Trial of the Delvers – Compiled RecordBench, roles, and frameHide
- Procedure: Prelate Evarielle Nerdolwë (directs the hearing; not judging guilt).
- Verdict & Punishment: Legates Garen Linwood and Vellyn Lhyrian (take notes, make the final decision).
- Prosecutor: Ibrahim al-Dawla.
- Defense Advocate: Enmur Faranos (recusal request denied).
- Accused: Apothar Shum Sheroy, Apothar Zol Nur, Nadiri Eva Keter, Scholar Jamileh Attar, Sergeant Hanson Gilbracht, Soldier Armin Albertos.
- Bailiff: Sgt. Orton Brigsteer.
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- One count of Treason.
- One count of Delving (old Law 22: Descent into Al-Nasr): descent requires written authorization by a reigning Legate; may be revoked at any time; refusal to comply becomes illegal. Severity noted as capital.
- Prosecution asserts 251 dead, 132 children.
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- Defense asks for Legate to preside / for Evarielle to recuse for bias → denied; Legates state confidence in Evarielle.
- Evarielle confirms her role is procedural only; Legates will judge.
- Prosecution lists evidence: timeline by Scribe al-Ibrahim; Consulate findings; statement of Legate Lhyrian; statement of Scribe Tallen; the law.
- Court takes not-guilty pleas; defense concedes there may be a breach of law but contests guilt/causation; asks that multiple-accused format allow continued argument.
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- Goal: determine culpability and give the Wroth (bereaved) closure.
- Frames a clear sequence: permission → rescission → disobedience → worsening Tormented activity → mass casualties.
- Emphasizes chain of command and oaths to obey Legates.
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- The accused are veterans acting in the Well's best interest under prior authorization; knowledge of the Below is limited.
- Causation is unproven; consulate material circumstantial; evidence of other delvers/presences that day (Abaru/Library broadcasts).
- At worst, a breach/insubordination, not treason.
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1) Legate Vellyn LhyrianHide
- Reason for rescission: same-day Tormented incursion; precedent that descents correlate with increased activity; judged delve a needless risk ("hornet's nest").
- Confirms orders were heard and ignored; recalls acceptance of responsibility by Sgt. Hanson (and Starlight/Zol Nur supporting him), though timing is fuzzy.
- Cross (Defense):
- Admits every descent is a gamble and the accused likely felt they were protecting the Well, but stresses chain of command must be respected; the judgment isn't theirs.
- Notes earlier incidents where Tormented activity above followed descents; this scale is unprecedented.
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- Factors that provoke uprisings: harming Inheritors, trespass into wrong places, weakening seals, descending amid build-up, taking certain individuals (Purple Legates often targeted).
- On Abaru/Library: can't detail publicly, but says last deep inquiry empowered the Tormented; answer trends toward "yes" that a breach/empowerment occurred.
- States her cautions were known by government and delvers; says calamitous delves were "partly or wholly unauthorized."
- Magistrate clarifies the pivot point: authorization existed; illegality came from refusing to return after rescission.
- Defense presses route order (above → Abaru at the bottom); Selsi agrees. Reaffirms gov't and accused were aware of her recommendations.
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- Leadership: for this delve, claims no appointed leader; prior delves had different leads.
- Decision: after rescission, he and Hanson argued to hold the Tormented back to prevent a surface rush; Jamileh and Zol Nur urged obey.
- Plea/stance: Not guilty to charges; admits a "breach" of the law occurred but contests criminal culpability; asks mercy for others.
- Remorse exchange: says deaths are terribly sad and he believes his actions prevented more; gallery reacts poorly (seen as cold).
- On causation: believes descending drew Tormented away from the surface; that day they came from every direction.
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- Has delved 3–4 times; as a soldier he looked to Sgt. Hanson for guidance.
- Feeling/intent: didn't want deaths; hoped his actions did not cause them.
- Admits he was conflicted under opposed Legate orders; believed holding the horde down was best; did not voice that opinion at the time.
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- States plainly: "I led this expedition and the last." Says he long advocated re-introducing the laws and their strictest form.
- Sequence as he recalls it:
- Expected some Tormented activity; ordered city preparations (others to ready the defenses) while they pressed on to finish the objective.
- On hearing the lieutenant's gravity about the order, he then ordered return.
- Personal statement: expresses regret and pain, but claims the decision was not wrong; he'll pay the price the Wrath demands; would "collapse every passage to the damned place" if he could.
- Cross (Defense): raises Ep-Barat and post-disaster sanctioned delve by the Legates—argues that if Legates delved after, time existed; Hanson says duty to protect above/below guided him, even if it meant defying an order he believed may have been premature; asserts Wellfolk petition opened the later way.
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- Delved ~10 times; considers Apothars and Sgt. Hanson as leaders.
- During the day: fought with sending chip, relaying bellows; had no idea of true surface scale until inside the Hope; later visited Maqbara and Hope in grief.
- Hypothetical from Defense: if they knew turning back would save lives, would they have returned? "Of course. No question."
- Clarifies belief at the time: turning back would bring more Tormented based on prior experience.
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- Timing shows a connection that "cannot be denied."
- No malice needed: good intentions still caused harm; this wasn't the time to fight Tormented.
- Hierarchy exists for a reason: order was prudent and legal; less would have died if followed.
- From the moment of recall, they acted illegally (capital); experienced delvers knew better.
- Notes varied remorse; asks the bench to weigh individual guilt.
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- The day proved even the most experienced do not truly know the depths—certainty is absent.
- No direct evidence that this delve triggered the uprising; consultate observations don't show a reliable pattern.
- Conflicting Legate orders forced an impossible choice between loyalty and duty.
- The accused acted to preserve life, not to subvert authority; they are protectors and veterans.
- At most, insubordination deserving proportionate punishment—not treason.
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- Causation vs. coincidence (timings, Abaru/Library broadcasts, other actors below).
- Chain of command and the moment of illegality (post-rescission refusal to return).
- Leadership & personal responsibility (de facto lead vs. equal say).
- Remorse/intent (callousness vs. confident life-preserving judgment).
- Consistency with prior practice (precedents of post-descent activity; later sanctioned delve).
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After deliberation, Legates Garen Linwood and Vellyn Lhyrian issued the following judgment:
- Fine: A total of 250,998 dinar, to be divided equally among the six accused and paid over a period of six months.
- Service Requirement: All six are expected to serve on the front lines in defense of the Well during any future Tormented incursions.
- Demotion: Apothar Shum Sheroy to be demoted from current station at the direction of the Legates.(This did not go over well with Zenithar Oro Konthaz)
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Justice, if such a thing exists, is rarely neat. The Legates have chosen a punishment that spares life but demands payment, in coin, in service, and in station. It is no small thing to strip a title, nor to demand one stand where the danger is greatest.
Some will call this leniency; others will call it cruelty. To my mind, it is an answer that keeps swords in the Well's hands and makes plain the disobedience carries a price. The Wroth will have his spectacle when these six stand in the dust before the Tormented, and the Well will keep the use of those who have proven they can walk the below and return. The political fallout will hurt Legate Vellyn's chances at reelection, but anyone with a brain understands that this was a lose-lose situation, and no matter what verdict was pushed, she would be ridiculed. To face a thing like that head on is brave, commendable.
The law has been upheld. The city remains defended. It is, for now... Enough.