So the main question for me here is, is he deliberately lying about conditions in the colleges or does he legitimately not know? Because with the knowledge that most apprentices simply fail to graduate and become
Apprentices-In-Perpetuity (Yes I know, fandom wiki, sorry. Can't be bothered to dig up realms of sorcery right now) it seems to me like he's trying to play into the biases he thinks a Templar might have regarding the colleges in order to manipulate Markus into letting him go.
He may not know for sure much more then someone who has never interacted with anyone from the Colleges but I am sure he is trying to manipulate Markus all the same.
Because of his refusal to do his duty his father in a effort to protect and help a son he loved got involved with a Witch who even Rikard says was a bad person who was using our father in pursuit of Dark Goals. Rikard thinks that not casting spells even though he has admitted to studying Arcane texts and to having the ability to cast Magic means he is putting no one at risk. This is a Disingenuous at best when he had a hand in his father's fate and is putting both his Sister, Mother and all the servants at risk body and soul.
Our brother is a arrogant fool who it seems cares more for perceived threats to his Freedom then the fact that he lead his father into the hands of a Witch with Evil goals that caused his father to start messing around with dark powers.
If Rikard could see that the Witch who called herself Etelka Herzen was using his father as part of a plan to enact some Evil scheme then he should have turned himself over to the Colleges for training thus giving his father no more reason to work with the Witch and maybe saving his live. We have evidence in his art that he has been painting Arcane formulas into to his pieces of art so how can we trust anything he has told us at this point.
We have a duty to our Empire to stop his walking this foolish path and to the family put our Sister's and the servant well being before their like of Markus as a person. Maria may come to hate us for the choice we must make but at least she will be alive and whole in body and spirit to do so.
I would like to take him alive but that does not seem to be a option so this is my vote.
Ah, fuck. That's a heart-wrenching twist. Markus is going to have to deal with the aftermath of being both a patricide and a fratricide, isn't he?
Turns out our brother could have saved his father if he had admitted he was the Magic user learning from the Witch but he did not, so Markus is not the only guilty party it seems.
Though you could always just puch him really really hard, toss him over your horse and ride to the colleges. Like dude, your little brother is a stick/nerd and you're a jock. Stop the drama and start the bullying.
I agree that it's a bit weird that we can't try to physically over power him and bring him in but I guess if we try their is the whole loaded pistol in his hands and the drawn sword resting against the table that would make the attempt dangerous at best.
[X] Turn a Blind Eye
There's a point at which the necessity of having laws meets the cruelty of enforcing them blindly.
I would say that it is not cruel to bring a selfish man to just for putting not just his Sister but all his servants lives at risk of the monstrous ghost of the father he let die to protect his secret studying of Arcane Magic. It is enacting justice painful as that might be for Markus.
For all that Rikard is, we've seen no signs of him actually cavorting with daemons. It puts him at risk of discovery after all, so what would even be the point? Their father wanted to hide him from the Colleges, and we know that Rikard won't do anything to compromise the wishes of the father he so loved. If Markus is there to help guide him, then all the better.
Where are you getting that Rikard can be talked around into to anything. He has refused point blank to go to the College and has not given any kind of Oath to not mess around with Magic in anyway as we have seen he is Painting Magical symbols into his art.
[X] Turn a Blind Eye
I hope this isn't a terrible mistake. Neither of the options feels good, but I can't justify murdering someone who merely has the capacity to be dangerous, but who hasn't used that power.
So we are to ignore that Rikard sacrificed his father so he could study magic and was quite willing to let a Monstrous Ghost of his father suffer and in danger the lives of his family and and everyone that works for his family. The man is selfish and walking away will not lead to a go out come.
For goodness sake, stop being ridiculous. It is incredibly easy to understand why Rikard acted the way he did. Your arguments are bad and you should stop making them. Also, your arguments sound pro-cop in the worst way possible.
This is a guy who was so against going to the Colleges that his father went looking for Magic users outside the law and found one that even Rikard was old enough and smart enough to know did not have good intentions and then was quite okay with his father burning at the stake for crimes his son was mostly responsible for. I for one do not find his actions understandable when we have clear evidence that those who go to the Colleges are not slaves for all that studying Magic in a dangerous thing to do.
He is not. All these years, before and after his father's death, and he hasn't taken a single step down any road to damnation. And besides that, remember how Rikard described Petr's association with Etelka - it's something that Rikard disapproved of, that he described as honeyed poison. By his actions we know he isn't becoming worse, by his words we know he has no intention to become worse.
He has not been hurting anyone these past many years, is not hurting anyone now, and has no intention of hurting anyone in the future. The right thing and the law do not match up in this situation. Killing him for seeing colours is wrong.
For one you are trusting the word of a man who as you say could see that the Witch was a Evil person and yet did nothing to stop his father finding the women and spending time with the Witch getting information because he did not want to have to go to the Colleges like everyone else. This is a selfish person who claims that those who go to the Colleges held in bondage by them with no freedom which we know is false all because he wants power but none of the responsibility.
The Fool is putting Arcane symbols and formulas in his artworks that I bet he sells to other nobles and that is a example of spending the years since Markus left studying and messing around with magic. We have evidence he is a liar by his own words and the paintings that are present in the room.
I've looked back at my posts and I haven't told you to change your vote. I've told you to stop making shit arguments and to stop thinking that violence or execution are valid responses to yelling at law enforcement.
So you don't think they are a valid response to Rikard threatening violence when we say he needs to fallow that law and thus also gain forgiveness for his past crime?
Plus, reminder that he's an imperial noble. Killing him would make the world a better place. Ask any peasant.
I agree with everything you said except the last bit as Imperial Nobles make up a good portion of the Empire military forces at anyone time so a good portion of them are being of use to everyone on the side of Order again Chaos and Destruction.
