Re: The Trial of Pyotr
The small lad stands before the tribunal, dwarfed by his his judges, his jury, and his executioners, those eager to see his blood flow, of this he had little doubt.
And though his years had been scant, Pyotr was raised proud, and would neither beg, nor bargain for his safety, be it by appeasing Dobrynya by blowing Stridesmen-quality peppermint scented smoke up his arse, or the dishonorable offer made to him by the so-called 'knight' to trade himself into servitude for possible succor.
The truth would erect his defense, and if (as he imagined) he was now in a place where the Truth had no value, he didn't much care if death was the result.
Though he would like to have had a chance to kiss his mommy good-bye.
"I will not defend myself lord, because I have yet to hear anything that sounded like a legitimate accusation, though who knows what discourse went on, while I was left lying in a dark room so cold I wished for the ability to pee on myself, long after my thirst deprived me of the ability.
"I have been bound, gagged, and neglected to a degree that can only be called torture, and in any civilized land it is these others that would be in chains before a magistrate. But I try to live in the here and now, not dwell in fairy tales.
"I will, however, address the issues brought before you here this morning. Let us start at the hind-quarter," he says, eying Gultunga, " and work our way back to the front. His request was that I be drawn and quartered to preserve the safety of the others, correct?"
He stretches his neck for a moment, cramped in every muscle in his small tortured frame.
"There is every reason to believe that Sir Jean has earned a greater portion of the creatures ire. (He did not spring from Hades or Hel, by the way, he is a creature of fire, dangerous, but not innately evil.) If, as the Stridesmen states, I should be drawn and quartered for the danger I pose to you all, surely the Frankish Knight should be first, as he is the greater focus of the Efreet's rage, no? I simply summoned the creature, i did not trick it. Draw and quarter the Frank!"
He glances around, catching the eyes of a few of his former comrades.
"To be honest, I would not be loathe to have it happen, as long as I go second, considering he came to me with honeyed promises of his ability to dictate your decision today, to sway you to my cause, if I would swear an oath of servitude to him. Apparently the 'evil mage' I am being made out to be is okay, if my magics are used in his cause."
The young elf attempts to swallow, painfully, as his ability to create saliva had vanished hours ago.
"But wait, I was a mind reader, for the entertainment of the masses once, and a mind such as Tunga there, is an open book. 'No, the Knights actions were to save us!', he will protest!"
The lad shakes his head, a wry smile on his lips.
"As were mine, clearly, so if such a defense works for the Frank, it holds true for me as well, in any land of logic."
He blinks, trying to re-moisten his red, dry eyes, long since having lost the fluids with which to cry another drop.
"He doubts my motives, of course.For Glory!" Pyotr mocks.
"Any who know me understand that 'Glory' has never meant two coppers coins to me, and only a fool thinks there is 'glory' to be found in randomly summoning monsters, in an enclosed room, while his comrades appear to be inches away from death outside, anyway. Surely Glory would have been found in slinking away, and using the cube when I had had a chance to study it, yes?
"But not to him, because, to put it simply, most of us tend to judge others by our own measure. And who among us hasn't, at least once, listened to the fractured rhymes and stumbling meter of Tunga, and though, 'here is one who seeks glory'?"
He laughes, roughly.
"By the beard of the human Christ, who spouts out 'drawn and quartered' in such a venue, but one who craves attention, and bathes in drama? His every word is verbal masturbation at it's most self indulgent."
He attempts to spit on the ground in emphasis, but there isn't anything to come out.
"No, I will not defend myself against such a folly, if he worked in the circus, he would wear a cap with bells, and bells annoy me."
Turning towards Dynna and Alyna, he does his best to bow in their direction, without impaling his soft, Adams-apple-free throat on the blade.
"The pretty ladies do not accuse, but in their voices are echoes of the words of others; of the Efreet, whom many of you trust so well as to believe his every word, that I am some illusion, some ancient in the guise of a child. Well I will tell you this, I have seen things, and done things, no child, as you humans understand the concept, should ever know.
"But I do not claim to be a human child. Surprise!
"That does not deny the fact that all that I have seen and done, has been thru the eyes of one whose maturity is not what you expect from one who has lived four decades on the plains and mountains of these lands."
he glances around again, looking for a cavalryman, or a farmer in the crowd.
"Many animals are near full grown in a year or two, correct? Would you, or you, put your one and two year old sons into an infantry line?"
He pauses, in case of laughter from the crowd at the bizarre though.
"Of course not. Nor would you ride into combat on a twenty year old horse, despite the fact a human child with so many years has reached his maturity.
"These are facts you face everyday, but when fear enters a persons heart, he assumes the worst. Am I a 'human child'? No. Nor am I am elven infant. My mind races ahead of my body, and I control some small eldritch power, but my body races ahead of my heart, and no amount of travel, reading, combat or discourse can increase the pace at which I ripen.
"Am I accused of being different then you? My apologies my lord, but this offense I cannot defend myself against. If this be the charge, Then please, please Tunga, and send for some bizarre fletching device, and have my flesh shredded from my form and spewed around the square, while he does a happy dance in the Elven-Rain with bells on his shoes, and tears of joy in his beady eyes, but I will die happy knowing I am not like him."
He glances about, perhaps not wisely demanding to know if those around are like him as well.
"My mentors often test me with games of memory and order. If I recall correctly, Barmak spoke before the gentle ladies. He charged me with reckless endangerment, and theft... theft of an item taken from a dead mans chest at sea. From whom did I steal it? The man I helped slay, in protection of the Captain's ship? The only theft was the attempted theft of the captain, in trying to take my rightful piece of the treasure, after I used by abilities to divine the purposes of them all. My only crime was in honestly sharing the nature of the cube, but that was a childish indiscretion that I will never repeat, mostly because I expect to be dead within the hour. Would it have been safer in the hands of one who did not understand the cube, but who could summon such creatures simply by touching the side of the cube incorrectly? Leaving that in the hands of those without training and knowledge would have been a much more heinous crime."
He gives a sharp glance in Barmak's direction, followed by a sad shake of his head.
"Did saving Ulf's life give you not a glimmer of my heart? How dead must your own be..."
He takes a deep breath, and turns his attention once more to the judge.
"But he also accused me of 'putting this city at serious risk'! Yes, indeed, risk, a risk I shared. But if there is guilt to be found in putting this city at risk, then seek out and slay those who hired the Pechengii mercenaries! Certainly that risk was greater, and brought about with more foreknowledge then my actions. To my eyes, the city was lost, and all my comrades dead. I was away from the wall, I could easily have gotten free, but instead I used my limited abilities to forestall the attack on the gate, and when these powers ran dry, I did the only thing I could do; I rolled the dice. Did I know the potential risk? Yes, I confess, I did. But I had an equal chance of summoning a powerful being for good, and a much greater chance of summoning some mindless beast, that I hoped to drop into the fray. "
His eyes light up a bit, clearly enraptured at this alternate world, where his efforts had gone more in the way he had hoped.
"Justice says those that hired the mercenaries should die before be, if this is the charge, as my offense was a direct result of their foolishness, ipso facto. But if you declare Death to those who risk, and dare, and hope, you kill more then myself in this world, and if you declare Death for those who risk themselves to save others, then kill me now, for I do not wish to live in such a cowardly world."
He pauses, sucking in a deep breath. His voice was now ragged almost to whispers, but he continues. Not in panic, but with a clear intent to finish before he is slain.
He glances in the direction of Zmija, and smirks.
"I don't even know who that guy is, but I don't think he was even there when I claimed the cube, I have no clue why he thinks it was theft, but that point has been addressed."
He pauses, his eyes glazed, his thoughts turned inward. He comes to a decision, and speaks again.
"In all honesty, I must tell you, if I live, I will consider that cube my property. Throwing it to the bottom of the sea will only postpone by reclaiming it. Keeping it will earn you my undying hatred. It is mine, by right. By right of combat, by right of knowledge, and by maritime law, and I make my claim clear and open, for all here before me, and the gods above to see. If the point of this trial is in fact to claim that device, out of greed for wealth, greed for power, or greed for greeds sake, then justice should have no part of your decision here today, only fear. Of me."
He sags, clearly sapped of his last bit of energy.
"If that is all, I am a miserable wreck, I am sick of the stench of my own bowel movements, I fear that fewer then three of my fingers will ever work again, and I am so hungry I would only harm myself if you gave me a last meal, so let us skip it. Please summon your executioner, and let us have at. Please."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:02, Fri 12 Mar 2010.