A Sentence Passed in Shadow
Twenty-Second Day of the Eight Month 292 AC
You briefly consider allowing Hermetia to speak while you ponder the deeper implications of Zherys' ambitions and their consequence on Volantis and Essos at large. However, though the young lady puts on a brave face, you cannot help but fear that she is outmatched against one of the magister's arcane and political acumen. So you take up the task which they say no noble Volantine would ever deign to partake in: bartering. Oh what fools "they" be: from paupers to princes to the gods upon their thrones, all barter and trade when it proves profitable. Fortunately you are rather skilled at it.
In the shade of a cypress tree, hidden from the sight of the street, you craft Hermetia's testimony to the task of making of magic at once a looming threat to strike at the unprepared and the sword that must be drawn to protect the city. Zherys paints a picture of a trial that has played out like a mummer's farce so far, a chance for the Elephants to trample their rivals into the dust as they have not been since the end of the Century of Blood. Hermetia is to throw them a lifeline to give them hope of emerging stronger from the crucible of the trial if only they hitch themselves to Zherys' rising star. You cannot help but appreciate the sorcerer's deft hand at manipulation... even as you plot how you might slay him when your interests are no longer aligned without showing your hand.
Do the same thoughts pass though his mind? you wonder.
Alas that the today's plot does not run as smoothly as both of your may have hoped. Strangely enough, it is not the demands for treasure or even for arcane reagents that Zherys balks at, but something more immaterial.
"I cannot see Morono Nephaerys spared excruciation by law," he explains, not even glancing at Hermetia's stricken face. "It would show weakness in the face of treachery." He gives a small contemptuous laugh. "Much as they see themselves above such sport, many of my peers to love the sight of a good execution and o see one who has stood so high be reduced to a bleeding whimpering wreck is a rare thing indeed. Still..." He pauses for a moment, thinking. "I could ensure that he died painlessly in his cell the night before his execution... the revenge of Ymeri it could be called. Yet it will not be without risk. Do you truly value such a thing over more substantive offerings?"
The pleading look in Hermetia's eyes strikes you almost like a physical blow. You know she will play her part regardless of what you choose here out of gratitude for her rescue, but can you ask this of her?
[] No, you can do without Zherys' offerings
[] Yes, you will not pay so much that a traitor and a madman be given a clean death
OOC: Morals can at times be troublesome things.
