Waterdeep: Dragon Heist - Session XVII

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Basics & Rundown
Out of Game Date played: 2020-02-16 & 2020-03-07

Session Title:  The Trial Sowron

In-game Date:  Hammer 10 - 20 1583 DR

Location: Waterdeep

Player Characters: (Alphabetical order)
 * Choo-Cha (Cory)
 * Gooz (Aaron)
 * Julian Bellafontaine (Matt)
 * Sowron Stormwind (Garrett)
 * Järna (Claire)
 * Gammy Butterbottom (Prosecutor) & Witnesses (Joe)
 * Magistrate Judge of the Lord's Court,  Avio Cassalanter  (Joe Sr.)

Preparations
Julian prepares for seven days to craft a new identity by the name of "Deacon (Deek) Dukerson" affiliated with Duke Dukerson, a supposed Duke somewhere in the Sword Coast. He ensures everyone knows that he is leaving town wanting plausible deniability. Before Julian dons his disguise, he visits Mirt who tells him that he cannot help Julian with the trial to prove Sowron's innocence, adding that he will not divulge any information about what he will say at the trial. Mirt breaks even more bad news saying there is a faction wide boycott on Spookies until the outcome of Sowron's trial is determined & that Sowron is no long welcome to affiliate with the Harpers regardless of the outcome of the trial due to his questionable actions.

 Mirt  also asks about the task of checking up on Uza that he gave to Sowron & Julian at the grand opening party. Julian says that he has not had time with the upcoming trial & says that he is leaving the city for the next tenday.  Mirt , perturbed, says that he will get another of his agents on it. Julian insists he can get someone to do it like Choo-Cha.  Mirt , having heard of Choo-Cha 's past is unsure on the choice but leaves it up to Julian telling him his reputation is on the line.

Choo-Cha wishing to distance herself from the trial overall decides to help Julian with this problem for 60 GP. She has conveyed her desire to double down with the Doom Raiders. She heads off to speak with Davil, the sun-elf Doom Raider contact at the Yawning Portal (Note this is Session XVI). Having made friends with a hired hand named Järna, Choo decides to bring her back to Spookies to help with anything else that may come up. Choo-Cha spends the rest of the time leading up the to trial constructing a cat harness for her pet cat.

Järna spends her time looking for information about the whereabouts of the mother that abandoned her when she was only five (5) years old. She asks Lif, the ghost bartender, if he knows anything about an Orcish woman who goes by the name ''Gravvaz.  Lif only recalls the name from someone who was a rowdy patron from when the previous owner, Gunok Longthorn'', ran the bar over a decade ago. Järna asked Lif about where Gunok would be now, hoping that he man know something about Gravvaz; he knew that Gunok left to Luskan a decade ago with a half-elf named Anders but he has not been seen since. Järna  contemplated her next course of action for the remainder of the time up to the trial.

Gooz studies up on the intricacies of law within Waterdeep for the entire tenday gaining some advantages in the court room. Gooz is the only character aware that Julian did not actually leave Waterdeep & is in fact disguising himself in his room.

Thola leaves the city on the business to bring the members The Waxing Order to Waterdeep. She was designated the title of "Elle" by Luna of the 4 person order, meaning her chief concern is to protect the order from any threat.

The party decides to close the tavern for the tenday leading up to & the duration of the trial.

The Trial
As the trial looms both Gooz & Julian disguise themselves as Chance Lordship LP & Deek Dukerson, respectively.

An account of all party members during the trial: As the the trial starts the Judge informs the the defense that because of the seriousness of the crimes committed by Sowron Stormwind, the trial has been moved from the Magister's Court to the Lord's Court. The Lord Judge presiding over this trial is Avio Cassalanter.
 * Choo-Cha is disguised in the court's audience
 * Gooz is part of the defence team disguised as a halfling lawyer named  Chance Lordship LP 
 * Julian Bellafontaine is out of town, but is part of the defence team & disguised as a lawyer named DeekDukerson
 * Sowron Stormwind Is on Trial at the courthouse
 * Järna is in the audience watching the proceedings
 * Thola is out of the city collecting members of The Waxing Order to move to Waterdeep

Charges
Avio runs down the following charges that Sowron is charged with:
 * Crimes for the fourth plaint (Crimes against Citizens)
 * Murdering a citizen without justification (death or hard labour up to 10 years & damages up to 1000 GP paid to the victim's kin)
 * Crimes for the Second Plaint (Crimes against the City)
 * Arson (Death or hard labour up to 1 year with fines covering damage repairs plus 2000 GP)
 * LOREM (Contraband)
 * LOREM (Picking coppers from a fountain, which is in turn owned by the lords of Waterdeep making it a serious offence)

--

Opening Statements
The prosecutor, Gammy Butterbottom, speaks first with their opening statement attacking the accused

The First Charge
The suspicion of murder of a dwarf named Shumptha-wen, who was a single father raising two children. The children are in the court & are visibly upset.

Witnesses:
 * Jenny Cassalanter
 * Recounts the night & reveals there is a giant flytrap in the arboretum presenting new evidence potentially
 * Found the body with Sowron, was shaken & quickly left, was unnerved that Sowron did not seem phased
 * Hamblee Sharth, a drinking companion that was the designated wagon driver that night at Spookies
 * Overheard Sowron asking Shumptha-wen to kill someone very publicly, he suspects that Shumptha-Wen did not want to do this & Sowron killed him for not honouring his agreement

The Second Charge
Conspiracy of Arson  (One detained entity, Jadger, has confessed under magical influence & is locked in an iron flask until his sentence, Emmek Frewn, Mirt)
 * Charge for conspiracy for arson is Hard labour for 6 months, plus 2000 GP
 * Mirt testifies when he hears about this as well, effectively barring Sowron from the Harpers permanently & places a faction wide boycott on Spookies for as long he is a partner of the business
 * Emmek testifies that they welcomed their new neighbours & gift them labour & beer & they in turn send a ghost to burn down their establishment
 * Jadger testifies to this (This is in order to get a reduced sentence of exile for 200 years instead of imprisonment for 200 years)

The Third Charge
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The Fourth Charge
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Closing Statements
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The Verdict
Sowron was determined to be cleared of all charges but a new charge of Fraud is to be carried out due to

The law of Fraud is as follows: Jadger was exiled from the city for 200 years.
 * lorem

Sowron is therefore sentenced to 5 rotations in an experimental prison north of Waterdeep named "The Wheel".

Lord's Court Public Documents
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