The King of Colours (29/12) - Igrainne
Jan 1, 2021 13:09:38 GMT
Queen Merla, the Sun-Blessed, Ian, and 1 more like this
Post by Igrainne (RETIRED) on Jan 1, 2021 13:09:38 GMT
The Prologue
- Taz, Ghesh, Igrainne, Richart, and Gilbaron met up in the Flourished Hook and saw a job ad for maritime security.
- The party went to a barn on the outskirts of town, where the ad told us to go. The owner of the barn answered the door, said he knows nothing about the job, only that he rented out his barn to a group of strangers. Then a man in a black cloak talked to us and quizzed us on their ship knowledge, despite apparently not having that much maritime experience himself. He let us inside the barn.
- Inside the barn, there were 23 men in black cloaks doing something unseen to us. We were led to the room at the back of the barn, where a man and a woman, both human and clad in golden armour, were waiting and talking.
- The strangers revealed themselves to be knights of the Golden Hand of Tethyr, here to put Tazmuck Leathertail on trial for murder and piracy. The men in black cloaks dropped their disguise and blocked our exit.
- The man introduced himself as the Knight-Justicar Rendir and the woman the Knight-Accusor Ventris, and they would be serving respectively as the judge and prosecutor of this trial, and the other 23 knights would be the jurors. They said they would allow Taz the chance to explain himself and for his companions to defend him.
- The party protested their underhanded methods and told them to take it up with the local authorities. They replied that they had spoken to Port Ffirst authorities and found it wanting, therefore choosing to take matters into their own hands. They tried to reassure us that the trial would be fair and just. If Taz was not satisfied by the process, he had the right to ask for a trial by combat.
The Pre-Trial
- The party demanded a bit of privacy to discuss the accusations with Taz before proceeding to the trial and it was granted. Taz confessed to his companions that the charges were indeed true, to the dismay of Gilbaron and Richart.
- Taz explained that these knights raided his ship, The Avernus, and killed many of his crewmates. He escaped by falling onto a rowboat and ending up on the shores of Kantas.
- Igrainne suggested to simply kill the Knight-Accusor Ventris and get away, but Taz would actually like to hear what they had to say.
- Richart advised to appeal to the knights’ sense of fairness and justice and Gilbaron pointed out that Taz had already been punished by the slaughter of his “family”.
The Trial Begins
- Ventris delivered her opening statement, accusing Taz of raiding the vessels of and murdering innocent Tethyrian merchants. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to remind Taz of someone.
- Gilbaron delivered the defence’s opening statement, reiterating his point about Taz being punished already, but the Knight-Justicar Rendir rejected this argument.
The First Witness
- The prosecution called their first witness to the stand, a nervous young half-elf man. He testified that he was a crewmate of a merchant ship called Umberlee’s Pride, which was raided by The Avernus during a storm. He claimed he hid in a pile of clothes and saw Taz amongst the pirates slaughtering the sailors and torching the ship afterwards.
- Taz could remember neither the ship nor the half-elf, but he thought it’s unlikely he’s being truthful since they left no one alive.
- Taz cross-examined the witness with an intimidating glare and questioned how he was able to recognise Taz during a storm, why they would set fire to a ship under pouring rain, and how he could have possibly escaped. The witness was unable to answer these questions in a convincing manner. Whilst the testimony was not invalidated, it seemed to plant doubt in the minds of the jurors.
The Second Witness
- The prosecution’s second witness was a kobold named Laffy who was a crewmate of The Avernus. He spoke of the poor treatment he received on the ship by the dragonborn pirates and the method which Taz, the ship’s captain, favoured to murder captives – choking, which earned him the nickname “The Wind Thief”.
- Ghesh was angry at Taz after hearing about the abuses the kobolds suffered on the ship. Taz said that was how it was and he himself was taken as a baby by the pirates, procuring a necklace with a royal crest on it. He looked to the floor when Igrainne asked him if the stuff about choking was true.
- However, he also pointed out that the kobolds were always kept below deck, therefore anything Laffy learned about Taz would be second-hand accounts. Furthermore, he was never captain of the ship; if anything, he was considered the most junior crewmate of The Avernus.
- Gilbaron took to cross-examining Laffy and with Igrainne’s help poked holes in his testimony, much to Ventris’s outrage. The defence team was able to get Rendir to rule the testimony as inadmissible.
The Third Witness
- The last witness to take the stand was Razroth, an older red dragonborn who described himself as the erstwhile first mate of The Avernus. Taz recognised him as his old captain, his foster father, and the man who murdered his real parents.
- Razroth testified that Taz had terrorised the ship ever since he came on board and then slew the captain and took over the ship. Taz shouted at him, “Liar!”
- Ghesh, Igrainne, and Gilbaron tag teamed the cross-examination. Under questioning, Razroth revealed that he surrendered to the knights during the attack and entered a plea bargain in which he would serve 10 years of hard labour instead of the death penalty in exchange for testifying against his former crewmates.
- The defence asked how an old pirate who’s been in the trade for 15 years and powerful enough to control the weather with his magic could’ve let a juvenile upstart upstage him, among other things, which made Razroth flustered. Igrainne asked if he was the captain of The Avernus and Gilbaron casted command on him, forcing him to say “I was the captain!”
- Ventris was outraged by the use of magic but it was too late. The Knight-Jurors went away to deliberate.
The Verdict & Trial By Combat
- The 23 Knight-Jurors deliberated for a while and came back to pronounce Tazmuck Leathertail not guilty of the charges. Ventris refused to accept this and challenged Taz to a trial by combat. Taz took up the challenge.
- The Knight-Jurors and Taz’s companions held shields and formed a circle around the two combatants. With the aid of his friends, Taz defeated Ventris decisively, though Richart healed her before she could perish.
- As the knights carried the heavily injured Ventris away, she swore vengeance on Taz for killing her brother. Taz whispered a quick apology to her.
The End
- Rendir congratulated Taz on his not guilty verdict, gave us 1,000 gp for our troubles, and said that Razroth will be re-investigated before leaving with the other knights.
- Taz swore to hunt down his old captain. Ghesh offered his help and Richart left in disgust.
- Taz, Ghesh, Igrainne, Richart, and Gilbaron met up in the Flourished Hook and saw a job ad for maritime security.
- The party went to a barn on the outskirts of town, where the ad told us to go. The owner of the barn answered the door, said he knows nothing about the job, only that he rented out his barn to a group of strangers. Then a man in a black cloak talked to us and quizzed us on their ship knowledge, despite apparently not having that much maritime experience himself. He let us inside the barn.
- Inside the barn, there were 23 men in black cloaks doing something unseen to us. We were led to the room at the back of the barn, where a man and a woman, both human and clad in golden armour, were waiting and talking.
- The strangers revealed themselves to be knights of the Golden Hand of Tethyr, here to put Tazmuck Leathertail on trial for murder and piracy. The men in black cloaks dropped their disguise and blocked our exit.
- The man introduced himself as the Knight-Justicar Rendir and the woman the Knight-Accusor Ventris, and they would be serving respectively as the judge and prosecutor of this trial, and the other 23 knights would be the jurors. They said they would allow Taz the chance to explain himself and for his companions to defend him.
- The party protested their underhanded methods and told them to take it up with the local authorities. They replied that they had spoken to Port Ffirst authorities and found it wanting, therefore choosing to take matters into their own hands. They tried to reassure us that the trial would be fair and just. If Taz was not satisfied by the process, he had the right to ask for a trial by combat.
The Pre-Trial
- The party demanded a bit of privacy to discuss the accusations with Taz before proceeding to the trial and it was granted. Taz confessed to his companions that the charges were indeed true, to the dismay of Gilbaron and Richart.
- Taz explained that these knights raided his ship, The Avernus, and killed many of his crewmates. He escaped by falling onto a rowboat and ending up on the shores of Kantas.
- Igrainne suggested to simply kill the Knight-Accusor Ventris and get away, but Taz would actually like to hear what they had to say.
- Richart advised to appeal to the knights’ sense of fairness and justice and Gilbaron pointed out that Taz had already been punished by the slaughter of his “family”.
The Trial Begins
- Ventris delivered her opening statement, accusing Taz of raiding the vessels of and murdering innocent Tethyrian merchants. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to remind Taz of someone.
- Gilbaron delivered the defence’s opening statement, reiterating his point about Taz being punished already, but the Knight-Justicar Rendir rejected this argument.
The First Witness
- The prosecution called their first witness to the stand, a nervous young half-elf man. He testified that he was a crewmate of a merchant ship called Umberlee’s Pride, which was raided by The Avernus during a storm. He claimed he hid in a pile of clothes and saw Taz amongst the pirates slaughtering the sailors and torching the ship afterwards.
- Taz could remember neither the ship nor the half-elf, but he thought it’s unlikely he’s being truthful since they left no one alive.
- Taz cross-examined the witness with an intimidating glare and questioned how he was able to recognise Taz during a storm, why they would set fire to a ship under pouring rain, and how he could have possibly escaped. The witness was unable to answer these questions in a convincing manner. Whilst the testimony was not invalidated, it seemed to plant doubt in the minds of the jurors.
The Second Witness
- The prosecution’s second witness was a kobold named Laffy who was a crewmate of The Avernus. He spoke of the poor treatment he received on the ship by the dragonborn pirates and the method which Taz, the ship’s captain, favoured to murder captives – choking, which earned him the nickname “The Wind Thief”.
- Ghesh was angry at Taz after hearing about the abuses the kobolds suffered on the ship. Taz said that was how it was and he himself was taken as a baby by the pirates, procuring a necklace with a royal crest on it. He looked to the floor when Igrainne asked him if the stuff about choking was true.
- However, he also pointed out that the kobolds were always kept below deck, therefore anything Laffy learned about Taz would be second-hand accounts. Furthermore, he was never captain of the ship; if anything, he was considered the most junior crewmate of The Avernus.
- Gilbaron took to cross-examining Laffy and with Igrainne’s help poked holes in his testimony, much to Ventris’s outrage. The defence team was able to get Rendir to rule the testimony as inadmissible.
The Third Witness
- The last witness to take the stand was Razroth, an older red dragonborn who described himself as the erstwhile first mate of The Avernus. Taz recognised him as his old captain, his foster father, and the man who murdered his real parents.
- Razroth testified that Taz had terrorised the ship ever since he came on board and then slew the captain and took over the ship. Taz shouted at him, “Liar!”
- Ghesh, Igrainne, and Gilbaron tag teamed the cross-examination. Under questioning, Razroth revealed that he surrendered to the knights during the attack and entered a plea bargain in which he would serve 10 years of hard labour instead of the death penalty in exchange for testifying against his former crewmates.
- The defence asked how an old pirate who’s been in the trade for 15 years and powerful enough to control the weather with his magic could’ve let a juvenile upstart upstage him, among other things, which made Razroth flustered. Igrainne asked if he was the captain of The Avernus and Gilbaron casted command on him, forcing him to say “I was the captain!”
- Ventris was outraged by the use of magic but it was too late. The Knight-Jurors went away to deliberate.
The Verdict & Trial By Combat
- The 23 Knight-Jurors deliberated for a while and came back to pronounce Tazmuck Leathertail not guilty of the charges. Ventris refused to accept this and challenged Taz to a trial by combat. Taz took up the challenge.
- The Knight-Jurors and Taz’s companions held shields and formed a circle around the two combatants. With the aid of his friends, Taz defeated Ventris decisively, though Richart healed her before she could perish.
- As the knights carried the heavily injured Ventris away, she swore vengeance on Taz for killing her brother. Taz whispered a quick apology to her.
The End
- Rendir congratulated Taz on his not guilty verdict, gave us 1,000 gp for our troubles, and said that Razroth will be re-investigated before leaving with the other knights.
- Taz swore to hunt down his old captain. Ghesh offered his help and Richart left in disgust.
