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A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover

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[X] "The Imperium does not punish children for the deeds of their parents. Your children, should you both be found guilty, will become wards of the state and be treated with all the care and compassion this implies."
-[X] "We are not barbarians after all."
 
DragonParadox said:

Lessons Learned Late ​

Eighteenth Day of the Fifth Month 294 AC

"The Imperium is the legal successor to the state of the Iron Throne, which has been dissolved by order of the rightful sovereign of said entity. The deeds recounted here were illegal under custom and law of the Iron Throne, so it falls on the Imperium to prosecute those who broke them," you reply dryly. "For an example of how absurd clinging to the specificity of this instance is, let us for a moment consider the following. A man walks into a keep in Westeros or a burgher's house or a crofter's cottage, there is a fight and the stranger kills all within by magic. Upon this murderer being caught, if he should claim that his deeds could not be murder for behold, there was no provision for killing by sorcery, then any judge of good will shall hold him in rightful contempt. Why then should we count slavery any different because the scars it leaves are less obvious than a body on the ground?"

Slowly your gaze moved above the head of the accused and to the members of the Curia and the much wider audience beyond the mirror. "The argument Lord Lannister is making, if argument it could be called, is that slavery and murder were both legal in the Seven Kingdoms, if only the one who enacted it was 'clever' enough to choose the right weapon for their dark deeds." You pause again and return your gaze to the now quietly seething Tywin Lannister. After all, you had just compared him to a common criminal. A pity for him that you have no intention of stopping until the argument was driven well home. "That is a stance that most legal scholars would likely consider amusing until you tell them that you are willing to stake your life on such nonsense." Your smile is cold and cold is your heart as you look down upon the accused. Funny, you had always imagined your anger would run hot this day, but the only thing you feel now is the simple desire to see this and to wring from the moment as much use as your burgeoning realm can gain.

There is much to be learned from the tale of Tywin Lannister and there is yet more to be learned from that of Gerion, his brother, and Lanna, his goodsister, for they did not start on their path with thoughts of tyranny and domination, but found for them justifications along the way. Fight fire with fire and soon all is ash...

You cannot bring either of them into the chamber of the Curia. Even with you, Malarys, and Garin all in attendance, they might still try something and a fight, even one won, would send entirely the wrong message, and as for the means you could give to ensure they cannot pose a threat, well many of them are going to look like torture and the most oft used would render them unable to speak in their own defense.

So instead you had arranged for two small mirrors to be rolled in, each projecting the likeness of one of the two from secure holding cells for the remainder of the trial. There can be no doubt on the matter of slavery once you had heard testimonials from some of the Golden Shields who had been bound with geas and ritual. One of them does try to spit at Tywin, which while understandable is a disruption and more than a bit distracting from the fact that poor Malarys is left having to explain the arcane 'organization' of the Westerlander mages in full court. Here, too, some of the lords are allowed to say their peace and to show that far beyond 'simply' enforcing the oaths of bannerman and banner lord, the magics were used for the enrichment of House Lannister. Moreover, binding spells were used to control those beyond even the borders of the Westerlands, hinting that were things allowed to flow in the same channel for long, many more of the lords and ladies of the Seven Kingdoms would find themselves bound...

"I would like..." a voice breaks into the middle of one of Malarys presentations. It is Lanna. "I would like to change my plea to guilty. There is in truth no point arguing this now, but to try to belittle the pain and suffering we have caused and thus multiply it. I lost my way and allowed my magic to be abused in the very ways I once vowed I would not countenance. Nothing is worth that, not should the seas rise up filled with foul brood or the ice grind us all down, or the hells open to devour us. I ask the court only that they look with mercy upon my husband..."

"Six times," Gerion breaks in, shouts almost. "Six times I convinced you to stick with the heartless... well, I shall not call him a bastard, because it would be an insult to our mother's virtue. We should have sailed the fuck away and not looked back. No, if you are guilty of this, it is not any more than me. I ask of the throne only that Leon, Leila, and Joy not have to live under the shadow of our deeds as much as it can be done. Let it end with us." He looks you right in the eye, and his distant gaze is clear as the sea on a sunny day. "May you have better fortune than us in navigating these hurdles, Your Majesty."

What (if anything) do you reply?

[] Write in

OOC: When faced with a mountain of evidence, some people are going to just plead guilty in the hopes of saving, if not their legacy, then at least some of their final moments upon the earth. Still, a Lannister is still a Lannister to the end, pride and all hence Gerion's advice at the end.
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Made some additional edits to the chapter, DP.
 
[X] Azel

"Ask the Archon of Tyrosh what I did to his children upon his rightful overthrow."

...

"Nothing, in fact, I rewarded them when they came to my aid. His son learns in the Scholarum. His daughter enjoys royal favor and the protection of the Crown from persecution for her bearing witness to his deeds."

...

"I am really, very, extremely tired of being painted with the same brush as the man in that box over there. If you are all to take anything away from this trial, please let it be that we are nothing alike in this one thing, if nothing else. I don't punish children for the sins of their parents."
 
Crake said:
[X] Azel

"Ask the Archon of Tyrosh what I did to his children upon his rightful overthrow."

...

"Nothing, in fact, I rewarded them when they came to my aid. His son learns in the Scholarum. His daughter enjoys royal favor and the protection of the Crown from persecution for her bearing witness to his deeds."

...

"I am really, very, extremely tired of being painted with the same brush as the man in that box over there. If you are all to take anything away from this trial, please let it be that we are nothing alike in this one thing, if nothing else. I don't punish children for the sins of their parents."
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Being fair to Gerion he is not saying you are going to hurt the kids, just that they will be marked by the sins of their parents and would like you to shield them from that as much as may be done.
 
DragonParadox said:
Being fair to Gerion he is not saying you are going to hurt the kids, just that they will be marked by the sins of their parents and would like you to shield them from that as much as may be done.
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They will have opportunity, but it will only come from us. If they are good citizens, upon their age of majority if they should find all else turn them away from service, the government will not turn them away. They can rely on the state to protect them from violence, but it can't change the opinions of those who think they might gain our ire by employing them.

And if they should want to expatriate to another realm, the state doesn't bar people from travel outside the realm--though the Ministry of Information might recommend against it. After all, only in Armun Kelisk is slavery outlawed, and only in the Opaline Vault might you find better defenses and quickly responding law enforcement.

Yes, some places on the Plane of Water don't allow slavery, but those states are so disparate that they can't be said to stand on the same ground unless you somehow united all of them together.
 
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@Crake, cram Joffrey to Bronze Yon and let's spread Lannas kids to the other options.

- one to Volantis for Zherys to corrupt
- one in SD to be corrupted by our other wards
- one to the Iron Isles for Roderick and Asha to corrupt
 
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Azel said:
@Crake, cram Joffrey to Bronze Yon and let's spread Lannas kids to the other options.

- one to Volantis for Zherys to corrupt
- one in SD to be corrupted by our other wards
- one to the Iron Isles for Roderick and Asha to corrupt
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So Joffrey to Runestone, Leila to Volantis, Joy to Pyke/Harlaw and Leon to the Imperial Palace.
 
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