XXXIII. Before the Tribunal

A few days later, Edward received a summons from the Church of Hieroneous in Greyhawk. They demanded that he explain his recent actions. Edward promptly reported to the central temple of Hieroneous in Greyhawk to appear before a special tribunal assembled to hear his case.

"We have heard that you, a paladin of the Church, employed devious and dishonorable means in your recent encounter," the chief of the tribunal said to Edward. "Furthermore, we have heard that you have consorted with devils. And this is not the first rumor of such associations that we have received. There have been others."

Edward nodded, and the cleric continued. "Although the Church of Hextor is our enemy and is to be fought whenever the opportunity arises, nevertheless, as a paladin of the Church, you are expected to behave honorably at all times. We therefore demand that you explain yourself."

Edward began his explanation by describing to the tribunal the nature of the tarrasque, the results of their research, and especially the means by which it could be defeated. Then, he addressed the actions of the party in the battles against the beast.

"Eminences, I must be completely honest. The minions of Hextor are more than a little justified in what they say."

The tribunal gasped almost as one, then began to murmur in outrage. 

He went on to explain that he and the party he led were desperate to defeat the monster at all costs as they knew what devastation it could cause. They had it defeated once, but couldn’t keep it down. "Our wizard failed in her attempts–three!–to wish the monster dead, which was the only way we knew to finally kill it."

"So you just left the monster in the city?" asked the chief inquisitor.

"We thought the city guards could keep track of it in our absence."

"Keep track of it?!" exclaimed another inquisitor, more hostile than his superior. "You expected simple townsmen to "keep track of" the most dangerous creature known to this land? I think you expected too much!"

"The only thing we could do was to obtain further magical support from Greyhawk," replied Edward, chastened by the inquisitors.

"Did you consider what the likely result of your leaving the city would have been? No! You didn’t," exclaimed another inquisitor. "Why did you not remain on watch while your wizards obtained the needed magical items?" added the chief inquisitor. "Certainly it was within your ability to inflict sufficient damage on the beast to keep it stunned, as we understand from your account of its nature."

"We all needed to replenish our stores of magic," answered Edward.

"I see," said the chief inquisitor. "So, you abandoned the city for the greater good?"

"Yes," replied the paladin. "We took a considerable length of time--perhaps too long under the circumstances–preparing to re-engage the monster. When we finally returned to its location, we found a second party already battling the beast. This was the party of Hextor’s minions." He took a breath, then continued. "Here lay my error: I, and the rest of the party, believed they were attempting to capture the monster rather than destroy it."

"What caused you to think that?" demanded an inquisitor.

"Hextor’s minions are evil," said Edward.

"Certainly. They are also lawful," replied the hostile inquisitor. "And skilled at arms, as we have repeatedly learned, to our cost. Did it not occur to you that they might in fact have been attempting to slay the beast, in order to protect this city?"

"I couldn’t take the chance," answered Edward, surprised at the direction the questioning was taking. "And furthermore, it appeared that the party of Hextor was failing in its attempt to defeat the monster, whether or not their intent was in fact to destroy it."

"And how did you know this? Did you assess the state of the monster’s health?" demanded the hostile inquisitor.

"From its appearance, it seemed not to be seriously injured," said Edward.

"So. You concluded the other party was incapable of defeating the monster. What did you do then?"

"Several of our party began to attack it," said Edward. "But then, another, perhaps overzealous, party member took it upon herself to attack Hextor’s agents as well."

The chief inquisitor considered this for a moment. "So, your party attacked the other party, without declaring yourselves, and while that party was in fact striving to destroy the monster? Is that your testimony?"

Abashed, Edward answered,"Unfortunately, yes, that is so."

"You failed to control the actions of your party?"

"Yes. I believed our actions were necessary."

"So, the ends justify the means?" demanded the hostile inquisitor.

"I thought what we were doing was proper."

"Very well," interjected the chief inquisitor. "What did you personally do? Ruslan has named you specifically as acting in an underhanded manner."

"I remained invisible until the attack," said Edward, "and then I appeared, behind Ruslan, and declared myself. I ordered him not to take offensive action against us. Then he disappeared, along with all of his party. I did not attack him or take any other action against his party."

The tribunal members spoke briefly among themselves. The chief inquisitor then continued. "Now let us address the matter of your consorting with devils . . . ."

"I would never do such a thing!" interrupted Edward. "I am a true follower of Hieroneous! The truth is that the so-called "devils" were in fact two of my party members, who had used their magic to shapechange into the form of pit fiends."

"So again, unacceptable means, and lack of control over your party!" exclaimed the hostile inquisitor.

Taken aback by the inquisitor’s anger, Edward considered his reply. "They are good individuals. What matter if they take any particular form, if their hearts be pure and their deeds directed toward the good?"

"Actions have consequences, would you not agree?" asked the chief inquisitor. "And we have heard reports of this behavior before. For example, there was the matter of your recent destruction of the cult of Orcus based in the Dim Forest," he began. "Admirable rescue of those captive children, I might add," he said, almost as an aside to Edward.

"Surely you’ve also heard that I was being held prisoner myself, by a necromancer of great power, and that I was unable to take any action on my behalf!" exclaimed Edward. Then, thinking better of himself, he added, "Pardon my outburst, eminence. But again, the evildoers were destroyed, and I was freed. The outcome was all to the good."

"That remains to be decided. And again, you argue that the ends justify the means!" said the hostile inquisitor.

The chief inquisitor raised his hand. "I believe this tribunal has been fully informed at this point. Have you anything left to add, Edward Gallahan?" Edward replied, "No, eminence, I have described events as I believe they occurred."

"Then we shall adjourn and consider this matter. You will be summoned when we have reached a decision." Edward rose and bowed to the tribunal as they left the chamber, then turned and left.

Two days later, Edward was summoned to hear the tribunal’s findings.

"Edward Gallahan, you are to be commended for your and your party’s defeat of the tarrasque, although we are somewhat troubled that it was only removed, rather than finally destroyed," began the chief inquisitor.

"That having been said, we remind you that, as a high-ranking paladin of Hieroneous, and one with a reputation for bravery and honor that is known throughout the Flanaess, your deeds are under constant scrutiny. Well do you know that you are bound to uphold the highest standards of conduct at all times and under all circumstances.

"It is the finding of this tribunal that you have fallen short of the standard of conduct required of a paladin of Hieroneous in this matter. Although you personally may not have attacked the party of Hextor’s agents as they fought the tarrasque, you acquiesced in the decision to observe them while invisible. That in itself could be considered an underhanded strategy, unworthy of Hieroneous. Moreover, you in effect allowed them to do a great deal of the fighting for which your party would ultimately have claimed all of the credit.

"By failing to influence and control the actions of your fellow party members, you also facilitated the appearance of evil beings among your party, causing scandal to the Church. The fact that those who had taken the evil forms were good themselves is irrelevant, and in any event could not be determined by a detached observer. To all appearances, you and the evil beings were collaborating. A paladin of Hieroneous must avoid even the appearance of impropriety at all times. You did not do so.

"Finally, in leaving the city of Verbobonc to its fate, rather than taking the necessary measures to ensure that the tarrasque would not revive itself and wreak havoc, you exercised inadequate leadership and exhibited poor judgment which led to great destruction and additional embarrassment to the Church."Therefore we pronounce your doom.  It is the judgment of this tribunal that you will atone for your actions, specifically for allowing yourself to be seen in the presence of devils, as well as for your failure to prevent the destruction of the city of Verbobonc. You will further serve the Church for a term of six months, without advancement in rank or acquisition of wealth. During this time, you will assist in the training of new paladins, and perform other duties as required by the Church."

Edward bowed to the tribunal. "Humbly do I accept the decision of the tribunal," he said. "I further pledge a tithe of one fifth of all wealth I derived from the incident, in partial compensation for damages incurred as a result of actions, or inactions, attributable to me or my party."

The chief inquisitor smiled. "Accepted, in token of your true repentance." The hostile inquisitor then added, "Be further advised, Edward Gallahan: let there be no repetitions of the behaviors we have here judged. In particular, any further failure to prevent the appearance of evil creatures among your party will be considered a wilfully evil act, with all consequences attendant upon the commission of such an act. You have been warned." And with that, the tribunal rose and left the chamber.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party had been called to account as well, but to the Enterprise rather than the Church of Hieroneous. Green Arrow, Firiona, Lina, Arnold and Elana were separately called to the secret Enterprise agency in Greyhawk. There, they were questioned concerning the events surrounding the tarrasque’s rampage and ultimate defeat. In particular, the Enterprise was interesting in hearing the adventurers’ explanations of the failure to save Verbobonc and of their inability to finally kill the monster.

After an initial debriefing at the Enterprise agency, the adventurers were led to a meeting with the director of Intelligence and Operations–the Blue Dahlia herself. The adventurers now realized exactly how important this matter was to the Enterprise!

Green Arrow began by explaining why he felt a need to leave Verbobonc without having finally dispatched the tarrasque. "Our weaponry was in need of replenishment," he said. "Why didn’t you–or anyone–guard the creature at Verbobonc?" asked the Dahlia. Green Arrow had no good answer to that question. Firiona then added that the party also suffered from a shortage of spells, and that this shortage compelled them to leave, despite their failure to destroy the creature. "And at considerable personal cost to myself," she added, referring to the three wishes she had cast in her unsuccessful attempt to finally kill the monster."Did it ever occur to you that it would level the town?" inquired the Dahlia. "Unless we killed it, there was no way to control it. The whole party could have kept it down, but then we would have had no way to regenerate our spells. Eventually the creature would have overcome us," answered Firiona.

"Why did you send the tarrasque to the Negative Material Plane?" the Dahlia asked. "Because that plane would do constant damage to it. I had hoped that this would keep it permanently disabled, even if it wasn’t fully dead." "But you do realize that the plane is inhabited, don’t you?" continued the Dahlia. "I knew that," replied Firiona, "but I didn’t think the locals would mind."

The Dahlia appeared to find this reply less than satisfactory, but didn’t follow up. She went on to discuss the Church of Hextor’s exploitation of the events. The party expressed their regret, but the Dahlia assured them that Enterprise propaganda operatives would take appropriate steps to counter the spin from the Church of Hextor. She took this opportunity to re-emphasize the necessity for all Enterprise agents to think before they acted and consider all consequences of their actions.

Before she left, the Dahlia did offer a bit of praise for the party’s actions. "You did what you thought best under the circumstances. Now keep this experience in mind for the next time."

The Enterprise advised the party to take some time off for relaxation and study, which suggestion the adventurers gladly followed. Elana began looking for followers. Firiona and Lina began a spell research program, based on their observations made during the recent events; this led to their successful development of the prismatic ray and avasculate spells, respectively.  Firiona was able to learn her new spell, but Lina discovered that she needed some additional maturity as a spellcaster before she could put her research into practice.Time passed. Edward continued on penitential duty. Meanwhile, Green Arrow, Firiona, Lina, Elana and Miae were contacted by the Enterprise. They met with the head of the Enterprise’s Underdark Special Operations Task Force, a woman named Tisiphone.