"I noticed two potential issues with your law code on my first read. The first is that your manumission policy is unenforcable under my understanding of the Worldwound treaty - I know, I hate it too, and I hope I'm wrong about it, not being an expert on the treaty myself, but it definitely needs review by someone who is. The second is that you are very…lax… about your soldiers sleeping together."

"- I can get an expert opinion on the manumission policy." Sigh. "What's the short version of what prompted Lastwall to add more fraternization rules?"

"...I would have to look up the history. I think we had more than this at our founding, though - A lot of the justification is that when people are sleeping together they tend to form attachments and - that's not a problem in itself but it's often messy when they stop. It's mostly an issue in adventuring parties, somewhat less so among enlisted soldiers. In addition to the cohesion dynamics being different, adventurers are just more…dramatic… than normal people."

"It would not be shocking if Catherine and Daeran had some kind of extremely messy blowup," he agrees. "- I don't know what they're up to, they've been discreet about it. Of course, getting abruptly stricter about an existing situation tends to also cause drama." 

"Of course. I don't have any recommendations for how to make such a transition in regulations - Perhaps allow an exception for relationships which existed before the change of policy - but I do think the more restrictive policy is, as a policy, wiser. I brought a copy of Lastwall's code, if it's helpful for reference…Also you might ask paralictor Derenge for his order's regulations, though I wouldn't copy them wholesale, I think they are in practice unenforceable without the harsh punishments and I cannot in good conscience recommend copying their punishments."

"I am disinclined to," Marit agrees. Really the Hellknights aren't notably worse than any particularly punishment-happy Imperial Taldane general with no affiliation with Hell but they did in fact spend a while digging their way towards something better than that. "I'll pay it attention, in any event. Thank you."

"Happy to help." He resists the instinct to say "Goddess guide you," and departs with a simple "Goodbye" instead.

Marit tells Nenio she's in charge of Drezen's magical defenses but does not need to add to them if she doesn't want to, though she may not diminish them. Nenio repeats that she has no gift for protective spellwork. (He is aware of this and annoyed about it. He wanted Mind Blank every day as soon as she was at eighth and this isn't a good use of resources given her limitations.)

Incident Report, Drezen, 8-9 Abadius 4714

Principal Author: Cpt. Aarind, 5th circle Cleric of Iomedae

Involved Responsible Parties

• Person A, Knight-Commander of the 5th Mendevian Crusade
• Paladin PB, reigning monarch of Mendev
• Paladins PB1-PB8, soldiers under the command of PB
• Paladin PC, an officer of Lastwall, temporarily assigned to the tactical command of A
• Paladin PD, a paladin of Iomedae unaffiliated with Lastwall or with Mendev, under the command of A
• Person E, Lastwall’s ambassador to Mendev
• Person J, an officer of Lastwall on overnight communications duty in Vigil at the time of the primary incident.

Other Involved Parties

• Person F, a relative of PB, under the command of A
• Persons A1-A9, assorted adventurers, under the command of A
• Person G, an officer serving under the command of A
• Persons H1 and H2, civilian administrators for the Fifth Crusade

Timeline

23 Erastus 4713 - The Fifth Mendevian crusade is announced by PB, following a successful defense of Kenabres from demonic assaults starting 12 Erastus. In recognition of contributions to the defense of the city and professing Person A to be blessed and guided by the Goddess (unverified), PB appointed A to head the crusade.

1 Arodus - The crusade is officially declared. Persons F, A1, G, H1, and H2 are appointed to their respective positions in the crusade by PB. Person E makes a report via scry to Lastwall’s diplomatic corps, discussing the attack on Kenabres, the defense thereof, and the declaration of the crusade. E had not previously reported on these events. E reported being unaware of PB’s intent to crusade until the official declaration.

10 Arodus - A, with the help of a wizard, travels to Absalom to purchase supplies for the Crusade. While present, A considers purchasing scrolls of Planar Adaptation and Mass Planar Adaptation, but declines to, citing a lack of planned missions into the Abyss.

20 Arodus - A traveled to Nerosyan in order to be presented to more Mendevian nobility and maintain support for the Crusade. PB at this time appeared to be wholly supportive of A in his position. A initiated covert information-gathering operations targeted at Mendev in Nerosyan at this time.

30 Arodus - A initiated further information-gathering operations targeted at Mendev and initiated information-gathering operations targeted at Lastwall. For more detail on Lastwall’s response, see the incident report reference 843648.

10 Rova - H1 was caught committing acts of sabotage against the Crusade. Under interrogation, H1 admitted to further acts of sabotage.  A sentenced H1 to death, and sent notice to PB. At trial, H1 confessed under Abadar’s Truthtelling.

15 Rova - H1 executed as per sentence issued on 10 Rova.

14 Neth - A returned to Nerosyan to encourage support for the Crusade. While there, he initiated further covert information-gathering operations targeted at Mendev. PB expressed displeasure with A regarding the execution of H1.

18 Neth - A discovered that his boots of teleportation had been sabotaged. Later on the same day, the ensuing investigation identified G as the culprit. G confessed to this and other acts of sabotage under the effect of a dominate person spell. The person casting this spell was not certified by Lastwall for the use of this spell in interrogations.

20 Neth - G is tried and convicted of sabotage, treason, and attempted murder, in relation to the incidents of 18 Neth and other acts. G confesses under Abadar’s Truthtelling to all charges, claiming to have been acting in the interests of PB. PB was not previously aware of the actions of G in her name.

23 Neth - G is executed by order of A, pursuant to conviction on 20 Neth.

10 Kuthona - H2 was found to be a cleric of Baphomet and interrogated under the effect of a dominate person spell. The person casting this spell was not certified by Lastwall for the use of this spell in interrogations.

18 Kuthona -  H2 tried, convicted, and executed on charges of treason and espionage. She declined to testify under Abadar’s Truthtelling at her trial, and claimed that the whole trial was a farce and an illegal power-grab by A.

25 Kuthona - PB announces to A intent to be present for operations in the Abyssal rift identified under Drezen, which are subsequently scheduled for 8 Abadius.

27 Kuthona -  Person A notifies PC of the planned operation and requests his presence; PC confirms intent to participate.

7 Abadius 4714 - PB and PB1-PB8 arrive in Drezen. PC arrives in Drezen. A, PB, and PC meet for operational planning.

8 Abadius - At dawn - A1, A2, PB, PB1-8, PC, and PD prepare spells for the day. Spell preparation is uneventful and proceeds according to plans determined on 7 Abadius - See Appendix B.

One hour past dawn - A, A1 - A9, PD, F, PB, PB1 - PB8, and PC enter the Midnight Fane with operational objectives of clearing the area of demons and securing it.

At or around one and one-half hours past dawn - Having achieved some successes in clearing the area immediately surrounding the entrance to the Fane, PB and PB1-8 retreat to hold the entrance of the Fane from any demons that slip past A’s team, pursuant to operational plans laid out on 7 Abadius. (See appendix B) All others, under the command of A, proceed further into the Fane.

At or around noon - A2 is slain by a Gallu. A2 is promptly resuscitated with a breath of life spell cast by F.

At or around 4 p.m. - Person A is slain by a Nalfashnee and promptly resuscitated by a breath of life from a talisman of life’s breath.

At or around 7 p.m. - A2 is cornered by ghouls and slain. The body is not recovered in time for a breath of life. A2 is raised by a raise dead cast by A1.

At or around midnight - operational objectives are accomplished and A’s team returns to the entrance to Drezen, where they are stopped by PB and PB1-PB8. PB instructs A to, instead of returning to Drezen, remain in the Abyss to disrupt operations aimed at organizing demonic assaults on Worldwound forts. A refuses. PB instructs PB1-PB8 to arrest A. A4 proposes arbitration of this dispute by the Church of Abadar or by PC, present. A agrees to arbitration by the Church of Abadar. PB declines arbitration by the Church of Abadar but agrees to arbitration by PC. A agrees to arbitration by PC. PC asks clarifying questions about the relationship between PB and A and between PB and F, A1-9, and advises that the Worldwound treaty is relevant to the resolution of the dispute. A provides a copy of the Worldwound treaty.

Two to three hours after midnight - PC finishes reading the worldwound treaty. Based on this reading, PC advises that PB does not have the authority to order A and those in A’s command into the Abyss and does not have the authority to deny them permission to enter Drezen. These conclusions are consistent with the report author’s later analysis in less adverse conditions.

Following this verdict, PB removes A from command of the Fifth Mendevian Crusade, and subsequently denies A and A’s company permission to enter Drezen. A and A5 make requests related to the treaty obligations of the Crusade to unaffiliated adventurers, private property in Drezen, and Crusade loans negotiated in A’s name. Person A3 advises A that he does not seem to be thinking clearly or taking steps that would achieve his goals. A asks PB if PB’s concerns leading to the decision to remove A and to leave A’s company in the Abyss can be assuaged. A4 proposes relocation out of the Abyss; after discussion, PB and A agree on relocation to prison cells in Nerosyan.

After further discussion, PB, PC and A agree that, were the Goddess to confirm A’s claims about his trustworthiness, this would constitute sufficient reason to reinstate him.

Approximately one hour before dawn - PC makes a preliminary report on this incident to overnight communications watch, including the commune request. Citing proximity to the dawn and the importance of these questions for swift resolution of the diplomatic emergency, OCW officer J authorized the use of the primary overnight commune. Pertinent claims were confirmed by this commune.

9 Abadius -  Shortly after dawn - PC received a sending from J with the commune results. PC relayed this communication to A and PB. A was released from custody along with his companions and reinstated to his position.

There were no injuries as a consequence of the primary incident. Three Commune questions on which the Church was substantially uncertain were expended in resolution of this incident. The worst plausible outcome from this incident identified by the report author is that, inadvertently but negligently acting in violation of the Worldwound treaty, the involved parties may have killed each other, with substantial repercussions for the Crusade and for Mendev’s Worldwound defense.

Fault Analysis

1. All parties involved began preparations for operations in the morning, and were engaged in combat operations or other strenuous activities beginning at the latest one hour after dawn. They continued in such activity until the primary incident occurred at around midnight of the same day, for a total of around fifteen hours. Everyone involved in this incident was mortal and can be presumed to have been suffering from serious fatigue by this point.
   1. Parties to this incident did not take rest while the incident was occurring, so the effects of fatigue on all parties can be expected to have worsened as the incident continued. By the time of incident resolution around the dawn of 9 Abadius, all primary participants had been awake for at least 24 hours.
   2. At no point were steps taken to mitigate the effect of fatigue.
2. The Midnight Fane is part of the worldwound itself, and as such is heavily infused with Abyssal energies. These energies are known to cause discomfort to Good and Lawful individuals and increase tendencies towards rash behavior and violence. All involved parties had been in the Fane for 15 hours at the time of the incident. In addition to the fatigue concerns expressed above, all participants can be presumed to have been heavily affected by their exposure to the Abyss.
1. This was effect was not mitigated and likely continued to worsen until four hours into the incident, when it was identified by A4 and all parties relocated to Nerosyan.
3. Lastwall’s High Command is deemed to have been negligent in failing to maintain good diplomatic relations with key allies Mendev and the Fifth Crusade; In particular, Person E, Lastwall’s representative in Mendev, was negligent in reporting significant events in Mendev at least as far back as 23 Erastus 4713, and the High Command had not assigned any representative to the Fifth Crusade at any point.
4. Person A treated with allies unnecessarily adversarially during and in the leadup to the primary incident.
   1. Poor communication between A and PB exacerbated PB’s distrust and suspicion of A, which directly caused the primary incident.
   2. While the primary responsibility for this negligence lies with the high command of Lastwall, A was also in a position to initiate diplomatic relations between Lastwall and the Crusade.
   3. When A refused PB’s order, he did not state that he believed this order to be illegal. Had he done so, this would likely have led to arbitration being proposed sooner, and may have been grounds for removal to a court in Vigil or Nerosyan away from the influence of the Abyss. A court in Vigil would also have ordered that all parties be given the opportunity for rest before beginning a trial.
5. Person A failed to provide his team with proper equipment or magical support for venturing into the Abyss. This failure can be first located on 10 Arodus when A was procuring supplies for the crusade and neglected to acquire planar adaptation scrolls for his wizards.
   1. This failure can also be identified on 25 Kuthona when abyssal operations were first planned and additional procurement was still possible.
   2. The failure was repeated by PC on 27 Kuthona, when PC was informed of the operations and did not inquire into the supply situation.
   3. The lack of planar adaptation or similar effects was not identified during operational planning on 7 Abadius.
   4. On the morning of 8 Abadius, A1 did not request planar adaptation from his god. A1 had no orders to prepare the spell and is not culpable for this oversight. This is believed to be the last point at which the deficiency could have been identified before the operation.
6. PB made several appointments to the command staff of the fifth crusade, including persons A, A1, F, G, H1, and H2 without having adequately vetted any of them for trustworthiness. In the event, H1 and H2 were cultists of Baphomet, G was possessed of unusually poor judgment, F was, in this position, a political liability for PB, and A later came under suspicion by PB of being a cultist of Baphomet or otherwise treasonous. A has been later cleared of these suspicions, but the lack of verification before appointing him to an important role is to be condemned. A1 has not at this time been alleged to be a cultist or otherwise unqualified for his role, and is a priest of a Good god.
7. PB issued an illegal order, in commanding A and his team to enter the abyss without adequate preparations. See Appendix A for analysis as to the legality of this order.
   1. PB 1-8 failed to object to this order’s legality, and were in a position to have sufficient information to identify this order’s illegality.
   2. PC also failed to note the illegality of this order, though because this order’s illegality depended on particular features of the legal and personal relationship between PB and A, of which PC was neither expected to be nor actually aware, PC is not considered to be at fault for this failure.
   3. Upon A’s refusal to follow this illegal order, PB ordered A arrested instead of interrogating his reasons.
8. When arbitration was suggested, PB refused to allow arbitration to take place in Drezen or any other location besides the Midnight Fane, exacerbating the effects of the Abyss on all parties.
9. During the primary incident, PC allowed the situation to escalate dangerously to the point that allies of Lastwall were making threats, open and covert, against each other in his presence.
   1. PC reported reluctance to involve himself and Lastwall in the dispute between two allies, when he did not understand the wider context of the dispute. While this impulse is admirable, actions could have been taken which were impartial in the dispute and helped to resolve tensions.
   2. PC had multiple opportunities to offer to arbitrate between parties A and PB. He took none of them, until such arbitration was suggested by person A4

Recommendations

1. The High Command of Lastwall should immediately establish diplomatic ties with the Fifth Crusade, independent of Lastwall’s diplomatic ties to Mendev.
2. Lastwall should conduct a fuller investigation into the conduct of the individual identified herein as Person E, and either temporarily for the duration of said investigation or permanently replace them as ambassador to Mendev.
3. Lastwall’s diplomatic representative to Mendev should proactively assist the government of Mendev in developing and implementing procedures as recommended here.
4. Officers of Lastwall assigned temporarily to the service of the fifth Mendevian crusade or to the state of Mendev, and those assigned permanently to duties at Lastwall’s worldwound forts, should receive a briefing outlining the current diplomatic situation regarding Mendev, the Fifth Crusade, and Lastwall.
5. Paladins PB1-PB8 should receive illegal orders training.
6. The government of Mendev should provide illegal orders training to all of its soldiers. Such training should be modeled on Mendev’s own laws, though all paladins of Iomedae in Mendev should receive additional such training regarding their duties as representatives of their orders and of the Goddess.
7. The government of Mendev should be advised to be more willing to use paladins and clerics of Iomedae in administrative and diplomatic roles. While the usefulness of paladins in combat with demons is known and acknowledged, they sometimes provide greater value in administrative roles where finding an uncorrupt person to fill the role is difficult. In our analysis, we hold that the shift of empowered personnel from combat to administrative roles will benefit Mendev on the current margins.
8. A study should be conducted, with the participation of the government and monarchy of Mendev, into the feasibility of alternative forms of succession planning for the monarchy of Mendev. This incident was exacerbated by PB’s concern that F would attempt to overthrow them; Similar concerns could be mitigated with a policy which does not grant automatic legitimacy to Evil persons merely for reasons of blood relations to the current ruler. Status as a paladin in good standing of the Goddess should be considered as a possible qualification for rule.
9. Officers of Lastwall taking on missions in the Abyss should be briefed as to the distortionary mental effects of that plane.
   1. Whenever possible, officers of Lastwall on such missions should be provided with equipment or spells which can counteract or mitigate said effects, such as planar adaptation.
   2. In addition, other mitigation strategies should be discussed in advance for the event that primary mitigation is not available or fails. As an example, in-the-field planning or negotiations could be conducted within an extradimensional space less exposed to the Abyssal effects.
   3. Whenever possible, allies undertaking such missions should be likewise advised and supplied, when such spells are cheaply available or such equipment is cheaply available for loan.
10. Lastwall should advise the individual identified herein as Person A as follows:
    1. Person A should endeavor to be more legible to his allies, subject to acknowledged secrecy concerns, and be mindful of actions which may cause his allies to distrust him.
    2. Person A should endeavor to delegate a greater number of tasks to qualified subordinates.
    3. Person A successfully noticed appropriate nervousness about the planned events of 8 Abadius on multiple occasions; He should in the future be more willing to act on similar nervousness.
    4. Persons A3 and A4 should be commended for clear thinking in a crisis situation.
11. Lastwall should advise the individual identified herein as Paladin PB as follows:
    1. PB should not assign the individual herein identified as Person F to any sensitive roles or those which would allow him to amass an independent powerbase, nor to any notably dangerous roles or positions which would enable him to grow in personal power.
       1. Contrary to this general recommendation, it is not recommended that Person F be removed from the command of Person A.
    2. The individual herein identified as Person A has been verified by the Goddess to be trustworthy, and should be treated with accordingly.
    3. PB should familiarize herself with common Iomedan practice regarding illegal orders, and should be strongly advised to devise or adopt a framework of illegal orders for Mendevian paladins. PB should be strongly advised to swear an oath against issuing any illegal orders in the future.
    4. PB should be advised that she is considered substantially at fault for this incident, and informed of what the high command of Lastwall deems to have been at stake in this incident.
12. The individual identified herein as Paladin PC is advised as follows:
    1. PC should be more willing to involve himself in situations with diplomatic repercussions. In particular, PC should be more willing to volunteer himself as a source of arbitration in disputes between allies, without waiting for a third party to recommend it.
13. Lastwall should advise the individual identified herein as Paladin PD as follows:
    1. PD should be more willing to criticize her commanding officer when she believes them to be acting foolishly.
    2. PD should consider more training in nonlethal incapacitation. It is left to the judgment of PD whether such training is a good use of her time and energy considering her current responsibilities.
    3. PD should contemplate in advance her responsibilities to various parties, including her commander A and Paladin PB, and how those responsibilities may conflict in the future, so that should a similar situation occur PD does not have to make a snap judgment in how to balance these concerns.
    4. PD should cultivate an attitude of independence; In particular, she should trust her own judgment more and be more willing to speak out to people she views as being in a position of authority.
14. The author explicitly does not recommend additional training for officers of Lastwall regarding the effects of fatigue.
    1. Officers of Lastwall are already familiar with the effects of fatigue, and operational scheduling is typically performed with fatigue considerations in mind.
    2. In this incident, there were sound reasons for operations to be extended over most of a day. Fatigue was considered during operational planning, but the tradeoffs necessary to avoid fatigue were considered prohibitive.
    3. If additional or modified fatigue-related training is undertaken due to this incident, the author recommends an emphasis on mitigation strategies, such as a greater willingness to postpone nonurgent major decisionmaking when fatigue is a factor rather than further emphasizing avoidance of fatigue situations in the first place.

Seelah blinks incredulously at the report.

…she's not a strong reader, is she. She's not illiterate but she may never have read a report. "We can discuss it later," Marit advises her. "Thank you, Captain Aarind. I will try to get you a supplemental within five days."

"There'll be more of it?" says Seelah. 

"Well, anything important you or I disagree with the report about, we'll want to make sure anyone reading the report knows that that disagreement exists. It's not a ruling, it's an effort to establish what happened. And if we think it's correct in nearly every particular we'll submit a couple of notes just to demonstrate that we looked closely enough we are actually agreeing in every particular rather than just not responding."

"Thank you, Knight-Commander. I will wait for your supplemental before sending it on to Vigil - You'll probably each get a separate letter containing the recommended advice to you, our procedures don't expect people outside of our command structure to necessarily be given or to necessarily read incident reports. And of course the High Command may send different advice if they disagree with my judgements."

"Understood," Marit says. It's all very reasonable. Responsible, careful, thoughtful, improvement-oriented.

It just hasn't fixed the world. And that's on him as much as Iomedae, isn't it. 

"I didn't properly commend you," he says to Ember, "for what you said to me in the Midnight Fane. It was very helpful."

"Oh, I'm glad," says Ember. "It can be hard to know sometimes if it helps people, saying things to them."

"Well, I think it depends on the person and depends on the things, but if you notice that I am not thinking clearly and say something about that, that is very helpful to me. I will make a lot of mistakes if there's no one to point out to me when I'm not thinking clearly."

"Does Queen Galfrey have anyone who points out to her when she's not thinking clearly?"

"I'm not sure. Probably not. Monarchs famously usually don't."

I don't know which of the two of you proposed arbitration but you are formally commended for it. - I had thought of it but it'd have gone worse for me to propose it. 

That was me, thinks Catherine, The prison cells were Alfirin. You mentioned a permanent telepathic bond the other day, how expensive are those? We - Alfirin and I - should maybe have one? We don't actually have a great way to talk to each other.

I had assumed you didn't want to talk to me any more than you absolutely must.

I don't know if I want to talk to you more. But - we do need to talk sometimes and having a convenient way seems better than what we've got now?

Material components are about twelve thousand pounds.