"Let me know if you want him subjected to a zone of truth spell when we question him in custody. It can be resisted, but it still might be handy," Adular says
"Just do what needs to be done to get him off the streets legally," Rory said. "And don't cause a scene. Our favor with the people is waning because of him and I don't want it to get worse."
Your people can't find where he stays. He does not seem to show up anywhere without a crowd. When your men tried following him he disappeared on them.
"Well ####!" Adular says if he hears the man can't be found, "Okay, he's either a master sneak, casting spells to hide or weasel folks, or both. He's going to force us to bring him in in front of others, looks like. Probably what he wants."
"He wants to be seen, he wants us to get him in public where everyone can see it. Bastard. If we do this, the way he wants, we'll need to tread carefully."
Yes that seems to be the case. What are you going to do about it?
The leadership council seems indecisive. Should take it that you do nothing?
Rory leans back in his chair and sighs. "Do it. Arrest him. Do it carefully though, I don't want him hurt. He's to be charged with the intent to cause riots. Make sure the people know he's to receive a fair trial. Once he's under our protection we can question him about who he knows."
So you want to send the police to go arrest him? Just to confirm.
The Six River Freedoms
The people of the River Kingdoms comprise numerous races and ethnicities, cultures and religions. Yet there is one thing that binds them together—or rather six: the River Freedoms. Even the most despotic rulers respect these rights, at least publicly.
Say What You Will, I Live Free: Every person has the right to speak their mind. Yet freedom of speech is not the freedom to speak without consequence, and wise Riverfolk know that choosing to keep quiet can be just as important as blowing whistles.
Oathbreakers Die: Trust is worth more than gold in the River Kingdoms. When a citizen of the River Kingdoms swears an oath, she keeps it or dies trying.
Walk Any Road, Float Any River: This freedom is taken to mean that no one may charge a toll or otherwise block any road or waterway in the River Kingdoms. This right does not, however, confer any guarantee of safety, even from the local authorities.
Courts Are for Kings: Beyond these freedoms, all other rules are malleable. Within his domain, a lord may do as she pleases. Those who break a local law do so at their own risk.
Slavery Is an Abomination: No one may take or hold a slave in the River Kingdoms. A slave who sets foot in the River Kingdoms is free for as long as he remains within its borders.
You Have What You Hold: Taking something by force is acceptable in the River Kingdoms, but common burglary is punished harshly. A person owns only what she can defend, but it’s her right to know who robs her so that she may fight to reclaim her property.
"I went with a group of men to arrest him. He immediacy started screaming about oppression.
Some things he said were
"Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help! Help! I'm being repressed!"
"bloody bards"
"Oh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, didn't you?"
"Then he hit my men with some spell that made them go all mello well he rilled up the crowd"
"Then he managed to get a few people in the crowd to help defend him."
"He paralyzed me with laughter and greased the ground to make my men fall down looking like fools. Made it look like I was laughing at them."
"He got away. Maybe we could have gotten him if we were allowed to use more force. As it was it was all we could do to stop a riot afterwards"
"Damn him. More force would have just made him look like an even bigger victim. He'll be back tomorrow, he always comes back. This time I think we'll have to get him. Rory said before standing. "If you'll excuse me, I shall take my leave before more news of our bardic friend makes me do something I'll later regret, though I fear it may be too late for that."
"I should have gone," Adular grumbles, "Apologies for not. Excuse me, I'm going to go see if I can talk to one of the folks in the crowd who helped him. Could you name anyone, Sootscale?"
"Balduino Segal Don't know any of the others."
"They're in the jail now right? HAven't been down yet today."
"Yes we put up for the night. Don't really have the room to justify keeping them longer"
"Baldino...mmm. Thank you. I suppose I'll talk to him now."
The cleric rises
You find him in the cell. Well cell might be too strong a word for it. It's more like a converted outhouse.
Adular looks over the man...
"You alright in there?"
He is not.
"Well I am locked up."
Adular will let a burst of healing energies engulf the man to heal him if needed.
"From what I hear, you attacked Sootscale and his men while he was trying to bring in a certain loudmouth- a man who was guilty of stirring up sedition, who had been avoiding summons for coming in for questioning, and might be a possible spy. I'm just a bit confused on why. I don't claim to know you well, but I'm curious why you threw your lot in with him. I'm a bit worried he's casting mind influencing spells on people and that you and others have been used." He says honestly,"So why don't you give me your side of things?"
"I didn't attack them. I just got in their way. Couldn't be having them oppressing my friend. Came today see what are the fuss was about."
"Oppressing? Is that what you thought was going on? Your 'friend'... and funny you should make one so fast, has been ducking our attempts to bring him in for questioning for days," Adular says, "Nevermind that Grigori has been spying on us somehow...we'd no sooner heard of the death of a good friend when BAM... Grigori's bad mouthing us over his proverbial corpse. The 'fuss' is, this lout is trying to tear the kingdom apart. He offers no solutions, but boy does he have complaints. You know the River Kingdoms... we're a hell of a lot better than many of them, yet he picks ours. WHY? The man has an agenda."
You do sense a Faint magic aura on the man.
"I don't understand all that complicated stuff. I just know that people should be able to speck there mind you know?"
Riva steps forward from the gloomy shadows, her long robes flowing behind her ethereally as though made in part from the shadows themselves.
"If that was all it was, there would no problem. Your 'friend' has demonstrated a certain knack for spycraft, however. When we attempted to bring him in for questioning, he assaulted government agents and town guards with sorcery--charms and spells meant to humiliate them. He incited a riot, putting both every day citizens and guardsmen in harm's way. Should we find that you have been so charmed against your will, we shall be adding yet another count of fraud to his growing list of crimes as well."
She then turns on the cleric. "In the next encounter, I suggest you ward the men against undo influences."
Adular nearly jumps out of his skin as Riva joins in, then whispers to her, "There's an aura on him, faint magic. Goes without saying I'd prefer your expertise on that sort of thing." Then he speaks up, "I can only protect a few at a time from him. But I'll try." Then he looks to Balduino Segal, "It's like she says... this fellow has been manipulating people, and sometimes even shutting them down to keep them from speaking if they'd challenge his lies. We know of the saying "Say what you will, I live free." but we both know the other side of that is that you aren't consequence free. ''Courts are for Kings'' is another saying, and that means you toy with the ruler of a land at his peril. Huhmph, in almost any other land, that bloated warthog of a bard would be having to defend his twisted words with a sword fight by now...at the least. He takes advantage of the fact we try to be better-The coward."
"My friend wouldn't do that or if he did it must be for a good reason"
"Sure he's got a reason... he has an agenda to sow chaos in our nation. Now normally I enjoy chaos, but not the sort that causes weakness, and that's what this silver tongued saboteur is bringing," The way he keeps saying 'friend' I bet he IS charmed. Hope Riva can confirm it
Riva casts detect magic herself, examining the victim before her.
"I will know what is happening in my domain."
As you might have guessed their is a Faint aura of enchantment on him.
I was thinking that we should probably codify some of the laws of our community, especially if we roleplay out a trial.
I plan on doing a large write-up/proposal, but for now, I think the following should cover magic within the community:
With the GM's permission, I'd like it assumed that the laws we discuss for our community were already put in place.
Look up "Lazarus"--it's an add-on that let's you recover lost form data. Has saved me dozens of times.
"Well, Riva? Was my guess right? Has he been charmed or bespelled by his 'friend'?"
"It certainly appears that way. It is clearly an aura of the enchantment school surrounding him. I can't say which spell was used, not with certainty, but his mind is definitely not his own. I am unable to dispel it myself. Best to hold him until it wears off."
"Well, good enough for me," Adular snorts. "Fraud right? If I recall our laws on abuse of spells. And since he used these poor folks to assault officers and resist arrest, I'd say that falls on him too."
"That is what I said, is it not?" responds Riva in annoyance.
"I suppose, half the time I tune you out," Adular chuckles, "More seriously, I apologize if I did this time. Just looking forward to grabbing the greasy bastard."
As the other two discuss how the mans mind has been enchanted MAllichatti, who has been leaning quietly on a nearby wall darkens considerably his scarred eye twitching slightly. After a moment where soemthing seems to boil and seethe behind the mans eyes he interjects.
"I think It's time I took a vacation. Explored the bar scene here. Familiarize myself with the local culture. Care to go drinking until something interesting happens?" He says turning to Adular.
Noticing Mallichatti's gaze Adular nods, "I wouldn't mind a bit of a snort and watching the local scenery."
"Yeah. Maybe I can share the story about how I got these scars."
The kingdom is rather lacking in bars, but you both go to the stag's head. Nice place.
Rory sits at bar and glances over at the Mal and Adular walking in. He had come here to unwind after his patience with Grigori being pushed to the edge. He waves at them, a mug of ale grasped in his hand on the bar top. "Done in the prisons already?" He says, already feeling more calm due to his second mug.
"Yeah. Maybe I can share the story about how I got these scars."
"I was curious," He admits.
"Done in the prisons already?"
"Well, not much more we can do, Riva has confirmed a suspicion," He nods to Rory and orders a drink, "So Mallichatti and I are taking a moment for a drink and whatever follows."
While the boys have their fun, Riva solicits other spellcasters known to be trustworthy in the community--perhaps one of the kobold shamans and a cleric of Gorum--to inspect the prisoner's aura as well. That way, the leadership has a number of impartial witnesses to back up their story during trial, rather than just having it be their word against the bard's.
"You might not want to be here. Never know who'll show up. And I tend to be a talkative drunk." MAllichatti says pointedly.