Journal of Arcadius

Of Rhinos and Justice Done

When Jacob and Walter-Tupper were teleported into the depths of the keep, they found the defenders prepared. A monk and some sort of mage awaited them, ready for battle. Neither Jacob nor Walter-Tupper are men trained extensively for hand-to-hand battle, though Jacob is still dangerous in a fight thanks to his magic.

Little would any, least of all the enemy mage, have guessed what form that magic would take.

Rather than immediately using his blasting power, Jacob summoned a Rhinoceros. Rhinos are formidable creatures known in my part of the world. They are huge, armored, and have massive yet sharp horns on their noses that they favor using by charging into their foes. Curious, if fortunate, that Jacob knew of them.

The Rhinoceros appeared and he ordered it to charge forward against the enemy mage. The room was, it seems, large enough for the rhinoceros to charge, and woe to he who is the recipient of a rhino's charge!

It is fortunate for all concerened that the ceiling in that room was not dependent on internal pillars for its support.

It was unfortunate for the enemy mage that he was in its path. After crushing him against a crystal wall protecting the staff, the rhinoceros then proceeded to stomp on him for some time, during which his own allies kept reviving him with healing magic. He seems to have been conscious, if helpless, through most of the proceedings. May the gods have granted him perseverance.

In the meanwhile, however, the monk made short work of our party members, particularly Walter-Tupper. When our friends awakened, they were in a cell WITH the accursed gnome. It seems it was at this point that things began to become clear.

Praise be to Pelor that the light of knowledge illuminated our way!

We must also remember to use Rhinos again in the future.

Meanwhile, as noted previously, the main party had come to realize the defenders of the fort were not our enemies at all, and come to terms with them. Also, as noted, they handed over the gnome to us.

Ragnarr and I prayed to Lord Pelor for guidance on what to do. In this matter, it was clear we were not under the jurisdiction of any extant lawful government, and thus had to execute justice ourselves. There was some discussion as to what form this should take.

Walter-Tupper seemed to think that justice could only be done by handing the gnome over to some secular ruler such as the King of Izmir. But how so? How does a faraway king whose own commitment to justice in this matter is, I think, subject to question, have power over affairs here? In wild and lawless lands, law must be made.

It is to the gods that we must answer, and they have commended us to this task. In the end, the others saw the wisdom of executing this evildoer. However, it is very important that such things be done correctly, for justice is not vengeance, nor it is it murder.

Accordingly, I prepared a writ of punishment in the old and correct form as used in my homeland, taking care to clarify to Walter-Tupper, in detail and at length, points that might be unclear to him.

The others were set by as witnesses.

I read the writ of punishment out to the vile and wicked gnome, listing his crimes and his worthiness for punishment in the style I had seen my father use many times - though rarely for crimes so severe - to the best of my ability. Then, I carried out the sentence, beheading him in one clean stroke. We burned his remains, and Ragnarr and I prayed that his soul, once it had undergone its suitable punishment in the afterlife, could someday find redemption.

Still, it was a strange, feeling for a time as much like a Guardian of the Land of the Five Rivers as a Paladin of Pelor. I wonder what my father and my family are doing at this very moment. Are they well? If this darkness, this horror from the sea succeeds, they will most certainly not be. Nor will anyone. I am reminded of the gravity of the path we have accepted, my companions and I. I will follow the duty it entails to the very end.

Rightly we have done, rightly we do, and rightly may we do in the times to come.

*A*