psychic thread

[agentlenpc]

[The gentle brush against the Strangers' minds comes in early evening. It is, as all mental touches are from Fayura, soft and unassuming, much like a polite knock at a door. Once as many minds are connected as she thinks will open the door to her, she speaks.]

I am curious, Strangers, what you would do with the young man who shot and killed Councilwoman Vera.

Many of you come from worlds where there are laws against murder. While we have no such laws here, when a Blood male in a Queen's Territory kills another without cause, she may demand a price from him. Sometimes, that is his own life if he was negligent enough with his temper and sometimes, it's something less.

My trouble is this: if I execute him according to the laws of the Blood, of which he is not one, the Guilds will rouse their people into a furor and attack not only me, but the people of Draega. If I turn him over to the Ebon Council, the Guilds will do much the same, and that will incite the Council to strike back. And if I return him to the Guilds for accolades instead of punishment for taking a life, the Ebon Council will have cause to rip apart the Guilds and anyone in their way to extract from him the price for murdering one of their own.

Were you me, what course would you take? And please try not to shout over each other; this is as many of you as I could reach.

Comments

[mollymocked]

Absolutely. Hopefully, we can do something about that. I can't actually say I know the person you're talking about, but I get on with people very easily.

[This is about 85% a lie.]

[retrorsum]

That depends on the prison. Some prefer to keep their captives alive.

[agentlenpc]

Burden and guilt? [ One can almost hear the razor sharp smile in Verim's thoughts. ] That isn't my concern. He and cohorts assaulted Lady Vera and killed her. They used muters to strip her of her power and that of any other Blood nearby that might have helped her. What he did is inexcusable and deserving of justice. I carry no burden or guilt should his actions be without good reason, I've no issue with his execution.

[ Or carrying it out himself. ]

However, until we know the scope, determining the severity is impossible. If Vera had harmed him, his family, or threatened to harm him, then I cannot blame him for taking out that threat, only the cowardly manner in which he did it.

[agentlenpc]

Believe me, [ Verim's tone turned grim. ] of the ones that could cause the most trouble, few of them care that Lady Vera is dead but they care very much about how they can use her murder to their advantage.

[agentlenpc]

It's a sound life choice in my experience as well.

[agentlenpc]

You are helping. Lady Fayura asked and you've answered. You've spoken your heart and there is value in that. [ He replies sincerely. ] You aided those trapped at the power plant and you sought to help in the city.

[thequitecontrary]

I understand that you are in a precarious position.

In purely my opinion, I believe that murder is wrong and that there ought to be some sort of consequence for the perpetrator.

[inducings]

[ This. This is what she most doesn't understand about this place. This is something that frightens her a little and disturbs her a lot.

And while politic, there are some things Piper can never keep her mouth (or her mental voice) shut over. Her tone is more cautious than accusatory. ]

What that sounds like to me is saying that one person's life is more valuable than someone else's.

[ And why was that? Because of their blood? Because they were stronger? If that was true, then everyone should have just rolled over and died when Gaea decided she wanted to rule the Earth. Piper would be the first to admit that she values the lives of the people she loves more than the lives of strangers, but she's not proud of that. And the idea that some people are more valuable because of how they were born is... infuriating. ]

[verstoned]

Seems like you've a good path to choose already, Your Grace. [Thanks, Daylight.] But any word on what could make the boy talk?

[sunborne]

[ it's... it's weird being able to feel someone else's emotions.

yeah. that's the only way he can describe the experience when he waits for the queen to finish her words, curious to hear what she has to say. the silence from earlier had him really worried, wondering if he had said something wrong, so being able to hear her again is a relief.

not wanting to have that happen again, daylight is quick to be bubbly and positive again. the situation is pretty sticky, yeah, but! they're all here to help each other! they're here to help. he's definitely going to help, for sure. ]

I guess it's a good thing we're here to give a hand, huh? [ he does his best to sound confident, though his end stills reflects uncertainty. there's optimism, of course, but the uncertainty cannot be denied. ] We'll do what we can to help you and everyone else here out! I promise!

[arrogator]

They're already going to get pissed and turn him into a somebody if she does something about it. If he has some sort of unfortunate accident, they'll probably do the same thing.

[sunborne]

That's not true...?

[ honestly- this is a very rude and presumptuous thing for daylight to claim on the behalf of someone else. and he has enough self-awareness to be concisous of this fact as well.

but! daylight believes the reasoning behind his claim(/question) this is very simple, really. ]

If you didn't want to talk about anything then you wouldn't have spoken up when the Queen spoke up. You could have ducked out if you wanted to.

[ which makes perfect sense in his processors, if you asked him. like he claims, someone could have tried to duck out or ignored the question if they didn't want to be dragged into this. it's kind of hard with how much is going on, he knows, but it should be possible- he knows for a fact there are some folks not joining in on these conversations.

mr. grumpy mcgrumpster could have done the same thing but he isn't! he's talking to them. that must mean something. logic. ]

[unwieldy]

He becomes more valuable the longer he's kept alive. This should have been dealt with immediately, but now all eyes are on him. If they push through with a trial, they'll be giving him a voice, and people are going to listen.

[agentlenpc]

[If she senses his horror at all, she doesn't show it.]

We don't, no. The Cataclysm itself...

[Fayura's brows come together. Deep in her mind, there's a quiet rumble like thunder over a mountain peak at midnight.]

Well, it was 5000 years ago, and we've nothing to tell us what it was. [She leads him back to his own mind, following the thread that still hangs between them.] I think, however, I should go deal with our guest. Eventually, he'll stop associating my presence with fear if I walk by him enough times and cause him no harm. If ever you need something, don't hesitate to ask.

[agentlenpc]

You, at least, will not die.

[Once before, she showed him a tangled web, drawing a simple version in the dirt. Now, she gives him one of her own memories: a massive series of interlocking webs that span some kind of dark corridor made of stone and lit by steady globes of witchlight. At the center of each web is a fragment of a glittering Jewel, the color not easy to make out in the witchlight.

Most of the webs shimmer with a silvery color, but on some, the threads are dark and fragile.]

These dark threads are those who came here and returned. The web goes dark because my power no longer feeds it. Should the worst happen, all I need to stop is remove the Jewel chips from these webs.

[agentlenpc]

You're welcome. I know that Terreille is much, much different than the worlds that most of you come from. I only wish the books of our law that once existed still did.

[Sorrow tinges her voice.]

Terreille has forgotten so much. Fifty thousand years of violence and decay... Well. [Now her tone grows dry.] Fixing the mistakes of so long can't be all that hard, can't it?

psychic;

[agentlenpc]

[Cheerfully:] Anyone who tries to touch him while he's living at the Residence will find out what their insides look like, and that's supposing they even get past the door uninvited.

After the Hunters broke into the residence a month or so ago, we... enhanced the webs at the doors and windows.

[agentlenpc]

Excellent! I, too, get on with people quite easily until they try to kill me, but I suppose that's just how Draega is.

[She gets you, Molly.]

I'll make sure you're kept apprised of the situation. Loren will probably reach out. He's very good at organizing.

[agentlenpc]

And these captives just... sit, locked away? That doesn't seem like a smart use of resources.

[She's thinking about how hard it would be to justify feeding someone who isn't working. Everyone in Draega helps to one degree or another. They're living so lean, they can't afford not to.]

[agentlenpc]

Just because we don't have a law against murder doesn't mean that wronged party has no recourse. If one of my Princes killed someone for no reason, that someone's family would ask for a price to be paid for the life taken. Sometimes, it's a life for a life. Sometimes, it's service to the wronged family. But our people survived because when Warlord Princes found a threat to their Queens, those Princes eliminated that threat.

The landens have been taken advantage of, but the Blood have been just as cruel to each other.

[And were the young man Blood, it's very likely Fayura would have executed him. But, then, she also would have been able to peer into his mind and learn the truth of the situation.]

[sunborne]

It's the least I could have done for you guys when I heard about what happened at the power plant. I mean- I promised to help you guys.

[ it's why he's here. and while he does get something out of this arrangement- daylight isn't one to simply coast on by and do minimum effort. not when others are relying on him and lots it at stake. ]

It's just- Well- [ hrrrrm. ] Do you mind me asking a question?

psychic;

[shiftinglikeclay]

[The cheerfulness to the threat throws Alex a bit. But she covers it quickly.]

Huh. Maybe I shouldn't have moved out. [Nah, she hates being beholden to anyone, a fact that she's made no effort to hide.]

[agentlenpc]

Ask what you will. [ He's sincere, but Allairavar's tone implies that he also reserves the right to not answer.]

[unwieldy]

I'm guessing you tried to talk to her, too.

[ Clearly he means the Queen but why address her by title or name when he can just be Haein. ]

[sunborne]

[ daylight is quick to pick up on that and y i k e s. let's hope the question won't be fall under that category. ]

Um- If the decision is made to go through with the trial- [ he's trying his best to not imply a trial could happen, since he doesn't want to sound, like, presumptuous or anything. it's the queen's decision. ] -than what are the guy's options in terms of punishment?

[ he now knows - thanks to some folks here /stares at haein - that death is an option hanging over the guy and the preferred one at that. but daylight is now left wondering about what else could happen to him. ]