Interrogation
We get sent to prison where shortly after I arrive. they put a hood over my head, strip me down to my underpants and drag me into a cold room where they chain me to an uncomfortable chair.
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After four hours of waiting Rayla is being escorted from her cell to an interrogation room, where the Sheriff and a scribe are waiting for her.
“Miss Rayla, tell me about what happened in the mountains after your convoy was ambushed by Rayden.”
“Tsk After we were ambushed we were pinned down by his gang. He told us he was going to skin us alive and eat us. We tried to negotiate with him and found out the reason he is doing this is solely for fun. He then told us if we can ‘brighten his day’ he’ll let us go. So I told him something funny, he laughed and let us go.”
the Sheriff gives her a doubtful look, “That doesn’t sound like what your Elf friends told me. They told me a completely different story and put most of the blame on you and that cultist. I recommend that if you want to have your side of the story heard, you tell me what actually happened.”
“Pfft, haha.”
“Are you laughing because you’re trying to go for an insanity plea? Because that won't work.”
Grinning widely at the Sheriff, she answers, “No, I’m laughing because you think I’ll believe that bullshit. My people have been oppressed long enough. I know your crooked interrogation tactics all too well. I request a trial by magic.”
“You are aware that by doing so you waive your ability to further tell me your side of the story, right? The trial by magic will make it so you can’t lie and force you to tell us all incriminating evidence about yourself.”
“That’s fine.”
“Tsk Fine, have it your way. Lead her to her cell!”
Meanwhile in a different interrogation room, John is waiting for his interrogator.
A friendly looking man in his early thirties enters the room, “Hello there. My name is Harrold and I’m here to ask you some questions, could you please tell me what happened during your mountain crossing?”
Crossing his arms, John answers bluntly, “No. As far as I’m aware, by this country’s laws, both I and Thoma Ahad are considered minors and have a right to contact our guardians. As such, I want to invoke our right and contact our guardian Shara Seleen, the Guild Master of Rostock.”
Giving him a smile, Harrold smiles gently as he answers, “Alright we can do that but in the meantime don’t you want to tell us your story first?”
“No, I invoke my right to stay silent.”
The man's facial expression then turns from kindness to anger as he says, “Get this cheeky brat out of here and contact this person.”
About fifteen minutes later, Sher Aka is being led into an interrogation room with a young woman and a scribe.
“Hi there, my name is Clareece. Could you please tell me your story of what happened during the mountain crossing?”
“I invoke my right to trial by magic.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to-”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Perhaps find some cleaning supplies as well to cleanse that bullshit producing hole in your face that you call a mouth.”
“Miss Sher Aka, you’re doing yourself no favors by-”
“Both Thoma Ahad and John are minors. Make sure you keep that in mind. Take me back to my cell, I’m done talking.”
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After eight hours of sitting in a painful position in a freezing cold room, I hear a door open and shortly after, someone pulls off my hood. At this point I’m tired, in pain and shaking from the cold. Looking around, the room I’m in is covered in runes and Sally seems like they’re unconscious.
The sheriff then speaks up, “Alright, I’ll make this quick. I'm legally obligated to tell you that your guardian has invoked the right to trial by magic for you, during which a lawyer will be present. But until then, we still have three days to enjoy ourselves, so let’s start with hearing the truth of what happened in the mountains.”
“W-We were ambushed. He said he… He said he wanted us to brighten his day. Rayla then told him an inside joke for Beastkin and he let us go.”
Looking at me disappointed, she answers, “I said I wanted to hear what really happened.”
“Th-That is wh-what happened!”
“That’s not what Rayla told me. She told me a completely different story and pinned the blame mostly on you.”
“Wh-what? Wh-why?”
“I can’t tell you for sure but your Elf friends told me a similar story. To be honest right now it’s looking like you’re getting a death sentence, Thoma Ahad.”
“Wh-what? Wh-why?”
“You should know the answer to that the best. We have evidence of you using occult artifacts and you even have a cult symbol tattooed on your back.”
Feeling desperate, I yell, “B-but I sh-showed you the letter!”
Leaning back into her chair, she shrugs, “Things like that are easily forged and even if it’s not, there is no way to prove that your Guild Master isn’t a cultist herself. Unfortunately, unless you confess, it looks like you are going to get the death penalty.”
“B-but I didn’t do anything!”
“Of course you did. Everyone already knows, go and make it easier on yourself by confessing. It’s the only way I can help you.”
“Confess what?”
“That you colluded with Rayden and that you are a cultist.”
“B-but I didn’t d-do any of that!”
Letting out a sigh, she smirks at me, “Fine, so you want to do this the hard way do you?”
The Sheriff then knocks on the door of my cell and a strong looking man together with a woman holding a staff enter the room.
“By law, I’m not allowed to leave any lasting injuries on you, which means I can injure you as much as I want as long as the wounds are healed right after. Derrick here is going to break your fingers one by one every time you lie and Erica is going to heal them when we run out of fingers to break.
My teeth chattering from fear and the cold I answer, “Th-that won’t work. M-My body rejects l-light magic.”
She shakes her head in disappointment, “Already lying huh? We’re off to a bad start here. Derrick.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!”
I feel a horrible sharp pain as my little finger is being bent backwards until it cracks, followed by a horrible pulsating pain.
“Now then, let’s begin. Are you a cultist?”
“No! AAAAAAAAAGH”
“Were you colluding with Rayden?”
“No…Sniff AAAAAAAAGH!”
“I’ll ask you again. Are you a cultist?”
“Sob…No…AAAAAAAAAAGHHH.”
She repeats the same two questions over and over until all my fingers are broken and I’m crying and screaming.
Looking annoyed, she grits her teeth and says, “I’ll give you one thing, you’re surprisingly tenacious but it won’t matter. We can go all night. Erica, please go ahead.”
“Layla, great goddess of healing and your three disciples. One of our little sheep needs just one of the tears you shed for your children to heal its wounds. Please bestow it upon this little sheep. Heal.”
As the rays of light from her staff hit my hand, I feel a rash forming all over my body and I start to cough up blood as my neck swells and I have trouble breathing. Things then start go black as I hear some arguing before I pass out.
“What the fuck is happening Erica?”
“I don’t know, I've never seen this before! It’s like his body is rejecting the healing magic.”
“Then stop your spell!”
“Y-yes!”
When I wake up again, I find myself chained up in what looks like a medical room. I’m in absolute agony, my entire body hurts and itches and while my fingers seem to have been bandaged they’re still sending out pulsating pain.
About three hours after I wake up, the Sheriff walks into the room and sits down on a chair near me, “Listen, you won’t tell anyone about what happened yesterday. If you tell anyone I’ll kill your ‘sister’.”
“Wh-what?”
“You heard me. This stays between us. Nod if you understand.”
I nod.
“Good. It seems you have recovered enough, you’ll stay the rest of the time in your cell. This isn’t an inn after all.”
Some muscly guards then drag me back into the cold cell where I spend my time lying on the cold floor for two days.
Then on the fourth day, in the afternoon, guards come into my room, pick me up from the floor and make me get dressed. They put my hands behind my back and handcuff me. The guards almost have to carry me along the hallway since I can’t walk on my own anymore and right before we enter another room, the Sheriff whispers to me, “You will say nothing. Understood?”
I nod.
We enter through the door into a room with Rayla, John and Sher Aka as well as what looks like an old Woodelf in a suit and a human woman wearing a clerical garb. They place me on a chair and leave, the only one of the guards that stays is the Sheriff. All I can do is stare down on the floor and shiver.
“Thoma!? What the fuck did they do to you!?” Ane yells.
John screams, “Are you guys fucking crazy!?”
The old looking Elf raises his voice just a bit, “What is the meaning of this Sheriff? Have you been torturing my client?”
“I have not. He is probably just shivering because he’s scared to face justice.”
The cleric woman then approaches me, “Keys.”
A guard brings her a key chain and she takes my handcuffs off.
She inspects my hands and asks the sheriff “Where do these injuries come from?”
“They are from when he resisted arrest.”
“He broke all ten of his fingers while resisting arrest?” the cleric asks calmly.
“Apparently, we even gave him a potion after but it seems to have not completely healed.”
The Elf pleads, “Magister, this is obviously witness intimidation by torture.”
The cleric asks, “Can you tell me what happened?”
I shake my head.
“Did she hurt you?”
I shake my head again.
She then puts her hand on my head, “Great Mezmer, father of all knowledge. God of all that is hidden, show me even the secrets that are locked in this person's mind. Dominate Person.”
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“Is your name Thoma Ahad?”
“Yes.”
“Is the information on your guild card correct?”
“Yes.”
“Have you at any point in your life colluded with Rayden?”
“No.”
“To your knowledge, have any of your party members or other people you know colluded with Rayden?”
“No.”
“Are you currently or have you been at any time since you can remember a cult member?”
“No.”
“To your knowledge have any of your party members ever been in a cult?”
“No.”
“Have you lied in your testimony?”
“No.”
“Have you been resisting arrest?”
“No.”
“Have you been tortured?”
“Yes.”
“Who tortured you?”
“The Sheriff and some other guards.”
“What did they do to you?”
“They left me in a cold room with only my underwear and broke my fingers.”
“Did they threaten you with violence in case you told us this information?”
“No.”
“Did they threaten someone else with violence if you told us?”
“Yes.”
“What did they say?”
“She said she’ll kill my sister.”
“With ‘she’, are you referring to the Sheriff?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you, you may go to sleep now, I free you of control.”
The cleric then turns around to the Sheriff and asks, without changing her gentle expression at all, “What do you have to say for yourself?”
The Sherriff puts her hat down, “I was simply trying to find out the truth magister.”
“I see,” The priestess puts her arm in front of her, swings it quickly to the side and in an instant the Sheriff is decapitated.
She then turns around and hands the keys over to the attorney, “They’re free to go. Any medical expenses will be paid by the county. You may file for cruel and unusual interrogation practices as well as tampering with evidence. The confiscated items shall be returned to them by tomorrow and I will write a report as well as a letter to make sure this does not happen again. Until then they may stay at a hotel.”
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