Leanne is walking along the winding tunnels of Lord Claw's lair, sulfur stinging her lungs. Up ahead, Lucian is once again grilling Calia on "what's gonna happen when the Crusader. . ." and they launch into another argument, Patches wagging his tail as he follows. It's the closest thing you've had to a group of trustworthy friends since law school.
You round a corner and no longer see them. The walls around you are no longer tortured demons and souls wrought into architecture but are instead brick and wood, faint whitewash on some of the boards. You seem to be in an alley. Looking behind you, you see more alleyway dumping into a street. You hear a shout for help from around the corner ahead of you, followed by a sharp grunt of pain.
Leanne took a moment to compose herself. Hell holes and their teleporting nonsense were always a bit disorienting; even for those initiated to it. She rushed down the alley towards the origins of the shout for help, cane in hand, and ready to be drawn upon criminals.
A well-dressed man, seemingly of noble descent - his skin is too unmarked, his hands look too soft. In one of those hands, he holds a dagger awkwardly, keeping the blood-stained blade away from him and his red velvet coat, a look of disgust (for the blood, not the action) on his face.
Leanne lowers her guard slightly as she steps forward, cane lowered to the ground. "What happened?" She looked around the alley, assessing for any other potential dangers or threats. Never was a fan of nobles...
The noble startles and drops the dagger with a clatter to the cobblestoned ground. He turns around, wiping the look of surprise and guilt from his face. His coat bears the emblem of an Imperial house that you don't immediately recognize, but from the layout and number of elements in it, you can tell it's a fairly high-ranking house with a lot of political sway.
He glances at your badge, surprised to see you're a legislactorator. He clears his throat and stands tall, chin tilted up, his arms folded behind his back. "This commoner wronged me. I defended myself. That is all"
You can usually tell when someone is lying, and he doesn't seem to be, but it doesn't seem to be the complete truth...
"Wronged you? Wronged you how?" Leanne stepped forward and kicked the dagger to the side of the alley as she twirled her cane into both hands, leaning against it as she looked over the so-called 'commoner'. Hold her cards for now, let them play more of their own. The more ammunition stacked against them the better.
"He threatened me. My life was nearly ended by his actions. Justice has been dispensed, so no need for you to waste your time further. Self-defense is fully legal in the Empire, as we both know."
Again, the words ring with truth, but there's a hollowness to them, a slight perversion of truth.
The body of the commoner is simply dressed, but definitely a step or two above the rags or worn-out clothes of most cutthroats. You don't see any armor on him, not even a leather coat. You glance around some more, but no other weapon is in sight except for the dagger you kicked. If this commoner physically threatened Alphonse, it was with his fists.
"Not a single scratch, bruise, abrasion, cut, impression upon your skin... yet your life was nearly ended?" Leanne sighed. "Are you sure that's the case? As a legislacerator, I have been given further permission. It wouldn't be much of a trouble for me to find some budding necromancer or devoted 'death' priest and ask them to speak with this commoner." She tapped her badge. "I do know of someone fitting that exact description too," the Legislacerator half lied; she did know of Birdie but she had no clue where they were currently
The man scowls as anger twists his face. He opens a mouth to speak, then is cut off as laughter and clapping erupts from the roof above you both as a half-gnome girl steps around the chimney she had been hiding behind. You recognize her - Migle Fomwais, someone who went to school with you. She was an excellent tracker, but not so good with legal jargon, and didn't make it into the Legislactorator pilot program. She ended up going into the Investigative branch instead.
"I've been tailing this noble for 3 days off a tip I received from a friend. I was about to swoop in for the arrest after he finally committed his crime, but then to what do my wondering eyes reveal? My old study-mate Leanne, seemingly out of nowhere. I couldn't resist watching to see how you'd handle it. I'll be your witness - Alphonse here cornered that man, and then stabbed him."
The blood drains from Alphonse's face as he takes a step back. Something seems to click in his head, then he straightens again with a smirk.
"I surrender peacefully. Bring me to the local court so that they may judge me. I am sure they will find my definition of self-defense to be sufficient however, so you could save all of us some trouble - and your record a mark - by letting it be"
Leanne nodded, digging in her pouch for restraints as she tied his wrists together. "Fair enough. You are under arrest. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," she started her usual spiel. On the way to the courthouse she takes more of a focus to Migle. "Funny how things work out. I was off in a hellhole trying to retrieve some tablet for one of the chromatic wizards. Something about it being needed to save the world or whatever, you know how they are."
She was much more relaxed, leaning against her cane as she walked. "Hope they made it out alright. I spent a lot of energy helping them out in that mess. Even if one of them was a Crusader lapdog."
Migel climbs down from the rooftops and shows Leanne the way to the nearest courthouse, chatting with her along the way, awe in her voice as she asks about Leanne's accomplishments. The whole way Alphonse stays silent, giving off the aura of a man who is confident he will be found innocent.
You arrive at the courthouse, a tall and impressive building with a marble façade, small but detailed dragons worked into the marble, flowing their way up to the polished granite circle bearing the image of a dragon's claws holding a set of scales in one, and a sword in another, the traditional image depicting law and order in the Empire.
"I can go ahead and file the paperwork so you can go back to saving the world if you so desire, oh humble hero of our realms" Migle says with a huge smile on her face as she throws the jab at you
"Humble? I'm just following where the Legislaceration leads." Leanne laughs. "As if I'd miss out on the paperwork though. Besides, you're best off going and tracking more criminals. Let's just get the mandatory sections involving you completed as quickly as possible so we can get you back on duty." She stepped inside with the noble into the courthouse.
Few things were quite as thrilling for Leanne as catching criminals, though filling the reports and paperwork of an apprehended/executed/detained criminal was almost as pleasing. As pleasing as paperwork can be, at the least. "Oh. What is the date, by the by? I know Hellholes adore time manipulation. As well as space manipulation, reality manipulation, perception manipulation... really
It is currently Spring.32.801.13 - You've lost about a year in the Hellhole. You are currently in Mosscoat, a fairly large Imperial city that serves as the Imperial sister-city to the Dwarven keep of Anvil.
A guard salutes the two of you and takes away Alphonse. He sneers one last time at you both as he leaves. You fill out the paperwork alongside Migel. A friendly aide stamps the paperwork as completed and takes it away.
A loud and magical chime echoes through the courthouse, a detached voice following it - "Attention. Attention. All members of the judiciary and executive branches please report to your nearest scry-enabled meeting chamber. Mages, please tune the scry portals to channel Emerald. This meeting is mandatory. Message will repeat. . ."
Leanne knows that these sort of meetings happen every so often, but the Emerald channel is reserved for very important Empire-wide announcements
Leanne hurried to the nearest meeting chamber, what happened that was this important to call in Emerald? She took position and stood tall, cane in hands, settled directly in front of her. Mandatory meetings weren't... very common lately. Roaming the more rural lands and skipping almost a year DOES kind of skew one's perception about that though.
Two men dressed in the robes of the Archmage's technical staff enter the room and start interacting with the center pedestal that the room's seats are centered around. After some short ritual casting (and one or two grumbles about archaic rune configurations), the scrying portal balloons into existence, a faint emerald shimmer tinging the edges.
The very center of the room features circular table in a ring around the scrying portal, its wood gleaming from being well oiled. Its seats are dedicated to the highest position of the Courthouse, the Supreme Justices. Mosscoat's Supreme Justice takes a seat, and the projections of others in attendance remotely start to flicker in for the other seats. There are 7 across the lands, never more or less, to ensure there are never any ties in important votes.
The old and weathered form of Dowyn Struxon, the High Judicial Wizard who has overseen the growth of the Imperial legal branches for 200 or more years, floats in the center of the scrying portal. He's surrounded by his office, thousands of legal books on his shelves behind him, a rich cream rug bordered in crimson under his feet.
He begins in a leathery voice "As you all know, Imperial law has been the backbone of civilization, in this age and others. Without that strength, we would have long ago been overtaken by the evils and chaos of this world.
It is with this history in mind that we would like to announce that, in order to more efficiently exert this backbone of law, we are expanding upon the successful pilot of the Legislacorator program. We would like each of the Supreme Justices to nominate a candidate, someone deserving of the power and duty of one who both judges and executes said justice, fairly and truly.
Each candidate shall go through a trial. Bound by no law, so that they may come to appreciate the laws they protect and perform. Each of you is charged to lend them any assistance they so need, and otherwise leave them to their tasks."
The meeting room you are in is now full of murmurs and whispers, astonishment and guesses at candidates. The scrying portal closes after the Justices ask a few questions and get a deadline.
Leanne blinked. More legislacerators? Did she strike that much of a ripple ineffectiveness for them to bring upon more already? "...A trial bound without law..." She shifted to leaning against her cane, rubbing her chin. "They better pick well." The legislacerator murmured.
The post-meeting drags on for too long, as most meetings do in the Imperial court of law. By the time Leanne exits the courthouse, the sun is setting. Migel gets up from where she was waiting for Leanne.
"Finally escape the idle banter of that wooden and boring Municipality Judge? I've met trees with more -" she cuts off, eyes bulging as she looks behind you.
Out from the courthouse strides Alphonse, his face painted with faintly glowing blue lines, marking him as a Legislactorator candidate. He sees you, and his grin eats so much shit that it hurts.
"Ah, here to escort me out? So kind of you ladies"
Leanne stares down Alphone. "...You must be joking. There is no way that they let you go free. No way they... that's fake markings. It has to be." Her teeth clenched as she gripped her cane tightly. She had a witness, he was completely unharmed, no way self-defense would work! How did? There's no way that he got out of that.
"Clearly they knew what an important and upstanding citizen I was. You'd be best to learn the same. I look forward to working with you in the future." He lets out a laugh and strolls away. Migel clenches her fist and looks about to punch a man, but with a heavy sigh, she unleashes.
"I don't understand the Justices. I suppose that's why I wasn't cut out to join you in your trade. I'll keep trusting in the Empire's laws and traditions, even when I don't understand. There's no way that asshole is gonna succeed at his trial anyways. The system will work out." She seems to be trying to convince herself as much as you.
She stamped her foot. "I... yeah." Leanne let out a long sigh. "Lets go redeem my bounties and get something to eat. My treat." The legislacerator could do with a hot meal... and she's got enough money stocked up from her hard work. "This is a new tradition, it will surely work."