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

[unwieldy]

[ The brush against his mind is a familiar one, and he lets her in without much of a fuss.

It's definitely a difficult matter and one that requires a good deal of consideration. Stakes are high on all sides, but that doesn't stop Haein from voicing the first thought that comes to mind. ]

He could meet an untimely death in his cell, or wherever it is you're keeping him. Accidents happen.

[ Problem Solving 101 with Haein, eyy. ]

[sunborne]

No!!

[unwieldy]

Why not?

[ Like what is even the issue here. ]

[sunborne]

[ ????? ]

Because it isn't right? We can't kill individuals just because we can. Especially if they're under custody! They're placed under that to be protected from harm, not to get harmed.

[unwieldy]

[ They're just going to ??? at each other. ]

And why should a known murderer be offered protection?

[sunborne]

Because it's the right thing to do.

[ he seems so sure about this. almost- no, most definitely so. ] We could hurt him, yeah, but we shouldn't hurt him. He was scared and angry and made a really, really bad choice because of it. There's no denying that.

But we don't have that excuse if we give him a taste of his own medicine. That'll make us worse than him, even.

[unwieldy]

[ Wow, Daylight, that is extremely... moving. And those words might have worked on anyone else if they weren't Haein. His stubborn nature is going to send him straight to the pits one of these days. ]

He's already a dead man. He forfeited his life the moment he took someone else's.

[ He's so disconcertingly casual about it. ]

Someone just has to deal the final blow.

[agentlenpc]

He went to the Last Meal to cause trouble. [ Allairavar says seriously and with consideration. ] Now, the young man has caused trouble and found it.

[ There is the distinct impression that Allairavar says this for someone else's benefit other than Haein's. ]

[sunborne]

[ (is the introspection referring to haein or referring to daylight? it could go either way.)

daylight does falter a bit because he got hit in the face with a nasty case of the truth, losing his momentum and righteousness because he can't deny nor soften that cold hard fact:

the guy killed someone and killed someone on purpose. that needs to be answered too and if it ends up being an eye for an eye situation... ]

Only if- [ he tries to figure out what he wants to say, his mind a bit jumbled now. ] But only if it's called for in the end. When he's put through trial or judgement or whatever it's going to be called and that's the verdict. Not through 'accidents' or 'surprises' or things like that.

[agentlenpc]

[ Lady Fayura also brought the Inner Circle into the psychic threads she weaved with the Strangers. Verim has little intention of responding except where he feels it might aid the Lady. ]

Because assessing intention is important and because Blood males can be - [ Verim pauses. ] - hot-tempered when one under their protection is harmed. Keeping the young man safe for the time being ensures that his side can be heard.

He is deserving, at the very least, of explaining the circumstances to the Queen. However, Lady Fayura has explained the difficulties of the situation in this case.

[unwieldy]

[ Haein has been carefully listening in on the other branches in conversation. He doesn't know why he's getting as involved as he is, only that he'd been there that day and it had frayed at his edges with feelings he thought he'd be able to ignore during his stay here. ]

It doesn't seem like he's willing to explain anything.

[ Maybe there's more to it, maybe not, but giving people chances is such a foreign concept to him. ]

He sounds like a waste of time and resources.

[agentlenpc]

Fear drives many a tongue to still and the hatred between landen and Blood spans millennia in Terrielle.

Why explain yourself to a Queen that you think cares not for what you say? [ The tone Verim takes is one of contemplation.] Would your words be turned against you? Your friends? Could you expect that a Queen who is Blood would be sympathetic to a landen? Or, did he intend to kill Lady Vera and now hopes his silence and the clout of the Guilds might save him? Or at least make him a martyr. I've seen that as well.

If he were Blood, Fayura would ask that he let her into his mind to read his intentions and know the truth of his actions though it might destroy him. Unfortunately, those with a Jewel cannot touch the mind of landen without killing them.

[agentlenpc]

[Wryly:] One of my Princes certainly agrees with you.

That option, of course, solves nothing of the larger problem while also opening up the Court for accusations of neglect in the best case.

[unwieldy]

[ Props to the Prince who agrees with him. ]

Something else will come along to distract them. [ Wow, Haein, just shove it all under the rug. ] And if not, distractions can be made up.

[agentlenpc]

Considering the Hunters lit the Bazaar on fire when you arrived, I can't imagine we'll want for distractions any time soon.

[She tsks.]

I would prefer, however, to find a solution that doesn't keep this young man locked away for the rest of his life in the hope that someone forgets about him.

[unwieldy]

[ Like quietly killing him?? Oh wait, that's already been shot down, hm. ]

He'd deserve to waste away. [ It's so... nonchalant, the way that he thinks this. ] But it seems like you've found a solution that could potentially work for you.

[ From Calvin?? Of all people. ]

[yesterweek]

[ FUCK YOU HONESTLY??? ]

[agentlenpc]

Does he? If Vera had attacked him with the intention of harming him, I might agree with you. But she did not.

And if we used that logic for every Blood male, and even many witches, all of us would deserve the same. It is not so black and white. Life would be much easier if it were.

[unwieldy]

[ He's careful not to voice it in his thoughts and their psychic link, but maybe they all do deserve the same. Haein has seen enough from this place to have colored a picture in his mind, and it's a grim image. One hardly worth saving.

But his deal, their promise... He needs to see that through. ]

That's how your morality works. [ His, however, is unfortunately as black and white as they come. ] I don't agree with it, but it's not my shot to call.

[arrogator]

[This whole thing kind of makes Mordred’s head hurt and while she’s never had a problem talking, she isn’t sure what to say until she hears this bit. Thanks buddy.]

That’s a pretty crappy way of dealing with it.

[Not really eloquent or offering much of an explanation there, but she’ll throw her two cents in too.]

[unwieldy]

[ Welcome to head hurts city, but Haein was dumb enough to say something and now he's in too deep. ]

If everyone is fighting to get their hands on something, just get rid of the something.

[ LOGIC. ]

[arrogator]

[It's okay Haein, she might not admit it right now, but if he hadn't said anything, she probably would've thrown a stupid opinion out there.]

Okay, yeah, but what if everybody starts fighting over the something being gone?

[She's not going to argue that you can't just get rid of people because she accepted that sometimes that has to be done a long long time ago, so this is the more important thing.]

[unwieldy]

[ So much for stupid opinion solidarity?? ]

They'll argue amongst themselves for a while and then end up forgetting about it when a new problem arises.

[ And in this place, the problems are endless and bountiful. ]

[arrogator]

Or that crap just explodes and becomes the new problem. Or a bunch of problems.

[unwieldy]

Over the death of some nobody? I doubt it.