The Intiation Trials of Leroy Denizen

[Lux]

Denizen had gotten a phone call informing him that the next day his test would begin, and that it was being held in the same time and place as the Caucus. That was all, no more, no less, no information of what to bring, to think on, or even to wear. He was given no room to reschedule. The time was now; either he braved the gauntlet or stepped aside.

The Written-in-Water was surprisingly busy on the appointed evening, seething with those shackled by Sleep. Tt appeared to be just another day of business for the book store, but the faint hint of lighting touched air was there, waiting to guide him upward toward the room beside the Astronomy shelves. The air seemed to hum as he got closer, to resonant and tremble with energy, but the feeling disappeared as soon as he touched the door's handle. The room itslef was half swathed in shadow, and was empty save for the table and chairs, but a stark, bright light shone down on a single wooden chair at one end of the table.

"Good evening, Denizen. Please have a seat," he heard Lux say. He could barely make out her form in the dark half of the room.

[MacMan]

Leroy strolls toward the chair, he appeared nonchalant, casual, quite at ease as if this his initiation were just a formality. They didn't him it was his initiation but he knew. Just like nobody had to tell him the sky was blue, he just knew. He sat almost, sprawled in the chair indicated. Several quips came to mind as he sat there: my what big teeth you have grandmother; the weather has been absolutely dreadful; are we gonna play seven minutes in heaven, But that would have only served to illuminate his nervousness and in this he would show no weakness. So he simply said, "Hi."

[Lux]

"Thank you for coming so promptly," she replied, her voice steady and bland. "A very interesting situation has presented itself to us, and we all agreed that it would serve as a good test to place before you. There is someone being tried before the Consilium, soon, and due to some complications, the Council has appointed the Thearchs as candidates for the position of Defense. We've chosen you as our representative, so you will be Defending the accused. You don't have to win the trial, but how you handle it will be your initiation test. Now, I understand that it will take quite some time to construct your strategy, but I want to hear your preliminary thoughts on the case. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the Consilium Charter first, however," she explained, sliding a piece of paper towards him, "and then I'll give you the case details."

For ST's

Don't worry about it! Seriously! But if you need, PM me and I'll explain things

[MacMan]

"I have familiarized myself with the city charter. May I now be given the specifics of the case, and whom I shall be defending? May I keep this copy for future reference?"

[Lux]

Denizen's words are met with silence. The darkness in front of him is like a wall, still and impenetrable, and the light above Leroy seems more fitting for a hostile interrogation than a discussion about the bar.

"Yes, you may," he heard Lux's voice say, the words bland and calm. "Here are the facts of the case: a member of our Order, a Lictor, from another Consilium, was invited in by our late leader, Qadesh. This Awakened, Chalice, stayed in they city and constructed a large net of magically coerced Sleepers so that they could apprehend a traitor who turned Seer and fled here. In addition to this implicating fact, they had an artifact that is known to have been stolen from the local Mysterium in their possession, they caused one minor paradox (although no Sleeper witnessed it), and had illegally obtained fire-arms. The traitor was also found dead, due to gun shot wounds. Nonetheless, there is a witness, a Seer coming to our side, that can be persuaded to negate some of these facts as being implicating...Now, what are your initial thoughts on strategy?"

Don't let any facts of this thread leave it. Do not mention this anywhere else or look into it in other threads. Also, if you're totally stumped after a few posts, I'll allow some rolls to help. Oh, and please state what spells are active on Denizen at the moment.

[MacMan]

Leroy thinks on the matter at hand, there is a long pause as he considers the case carefully, and says, "Let's break up the charges shall we, because taken together they seem worse than they are."

"Though he is a visitor of Sacramento, he is still subject to our laws."
"He took control of Sleepers in an attempt to capture a traitor; do the ends justify the means?"
"Possession is 9/10’s of the law, whether he was in on the theft of museum property, or he merely bought the object from the person who was improvable since we do not keep receipts. The artifact should be returned to him as soon as he leaves our city as is proper in a truly civilized society. I would want to see any records the museum has on how they acquired the object."
"The illegal purchase of firearms is a minor offense at best even among Sleeper courts."
"The death of a traitor is hardly a lamentable result. Which among us would not do the same, if they ran across a member of our community selling us out to the Throne?"
"I would not trust the testimony of anybody claiming to be a member of the Throne; it would be a perfect way for a Seer to gain access to the Council for nefarious purposes."

He looks up and grins, "These charges are circumstantial at best, I will try to get the less serious ones dropped so we may take a look at the heart of the matter."

[Lux]

"I see that you're off to an excellent start, but there are a few problematic elements that must also be considered. Unfortunately, these are not facts, but I know for a fact that the prosecution will exhibit them in the trial, and that these will complicate matters. The most severe and implicating of these actually deals with one of the questions you yourself asked. Did the ends justify the means concerning the magical coercion? Well, a few of the sleepers under the coercion were imprisoned for crimes they were forced to commit, are claiming that something made them do it, and those not imprisoned all exhibit severe signs of mental trauma. Three have been committed to psychiatric wards in hospitals.

"Secondly, police reports indicate that there have been a few other shootings, in the last month, all seemingly unrelated. However, the types of the rounds found in the victims match the guns found in Chalice's possession. Thirdly, I believe that perhaps you misunderstood one of the implicating facts. Our Mysterium had something stolen from them, something that obviously belonged to our Mysterium, and this artifact was found in Chalice's possession."

[MacMan]

"I understand that and if its true that Chalice did mess with their minds, then he will answer for his crimes. Also, there are more shooting deaths in this country everyday, than in the current two wars combined, these police incidents are not indicative of Chalice's behavior. It could just be more street violence that happens to coincide with his apprehension."

He thinks about her vehemence regarding the theft of the museum Artifact, he grows suspicious about her motives for acquiring the item. "What is the item in question? Does the Mysterium have records of its being in their possession? Something more than a drawing in some scroll, like maybe a picture of it with a time stamp and current Mysterium member, a receipt would be nice too."

[Lux]

"The item itself isn't that important. What is, however, is that something stolen from the local Mysterium ended up in a lawbreakers hands. However, if you think you can work an angle that argues whether or not it was ever in our Mysterium's possession then we can work with that. I can call in a few favors and get several members of the Mysterium to allude to it not actually having been in there possession. Which it was, I assure you.

"Also, what exactly do you mean by 'he will answer for his crimes' concerning the coercion? Are you stating that, as the Defense, that is one area where you won't offer anything but a guilty plea to the council? Keep in mind, I'm not stating whether that is a positive or negative attitude, I'm just curious as to what you mean by that," he heard Lux ask, her voice once more bland and indifferent.

[MacMan]

"Do not read too much into what I say here in this room, I have only heard your explanation of the matter. As soon as I meet the person I will know what kind of defense to build for him, when do I meet him?"