"It's relevant."

"Win the case, deal fairly, represent Marra to potential recruits. If the decedent was found not Evil, argue for Law, or for his preferred systemic alignment if he expressed a preference, as I promised him. Create precedent for a category of beings between animals and people, who can be kept without counting as slavery or as Evil."

"In your assessment, did Etham Rectibius judge fairly?"

"Yes. I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to set precedent, but I don't think he did anything improper."

"Did he change his behavior based on your unexpressed thoughts at any point?"

"Oh. Yes, he did. He told me to say what I was thinking, when he reopened debate on the decedent's moral alignment.

My mistake. As I mentioned, I had significant amnesia recently and, when answering your previous question, I failed to recall that that's out of order."

"At the time, why did you think he said that?"

"I thought that probably he knew that I was going to cite Erastil vs Aolar -1210, as he had mistakenly sort of done, so letting me speak made the trial proceed smoothly.

I wondered if he was trying to arrange an opportunity for me to set precedent, but then he cut off discussion soon after."

"Is supporting or impeding an advocate's legitimate legal strategy proper behavior for a soul-court judge?"

"I don't know."

Judges have a lot of discretion? If Pharasma were Lawful she wouldn't use such a weird complicated system? But during the trial Axis said judges can use any fair mechanism, implying it has to be fair, in some not-necessarily-Lawful sense?

"That's all."

"Does the defence, panel, or gallery wish to cross-examine this witness?

Yes, Heaven."

"What were you hoping to accomplish with your precedent setting?"

"Deprive Marra's competitors, particularly Asmodeus, of souls. Increase the amount of Marran Feudalism and Paternalism on the Prime Material once mortals notice that there's a way to do it that's not Evil, making it more appealing than slavery. Make mortals more inclined towards Marran thought and thus eventually more valuable vassals for Her, and also, more immediately, provide Her more and better clerics. Spread Marra's faith."

"What effect would this have on the well-being of all life on the Prime Material plane?"

"That's speculative."

"In your opinion, getting as close as you can to your state of mind during the trial, what would you say to my previous question?"

"Well I suppose it would be better for those who would otherwise have been enslaved!

I wasn't consciously thinking about anyone's well-being, but I suppose my thoughts included the connotations I have with slavery and feudalism, and comparing the two. Also my personal feelings about - disliking when people are wasted, wanting Marra to be strong so that everyone gets to be awesome. Which doesn't necessarily mean happy, but given the significant formerly-celestial population of marrenai, especially Cantors, happiness is a likely outcome."

Obviously these questions aren't about her opinions, they're about what judge Rectibius might have read from her mind.

"What alignment would you assign to your intent and actions during the trial?"

"As an Evil servant of an Evil god, acting to directly support Her interests, Evil, obviously. Arguably Lawful by the same argument, but if you prefer, I could also look at likely results, namely increasing use of and obedience to the Lawful practice of feudalism."

"And reduced use of slavery, with a disruptive transition period."

"That wasn't my intent, and the results are speculative and highly dependant on many other actions."

"You skipped the part about denying souls to Evil gods.

I state that the witness's actions were Lawful Good, or possibly Neutral Good."

"Reversing Leudorfell to apply to Good done in the service of Evil, we would look at my results, none, and my intentions, Evil." And not speculation, thank you Axis for that pedantry earlier!

"I am done cross-examining this witness."