[RP] Surprise visit!

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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

The next day, Dwayberry found out that Redkipp had contacted Bravia's public prosecutor to request she would be charged with the crime of Public Disorder. She, herself, decided to leave a message as well, requesting the mayor and sheriff would be tried for Neglect of Duty. She didn't expect anything would be done with her request, but it was definitely interesting to find out that lady public prosecutor happened to be the same woman as the sheriff of Bravia, whom she fired after taking over the town hall. If anything, Dwayberry could try to convince the judge of some sort of conflict of interest.

Two days later, Dwayberry already received a letter requesting her presence in court.
Phase two of the fun was about to begin.
She decided to stop by the tavern, hoping for some help deciding on a proper outfit, and found Cathrina willing to help her choose a nice red dress to wear to her court case.
Dwayberry arrived well in time and let herself be led to the defendant's seat.
It wasn't as crowded as her first time in court. She recognised former-and-new mayor Redkipp and some of the peasants who had helped him take control of the town hall. She now also got to meet the Public Prosecutor, and former sheriff, Amor. Or perhaps Redkipp had already appointed her as sheriff again, Dwayberry didn't know. Either way, she only realised now that the auburn haired lady was a centaur. They weren't all that common in the Secfenian lands. Such an impressive, uncommon sight should easily be able to hire some militia, one would think?
Long time ago, someone had told Dwayberry that centaurs were easily offended. She wondered if that was true. She would probably find out, today, when she'd bring up the conflict of interest bit.
The judge was introduced as Judge Eliminsinter. He looked quite old, with a long light grey beard, and a pointy hat that reminded Dwayberry of Zachrin. She didn't know a thing about this man.

Amor stood and was the first to speak: "I hereby lay charges against Dwayberry that she has conducted a crime of Public Disorder, as described in Section III part a - Revolt."
Keeping things short, simple and clear.

It was Dwayberry's turn to speak next and she rose, taking a short moment to smooth down her dress before defending herself. "Your honour, I plead not guilty. When I passed the town hall that night, it appeared to me that no-one was defending. I decided to go inside to see if the guards may be hiding inside from the cold weather, but to my shock there was no-one there, either!" she looked around the court room, so others may see her shock. "Now, I lived in this town myself some years ago, and my husband still lives here and I love strawberries. You understand, enough reasons for me to love this town and I wish for it to be well defended. If I, a woman, alone, could walk in here and take over so easily, someone with actual bad intentions could do so, as well! I saw it fit to take over for the time being, fire the sheriff who did not do her job properly, and make sure the town hall was occupied and some effort was made to hire militia. In other words, I committed an act of Public Order, rather than Public Disorder!" She glances briefly at Amor before continuing, "And speaking of the sheriff, this was the lady Amor, who is also acting as a Public Prosecutor here, laying charges against me. Would this not be a major conflict of interest?" She did not look at Amor again, but kept her gaze on the judge. Hopefully, he was sensitive to this sort of thing.
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

If the judge was impressed, he sure knew how to hide it well. When Dwayberry received no visible or audible response to her last statement, she returned to her seat.
Redkipp was now called as a witness and he, like Amor, kept it simple, straightforward and to the point. "As everybody already knows that the revolt took place, and that no-one was guarding the Town Hall, I'd better just report on the damages incurred," he raised his voice, "Direct damages! No freznics were stolen; one small statue was used to glorify the event; minor damages to the wall."
Dwayberry closed her eyes briefly to hide the fact that she was rolling them, whole Redkipp continued: "Indirect damages! Extra effort was required for auditioning; a disruption of the normal workflow. This seems to be all." And with that, he returned to his seat.

"Would the defense like to call a witness?

"Yes," Dwayberry said, "I'd like to call Dwayberry as a witness." She smiled sweetly and stepped forward to the witness stand. It wasn't the first time she called herself as a witness, and like the previous time, some confused murmer from the audience followed, and a rustling of pages as it was looked up if there was anything against this in the rules. Luckily for Dwayberry, there wasn't. If it would really help her case, she wasn't sure, but it always felt good to have an extra opportunity to elaborate on her point of view.

"Your honour, I must object," she said. "I have done no damages to the wall as this was not necessary to enter. How can mister Redkipp prove that it was not an yvyrm who damaged the wall? My erecting a statue does not qualify as damage." Dwayberry actually felt quite irritated that Redkipp had listed it as such. "It is a very attractive statue and serves as a reminder to take good care of town defences." She paused to let that sink in, before continuing. "How town hall servants respond is not my responsibility but their own, and I did not disrupt the work flow. I took over and did what had to be done. If anyone else had walked in, the town could be without money right now. I did Bravia a favour! Furthermore, there is still the issue of conflict of interest. The sheriff responsible for managing town defences on the night I took over, is now acting against me as a public prosecutor. Sure the honourable judge can see a problem with that." And once again, she rested her cold blue gaze on Amor before she returned to her seat.

Amor, however, appeared to remain unfazed. "By her own statement the defendant admitted the crime she was accused of. Whether the town hall was well guarded or not, it is against the law. Therefor, your honour, the prosecution awaits your judgement."
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

Dwayberry frowned. Amor not responding to Dwayberry's accusations of conflict of interest reduced the chances of the judge picking up on the issue. Dwayberry rose quickly as soon as Amor was finished, to plead, one last time.

"Your honour, my dear husband lives in this town and I am currently visiting with my two young children." If the judge was the old-fashioned family values type of guy, perhaps he could appreciate this. "I wish for them to be safe during their stay. Should I then, when I spot a potential safety threat, just ignore this rather than investigate? Like I said, I passed the town hall, saw no-one defending, and thus went inside to check whether the guards may be hiding there. When I saw no-one there too, I deemed it necessary to take care of the town hall myself, preventing someone with actual ill intentions from walking in, instead." She added, a little frustrated now and not quite succeeding in hiding that: "And we still have the issue of the Bravia City sheriff also acting against me as public prosecutor..."

She sat down and waited. The moment of truth had arrived. Judge Eliminsinter began to examine the trial. The peasants in the audience stared at him, expectant looks on their faces. Dwayberry shot glances in his direction, too, though she made sure to not show any fear or apprehension. Her previous court case had been more eventful than this one, with the public prosecutor, a militia witness and even her friend the mayor actively turning against her. The judge had appeared to be quite a fair man, however. The verdict had been tough to say the least***, but she had made quite a nice profit in the process.
She was curious to find out how things would end, today.
Perhaps she should pull her dress down just a little, show a bit more cleavage, smile sweetly. On the other hand, she was a properly married woman now, and she just played the concerned-wife-and-mother role in here. Best not contradict herself. Either way, as long as the judge had his nose down in the case documents, it made no difference what she looked like anyway.

As the judge took his time examining the case, Dwayberry began to wonder what she would do if she were thrown in jail. Take it calmly, or put up a heartbreaking scene. The 'what will become of my children'-kind. That might be fun, just to see how everyone would respond. Or she could try to escape, though she figured that wouldn't be successful and she could find herself waking up in jail with a very sore head and no memory of what happened, like the first time. Of course, this time, Nocturne would come visit and fix things to the best of his abilities. Still, jail time was not something Dwayberry wanted to fantasize about. Nocturne had worked on solving some of her issues regarding her fear - or dislike, as she preferred to call it - of darkness and small spaces, but there was still enough left to awaken, well, very unhappy memories.
Why had she taken such risks, knowing jail time was a plausible end result? Perhaps she trusted Nocturne would help her get out, or at least visit every day. And she knew the crime would be worth a few days in jail at most, and in a worst case scenario, she would survive by keeping her emotions well blocked.



***Are you a fan of Dwayberry's antics but haven't been around for that long yet? Let me help viewtopic.php?f=33&t=6793
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

Dwayberry sat slouched in the defendant's seat. After four days, the red dress was wrinkled and lost much of its former fanciness. It became clear to Dwayberry now.
This judge Eliminsinter - or Eliminator, as she had silently nicknamed him - was not going to finish examining her trial. This was her punishment. He was going to kill her by boredom.
Everyone in the courtroom was ordered to be quiet while the judge was thinking about the case. After a while, Dwayberry began to wonder if the man just hadn't fallen asleep. Any moment, she expected to hear a loud snoring coming from the quiet old man. But nothing happened, aside from someone coughing or clearing their throat every so often, and this was already rewared with stern glares from the court clerk.
Dwayberry wanted to rest her head on the table in front of her, but she was worried about falling asleep herself, and knew an act like that would be considered contempt of court and would add to her verdict.
If she'd ever hear a verdict.

How long was it again until the case would expire? About a month, if Dwayberry remembered correctly. She had been sitting here for four days now, from daybreak till sundown, only being allowed to leave to have dinner and sleep at Nocturne's home - seeing as she wasn't a dangerous murderer, they saved money by not letting her stay in jail. Every day before she left the courtroom, she was told the same: to not even think about leaving the viceroyalty before the case was finished, and to show up again the next day at daybreak or else...!
One day, Dwayberry asked if they'd send a carriage to pick her up the next morning. "One that's covered, please. I heard some peasants whisper it will rain tomorrow."
"No such arrangements will be made!" the court clerk said, his look betraying how he felt about her. "If you wish to arrive here by carriage, you will have to arrange for one, yourself."
"And will I then be reinbursed for the costs?"
The clerk huffed and puffed up his chest, convincing himself of his own importance. "Mrs Shadowborne! Nonsensical questions like these can be considered an act of contempt of court!"

Another week passed where Dwayberry showed up every morning and sat quietly bored until it was time to leave. Every day, less audience showed up to witness the case.
Dwayberry now wanted this to last the full month. Let that judge sit there and do nothing and waste everybody's time until the case would expire. What better reason could she have to attack the Bravia castle next and, if successful, fire that judge on the spot?
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

Patience tilted her head "You seem to enjoy yourself more in the courtroom these last few days, mommy," she said.
"How so?" Dwayberry asked. They sat at the dinner table in Nocturne's home, enjoying a meal of his signature buttered veggies and bacon strips.
"You don't look as bored anymore!"
"But how would you know that, my dear? You aren't sneaking into the courtroom to watch through the shadows, are you?"
Patience smiled. "Should I not?"
"No, you should not. Children usually aren't allowed in there. But I'm quite proud of you for doing it anyway. Don't you find it boring. though? Literally nothing is happening."
"Oh, no, stuff happens. And I report everything back to Aldwyn."

Aldwyn nodded affirmatively, and Patience continued. "You know this peasant with the scraggly goatee? He picks his nose all the time and then wipes it on the underside of the seat when he thinks no-one is looking. Oh, and that clerk you were arguing with some days ago, when you left he muttered that your rich husband should just buy you a private carriage. And that if your mister fancy rich finance minister husband spent less time making money and more time keeping you in line, he wouldn't have to deal with you in court for weeks on end."

Dwayberry chuckled and placed a hand on Nocturne's arm, giving him a smile and a secret wink. "Keep me in line, my poor shadow man?" She leaned closer to him, close enough so the children wouldn't overhear, and whispered, "You wouldn't know where to begin, am I right?"

"Mommy!" Patience said impatiently, "Come on, tell us why you aren't bored anymore. Did you see something interesting I missed?"
Dwayberry grinned. "I'm really still quite bored, sweetie, I assure you. But as it is, I am also excited about the prospect of the case expiring, which I'm now quite certain is going to happen."
"Does that mean you won't get punished?" Aldwyn asked, hopeful.
Dwayberry nodded. "Exactly! But I'll have to hang in there for another two weeks."
"That long?!" Aldwyn frowned.
"Don't worry, sweetie. I use my time very productively. I can think of dinner recipe's, new pies Elias can bake when we go back to Fenia, hunting tactics, new hats, and listen to this piece of fine poetry I came up with," Dwayberry stood and cleared her throat.

The fine judge in Bravia City
Is probably not very witty
For when Dway gets bored
And sacks the whole court
His future won't look very pretty!


Aldwyn leaned towards Patience "Sack the court?" he whispered.
"She means fire them all, so they'll no longer have a job" Patience explained.
Aldwyn nodded. He didn't ask how his mother would accomplish such a thing. It was probably something similar to how she fired the mayor of Bravia City. He joined his sister in applauding his mother's effort at poetry and threw in an encouraging "Mom-my! Mom-my! Mom-my!"

Dwayberry bowed. Tomorrow would be another day to sit in the courtroom and let inspiration flow. If only she could take her notebook with her!
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

"Dwayberry Shadowborne!!!"
Dwayberry blinked and woke up from her daydreaming, to find the angry court clerk glaring at her.
"Rise!"
She looked around and noticed she was the only one still sitting down, and rose. It appeared that the judge had finally reached a decision, and Dwayberry couldn't quite control the look of disappointment on her face.

Judge Eliminsinter cleared his throat. "My ruling is twenty-five freznics and a day picking strawberries to donate to the Town hall. We cannot prove you caused any damages but as you stated you did cause a revolt. Under section III. Public Disorder – Public Disorder is illegal and may result in mild to serious charges at the discretion of the Judge and based on damages. Crimes of Public Disorder may include: a. Revolt – Any attempt to remove an elected or appointed an official from a Town Hall or the Viceregal castle is considered a moderate to serious crime. Revolt is a moderate to serious crime. In your case your revolt was moderate. As far as we can see no damages done."

Dwayberry showed as little emotion as she was capable of without actively blocking her emotions. To be honest, this was a mild sentence for which she was, in part, relieved. It was surprising that no-one in the audience felt a need to protest. The peasants just quietly nodded in acceptance, and left as soon as the case was declared finished.

Dwayberry immediately paid the fine and received further instructions regarding the strawberries - the part of the verdict she did have a problem with, though she wouldn't let them know about it.
"When you pick for donation, an assistent of the orchard superintendant will accompany you. They will note down how much you picked, and this will be compared to the amount you donate to the town hall," the court clerk said. "Now, the honourable judge did not mention by which day you have to complete this task, but I suggest you don't wait too long."

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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

"It's an outrage!" Dwayberry declared as she angrily dumped her share of luxury strawberry cake on a plate, causing cream to fly towards the ceiling. Patience disappeared under the table and reappeared a moment later in the chandelier, ready to clean the ceiling using her tongue.
"Can't a woman be left to collect strawberries for her family and herself? How can I be expected to pick without tasting any? That is just not natural." Dwayberry paused and closed her eyes to enjoy a bit of cake. They were celebrating the fact that she avoided jail and got a mild sentence. But everyone who knew Dwayberry well, knew that giving up strawberries pained her heart. She continued her rant as soon as she finished savouring the flavour of the cake. "They should just ask for a higher fine, so they can buy their own damned strawberries," she huffed, "Previous time, I was forced to do all kinds of stupid jobs, but at least I got to keep the wages."
"I think there will be lots of people picking berries tomorrow!" Aldwyn said. "We were outside, Patience and I, and we heard peasants say the weather will be perfect."
Dwayberry turned to Aldwyn and smiled. "Aldwyn, you're a genius! I'm going to pick strawberries for the town hall, day after tomorrow."

It was very new for Dwayberry to experience joy upon seeing row after row of near empty strawberry bushes. She normally didn't bother to pick on days like these, but now it suited the occasion perfectly. There were very few people, the sky was grey and a soft drizzle that started the previous night had left the strawberry bushes soaking wet.
The orchard superintendent's assistent chosen to accompany Dwayberry followed quietly. The girl couldn't have been older than fourteen. The superintendent must have been confident Dwayberry wouldn't start anything here, or perhaps this girl had unexpected powers, who knew.
Dwayberry stopped at a far corner of the orchard, where some more strawberries had been left unpicked, and stooped down. "Not a good day for picking, who would have thought?" she said.
The girl didn't respond and Dwayberry glanced at her. Her bored expression and dull blonde hair contrasted sharply with her bright pink hat and dress and green striped stockings uniform, which normally helped the assistants chase away birds on quiet days. She leaned on her staff and picked her nose, then turned and flicked the apparent booger into the orchard.
"So what's your name?" Dwayberry asked. She wasn't easily shocked by the content of people's noses or what they did with it. Having two young children and having spent time in prison, she had seen much worse in her lifetime.
The girl raised one eyebrow, surprised by the question. "Kora Chest."
"Exciting job, Kora?"
Kora shrugged as her face returned to its bored expression.
Dwayberry wondered if Kora even knew she was dealing with a convict here, or if she simply didn't care. "Born and raised in this city, I presume?" She picked a strawberry and brought it to her nose. A typical rainy-day-strawberry, slightly sweet, but nothing very strong or exciting.
"No eating, please," Kora said in a monotonous voice.
"I was only smelling it," Dwayberry muttered as she dropped the strawberry in her basket.

"One box?" The superintendent saw Dwayberry regularly and knew she usually left with more, and when she didn't leave with more, she had the telltale smile on her face of someone who just feasted on the loveliest fruits the world had to offer.
"Yes, isn't that a shame? Seems like quite a lot has been picked yesterday," Dwayberry smiled.
The superintendent turned to Kora. "Did she eat anything?"
"Nah."
The superintendent cleared his throat sharply. "Miss Chest?"
Kora's eye rolling was barely visible. "No eating, mister Berrie."
"Very well." He scribbled something down and handed it to Dwayberry. "Hand this over to the Town hall representative of Donations together with the strawberries, or they won't be accepted."

Dwayberry read the note on her way over to the town hall.


On this day March 15, 1658, Mrs Dwayberry Shadowborne picked one box of strawberries at the Bravia City Orchard for the Growing and Picking of Strawberries, to be donated to the Town Hall of Bravia City.

Signed,
Larry Berrie, Orchard Superintendant
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

Dwayberry did, in fact, occasionally donate items back home in Fenia City. Mostly when she couldn't be bothered to sell cheap items she had no use for. Chaffs, golem pieces, that sort of thing. But definitely not strawberries. Never strawberries! And now, that was exactly what she was going to do. There they were, those cute, sweet strawberries, carefully placed one on top of the other in a cloth-lined box to not damage them. They seemed to look at her accusingly, as if they said: "traitor! Why won't you eat us? Don't give us away to gods know who, who may do gods know what to us!"
Dwayberry halted, removed her scarf, and placed those over the box with strawberries, hiding them from view.

"And what do you wish to donate to the Town Hall?" a woman, presumably the Representative of Donations, asked. Her voice was extremely cheerful and her eyes were nearly closed due to her broad smile.
Dwayberry placed the box on the counter and removed the scarf.
"Strawberries!" the woman clasped her hands together. "Wonderful! I imagine the poor of Bravia will enjoy these tonight."
"Yeah yeah, save me the enthusiasm please. I don't like to part with them." Dwayberry handed the woman the note the orchard superintendent wrote. "If you could sign this for acceptance?"
"What do you mean, you don't like to... What's that? Oh!" The woman's smile turned into a frown. "It's you!"
"Yes of course it's me! My gods-damned statue is right outside your damned office!"
The woman snatched the letter from Dwayberry and scribbled her own name on the bottom in such aggressive strokes Dwayberry thought she might rip the parchment.
"Donations are supposed to be done from the goodness of the heart!" she handed back the letter.
"Why?! So the Town hall can make a profit selling them? Feeding the poor of Bravia, my bum cheeks!"
The woman gasped audibly, bringing her hands up to frame her face. "You are rude and mean. You sing your children to sleep with that mouth?"
"My children are none of your business. Just take the strawberries before I change my mind and eat them." Dwayberry quickly put the letter in her bag, out of the woman's reach, turned and left, muttering, "Such a fake person you are, gods!"

On her way to court to drop off the letter of proof, Dwayberry took it out of her bag to read. Of course, she should have read it before arguing with that donations representative. Who knew she may have been rude and mean herself, and claimed she never received the strawberries. Dwayberry was lucky, however.



On this day March 15, 1658, Mrs Dwayberry Shadowborne picked one box of strawberries at the Bravia City Orchard for the Growing and Picking of Strawberries, to be donated to the Town Hall of Bravia City.

Signed,
Larry Berrie, Orchard Superintendant



Received as mandatory donation.

Signed,
Tina Doon, Bravia Town Hall representative of Donations
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