EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

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Marullus
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EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#1 Post by Marullus »

Markd made accusation to the Archbishop that Bremen treated with an Infernal being on their last expedition.
You stand accused of knowingly treating with the infernal and compromising your immortal soul
A week passes while the evidence and cases are prepared. When the 19th arrives, Archbishop Keelan presides over an ecclesiastical court at the Chapel of Baudh, the great sun sigil now hung, faintly luminescent, above his head. Bremen is brought forth from the prison to cross-examine his accusers. Markd sits on the front bench while Pendleton has been retained by him to handle the prosecutor role before the church.

Pendleton makes opening remarks.
Bremen makes opening remarks.
Pendleton interviews Markd.
Bremen cross examines Markd.
Repeat for other called witnesses.
Pendleton makes closing remarks.
Bremen makes closing remarks.

I will do CHA checks normally to express the flow of public reaction throughout.
Other characters in town can participate in the audience.

Have fun!! :)

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#2 Post by Rusty Tincanne »

Having just returned from the kobolds tower, and already making plans to delve beneath the ground to hunt half-headed infernal beasts, Ablesforth the Wanderer's curiosity is piqued by the accusations. He strides into the courtroom and takes a seat, hoping to hear patrons if Baudh speak the truth, and for revelations of infernal taking in their ranks.

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#3 Post by onlyme »

Markd looks over at the delusional young man, hoping he has thought through what he did and will make this a mere formality. He quietly whispers to Pendleton,
"Do your best, kind sir."
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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#4 Post by Zhym »

FYI: I have a day full of meetings and other stuff I need to do, so with the indulgence of the DM, Pendleton's opening statement will come tonight.

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#5 Post by Marullus »

No worries. :) I am looking forward to it!

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#6 Post by Zhym »

Pendleton steps into the center of the court. He straightens his vest and nods his head slightly to the Archbishop.

"Your Grace; People of Gaul," he begins. His voice is a melodious baritone that resonates from the walls of the chapel.

"We are assembled today to consider the state of a man's soul. No small thing, a man's soul. `For what profits a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?' We have before us, alas, someone who thought that a good bargain—a man who made a much more meager trade, dealing with the infernal in exchange for a fancy title and a promise of power." Pendleton shakes his head sadly.

"The Church will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this man"—he indicates Breman—"a professed follower of Baudh sent on a holy quest in his god's service, knowingly pledged himself to the service of evil."

"You will hear testimony from his companions in that quest. They will tell you what happened: that they entered a chapel of Baudh in an ancient, forgotten tower, and saw the sun sigil." He pauses to look wonderingly at the sigil now hanging over the Archbishop's head. "You will hear how a voice spoke to them. That they believed it to be Baudh, at first, but soon realized that it was instead a demon bound to Baudh's service. That the voice promised power, power, and more power to anyone who would swear an oath to serve it and it alone. And you will hear how Breman, tempted by the demon's enticements, drawn by his own vile urges and insecure need to prove himself better than others, willingly accepted the demon's terms and pledged himself to its service." Pendleton waits for murmurs of shock and disgust to subside. "You will hear, perhaps from his own mouth, that he now styles himself 'Lord Commander' Breman, without sanction from the Church of Baudh or the ArchDuke."

"The defendant may tell you that he did not know the infernal nature of the being to which he pledged his soul. But testimony will show that Breman knew that whatever it was he spoke to, it was not Baudh. That alone—pledging his soul to anything other than his god—is enough to condemn him."

"You may also hear the defendant claim that he merely did what he had to do to achieve the object of his quest: the sun sigil. But if I may be permitted the indulgence of lecturing Your Grace on Baudh's teachings, the law is clear: a follower of Baudh must ever move against darkness. He may not subscribe to it. And those who break the law must pay the price. The law applies to all, king and peasant. Even if Breman acted to gain the sun sigil—and testimony will show that his actions were motivated purely out of self-interest—he still must pay the price for imperiling his soul."

"When you have heard the testimony and know the facts of what happened in the chapel of the sun sigil, you will know that Breman must be found guilty. Baudh's law demands no less."

Pendleton bows again to the Archbishop and sits down.

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#7 Post by onlyme »

At first, Markd is confident in his selection on behalf of the church. Pendleton is certainly eloquent. Much better speaker and confident then he would have been. A feeling of pure disdain starts bubbling over as he continues listening to the speech. By the time it is over, he mutters under his breath where no one can quite hear.

".... con ..... abusing... power.... Baudh...



Zhym, great opening speech, by the way.
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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#8 Post by Rusty Tincanne »

As Pendleton prattles on, Bremen keeps an eye on Markd, wondering if his former-brother-in-arms sees the irony of retaining such a faithless coward to present his case for him. If rumors were true, Pendleton had refused to join an expedition of the church to seek information about the fate of the cleric Tyrell.* Furthermore, the mage had balked about and debated paying a cleric of Baudh regarding paying for healing services - a basic tenant of the religion. The man was a petty, faithless coward, and now Bremen was forced to listen to him lecture about the faith Bremen had served his whole life. Bremen sighed, knowing that attacking Pendleton in court would do little for his case.

When Pendleton finally sat down, Bremen rose, saluted the bishop, and then addressed the court. Anyone of lawful alignment could see from his posture and mannerisms that Bremen was confident; that he was a man with a military rank, familiar with planning campaigns, and that he was used to fighting for his life. Many thanks to both Bishop Keelan and the good people of Gaul for giving me the opportunity to clear my good name of these slanderous accusations. As Master Pendleton stated, you're going to hear from my quest-companions. But no matter how he twists words around - and he'll do it, too - what you're going to hear is that I risked my life time and time again to fulfill a quest given by the Church of Gaul. My companions will talk how we ventured into the wilds twice to locate an ancient, lost Temple of Baudh. That we entered a secret, sealed chapel that had been sanctified by clergy of Baudh. You'll hear that is was in within that space that we found the Sun you see hanging there. He looked to the sun, allowing the eyes of everyone assembled to gaze on the magnificent relic that he had been integral in in retrieving.

I'm goign to repeat that part, because everything that's talked about in this trial happened under those conditions: Within a secret and sealed chapel, that was sanctified by Baudhic clerics ages ago, all within a Temple of Baudh. Nothing evil could reside in such a place, friends. Nothing. Bremen paused to take a drink of water before continuing. You're going to hear from my companions - the one's whose words Master Pendleton will try and twist, mind you -well they're going to tell you that our party entreated with a divine entity in that holy place, and that I acted in good faith on behalf of this Church to secure that blessed Sun that's hanging there. You're also going to hear that, at the time this all happened... through the whole thing, mind you, that Markd and Brother Florian never peeped a single concern that that divine entity was infernal in nature. They'll tell you that that concern only came up when we got back to Gaul. And that, strange as it might sound, Markd didn't mention his concerns to Brother Florian, who was there with us throughout the quest. He waited for that to sink in, even looking for a reaction from Keelan the White. Bremen had wondered many times while awaiting this trial if the old man had known Markd had failed to confide in the group's cleric. When the murmurs quieted, Bremen continued.

So, like I said, you're going to hear testimony from the people that were there. They'll tell you that it wasn't until after we returned to Gaul that Markd (all on his own) decided that the entity - the one that lived in a sealed, sanctified chapel in a Temple of Baudh, mind you - was infernal. And when you put it like that, you've got to wonder what sort of man Markd is. Another pause for effect. Well it wouldn't do any good coming from me, of course, because I'm the man under attack. But don't worry. I've got folks - really great people with great reputations - that will show that Markd has snapped under the stresses of our quest. That the man hiding behind his cowl has accused me of crimes that his own family committed in the southlands. Crimes he did his best to cover up by murdering a whole bunch of priests, even. Bremen looked his accuser square in the eye as he finished his opening statement, At the end of this trial, you'll all see that I'm innocent, and this whole trial is because Markd's lost his mind, and now he's trying to have me convicted of his brother's crime. Bremen saluted the bishop again, and the people in the courtroom, before sitting down.



*Technically, that conversation took place on 7 July, but it was so long ago in real life that it feels pertinent.

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#9 Post by Marullus »

Bremen [1d20] = 19 Pendleton [1d20] = 16

The crowd is aghast and titillated, listening to the accusations of both parties, both sides accused of loathsome and unforgivable crimes. The murmurs run through them at the key points of both speakers; they are loving to hate them both so far.

Next: Pendleton interviews Markd.

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#10 Post by Zhym »

Pendleton measures the mood of the crowd. It is not as outraged as Pendleton had expected. But neither does it seem to be buying Breman's story. They begin even. That may not last beyond his questioning of Markd. The way people react to him now, Pendleton would avoid questioning him if he could. But even in Baudh's law, a man has a right to face his accuser.

When Markd is brought to the stand and sworn in, Pendleton stands and strides forward. Better take on the repulsion thing head on, he thinks. As it were.

"Could you please state your name for the record?" he asks.

"And what is your connection to the Church of Baudh?"

"I hope it is not insensitive to mention it," he begins, the preliminaries out of the way, "but you've got something on your head. Would you please tell the court how you came to have that mark, and what its effect is?"

The questioning will probably be fairly interactive. Hope that's okay.

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#11 Post by onlyme »

Markd answers.

my name is Stancell. Markd is what folks have gotten to call me since this.

My only connection is through my heart and soul, as anyone's should be.

A bunch of heathen Eruanna followers attacked my faith and I retaliated. A priest wanted me to pledge my faith in her and I refused. So he branded me with it. No matter how bad it is, it still better to be true to the one true Baudh rhan to sell your soul for the easy way out .
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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#12 Post by Zhym »

onlyme wrote:A bunch of heathen Eruanna followers attacked my faith and I retaliated. A priest wanted me to pledge my faith in her and I refused. So he branded me with it. No matter how bad it is, it still better to be true to the one true Baudh than to sell your soul for the easy way out .
"So instead of pledging your faith to anyone but Baudh," says Pendleton, "you remained true and suffered horrible consequences." Pendleton pauses, looking at the Archbishop and at Breman, waiting a moment for Markd's words to sink in.

"Let's skip forward. Would you please describe what happened in the Temple of Baudh? Particularly in the chapel where the voice spoke to you?"

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#13 Post by onlyme »

Markd nods,

Well, the voice called me by name and promised to remove this thing from my forehead if I would just pledge my loyalty to it.
I could sense it wasnt Baudh when I kept saying I will gladly pledge to Baudh. All of us were there and could sense it trying to trick my words up. I called out that I knew it wasnt Baudh, and it confirmed. It then went after weaker hearted folks, and picked Mr Bremen, there. I thought the man was devout enough to resist. But apparently the appeal of titles and personal fiefdoms were too much. I dont condemn poor Mr Bremen. I just want him purged of the evil and set back on the narrow path forward.



sorry posting during a conference, so it may be shorter and choppier and less creative than I would have wanted.
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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#14 Post by Zhym »

Normally, Pendleton would ask Markd to go into detail—what did the voice promise, what did Breman say in response, etc. But with onlyme out and not able to make long posts, maybe it makes sense to move on?

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#15 Post by Marullus »

Markd's testimony, however, is the crux of the trial. I want to give him the opportunity if possible. If he needs a shortcut, he/we can copy/paste the quoted posts from that part of the adventure forward and assume it is told truthfully.

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#16 Post by Rusty Tincanne »

Mistrial, then? :P

I am fine with waiting for onlyme to get back to his normal activity.

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#17 Post by onlyme »

just ask next set. Ill try to answer in full...
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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#18 Post by Zhym »

onlyme wrote:Markd nods,

Well, the voice called me by name and promised to remove this thing from my forehead if I would just pledge my loyalty to it.
I could sense it wasnt Baudh when I kept saying I will gladly pledge to Baudh. All of us were there and could sense it trying to trick my words up. I called out that I knew it wasnt Baudh, and it confirmed. It then went after weaker hearted folks, and picked Mr Bremen, there. I thought the man was devout enough to resist. But apparently the appeal of titles and personal fiefdoms were too much. I dont condemn poor Mr Bremen. I just want him purged of the evil and set back on the narrow path forward.
"Please go into more detail, if you don't mind," says Pendleton. He follows up with more questions, one by one, waiting for Breman to answer before asking the next:
  • "What did the chapel look like?"
  • "What happened when you entered?"
  • "Do you remember what the voice said, exactly?"
  • "How did you know it wasn't Baudh?"
  • "Once you refused, what did the voice say then?"
  • "What exactly did it offer to Breman?"
  • "And what did Breman say?"

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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#19 Post by onlyme »

Zhym wrote:
  • "What did the chapel look like?"
  • "What happened when you entered?"
  • "Do you remember what the voice said, exactly?"
  • "How did you know it wasn't Baudh?"
  • "Once you refused, what did the voice say then?"
  • "What exactly did it offer to Breman?"
  • "And what did Breman say?"
Markd nods his intention to answer, though he is rather annoyed at the questions.

The chapel was built into the maze of tunnels as all of us have experienced before. Tall vaulted ceilings. This sun hanging on the far wall. iron braziers flaming in the corners and beside the altar.

The voice chided us for being unworthy pitiful sad beings, especially after a couple of our team fell into a pit. Probably there to prevent the unwanted from getting near. It goes on to speak of Baudh's followers' faithful, difficult ways.
It then called me by my name, which told me it had powers to foretell, though I didnt know at the time whether it was for good or evil. It then started to promise me power and respect if I just swear myself to it. At that point, I naturally became suspect. From my great many mornings spent studying the ways of Baudh, I knew he would never have to promise such power and glory. I politely iterated that I swear to Baudh I will see that the lands grow overflowing with followers as it is meant to be.
He nods and looks at sun The voice didnt care for me specifying my allegiance to Baudh by name, and that was when I, and I figured most honest folks, could tell he was not whom he pretended to be. I prayed aloud to Baudh that I swear only to him, and asked for whatever guidance was needed to secure my charge. At that point, I had the unmistakable feeling he was an imposter, and only evil ones promise such things.
I called out the voice as not being Baudh, and it admitted as such.
It kept promising me more and more to swear to it, but I refused.

At that point, it looked for the weakest willed amongst us, and knowing Good Mr Florian and Mr Irving are above reproach, set his eyes or Mr Bremen. After a few promises of being called "Lord Commander" and of being made ruler of the dominion.

I attempted to warn Mr Bremen that we needed to bring back the sun and have faithful church leaders go back with us to restore the lands without pledging to a pretender. He unfortunately had lust of glory in his heart and could not be swayed. He claimed he was a great man, and pledged himself to that evil pretender.

I didnt realize Mr Bremen was so weak minded to give in.
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Re: EVENT: The Trial of Bremen - 19 June 2021

#20 Post by Zhym »

Pendleton listens attentively as Markd answers his questions. The answers are more rambling and opinionated, less factually detailed than would have been optimal. He considers asking follow-up questions to tease more detail out of the testimony, but the man on the stand is already showing annoyance at having to support his own claim against Bremen. And, Pendleton must acknowledge, Markd is intensely repulsive. It may not matter what he says.

"Thank you," says Pendleton when Markd finishes. "No further questions."

I'm assuming Pendleton is allowed re-direct after the cross-examination?

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