Turn #69 - Tribunal in Ilien

[DM B]

Wallac (looking quite pleased with himself, or maybe he is troubled?): "That I did Archprelate, that I did. But what did I find? Any followers of Azrai or other dark gods? No. Any Shadowspawn? No. Any wicked witches? Well, I did burn a couple of Eustan sorcerers, but they weren't much worse than your average Rjuven warlock.

And more importantly; the people of this fair city, that had taken to the worship of this so-called 'One God'...did they have the taint upon their soul? No sirs, they did not. And lot for lack of trying to find it!

This One God affair...it is insidious and powerful. If we are to stop it we must be willing to see it for what it is. It's not darkness and demon-worship. Its something misguided commoners can easily believe."

[X-WIT/Toreas Kharnmoin (Rune)]

"I happen to have a proclamation here, sent to the Conclave of Temples from Countess el-Mesir. Allow me to read it for the tribunal:"

|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|     To the Conclave of temples, Anuire City.                      |
|                                                                                          |
|  The Red Wind have left Ilien, I do not know to where,   |
|  But I know that he is preaching the word of his false     |
|  God where ever he is.                                                     |
|                                                                                          |
|  I am now able to speak my mind without fear that the   |
|  Red Wind will imidately use his dark magic to influence  |
|  me or my citizens, and that is why I first write you now.|
|                                                                                          |
|  All is not well in Ilien, although it is a joyous event that |
|  he has left. Followers of the false God still linger here,  |
|  and their dark motive is to use Ilien against my will.      |
|                                                                                         |
|  I do not have the power or resources to stop them       |
|  while my city is besieged. And if nothing is done            |
|  they will be able to act against all of Anuire with            |
|  Ilien as their stage.                                                         |
|                                                                                         |
|  Make haste to Ilien, preferably with an army as great   |
|  as you are able to gather, and do not leave again        |
|  until all of the Red Winds men have been forced out     |
|  or Diem abandons his siege.                                          |
|                                                                                         |     
|  Antisipating either your reply or your army.                    |
|  Geraldine el-Mesir, Countess of the Free City of Ilien,    |
|  Mage of Ilien & Protector of her People.                         |
|                                                                                         |
|                                                                                         |
|                                                                                         |
|                                                                                         |
|                                                                                         |
|                                                                                         |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|

"So by the statement of the Countess herself, the cult of the TOG is a creation of the Red Wind, one of the Lost. And the Lost are spawn of the shadow, and the very creatures the Conclave was created to fight. She also claimed that the TOG would use dark magic against her and the people of Ilien. His Holiness says he found no evidence of any evil. Does His Holiness state for the tribunal that the Countess lied to the Conclave, then?"

[X-Sea Witch/Aneira (John)]

From her seat the Sea Witch watches proceedings closely, leaning forward slightly as discussion of the Red Wind continues.  A slight frown mars the smooth skin of her forehead as she observes the Pontiff's behaviour.

[DM B]

Wallac: "Or perhaps she was just misguided? Much like yourself actually. Come now Toreas, we all thought we were going to find all sorts of wickedness in Ilien. Me most of all. But we looked and looked and there is nothing of the Shadow here."

He rises from his feet and slams his fist into the table.

"And if there i nothing of the Shadow here, then how can Geraldine be guilty of associating with it? She cannot. We WANT her to have consorted with the Shadow. I even think she feared she might have colluded - but the fact of the matter is she did nothing of the sort."

Once again there is shouting.

"Silence!!! The Red Wind, which calls himself 'Speak' now, is still a potent sorcerer. That is not in doubt. That he is a wicked man full of heresy is equally not in doubt. That the misguided faith in this new god must be STAMPED OUT AT ALL COST, is not in doubt. But that is not what we are judging right now."

[X-WIT/Toreas Kharnmoin (Rune)]

The Archprelate waits until the hall is quiet once again.

"Is it not so, that several promient personae of faith has encountered the Red Wind before, in their campaign to defend humanity from the Lost, including former Pontiff Aurlien, may Haelyn bless his soul, and even High Priestess Cwyllmie who sits here in this very Tribunal. Is His Holiness claiming that they were all mistaken, and that the Red Wind is merely a powerful sorcerer? So powerful in fact, that all those who have attempted to fight him have either died or been subdued by his magics?"

[X-Avanil/Aubrae Avan (Thorsten)]

During the shouting and the questions, the knight from Avanil once more leans forward to pass on a slip of paper to the Governor.

[X-ETN/Maire Cwyllmie (Libor)]

"I believe Red Wind still serves Shadow, only this time and here in Ilien he is doing it indirectly and more insiduously. However, we are judging Countess el-Mesir here, not Red Wind. So I think we need not argue whether Red Wind is shadowspawn or not right now. I think we all agree that the so called Temple of One True God is a heresy. What we need to determine is whether Countess has fallen to this heresy. From what I have seen and heard, I conclude she has not. And I think we all have heard enough to make an opinion. So I suggest no more than 3 another questions and then we shall vote."

OOC: We shall really resolve it now. Or this cane easily take week or more.

[X-WIT/Toreas Kharnmoin (Rune)]

The High Priestess may suggest all she wants, but I for one will cast my vote when I am ready to make an informed decision, and since I have not have the privilige of being given insight to all that has happened here, I have several more questions to the Countess. If the Pontiff will not answer my questions, then that is his decision, but I will have the Countess answer my questions.

The Archprelate looks at the Pontiff, offering him the chance to reply to his previous questions. Whether the Pontiff answers or not, when he is done the Archprelate turns to the Countess and continues his questioning: 

"Now, Countess, I ask you again: Did you, or did you not, fight Archduke Diem, a known faithful Haelynite, and his allies, while at the same time not acting against the spread of the Red Wind in Ilien?"

"Also, I would like to know how it could be that Ser Estavan, who was captured by your men and placed under your guard and parole, was converted to the Red Wind's faith and fought by the side of your men, if you were not complicit in those actions?"

[X-ETN/Maire Cwyllmie (Libor)]

Maire sighs with resignation turning her gaze to the ceiling. Then she tries to find a more comfortable position in her seat, apparently in anticipation of a long and boring session.

[X-Ilien & PCE/GeM (Linde)]

Geraldine is shaking her head:" I did not." looking rather annoyed at these questions she continues to answer "Estavan did not fight along side my men, he fought along side the Red Winds sorcerers. He was neither under my guard nor parole. and I sent neither sorcerers nor Estavan up on those walls."

[DM B]

Wallac: "For all the good gods' sake - will you stop with your partisan politics! We all know Geraldine rebelled against her liege and continue to defy him even as we speak. And we know that the IHH willingly helped divest the bond of vassalage. We can debate that and never agree to anything. But these things are not on the agenda here. Heresy and shadowspawn is.

And Toreas - I'm not saying that the red Wind isn't one of the Lost. And as Maire says - he may well serve the Shadow still. But open your eyes...and note that if he does, then his touch no longer spreads the taint. Not in any way we can see. Which means that his heresy is very dangerous indeed.

Let us move on to cast the votes; aye or nay to the charge of corruption of the mind. What say you my lords?"

[X-Ilien & PCE/GeM (Linde)]

Geraldine nods firmly at the Pontiffs words

[X-Mieres & SAS/AV (Mark)]

The Governor frowns,

"I object to any casting of votes until the issue of my questions and evidence have been dealt with."

[DM B]

Altaweir Enlien: "So what you are saying is that since nothing of this is of the Shadow, then despite her failure to act against the Red Wind, she is not guilt by association? And furthermore, since she has worked against the new faith of the One God, then she is not guilt of that heresy either? Well, if one agrees with your reasoning, then it may be so. I am, however, not entirely convinced...for one, how can you be sure she is not tainted if you cannot detect any taint in any follower of the One god? Besides, there are other damning events hardly mentioned. What of the death magic employed? The failure to defend the Veil? The Ghost of Ilien?

By all means, deal with the Red Wind and One God heresy first, but let us heard of the other things as well. Otherwise the RCS will not abide by the decisions of the Tribunal."

[DM B]

Wallac: "Very well. Let us drag it out over the course of days. Even though the end result will be the same.

But to get anywhere we must deal with one part of the charge before moving on to the next; so therefore let us decide, based upon the evidence thusly presented:

I Geraldine guilty of corruption of the mind - based upon association with the Shadow in the form of the Red Wind and his associates?