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The local militia captain rapped on the doorframe, "We've found the suspect, Judge."
"Excellent! Bring me to him. Let's get this headache over with," Theod replied.
A short walk later, the captain gestured to a door. "He's in here."
Theod held himself tall and thought of the ideals that had brought him to The Judge's Order. He hasn't been out in the field long, but even a new judge's rough cloth robe and wooden badge of office can project the presence of the original for long enough to make an imposing entrance.
Stepping through the door to a suddenly hushed room, he asks "Which is the accused?"
He's presented with a slightly bruised man, hands tied with ropes.
"Do you swear to tell me the truth today, as I have sworn to use that knowledge well?"
The man growls "Yes", which Theod knows is true, and then "Much good may it do you!"
There is a feeling of overwhelming light, and cracks in it, spreading through space.
When he can make sense of his surroundings, he is... not there.
fairshot
winterlight
"I couldn't say. You weren't near a mage at the time? Do you know what the order of paladins nearest you is called?"
fairshot
"'Paladin' isn't a term I've heard used. There are Knights, but they don't have," he gestures toward the griffin, "winged hybrid beasts. I think I've heard of winged horses, but it sounded more like a myth than anything either god might have left in the world."
winterlight
"...Ragnar is a griffin. Winged horses are also real. And you must be from astoundingly far away if you have no paladins - or even if they are simply called something else - and know of only two gods."
winterlight
"I mean, you could say that the Lights aren't gods, but then you have zero gods, not two."
fairshot
"Where I was born, there is the Lonely God, who broke themself into pieces to make the world and the people in it, and the Jealous God, who was the Lonely God's first creation and resented them for creating more. They've come to earth in many forms, and left legacies like the Order of Judges and the Great Library, and occasionally there is a cult worshipping one incarnation specifically, but there is no record of any magic ever happening that was not, traceably if indirectly, their doing."
winterlight
"...Well, here there are the Lights, mine being the Winter Light, and they do not have this infighting problem."
fairshot
"It's not as bad as you might think. Everyone can choose any legacy to carry on, in theory, but the legacies tend to fall out in the good guy's favor, since we can cooperate much more effectively. And you do still seem to have nasty things such as those walking corpses. Speaking of which, could we be somewhere not downwind of a bunch of oozing corpses?"
winterlight
"Well, the alternative is walking, and it's hilly." She gets on her own griffin, tells him "Calm," and then offers the newcomer her hand. "I'm Kaja di Ragnar. What's your name?"
fairshot
"Theod Linberg. Judge Linberg, usually, but I don't think that title's likely to mean the same thing here."
He follows her up, a bit awkwardly.
He follows her up, a bit awkwardly.
winterlight
She's really strong; she basically half-lifts him onto the creature. "Hold on," she advises, and when she has held on she whistles to the griffin and he takes off.
fairshot
Theod may be more afraid of heights than he expected. This may, in some manner or form, have been something akin to a mistake.
Though unless she notices him tensing up, there may not be an outward sign of this. And he can appreciate the spectacular view as long as he's looking somewhere other than straight down.
Though unless she notices him tensing up, there may not be an outward sign of this. And he can appreciate the spectacular view as long as he's looking somewhere other than straight down.
winterlight
She doesn't notice! On they fly.
"I'm headed back to the compound of the Order of the Winter Light," she says. "But assuming all is well you'll find Andivar accessible from it."
"I'm headed back to the compound of the Order of the Winter Light," she says. "But assuming all is well you'll find Andivar accessible from it."
fairshot
"Large enough. I should be able to find somewhere I can be useful. Though it might be harder if my judge's gifts don't work here, I suppose I shouldn't take that for granted."
fairshot
"A few things. If someone promises to tell the truth to me in a clearly-marked way, I have an unerring sense of whether they tell me the truth or lie, and can generally pick apart where the lie sits in the sentence. This also works if someone is unambiguously in my custody. I can gaze into someone's eyes to determine what they would see as a serious punishment or deterrent to future offenses. There is also a certain way of carrying myself that makes people around me feel a strong sense that I should be respected and they should calm down; that's mostly good for calming down brawls or making an entrance."
winterlight
"...Interesting. Hmm. Here, hold this." She takes off a pendant necklace she's wearing and hands it to him.
winterlight
When he's touched it, she looks over her shoulder at his hand. It is not hissing and blistering. "Just checking." She takes it back. "Your powers sound useful if wielded well."
fairshot
"They certainly are. And mine will certainly be at your Order's disposal as long as I'm staying near your compound. If they work. Actually, I can check that. Would you mind verbally promising to answer my next three questions truthfully?"
winterlight
Kaja considers this for a moment, then says, "I promise to answer your next three questions truthfully."