Martial
Making the Arrest
DC: 23. Roll: 17 + 2 + 3 + 4.0 = 26.0
Diplomacy
Small Claims
DC: 20. Roll: 20 + 6.2 = 26.2 HIDDEN THRESHOLD: 25 CLEARED
You decide to take the opportunity to go and deal with a bunch of smaller issues, resolving certain claims that had percolated through the tangled mess of the legal system. Getting the Countess to deputize you was a fairly trivial task, especially considering how fast you could simply resolve a bunch of the lower cases.
So you went out into the countryside to do just that, figuring you might be able to also pick up a few arrests while you were swinging though.
Except, you immediately notice that many of the plaintiffs and defendants aren't showing up - and there are a whole bevy of new cases that seem to have sprung up.
You go back and immediately review the old cases. They were mostly about whether a farmer had overplanted into their neighbor's plots, whether they had allowed their livestock to overgraze the others - and in many cases, either the plaintiff, the defendant, or both were dead. In their wake, a new set of cases seems to have sprung up around the new freedmen's plots - at least, if they were reported. It appeared that just about everyone was exploiting them in some small deniable way, just enough for it to be a benefit but not enough for the freedmen to actually afford some kind of justice. Not coincidentally, the list of people who were busy committing this sort of fraud against their neighbors also happened to be on the list of people who you knew were particularly responsible for the Bloody May.
You use this connection to sever any ties of goodwill between the forces the Countess assigned to you and the ones you want to arrest - you point out that not only did they make all of them feel responsible for the events of the Bloody May, but they also used the soldiers as a way to profit at everyone else's expense. It wasn't really revenge so much as it was murdering someone for their plot - and this gets the soldiers angry enough that you feel comfortable going in for the arrest.
The freedmen can't pay you, given how they've been systematically robbed over the past few months, but the Countess comes through with the money owed, even if she looks despondently at her budget.
Intrigue
Conduit Protection
DC: 20. Roll: 22 + 9.8 = 31.8
CRITICAL!
Effect: Free Cadre Action
You decide to get to work setting up an organization to watch over the trial, just so that you can dedicate your work to doing other things. You instill in a bunch of kids and adults a sense of discipline, a sense of belonging, and some basic training, and then set them up to guard the jail.
You're apparently far more successful then you've thought, because they started developing their own secret handsigns and gestures and are going around calling themselves the Guardians of the Spirits, and answering to you directly like you're some kind of leader or something.
You weren't...really expecting that, but alright. You'll need to start telling them to answer the Countess when you're gone, but for now, they're a great help in this area.
Learning
Ghostwatching
DC: 27. Roll: 20 + 7.1 = 27.1
Piety Reaction
Ghost Outbreak
DC: 30. Roll: 24 + 4.2 = 28.2
Random Event Roll: 82
You dispatch Tekla out to the graveyards to take notes on how exactly these clinging spirits turn into ghosts - only to be unpleasantly surprised when the next thing you hear is a large-scale ghost outbreak, since nobody had actually gotten around to taking care of those lingering spirits properly.
Great masses of white wispy spirits hung over the land like a thundercloud, contained only briefly and weakly by the seals you had left on the ground, just as a precautionary measure. You try reinforcing the seals you had set up, but to no avail - they fail, and you inevitably have to fall back. A sense of dread sweeps through you as the skies darken, the world fades away, and you feel a deep and primal hunger - you know this is just the effect of ghost sickness, but it still deeply unsettles you. When Cormag arrives in with his Gnarled Rod, he's somewhat surprised when the power behind it and his words fails to sway the ghosts, only to temporarily halt them rather than properly disperse them and allow the spirits to pass on.
Fortunately for you, this ghost outbreak doesn't seem to have spread to the other grave sites, but you'll probably need to disperse both, and quickly.
In another bonus, although Tekla was haggard and barely able to stay awake for the first few days after escaping the point-blank ghost outbreak, he threw himself into a frenzy of writing for the next week, jotting down all his notes about how the ghosts formation had taken hold. By the end of the week, he handed you the Endless Pen back, hair like a bird's nest tangling into a veritable jungle. He bends over to hand you the notes, carefully holding up his pants because his belt no longer fits against his waist.
You scan the ream of documents for a moment, before sighing and throwing up your hands. Tekla's already barely legible chickenscratch has completely devolved into an unreadable mess - though you can't blame him too much, deciding to stick right by the ghost outbreak and certainly experiencing what must have been a far worse ghost sickness.
Stewardship
Documentation Consolidation
DC: 15. Roll: 23 + 9.4 = 32.4
Piety
Broad Trials
DC: 28. Roll: 24 + 3 + 2 + 4.2 = 33.2
You collate the testimony you've received over the past few months, and start to make a coherent case. While you can certainly pin some of the blame on the few instigators, to judge them alone would be wrong - you find it notable that you have testimony of the crowds devolving into mad violence, as well as lone events where someone started something, but the riots sputtered out before they could even start. Clearly, there was a madness in crowds - and thus all could be held accountable for helping fan the flames.
But -
there had to be a proportionality to it all.
For many, while you're certain that some are certainly guilty of something, you have no way of proving it. To stone an innocent person for another's crimes would be injustice, and yet clearly some reconciliation must be had - you cannot simply pretend as though no harm was done.
At least, that's the argument you feed to the prosecuting spirits, who seem to slowly come around to your viewpoint.
The argument is made in front of the court, and while the defense, now speaking on behalf of all the spirits doesn't violently agree or disagree, their mutedness is seen as a sign of quiet assent. No one is coming forth to repent, or even to explain what reconciliation would look like - but that is the framework that the court seems to be adapting, even as the spirits of the dead begin to form ghosts.
Service Revenue: 4 Budget.
Costs of Services Sold: 1 Budget.
Salaries and Wages Expense: 3 Budget.
Net Profit: 0 Budget.
Remaining Budget: 68 Budget.
The living province is healing. New shoots are emerging from the ground of the massacres, and the spirits are slowly beginning to speak of reconciliation. Of course, some of the dead that you uncovered as part of your investigation last month have begun developing into full-blown ghosts, so you're definitely going to need to handle that. In general, however...you've probably done just about enough in this province. The core issue is resolved, and an outsider imposing justice on the province would probably be entirely the wrong set of tools.
Just - something to consider.
With 68 Budget remaining, it's your call about how much money you want to spend this turn.
You have one [Free] Action that you may spend on an action in any category.
You can cooperate with your teammates to add +3 base stat to an action that you are cooperating on. It is represented by using your [Free] Action on one of your already-selected Actions. This can include selecting the Trial Action that Cormag must take every turn.
Martial (Choose 1) {Kerrie Action}
[] [Martial] Protection Detail
You're worried that after pointing out that your new detainees were busy profiting off their neighbor's murder, that the population at large might decide it's okay to visit some vengeance on them. Best to keep a protective detail on them. DC: 21. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Transferring Command
You're not going to stay in this province forever - better to hand off command to someone who might be able to properly make use of their loyalty and training. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
Diplomacy (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Diplomacy] Patchwork
The messiness of the past few months and the dizzying series of arrests means that you're going to want to help patch the local social fabric back together, or at least answer "so who's farming this land now?" You expect the landholders to pay you some money to ensure that they can at least know what's going on. DC: 20. Gain: 4 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] Merchant Rumors
You're not exactly asking for much - you just want to hear some of the rumors traveling with the merchants, and see where you might need to go next. Fortunately, the Countess has also shown an interest in this kind of thing, so she'll cover the expenses - again. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
Intrigue (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Intrigue] Sneaking In
No need to pay for rumors when you can simply fake your traveling merchant status and get the rumors that way - even if you might be stepping on a few toes, if Kerrie's caught. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Conduit Protection II
You do need to make extra sure that your prisoners and witnesses stay safe - best to head off any misguided attempts to poison the whole thing. Of course, your new Guardians of the Spirits will be a big help in this endeavor. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
Learning (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
[] [Learning] Rewriting the Notes
Okay, this is completely illegible. You want Tekla to set about rewriting his notes in a more organized fashion and with better handwriting so that you can understand whatever it is he's written down. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
Stewardship (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Stewardship] Reporting In
With this new addition, you're going to want to mention it in the final report - which you should definitely get around to writing soon. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Market Research
As a bonus, if you could obtain the manifests and price lists, the merchants would be happy to provide that to you verbally - and you assume that they know you have a mind like a steel trap, but it never hurts to leave that out. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
Piety (Choose 2) {Cormag Action}
[] [Piety] Continuing Justice
You still have some responsibilities in this province, so you can't ask Cormag to give up the frock and the power just quite yet. The process of reconciliation has barely even begun, after all. Incompatible with Transferred Justice. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget. Uses Gnarled Rod.
[] [Piety] Transferred Justice
The fact of the matter is, your squad's basically done what they need to for this province. Time to wrap things up, and leave justice in the hands of those who live here. Incompatible with Continuing Justice. DC: 27. Cost: 0 Budget. Does not use Gnarled Rod.
[] [Piety] Burying the Arisen Dead
Well, you didn't take care of this last month, so it's almost certainly going to be an extra big pain this month, but you do need to disperse the spirits and properly bury the others. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget. Does not use Gnarled Rod.
[] [Piety] Spiritual Testimony
You can encourage the shape of the reconciliation to come by encouraging the spirits to tell the truth of what happened on Bloody May - and perhaps, to finally get some of their own closure. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget. Uses Gnarled Rod.
