the good Queen: As a Lawful Queen, we have ordered a wizard Dominate the Judge, lest he put his Personal Desires above our own. But as a Good Queen, we have not told him what those desires are, lest our Royal Person influence the Outcome of this Fair Trial.

the People: We are Educated in the ways of Law and Good.

the Prosecution: Valia Wain incited a Riot, by speaking the words "You Ought Riot," and by publishing a Pamphlet to that General Effect. This Riot was Delivered that Very Night by Westcrown's Industrious Mail Carriers, but proved Unnecessary -- as Valia Wain, Impatient with Waiting, had Already Slain Three Hundred Innocent Children of her Own Hands. (The Redundant Riot was subsequently Returned and fully Refunded.) Valia Wain may seem a Confused but Well-Meaning Girl, but know that she is None of those things.

the People: In all the Talk I've heard of Valia Wain these Last Days, no-one advanced the theory that Valia Wain was Very Confused but Free Entire of Malice Towards the Nobility -- let alone that she is not a Girl. I frankly do not see how such things could be possible, but am Curious to Learn More.

the Defense: I am a Very Small Woman in a Very Tall Hat.

the Prosecution: Objection, Your Honor, this is Irrelevant to the Case at Hand. 

the Defense: I was myself a great Victim of Mob Violence. As a Lawyer I do not keep my Heart within my Ribs, but such is the strength of the Hatred I feel for all Rioters that when, on the evening of the third, the Assembled Brutes hurled me Bodily from the Pons Tralian, my Dislocated Heart burned so Hot within its Jar that my vacant Home was reduced to Cinders. Therefore I am both injured and dispossessed. I say this that you know I would never defend Wain were she Guilty.

the Prosecution: Objection, your honor. As Lawyers we must defend any Monied client. 

the Judge: Overruled, for the defendent is not Monied.

the Defense: Valia Wain pulled me from the River and Cured my Shattered Body with Iomedae's Healing Light. I followed her as she wandered the streets, Distraught by the Anarchy, Healing as she went. Any Rioter is no friend of Valia Wain for it was was BERNAT VIDAL-ESPINOSA who was the inciter, Falsely Attributing to VALIA WAIN a pamphlet written by him in its Entirety!

the Prosecution: This is not true!

the Defense: It is!

the People: It must surely be one way or the other. Let us hear read Wain's speech, and Vidal Espinosa's pamphlet, and compare the two.

the Judge: That would be illegal. Let us instead argue what they say, without first reading them.

the Prosecution: The Prosecution calls on Archduke Blanxart d'Egorian, Murdered in the Riots. Valia Wain called for his Death, and of it he Died.

Archduke Blanxart: Valia Wain did not do that and I live.

the Prosecution: why did we call this witness

Archduke Blanxart: can i go home now

the Prosecution: The Prosecution calls on a Procession of Irate Nobles Harmed by the Riots. Irate Nobles Harmed by the Riots, were you Harmed by the Riots?

Irate Nobles Harmed by the Riots: We were Indeed.

the Prosecution: And the Vicious Rioters sought you for the purpose of Doing Violence, owing chiefly to your Denouncement by Valia Wain? 

Bereaved Mother: My Father's Daughter's Niece's Aunt's Husband wasn't denounced by the select Per Se, but he did belong to a General Category of people who Valia Wain Spoke Ill of, or, more accurately, while he did Not belong to the General Category of people who Valia Wain Spoke Ill of, he was worried he might be Mistaken for one.

the Prosecution: And which Category of People was that?

Bereaved Mother: The Unrepentant Simpering Dogs of the Old Regime. (One of which he is not, Being Instead, although landed, a Courageous Resister who Opposed the Thrunes in a Thousand Ways, and who Aided in their Eventual Overthrow and took great Pride in the Glorious Reclamation of Cheliax.)

the Prosecution: How surprising that a Select of Iomedae would Murder a Reclamation Appointee with her Own Hands! 

Bereaved Mother: He was murdered by rioters, as was I, and while the Great Archmage Naima restored us both to Life, She could not do the same for Our Unborn Child.

the People: What Tragedy! We are Moved to Tears. Truly, General Riots are a source of Great Destruction.

the Prosecution: Behold the Evil that Iomedae's Select visited upon These Innocents, for, Marching Armed at the Head of her Drilled Soldiers, the Lawless Select would not Spare even the Relations of the Relations of those she Slanderously Denounced, not to the Smallest Babe. This Testimony has proven beyond a doubt that Valia Wain desired this Bereaved Mother murdered, and Took Criminal Action to Effect This, by speaking the words "You Ought Riot," and by publishing a Pamphlet to that General Effect.

the People: I Am Not Sure I Would Go That Far.

the Judge: Can you find any Witness who will Admit to being Denounced?

the Prosecution: The Prosecution calls Count-Regent Llei Napaciza d'Ilnea.

Count-Regent Llei Napaciza: I am Count-Regent Llei Napaciza.

the Prosecution: Were you denounced?

Count-Regent Llei Napaciza: I was denounced.

the People: Surely this Llei Napaciza is an Unrepentant Dog of Hell, to be denounced with the Others. 

the Prosecution: I Suspect that this is so, and so I will not Ask. 

the People: We will remember this.

SELECT VALIA WAIN: I cannot hold my peace! I denounced him Falsely!

the Judge: Do not speak!

the People: This I Must Hear!

SELECT VALIA WAIN: Count-Regent Llei Napaciza Did Evils in the Past, but is Repentant! I Did Not Know that Count-Regent Llei Napaciza Sought the Guidance of the Church, and that he had Received It! Indeed, on that Black Night, Priests of Iomedae Died in his Defense! And their Lives were Well-Spent for COUNT-REGENT LLEI NAPACIZA is a True Iomedaen, and a Great Hero of Westcrown, who that night Saved Many Others. It was a Great Evil and a Great Betrayal that I denounced him, and my Rude Ignorance is No Excuse.

the Prosecution: Then you Admit to your Crimes! You called for his death, and he died!

the Judge: Yet he lives.

the Prosecution: ...Many people survive their deaths.

the People: Be as that may, the Heroic COUNT-REGENT LLEI NAPACIZA must have survived the Night of the Third, albeit Grievously Injured, for I Saw the Evidence With My Own Eyes -- it was not until the Rains Began that I Saw him in the Temple of Holy Iomedae. Not for his own sake did he Shelter there, be he though Sodden and Quilled with Arrows as if an Unfortunate Porcupine, but Rather for the sake of the Wounded Child that he Bore Upon his Noble Shoulders.

the Prosecution: Still, Valia Wain admits her Guilt.

SELECT VALIA WAIN: Verily, The Weight of my Guilt Crushes Me, but I did Not Desire the Death of the heroic COUNT-REGENT LLEI NAPACIZA. I exhorted him only to Repent, Foolishly Ignorant that he had Already Done So.

the People: What a Cruel Bedlam! And Vidal-Espinosa's Abridging and Editorializing Transmuted this Exhortation to Repent into a Call For General Riots and The Murder Of Tieflings!  

the Prosecution: Then you are Innocent?

SELECT VALIA WAIN: I am Told by my Lawyer I am innocent According To The Law. However, as one of Iomedae's Select, I cannot Believe myself Innocent of anything which through Greater Wisdom or Strength I might have Prevented.

The Prosecution: Then you are Guilty.

SELECT VALIA WAIN: I am guilty.

the People: She is Innocent!

the Judge (thoroughly Ensorcelled): I wish I knew Which Way I was Meant to Rule.

the Defense: The Defense calls on Archduchess Jilia Bainilus de Kintargo.

Archduchess Jilia Bainilus: I am Archduchess Jilia Bainilus.

the Defense: Is it True that you spoke Against Select Valia Wain on the floor of the Convention?

Archduchess Jilia Bainilus: I did, for it was my Apprehension that the Water was Nervous.

the Judge: Forgive my Ignorance, or perhaps my weak Ears. Can Water be Nervous? 

Archduchess Jilia Bainilus: Verily, for even as Liquor, Being Strong, is Known to be Brave, Water, being Weaker, is prone to Great Nervousness. But Nervousness is as great a source of Agitation as Courage, and Agitated Fluid will Boil. There are Ways to make water Nervouser -- As One Example, adding Fuel to the Fire -- and ways to Steady Its Nerves -- such as by Adding Noodles, which Without Fail will cause Boiling Water to Freeze. It is for this reason that I spoke against Valia Wain on the floor of the Convention. 

the Defense: By means of Clever Analogy you have made your meaning Clear, but for Completeness and Avoidance of Doubt I ask in Specific -- did Valia Wain's speech contain incitement to crime; did the speech constitute a proscription list as banned under the Decree of 29 Desnus; and in general, did the speech comply with the letter and spirit of the royal decrees?

Archduchess Jilia Bainilus: While Uninformed and Perhaps Poor Policy to Propose, even Valia Wain's Greatest Critics must If Honest say that her speech on the floor of the Convention complied with the Law in both Letter and in Spirit.

the Prosecution: Why do Archdukes called to the Stand abet Only the Defense and Never the Prosecution? Can it be that Valia Wain is Blameless of Incitement?

the Prosecution: No. It must be the Archdukes who are wrong. 

the Defense: The Defense calls on Feliu Tauler, Oath-Sworn Paladin of Holy Iomedae, and on Laia Solandra, Songbird of Shelyn, who both Heard Wain's Speech Given.

Laia Solandra, Songbird of Shelyn: I am Laia Solandra, Songbird of Shelyn, and a delegate to the Convention.

Feliu Tauler, Oath-Sworn Paladin of Holy Iomedae: I am Feliu Tauler, Oath-Sworn Paladin of Holy Iomedae, and I can speak no lie.

the Defense: You Heard Wain's Speech when it was Given. Laia Solandra, Songbird of Shelyn, was it to your Liking?

Laia Solandra, Songbird of Shelyn: Indeed, for the Moral thereof was Sound and spoken with Great Force and Artistry.

the Defense: And Feliu Tauler?

Feliu Tauler, Oath-Sworn Paladin of Holy Iomedae: My opinion differed. Alas, I feared so Fiery a Sermon would prove Inflammatory when Widely Published, especially in Light of how some of those Exhorted to Repentance were Already Repentant. It was written in Ignorance, and I wished it Revised in Wisdom. 

the Defense: And After?

Laia Solandra, Songbird of Shelyn: I plead that Valia Wain let me Read her Sermon to those outside the Convention, that they might Hear it Entire. Alas, she Rebuffed me.

the Defense: And Why was the Songbird Rebuffed?

Feliu Tauler, Oath-Sworn Paladin of Holy Iomedae: Because on Speaking with Valia Wain, she came to Share my View. Therefore she asked that the Scribes not Publish her sermon in Writing, and that the Songbird please not Read it, until she had Revised it.

the Defense: Laia Solandra, having both Heard Valia Wain's Original Speech, and having Read Vidal-Espinosa's pamphlet, would you say that it Presented Wain's words Accurately? 

Laia Solandra, Songbird of Shelyn: In No Sense, for while Leaving Out the Better Part of what she said, it Inserted several Other remarks that She Didn't Say At All. Attributing it to Valia Wain was, beyond Untrue, Vicious Slander. 

the Defense: Did those Inserted Remarks contain the Incitement to Murder?

Laia Solandra, Songbird of Shelyn: Unquestionably. 

the Judge: This has all been very fun. Closing Statements.

the Prosecution: Valia Wain gave her Exhortation to Repentance and Virtue hoping that someone who Heard or Read would Turn From Evil and Instead Oppose It. She Knew Full Well that her listeners might Oppose Evil as Part of a Large Group -- possibly an Army of Some Stripe, and in particular the Worldwound Army -- or -- if and Only If those Bestirred Hearts Suffered from Asmodean Tyranny, a Brave Rebellion. For this reason she is Guilty of Inciting General Riots in Westcrown on the third of this month, and that she at no point desired this to happen or suggested that it happen is Philosophically Interesting but not Legally Important. Regardless of that Someone Else took Mutilated Passages of her words and Falsely Attributed to her a Call to Murder, it was her Name on the Document and so she should Hang.

the Defense: We are a nation of laws.

the Judge: And as I have been Compelled to follow them, Valia Wain must Walk.

SELECT VALIA WAIN: I Instead Wish To Hang, For Surely There Is Blood On My Hands.

the People: No one Asked You to Speak

SELECT VALIA WAIN: It was my Name on the Document and so I should Hang.

the People: Valia Wain Please Stop Talking.