he talks with Rose. "What can Benny do for you, Rose?"
"The Half-orc Rodrick shows a deal of promise, both in his drills and in dealing with the other guards. Benny would recommend the position to him, along with a request for training him in firearm use."