[closed] a templar's reckoning

[onlyhymns]

WHO: Closed to Seekers and Knights-Commander. And Cade!
WHAT: A meeting and/or hearing to determine the future of Knight-Lieutenant Harimann.
WHEN: Early Drakonis
WHERE: in that one empty tower
NOTES: everyone dies

[Cade has been temporarily released from Nerva's supervision to attend a gathering in the sparse but appropriately isolated tower where the Templars last met. There is a small half-circle of chairs facing a single chair, which he is escorted into by a fellow Templar, who promptly takes their leave.

Dressed in plainclothes and in possession of nothing that could be construed as a weapon, Cade looks rather smaller than usual. He folds his hands, looks at the floor, and waits for it to begin.]


OOC Note: It would probably be easiest to do this in the style of other meetings, more of a rapid-fire discussion than a log with full paragraphs. Having said that, let's still use a turn order just so nobody gets left behind or talked over.

Comments

[arlathvhen]

[ Maybe if you didn't have a system that inherently allowed for abuse of power you wouldn't need to have to make things so complicated to keep that power from being abused!!! ]

I don't know much about malifacarum. I'm not a mage. I never saw blood magic until I had to fight the Antivan Crows. And that wasn't mind magic. But I...don't think it was. But do I think he needs to be executed? Do I think he's rogue?

[ She frowned, and straightened up, eyes locking on Aleron. Her voice is louder, clearer, making sure that there's no room for anyone in the room to misunderstand her. She's nervous, but she's been wanting to say her opinion for a long time now, and she's finally got the chance to say what she thinks in front of people who can actually make decisions. ]

No. Absolutely not. Cade isn't rogue, he's not even malevolent. He's a danger, but he doesn't deserve to die. Commander Cullen's judgement was insulting to both myself and Cade, and if you chose to follow that, it will only be a matter of time before Cade murders someone else who isn't as fortunate as I am. It will also be a message to anyone that attacks a Dalish about what the Templars think an appropriate punishment for that is.

But Cade wasn't attacking me because I'm Dalish. He attacked me because he isn't well. I saw his face when he attacked me. He wasn't...right. I don't know how Templars work, but for the Dalish, when one of our own is sick, we don't kill them. We help them get better. And that is what I would recommend.

Don't kill Cade. He deserves to be punished for what he did, and you need to punish him for it. You need to, or you will be setting a dangerous precedent. But you also need to help him get better, because if you start killing every person who isn't well, you won't be able rest until you have a pile of bodies under you. Worse, you'll be telling every Templar who needs help that the Seekers aren't there to help, they are there to murder them, and they will not go to you until it is too late.

[ Her voice is grim, but sure, and dead serious, her eyes not leaving Aleron's as she speaks. ]

That is what I think, Seeker.

[equanimiti]

[Leave it to Beleth to speak her honest opinion to a room filled with angry looking Templars. Alayre silently commends her for her courage.]

She's right. [He finally says after a moment of thought.] How could have none of us seen the signs? This certainly hadn't happened over night. Harimann hasn't been well for a long time and I know I'm partly to blame for what transpired.

[He glances at Beleth briefly before glancing back towards the Seeker.]

As I said before, we should forge this sword anew. We owe it to Cade to help him, not kill him. Indeed, he does deserve to be punished for attacking Beleth but that punishment shouldn't be death. [He turns to Beleth again.] Nor should it be at the expense of their pride as individuals.

[lifeofendurance]

[Even with that impassioned plea, the Seeker's expression remains an unreadable wall of calm and detachment. He's not here to argue for a position, but to root out the truth of the situation and address it appropriately. If he approves of her appeal for Cade's life, he's not showing it, nor does he intend to let it color the ultimate decision.

...it's probably why Templars hate it when a Seeker shows up.]

And is it a Dalish practice to taunt a rabid dog into attacking?

You admit to seeing his condition, though the report I have been given states that you pushed him.

[He is being harsh. But he wants the truth. All of it. Not opinions or feelings or impressions. However, he did want her entirely aware of the very serious potential consequences of her testimony about the event.]

[arlathvhen]

[ She takes a moment to smile at Alayre, relaxing for a few breaths. At least he's here. Then Aleron speaks, and Beleth is back in the ring. This is some of the political wrangling she's been practicing for. Not all of the people she'll deal with will be giggling nobles, and when she speaks to Aleron, her voice is still clear and concise. ]

It is a Dalish practice to be unhappy when people belittle us. [ Kind of like what you're doing bucko. ] I admit to pushing him. We were having an argument. I didn't see the full scope of his condition until he grabbed me by the hair and started bashing my face into the ground.

[ She gestures to her nose, which had been healed a bit lopsidedly. ]

Or do the Seekers consider that a proper response to an unarmed woman pushing a Templar?

[lifeofendurance]

[And yet he still doesn't take the bait. Aleron doesn't do politics. Leave that stuff and nonsense to his ridiculous sister.]

Then if you did not see it until then, you will have no objections in agreeing that the same might be said of others.

To the point. None of the parties involved here are innocent, while all are in the wrong to some degree. Neither you, nor Harimann, nor his superiors are blameless. It is my intention to see that justice is meted out in proper measure to those whom it is my responsibility to do so.

[Which is all he intends to share on the matter. It's internal process and nobody else's business. He doesn't do public shaming, but he doesn't permit public placating either.]

Do you have anything further you'd like to contribute regarding your part in the attack?

[arlathvhen]

You didn't answer my question. [ Ya rude. ]

Not only do I not object to the idea that it might be hard for others to tell who needs help, I agree completely. That is why you must set the example, so Templars will come to you of their own volition. Make them feel comfortable asking for help, and you won't have to try to look for signs.

[ She does stiffen at Aleron's words, however. He has no authority over her, but if she's learned anything from living in such close proximity to Templars, its that they rarely care. ]

I have never claimed to have done no wrong in this case. Only that I was mistreated. I will tell you what happened, fully.

[ She sighs, and rubs the scar that runs the bridge of her nose. Creators give her strength. ]

The times that Cade and I had met before this, he was consistently...dismissive. He treated me as some servant. It is a slight a Dalish cannot bare, and so when I saw him this last time, I... poked fun at him. It escalated into arguing. I pushed him. Then he just...snapped.

[ For the first time, her courage seems to fail her. She takes a few moments, eyes closed, fingers preoccupied with pulling threads from her scarf. ]

He backhanded me, with his gauntlet. I was sent to the ground. He grabbed me by the hair, slammed my face into the ground. He put his foot on my back, stood on me, while keeping my head down, then pulled his sword out. That was when Warden Alistair saved me.

[ She opens her eyes, but keeps them cast down. ]

I think I have already paid for my mistakes.

[lifeofendurance]

[There is something in her telling that resonates with him. The downcast eyes. All too familiar stories of one person pushing another until they snapped. Stupid Ravonild and her dumb bowl of water for the flowers being dumped on his borrowed book. He snapped then himself, though he never raised a hand against his twin. The comparison ought to irritate him, but all it manages to do is drum up long exiled memories of his sister doing something dumb and his trying to shield her from the consequences and taking the blame.

He rather sucks at not taking on responsibility that's not his. And he does feel to blame in no small part. Harimann's problems began in Kirkwall and that will ever be a source of guilt for having not looked hard enough. This time, he won't let something slide.

Since she's looking down, Aleron drops to one knee in an attempt to make eye contact without forcing her gaze upward. His tone warms to genuine concern.]

Yes, you have.

[Not that he'd be so forward to begin with, but he refrains from touching Beleth because she has suffered enough physical trauma.]

Have you had adequate care for your injuries?

[equanimiti]

[The concern in Aleron's tone has Alayre utterly baffled at this point.

Both Seekers had donned such an impressive stoic mask chiseled from indifference until now. While he does perceive Aleron as slightly friendlier by a breath than Malcolm, Alayre is still somewhat surprised to hear general concern within the Seeker's tone. It seems so strange and ultimately foreign to him.

Alayre doesn't know what to make of it so he reserves his judgement of Aleron for now.]

The scars upon flesh heal quickly but the soul...

[Beleth's encounter with Cade undoubtedly changed Beleth for bad or good.

[arlathvhen]

[ The Seeker pops into her view, and for one utterly baffled moment, the sight of the man on one knee speaking warmly to her conjures up an entirely different idea than what he's trying to convey. Beleth can only dimly muse that her mother would kill her and not be kind enough to have a hearing over it, before she comes to her senses.

Not that it helps much. First she looks at Aleron, than Alayre, and all the gumption she had summoned to give them all a piece of her mind feels scattered when their attentions turn to worrying over her. So she just turns back to the Seeker, and gives him a soft smile. ]

Yes, I believe all the injuries have been as healed as they can be. Time will finish the job.

[ A vain piece of her worries over the state of her nose, healed but no longer quite straight. But that didn't seem an appropriate worry here. ]

[lifeofendurance]

Very well.

[Inside he's still concerned about any mental injuries she's suffered in all this, but has no reason to hold her there. Nor does he possess enough social skills to express said concern in anything but strict professionalism which must needs go back into place. Aleron doesn't realize he actually managed to do so without thinking of it and schools away the feelings she'd stirred up. He stands back up and nods once.]

Thank you for your honesty. Inform me what costs have been put to you for your treatments and I shall see that they are attended to.

[Harimann ought be responsible for those, at the very least.]