THE FIRST TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE FIRST TRIAL

[Soon after the final clue is found, there are three more loud, unsettling tonal clangs, all which go right to the bone. No matter where they are, the Titled will hear another, loud creak.

The set of doors on the left are slowly opening, revealing a long, long corridor, with a very long flight of stairs going upwards, just barely visible at the end of it.

The Intercessor's voice booms through the air and shakes the ground, sounding loud and clear no matter where the Titled might be standing at that moment.]

ENTER!

[The voice brooks no argument. As soon as everyone goes through the set of double doors, they close behind them. There is no choice, and no turning back. The Titled must go up the stairs at the end of the hall. They feel like they take forever, but when the stairs are finally traversed, there is a single door at the top, already open to them.

Welcome to the Debate Hall, Titled. Its the best-lit place you've seen, with gas lamps on the wall bright as possible. Its also the emptiest place they've ever seen so far - its massive and yet the Titled and the Intercessor are the only individuals to be seen in the entire area.

Seems, because there is faint chanting coming from the darkness behind that stage at the other end. There's no real way to hear what's being said, no matter how close you try to get. No way to check if there's even anyone on or behind the stage to make such chanting possible. The only person remotely close to the stage, standing on the stone steps, is the Intercessor.

There is also a faint rumble in the air, as if the world itself mourns the crime committed.

So. Take your seats at your stone desks to face one another as you debate. And yes, they are stone. Yes, they have stone chairs with which to sit in. And yes, your Title is on your assigned chair, etched in with chisel and hammer. Every desk also has a copy of the Writs with Orders 7 and 8 circled, and a copy of the autopsy file of the deceased on top of it; that is all the aid you will get from whoever brought you here. The rest, it seems, is up to the Titled, with what they have found.

Seats 7 and 8 are empty. Their copies of the rules and evidence lay untouched.

Once everyone has taken their seats, the strange, ominous chanting stops. Its time. Bound in blood, the death warrant has already been signed. The contract is complete. Its now just a question of finding the guilty party to fulfill the call for justice.

So, get ready, Titled.

The Inquisition of Laslow, the Spinner, has begun.]

Comments

[kiddefender]

So, you're saying that all lives are equal here?

[Her gloves creak as she clenches her hands.]

[intercessing]

All souls in the Depths are equal here; the Titled are all bound by these Orders.

...I am sorry, Dreamstrider. But yes.

[kiddefender]

Why are you sorry? That's great... I wish it was like that back home.

[intercessing]

...In a situation like this? Is it truly fair to subject you and everyone else to this?

[Waving a hand to the group.]

Especially as I am intended to be the one who executes?

[pursuitofbeauty]

"You...?" Yusuke's voice is weak, shaky. "But you are as much a prisoner as us Titled. Why would they trust you to carry out the sentence? And you've been kind to us when you are able...."

[intercessing]

[Its...a good question. Its clear the Intercessor has been wondering about it as well, as they sigh.]

...I can only think it is to punish everyone. To...make everything about this more difficult for everyone. Everyone, including me.

For what reason, I don't...really know.

[kiddefender]

I've seen people killed for no reason other than being born different. If we're all being treated the same, then it's fair.