IC Scene: Aranor's Trial

The great doors of the throne room swung open, and Alderman Gundar swept through them, his long coat trailing behind him as he moved.

"My lords and ladies, his Majesty will begin his audience now" he stated, then stood aside to allow the brethren of the Orders to file in. The throne room itself was bedecked only in the royal colours, though there was a notable absence of the usual Griffon guards. Instead stationed around the perimeter were a number of Mettenheim Greatswords, Veccavian Knights and surprisingly some Vanskerry Warriors. It was clear that the king was trying to preserve neutrality by not having the Griffons on duty today.

The king and the prince were already present, his majesty seated on the throne raised up on the dais, beside him on a smaller chair sat his son. Both were talking, heads together. Mordred's face was unreadable, though Valdemar was trying to look solemn. Behind the king stood one member of the Forlorn Hope, though their face was heavily scarred and his armour was more worn than was perhaps appropriate. It was clear that it was not Frederick.

Before the dais, raised above the main floor but not so high as the royals were three more large seats, each bearing the royal insignia of Pendor in the head rest. The main floor held a multitude of seats arranged in rows, none were reserved for any particular order so the knights began to take their places.

Varys slithers enters the room inconspicuously, and walks to an empty seat. He bows to the King and says, "My King," and sits.

Sir Mitchell walked down the hall and entered the chamber room where he wore his Legatus attire for comfortably and sign of power.

He approached the front of the majesty himself and bowed.

"Your Majesty, it is most welcoming to see you again." He then goes in front of the royal heir, his son.

"A goodmorn to you young prince."

He stands up and turns to face a table and looks for a place to sit. He spots Isabel and joins the seat adjacent to her, considering Sir Mitchell does not have any existent order members present.

Sir Mastifus followed soon after Sir Lucius, stomping in to the throne room while throwing a cursory glance at the strange guardians around the room. He then bowed curtly before the king and his son and made his way to the rear of the room and sat, placing his boots up on the seat in front.

Sir Azrael was the next to arrive. He had a neutral look on him, as if thinking what to make of this little event. He gave a deep bow to the king and went to his seat next to Isabel.

Sir Aranor entered the room, dressed in rich robes. He was escorted by the two Griffins. They had taken some time in getting there due to Sir Aranor praying in the chapel with Sir Celdiur. He looked dignified, with his head held high, and walking a few steps ahead of his Griffin escort.

He walked until he reached the center of the room. He did a bow.

"My King, I have come to answer the accusations made against me."

The King rose as Sir Aranor entered, and bowed before him. Accepting his presence with a nod, Mordred pointed at a seat in the side of the room.

"My lords and ladies, brethren of the military Orders of Pendor, I am pleased you have answered my summons so quickly. Firstly, I must ask for the written report of the gathering thus far from the Silvermists, whom I asked to act as chair of this meeting. I will read it through and and then we can proceed with the more unpleasant reason for our assembly here today"

Iskar rose from his seat and made a commanding gesture towards the shadowy outer part of the room. His scribe hurried forward and handed him several parchments: A sealed scroll and some large, folded pieces.

As the scribe retreated back to the other servants standing in attendance Iskar approached the dais.

Your Majesty, this scroll contains detailed accounts on the recommendations of the council. I have attached a map completing the written accounts on the territorial issues that have been discussed so far before the council session was ... interrupted.

He handed the items to a footboy in attendance who passed them on to the king. Then he bowed and retreated to his seat.

Mordred nodded as he received the scrolls, unrolling it at once and giving it a cursory read, then giving the map a quick look with another nod. When done, he returned to his throne and rolled the scroll up once more and handed it over to the Forlorn Hope soldier.

"Take this and give it to Alderman Gundar, tell him I should like to meet him once this meeting has been concluded for his counsel." he said commanded. The Mettenheimer made a fist over his heart in salute and left through one of the side entrances. Once he had departed, Mordred turned once more to the gathered Order brethren and looked out over them his face stony.

"Now, we must turn to these other matters. Duke Darlion has accused Sir Aranor of the Dawn of treason, an accusation supported by the laws of Pendor" he began, starting to pace before his throne as he was like to do when there was something weighing on his mind. Abruptly he stopped having come to a conclusion.

"I must make it clear that I consider any attack on the authority of the crown, as an attack against the nation of Pendor as a whole. All of us in this chamber have sacrificed much to restore Pendor to its former glory, and I shall not allow any man or woman to stand in the way of our rightful ascension to a place as a great power once more" Mordred stated, his voice stern, his usually warm eyes having turned to steel, their light blue intensity becoming all the more striking in the quiet that settled over the room. The King fell silent for a moment, clearly carefully weighing his course of action. When he spoke again his voice had dropped, yet there was not a soul who did not hear him, or the venomous warning his words spoke.

"The Snake Cult came close, far closer than any of you might imagine to destroying Pendor forever, and the secrets she guards. Azi Dahaka knows this all too well, and it is why we continue to suffer attacks against our shores, as hopeless as they may seem against the stalwart defenders we have deployed there. It is for this reason that we have laws to act ruthlessly against any question of the authority which the Crown of Pendor has over this kingdom, and why I will brook absolutely no question against the right my family has to rule, or for the powers of the throne, for if we were to falter in our duty the consequences for Pendor, for humanity, for all living beings even, would be..." he shook his head, shoulders slumping and a great weariness seemed to settle over the sovereign, and he turned back to his seat and sat with a sigh.

"But I am not Ulric, I will not give in to ruthlessness even if it seems required to maintain the stability of our fair nation. We stand here at the birth of a new kingdom, one greater than the Pendor of old and it is one which I will see grounded in justice and order. As such, we shall hold court here, and it will be for the military peers of Sir Aranor to determine his guilt or innocence" the king continued, seeming to draw strength once more from the cold stone of his throne. He sat up now, the former weariness banished, replaced instead by the fiery spirit that was so familiar to those in the hall.

"Four will sit as judges in this trial. Three of them will decide the guilt or innocence of the accused, while the fourth shall be solely responsible for the punishment to be meted out should the accused to found guilty of their crimes. The Crown calls for Sir Lucius Aurelianus of the Ebony Gauntlet to sit as the First of the Three, his dedication to the Kingdom never having been called into question. The Crown also calls Marcus Merula of the Shadow Legion as the Second of the Three, the blood he has shed for the Kingdom proving the purity of his heart. Finally, the Crown calls Sir Celdiur Moriendor as the Third of the Three, his concern for the stability of the Kingdom being well known to us. I myself shall preside over the justices as the fourth judge. I would ask those who are sitting in court to decide the fate of Sir Aranor to recognise that the meeting was called to consider the means to reform the kingdom's administration to better effect its efficiency, furthermore his words were spoken in private and were not associated with any known scheme or malicious intent. A simple majority is required for the ruling." Mordred stated, gesturing to the three seats lined up before the throne of Pendor.

"The Order of the Griffon will be called to prosecute the case against Sir Aranor as the accusers, while the Order of the Silvermist shall sit in his defence as the chair of the meeting at which the words were spoken. Each council shall choose one spokesman and will speak twice, once to plead their case, and once to argue against the case of the other council. The judges will then have time to question the councils and the accused at their leisure in order to assist them in making their decision. As the prosecution, we call on the Griffons to speak first when all are ready."

Varys smiled.

Let the games begin..he thought.

Celdiur had arrived just as the King made his first address to the court. He chose not to draw attention to his poor time keeping and simply slipped into a seat near the back of the hall. To any that new him well, they would realise just how strange Celdiur looked, as it was the first time in a long time that Celdiur had donned his priestly robes. Rather elaborate robes at that, white trimmed with the deepest of black, hooded, the collar finely embroidered gold upon red, and of course the chain that always hung from his neck displaying the symbol of Astraea. He wore the same leather boots he had prieviously.

Upon hearing the King announce that he would sit as judge, his heart lifted at the King's wisdom. He stood, pulled back his hood and moved to stand before the King. He place his fist over his heart and bowed low.

"You do me a great honour your Majesty. By the Goddess, I shall ensure that true justice is done this day"

The last of the judges to stand, Sir Lucius placed a hand over his heart.

Likewise, I am honoured by your choice, your Grace.