[Dragaera] Loraan's Motives

[Jon Lincicum]

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Alexx Kay" <alexx at panix.com>
> > Alexx Kay wrote:
> >> The Empire does seem to have a degree of
> >> respect for Rule of Law which would make the notion of a landed noble
> >> being "in no position to ask" for legal recourse implausible to me.
> >
> > What is he going to say?
> >
> > "Look your honor, I was at home polishing my staff (in which I had held
> > captive the wrongfully imprisoned soul of the rightful Dragon Heir),
> > when this jerk, her cousin, shows up (who just happens to be one of the
> > most respected and powerful Dragonlords in the Empire) following the
> > explicit instructions of Sethra Lavode (the most venerated and respected
> > figure in the Empire, who is probably the one figure most directly
> > responsible for the restoration), and tries to actually SET HER FREE.
> > That's just totally grossly unfair! I have a RIGHT to that staff, since
> > I, uh.. earned it doing some favors (only involving minimal treason) for
> > the pretender to the throne. Oh, and they also stole my golden chain
> > that I swiped off a dead Serioli (after I killed him and stole his lunch
> > money)."
> 
> "Your Honor, Lord Morrolan is well known for his collection of magical
> artifacts, as am I.  He had often expressed interest in purchasing the
> staff in question, but I did not wish to give it up.  He then invented
> some preposterous claim about it containing the soul of a relative of his.
>  The story is absurd on its face, and I defy him to demonstrate its truth.
>  I certainly had no good reason to believe it at the time in question. 
> After my continued refusals, he broke into my home, killed several of my
> guards and -- not least in the list of his crimes -- killed ME!  That his
> goal was simple theft is made even more clear by the fact that another
> rare artifact was stolen from me.  Does it perhaps contain the soul of a
> good friend of his?  Ha!  Methinks this Dragonlord sees souls wherever it
> is convenient for him to do so."
> 
> > Even if no one puts together that he helped the Jenoine, his position
> > isn't exactly a strong one, here.
> 
> If my theory is correct, his position certainly wasn't strong enough to
> *win* a legal case.  But it was strong enough for him to have plausibly
> made the attempt.

Well, my point is mostly that Loraan has been doing some things he REALLY wouldn't want to have to testify under the Orb about to an Imperial Justicer. 

"So, My Lord Loraan, can you please tell us, under the Orb, how you obtained the staff in question? Who were you aiding, and how were you aiding, the persons that provided this artifact to you?"

It would seem to me that the honest answers to those questions would land him on the Executioner's Star.

He would appear to have far more to those through this process than he would stand to gain.

In America, you can't go exactly to the cops when someone breaks into your house and steals all your cocaine and sets your slaves free. 

Majikjon