Of Misplaced Magic
Fifth Day of the Twelfth Month 294 AC
For a long moment there was silence in the chamber, thoughtful as it was companionable. Viserys was nothing if not thorough in considering his options, Garin knew, and this was rather a large one he had strung over cinnamon soup, impacting as it did the functioning of the Inquisition over almost half the realm. "I think we should leave things as is," he said at last. "There will be misunderstandings, I do not doubt, and offense will be taken, but better that the lords and citizens alike grow accustomed to the ways of the Inquisition than for it to play games of stagecraft. All it would take is one drawing of the currtain at the wrong moment and we would be far worse off, not to mention that perception impacts identity. The least thing the Imperium needs is a cultural cleavage inside the Inquisition."
The High Inquisitor nodded, acknowledging the point as much as the command, but he added also, "There are going to be incidents, public ones as time goes on. We cannot count on always stamping out the fire before the smoke shows."
"The realm is strong enough to withstand a bit of friction for the sake of the Inquisition doing its job," Viserys' words were confident, and rightly so from what Garin had seen. For a state so new to the world, the Imperium was set upon foundations of stone, but still its walls were as wood and friction could make sparks.
Modifier Skewed Perceptions added to Inquisition actions: -5 to all actions taking place in Westeros
***
Alas, the day was not done with its downpour of poor reports and unwelcome news, though at least this one did not originate with any trouble of the Inquisition, it was simply that the local commissar had heard the news first and carried it furthest. It had all started with a simple criminal case. A petty Riverlander noble, Ser Karl Barliman, had been appointed steward of Baron Condon who was...
Garin shuffled through the papers to make sure he was not mixing up his nobles and their ranks, they were as touchy as the Volantines about it.
...One of the principal vassals of Count Cerwyn, himself a vassal of the Starks of Winterfell. By all accounts, this Barliman fellow had promised that he would revolutionize irrigation, the better to take advantage of the new harvest riutals and foreign grain types, but the results had not been near as remarkable as the baron had expected, and he had not been inclined to listen to any excuses about poor soil quality and the time it would take to fix it. Thus, the lord had gotten it into his head that he was robbed and, being the local dispenser of justice that he was, tossed Barliman into the dungeons awaiting trial.
To his seeming good fortune, House Condon had the services of a leshy magician, one who could weave simple truth finding spells, and the lord being a direct sort of fellow made use of these magics as the only source of evidence in the trial, for after all what more would be needed than the blessing of the Old Gods?
When he reached that part of the report Garin practically winced in his seat. It did not take a genius to realize what was coming.
The accused resisted the spell on the grounds that he was innocent and would submit to any 'witchery'. When the leshy reported that the man had denied the spell, the already incensed baron had taken that as a sign he was adding blasphemy to trickery and theft, and declared him guilty and had him hanged.
Ser Karl had not been guilty, though if that had been the end of it perhaps it could have been smoothed over without coming out into the public eye, but he had actually managed to smuggle out a letter to Duke Manderly, who had among his many titles the Defender of the Faith, and took it seriously when it came to the North. In this letter, the doomed Ser Karl passionately defended his right to be judged based on evidence fairly gained and not the work of spirits and the weaving of spells that he would not have to bare the inner sanctum of his mind to preserve his life.
Manderly was already flying to the capital and according to his valet, who had been an Inquisition source for the past three months, he was utterly furious not only at Baron Conton, but at the wide latitude of judges to command truth spells and interpret the results. He apparently intended to make a proposal in the Curia that one could opt out of the use of any magics on religious grounds so long as one was a member of a recognized religion.
Aid in Imposing Imperial Law Centers of Production (Ministry of Magic): 29 - 10 (Failed accompanying Inquisition action) = 19 (Failure)
What do you do?
[] Speak to Duke Manderly about his proposal before he takes it to the floor
-[] Write in
[] Address the matter once it reaches the floor of the Curia
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: Not the worst place you could have had a fail, still a bit of a pickle for you judicially since the fact that the offending spell was cast by a leshy is going to make this a bit of a religiously charged question as well. Not yet edited.
I'm so happy to see he didn't sulk in Hell forever. More chance for devil names!
