expiationnet

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[ There's a sombre-looking William on the feed today. He looks a little worn from fighting off the creatures, but otherwise mostly unharmed as far as anyone can tell. He's only sorry he's interrupting all the attempt at holiday cheer. ]

I understand that there's been a call for retribution - or justice, some might call it - against the people of Rumpitur. I'm here to ask you all to take a step back and show some compassion and understanding. It is neither fair nor just to accuse an entire village of wrongdoing when they act out of fear or desperation. Who amongst you wouldn't have done the same in their position?

I propose we slay the creature terrorising their village. We were hard-pressed simply to escape from its minions, but I believe that if given time to prepare and coordinate, we can surely defeat it. Once it's gone, the people of Rumpitur can live normal lives.

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Ethlyn, when you spoke to the people, did any of them take particular glee in admitting to what they did to us?

No, and I'm sure they did a very good job of convincing themselves and each other that they were only doing what they had to. But that doesn't mean they aren't responsible for the deaths that they caused. They played on Aldrip's faith to lure the townsfolk away, and we were blamed. Then they lured us with an elaborate deception about their "missing chef."

This wasn't a rash decision made in the heat of a desperate situation. They schemed and plotted to feed us to a monster--and they succeeded.

If they truly do feel remorse, then they should understand that they can't simply walk away without any sort of retribution.

[ He sighs a little. ]

And how is that different to the excuses we each make for our own 'crimes'? Picture this: a man is starving and has been starving for days. He decides to steal coin or food from another. Do you offer him charity or do you cut off the hand which committed the theft?

Let's take it further: the man is starving, but not through any fault of his own. He starves because a terrible landlord withholds coin and food and threatens his kin if he dares to speak out. If he decides to steal what he needs, do you still cut off his hand or do you seek to take him out of his situation?

[ His expression flattens. ]

Now, if it were not just a man but an entire village at the mercy of, say, a fearsome creature who has the power to drain the very land of its vitality, denying them crops, devouring their kin when they do not comply... Do you kill the victim of such a terrible fiend or do you - one who is blessed with the strength to potentially stand against it - rid the village of that which terrorises it?

But this wasn't a simple robbery where the victim is impoverished and shaken but lives to see another day. I know a shopkeeper who will never recommend me another book--and a young man of the Chosen who didn't make it to the boats in time to escape.

I understand that they were being attacked by a truly terrible creature--to a degree, I can sympathize. Just as I sympathize, to a degree, with bandits that attack defenseless villages because their lords are avaricious tyrants. To be frank, I could forgive the Rumpiturans far more easily if they had tried to do that. But what they did was far worse. Instead of asking us for help, they concocted an elaborate scheme to lure away the townsfolk so they could be thrown to the beast like meat to a wolf. And then they did the same to us. As though we were less people than they were and deserved less to live.

This was no desperate impulse. It was nothing short of sinister. As I said, I don't believe every single Rumpituran is culpable and I'm not advocating that we go to war or anything so extreme. I even admire your compassion. But in this case, I think it's misplaced.

Or perhaps they did already try asking for help and were refused. Their closest neighbours wouldn't speak to me when I tried to approach. Do you think that they didn't know or at least suspect what was going on? We're recent arrivals to this land and it's taken several months for Rumpitur to start having trouble with their crops, which suggests that they've been putting it off for so long that the creatures' patience wore thin. I don't know what relationship the people here have with each other but they don't seem to be terribly close. There's no reason for one isolated village to help another - especially when they would be risking their lives for no gain. There's even less reason to trust us outsiders who have no reason to care for their personal struggles.

I understand that you're upset about losing people you knew, Ethlyn, but demanding lives in return isn't the answer here. You might call it justice to put to death the ones who killed your friends, but that in itself is an excuse you're using to ease the hurt you feel. I know from personal experience that asking for help isn't as easy as you make it sound. What is easy is being made to feel like you're suffering alone, in the dark, with no way up except to push others down. If you demand capital punishment then you're only going to isolate the remainder even further.

I don't want to fight anyone over this, but I swore that I would defend those in need and that's what I'm going to do here. The people of Rumpitur need our help and deserve our pity, not the ends of our blades.

But we have talked to them before. It was before you were here, but we traded with each other early on. We dealt with them fairly, and when people on our side tried to claim that we were desperate and justified in stealing their food? We stopped them. They could have at least shown us the same consideration. Instead, they exploited our goodwill and betrayed it in the worst possible way. Maybe you hold your life so cheap that you wouldn't have minded being fed to a monster by people you trusted, but I don't! Not yours, nor Claude's, or Kotone, or Yosuke, or anyone else targeted by the ringleaders.

You don't want blood for blood. I respect that. But there are other forms of restitution. Imprisonment. Money. Exile. At the very least, not leaving their leaders in charge.

And we can't let them think that they can do this again. We don't know how long it's going to take to get rid of that beast, and if they've talked themselves into this before they can easily do it again--and they'll be even less nice about it.

[ He crosses his arms and closes his eyes, thinking for a bit. ]

...I'm touched that you value me enough to care about my life, Ethlyn. It's not that I think it cheap; it's that I swore to my goddess that I would make the most of my life and wouldn't ever let myself be held back by a fear of what lies ahead. If that means I'll die saving someone or saving many, then so be it. I'm already living on borrowed time as it is.

I don't know if we can get rid of the monster or how long it will take but I'm willing to take charge of our efforts to do so. There's no point in worrying about what might happen. If we have time to worry about that then we have time to do something about it.

Fine. But it should be your choice to put yourself there, between someone and danger. You shouldn't be stuffed into a sack and flung to the wolves. Being a paladin is not the same thing as being bait. The people of Aldrip deserve saving as much as what innocents there are in Rumpitur.

Do you have any experience fighting the type of beast that lives in that sea?

[ All the people of Rumpitur deserve to be saved too, he thinks to himself. But he wisely decides not to voice that thought. If only they'd tried to for help sooner. ]

I haven't fought anything with so many tentacles before, but I guess the closest thing would be the many-headed hydra I and my party encountered on the way to the dragon's home.

[ He hasn't yet made the connection between the tentacle bits he fought in the forest upon first arrival here and the monster that nearly tried to eat them. ]

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