Crime & Punishment

"What the f*ck is going on over there?" says Bennett as he sits in the first of the rooms devouring some of the delicacies sat upon Baltzarek's table and quaffing the remains of the decanter of vintage brandy. Reluctantly, he draws himself away from the table, taking another hearty drink from the brandy bottle, then strides over to the other room, barging through the villagers crowded in the narrow corridor.

Once he sees the contents, his face is filled with rage:

"Why, you disgusting f*cking bastard."

Ignoring the children and the villagers, Bennett draws up his axe and advances upon Baltzarek, intent upon killing the Death Priest instantly.

Xavier stops him by grabbing 'Retribution' out of his hand before Bennett has a chance to strike. Bennett looks at the Saxon with a look of fury.

"Nein, Herr Bennett" Xavier responds. "Wait for der young lord to speak before you act without thought."

Jihan strides over to where Baltzarek is kneeling in his own urine, and crouches down before the man, a deadly whisper emerging from his throat.

"You have been given the chance for truth, Baltzarak," he says, his voice colder and harder than you have ever heard it.

"None here was as willing to hear truth in reasons that would lift some of the darkness from this town, as mine eyes and ears have been full of nothing but in the past few weeks... And yet here stands such evidence as can not be refused. It appears that there were some other traditions that have gone along with the High Priesthood here that have gone along unnoticed. Nothing can save you now, dark one. There is nothing for you to hide behind. Know that seventeen generations cry out from the grave for retribution, and that I hold Deathslayer in my hands. You will die this day, beast. There is no denying the contents of these rooms..."

"You will have your place with Smurt today, but whether you enter under the Hand of the Damned or the Hand of Paradise is His to say..."

Holding up the shining elven blade in front of his eyes, the elf stands and turns to address those villagers that have followed into the passageway, saying:

"People of Dobroushka... Today has come to light this country's greatest tragedy. Today we see the face of corruption exposed for all of its workings in the past five centuries in this place. Today the face of a traitor is unmasked..."

Gesturing beside him with the blade towards the man, which the elf is keeping a careful eye on out of the corner of an orb, he continues:

"The wealth of seventeen generations of toil lies within these rooms, and it shall be yours again. The wealth of a lifetime crouches in the darkness, and they have been reclaimed. The wealth of centuries of lies sits here on the floor before you, and justice shall be done..."

Before the fate of Baltzarek and his henchmen is determined, Winnacer calls for the other three acolytes to be questioned in front of their colleagues, drilling them hard to determine their role - and their future plans for repenting.

The acolytes are all as shocked as the other villagers are and it seems from their actions as if they knew nothing of Baltzarek's evil ulterior motives. They show no fear at being questioned, still too stunned by their superiors' actions to be able to defend themselves. They answer all of the questions openly and simply. It soon becomes apparent to Winnacer that all four of the acolytes are simple lads that were easily swayed by Baltzarek's words and they truly believed that the Temple of Smurt was acting simply to protect the lives of the villagers. They have no great belief in Smurt, but joined the Temple only because it offered them a higher status within the village and a relief from the arduous toil in the fields that was the lot of the other villagers.

With the truth now having been revealed, it is obvious that the acolytes feel great shame at being unwitting accomplices to the actions of Baltzarek and now are amongst the most vocal of the villagers in wanting to see an end to him and his henchmen.

Having determined that the acolytes are guilty of nothing more than gullibility and the wanting of an easier life, Winnacer then turns to the cowering Baltzarek and his two henchmen and speaks, his face seemingly devoid of emotion:

"By the declaration of Dobroushka and under the Providence of Spravedelna, you hereby are sentenced to death for your inhuman acts. May your souls find no rest, may no person mourn your loss, may your names be forgotten, and may the memories of your atrocities serve to educate against them ever happening again. With Spravedelna's blessing, I shall deliver swift Justice."

With that said, Winnacer takes 'Old Bohavia' in hand and goes to behead the three elders. Before he is able to do so, Jihan stops him:

"No, brother," Jihan interrupts, "Makanuru will carry out what she was created for all those years and years ago. To end the curse that has been on this place for generations... to drive away the last vestige of the abomination that was the legacy of Boscobelous..."

With that, the elf steps forward, the shining form of the elven blade in his hands, and stands over the bound form of the priests.

"Prirodna shelter you, Spravedelna guide your hand, and Kitry temper your thought..." he whispers, uncharacteristically in Bohavian.

Bennett is having none of it, however, and snatches 'Retribution' back from Xavier. He speaks with some anger to both Winnacer and Jihan:

"A short sword is no weapon for execution, elf, unless you plan to prick them to death. This is the job for an axe and is seemingly a task that 'Retribution' was made for."

He then looks towards Winnacer.

"You have said yourself that your role is as judge and not executioner. Let that task fall to me, as I have the correct tool for the job."

Winnacer and Jihan reluctantly agree to Bennett's request. However, before Bennett has the opportunity to reap swift justice upon the Death Priest, Karel, still holding the emaciated child close to his chest stands before Bennett and the Baltzarek. A fire burns brightly in his eyes as he speaks to all of them:

"No, strangers," he starts. "A swift death would be too merciful for them for the crimes that they have committed against me and my neighbors. Which of us truly knows what awaits us in the hereafter? No, this monster who has deceived us and profited from us over all these years must be made to pay for his sins in this life before passing over to the next. I believe that he should be made to suffer the same fate that he sentenced upon my son. I wish to see Baltzarek and his henchmen bricked into the room where he incarcerated our children. With their abundance of flesh, it should take many weeks until they finally die of starvation, which will give them plenty of time for them all to consider the inhumanity of their actions rather than the merciful releases that you are proposing."

The other villagers nod in agreement, wanting to vent their anger upon the Death Priests.

As the others made to slay the priests and were all in turn stopped from performing their actions, Faewen'il stood and invisibly watched. There were none present to witness her dry eyes; even though her knuckles were still a bit white around the edges as she looked on.

What was happening to her? Where had her innocence disappeared to that she could watch someone kill another man without getting ill?

It was almost shameful to think of all the things she had done since leaving the care of Luud... her use of magic... her loss of values... her loss of almost all he had taught her...

And the worst part was that she knew, with a foreboding certainty, that she had only scratched the surface of all the ill and twisted things out in the world.

It was with these thoughts that tears finally came to her cheeks. With her face buried in her hands, she slowly faded into view as she willed the magic to end.

Winnacer listens to Karel's plea and then answers him:

"I can appreciate your fury and desire to hurt Baltzarek as much as possible in retribution. But we must remember to strive to be more than those who wrong us, trying hard not to repay cruelty with cruelty, for then we ourselves are monstrous. Let him die a certain death in front our eyes, knowing that our mercies will be the last he receives before his soul in rent in two. These three are beings without remorse or conscience, any time spent imprisoned would be used to recall all the horrors they have performed, not to think about their vile ways. Despite my words, you must choose your own way, and with this we ultimately will not interfere."

Xavier immediately interjects:

"NO, NO, NO, my lord. In this I must question your judgment. These bastards are beyond any mercy ve should offer. Their punishment should meet their crimes. They, as worshipers of Smurt, would love a quick death. They must die, but not without the same pain their victims suffered.!"

Yaz has lost it by this point:

"Oh for f*ck's sake, doesn't that suffering gob ever shut? This isn't about your fucking moral idealisms... Can't you SEE? F*ck!"

Yaz bounds up to Baltzarek, reaches into the priest's robes at around crotch level, grabs hold of his nads and twists without mercy. Then he turns back to Winnacer and continues his rant while holding Baltzarek in his grip.

Bennett smiles as he sees the druid losing it:

"Don't fondle those things, squeeze, dammit!"

"I've heard enough fucking melodrama for a lifetime!" continues Yaz. "Let's cut the blow-hard speeches and make the sucker pay!"

He gives Baltzarek another quarter-turn.

"And if you, Young Lord Winnacer, give us another lecture on Justice and political procedure, you'll find cold steel invading your nether regions immediately after I wipe the puke from my frothy lips!"

Indeed, Yaz's lips are frothy even now.

Bennett laughs:

"Hot damn! Get crazy, you leaf-eating maniac!"

Winnacer reluctantly agrees with Yaz, Xavier and Karel, but suggests that they are stripped naked and then bound up tightly. Yaz's response to Winnacer's suggestion is immediate:

"Don't be an idiot," screams Yaz frantically. "How can they EAT each other if they're tied up?? Keep 'em free, and strip 'em down. Supply 'em with a knife and fork, help 'em out, make 'em fight over them."

"Just wish I could watch," adds Yaz, a crazed look in his eye. He continues to hyperventilate, and releases Baltzarek's jewels only after being suitably convinced that he should. He spits in the Death Priest's eye and punches him in the gut, as hard as he can (which is not very hard), as he lets him go.

Winnacer parts Yaz from Baltzarek easily, and looks very hard into Yaz's eyes, seeing the crazed pain that lies within his head:

"Sometimes Yaz, you are more right than you know. We should not act like monsters, but we are not ice cubes."

Winnacer's face loosens up, revealing a shocking degree of once sublimated hatred.

"But you never do anything right Yaz..."

Winnacer, with the strength of the Belt surging through him, hauls off and smashes Baltzarek in the gut so hard as to lift him into the air.

"That's how you do it Yaz..."

Winnacer is notably shaking, his face contorted with anger and long-repressed ancestral bloodthirst that even Bennett would feel the need to step back. Winnacer looks down at the doubled over form of Baltzarek and shakes even more, and without a word slowly walks out to the town square, his tears left unseen by those left in the temple.

Xavier walks purposely over to Yaz, putting his hand gently upon the Fey's shoulder:

"Peace brother, no quick death vill they get while I live. They vill die carrying to their dying breath the nature of their foul crimes. I have seen much in my time, but nothing compares to this foulness that I have seen performed by these bastards"

Jihan looks around in surprise, as one by one, the other half of his brothers start pushing for a slow, torturous death for the priests, after the other half veritably pounced on a quick one.

Shaking his head, the elf blinks once... twice:

"What in the Nine Hells are you talking about? Starving these beasts to death? Torturing them for weeks?"

Yaz, still frothing, looks at Jihan like: "Well duh...?"

"Are you forgetting that this man is a priest still in favour with Smurt, and able to bring down His blessings upon us?" continues Jihan. "If we brick them in that room, he will have all the time he needs to formulate a plan of escape. Yaz, you know how easy it was for you to bypass doors with Prirodna's favours, why should it be any more difficult for him?"

"Oh f*ck off!" interjects Yaz angrily. "I can't do those things without my holy shit, and neither can he. Take away that skull-mace of his an' I bet he's useless!"

"And if you are to have him waste away for weeks," continues the elf, "you must still bring him water, exposing you to whatever influences of the mind Smurt is able to grant the man. Who is to say that with Smurt's power, this man will not be able to conjure food and water for himself and his henchmen every day, foiling your attempts at 'justice' and giving himself ample time to plan a route of escape. You cannot hold a tiger in a straw-woven hut, and such may be just what this place appears for one with the powers Smurt grants."

Yaz cups his hands and hollers at Jihan as loud as he can:

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME... What you're saying is bullshit! I don't care about tigers and huts; this f*cker's gonna suffer!"

Looking around at the townspeople and his companions alike for any signs of remorse, the elf again shakes his head:

"But pure reason aside, would you perpetuate atrocity with more atrocity?"

"Sounds like fucking 'reason' to me. Don't you feel? ANYTHING??" asks Yaz, obviously incensed now.

The elf has been attempting to ignore Yaz's swearing interruptions up to this point, but this one stops him cold.

"What are you TALKING about," he begins angrily, "I just said I would KILL this man! I said I would take my sword, and nice and neatly separate his head from his neck. KILL HIM!!! Did I say kiss him and tuck him in for the night? Where do YOU get off saying whether or not anyone feels anything?!? Do you think I don't feel the pain of these people because I don't twist Baltzarak's balls around in my hand and threaten to subject him to a fate I wouldn't wish on any living thing? ... F*CK YOU, brother!!"

At that, Jihan calms a little and then continues:

"Xavier, when your people took back their homeland, did they hold the elves captive for generations, inflicting all the same things on them as they'd done to you?" Jihan continues. "This man has broken the law, and procedures aside," he says with an acidic look in Yaz's direction, "he must pay the price for it."

"Aw shit, this is another speech, isn't it? Wanna let me know when you're done?"

Yaz turns around and holds his ears with his palms. "F*ck!" he proclaims, exasperated.

"If a deer tramples a bear's cub," continues Jihan, "does the bear tie the deer up to a tree and tear strips of its hide of and rub salt into the wounds? What kind of war are we fighting here? Are we fighting for the same rights to commit various tortures and other atrocities that the Nyemetz have claimed for themselves? Are we trying to justify our own desire to have self gratification in such matters? Is not righting the wrong and regaining our freedom enough of this in itself?"

"No one deserves the kind of punishment you speak of. No one! He will die, by my blade or Bennett's, but we will not become Him or the Nyemetz by torturing him to death. If we have any sense of value left, we will end this nightmare here and now, and prolong it no more. I would see no more evil done in the name of Boscobelous on this day, or ever! We must move onwards, and not tie ourselves down by such practices. Now if you do not release that man, your arm may get in the way while his head is cut off..."

Yaz peers from behind his elbow at Jihan tentatively, and when he sees he's done speaking, lowers his hands:

"Good, the elf's said his speech. Now, can we get on with it??"

"If the majority of you wants to go along with this, then fine," adds Jihan. "It is your decision to live with. I'm not saying that my way is better, but it feels more right to me. If no one cares about what I say, then fine, that is your choice as well. No one seems to listen to a damned word I say anyway..."

Karel has been quiet during the escalating row concerning the fate of Baltzarek and his henchmen, listening to each man make their points. As Jihan finishes, Karel turns and speaks to him:

"You and I have a different idea of justice, although I believe that, had your wife taken her own life as a result of this monster's actions, then perhaps you would think the same as I. However, I believe that we all share the same ideals in terms of democracy. The decision as to what fate should befall the evil-incarnate is not mine to make, nor is it yours, or your comrades. It should be for the villagers to decide upon."

Karel calls upon the twelve men and women that had previously been called upon to serve as a jury and puts the question to them:

"My friends and neighbors, the decision is yours to make. Should we show mercy to these monsters, or should we sentence them to a fate commensurate with their crimes? All in favor of a quick death, please raise their hands now."

Just one elderly man raises his hand.

"Very well" replies Karel. "The people have made their decision. They wish him to suffer for his crime. Yet I am not without mercy, I will give the choice to them."

He takes a knife from his belt.

"I will give them this. If the punishment becomes to much for them, then the option of a quick release will be theirs to make."

Winnacer reluctantly agrees to the villagers' decision.

"We should, however, ensure that there is no possibility of their escape. Jihan, would you please check the room to ensure that it is perfectly secure?"

Jihan agrees to the task and spends quite a while within the chamber of horrors, checking every inch of the walls, floor and ceiling.

"All is secure, brother" the elf says after checking. "There is no escape possible from the room."

With that the three men are led into the room. Together with Karel, the party frees them of their bonds and then strip the three men naked, checking them to ensure that they have nothing upon them which may help them to cast spells. Then they leave and Karel throws the knife in amongst them before closing the door and locking the door shut.

As the three men hear the door locking behind them, they start to panic, beating on the door with their fists, begging to be released. Two villagers arrive with hod-carriers full of bricks carrying a bucket of mortar. They then start to lay bricks in front of the door, eagerly assisted by Bennett, eventually drowning out the sound of the Death Priests' cries for mercy.