Alexander Nighthawk's Imprisonment

[Kaelon]

(OOC: This thread is intended only for the participation of the PC, Alexander Nighthawk, at present. Thank you.)

Former Regent Alexander Nighthawk rematerialized inside of a dark, dank cell. He looked around, but could barely make anything out aside from the fungus-covered stone walls and thick, heavy iron bars. When he touched the iron bars, he instantly sensed some sort of anti-magic aura surrounding his cell, creating a mental block preventing him from meditating. All of his possessions were no longer on his person, and only the clothes on his back provided him with a thin layer of protection against the disease-ridden detention cell.

From beyond the darkness came a solitary voice that was both soothing but frightening at the same time. The feminine voice of the young woman carried with her a strange energetic spirit that seemed to be pervertedly excited while also nurturing and maternal.

"Marshal Nighthawk," she said. "Are you ready to begin your Inquisition?"

[Alexander Nighthawk]

Alex had been down in the prison cells. He knew of thier ablities to make it hard for a caster to meditate. So he took a sit in the center of the cell and waited, though it would seem he wouldn't have to wait long for these dogs to attack.

Alex began to laughed as the voice spoke to him, and the visage of the young inquisator entered his cell. "Please take a sit young one and let us begin the inquisation. Ask you question, start your pain."

[Kaelon]

Though Alexander might have anticipated the Inquisitor to step into his cell, she remained just beyond the shadows - her face still distorted by the darkness, though her womanly figure unmistakable. The youth of her voice seemed almost serene and eerily misleading.

"I should advise you," she said, "that you have, under the Annarian Code, a right that an advocate be present during your inquisition. Do you waive this right, or do you wish to invoke it?"

[Alexander Nighthawk]

"An advocate would be nice." Alex said as if he was ordering a meal in the Crown itself. Alex didn't seem to the inquisator to mind her voice. It seemed if it was to have any effect on Alex, that it was not.

[Kaelon]

Calmly, the Inquisitor continued. "Under the Second Mandate of the Annarian Guarantees to Allerian Citizens, you may name your Advocate from any subject of the realm." she said. "Do you have any candidate whom you wish to name to speak on your behalf and to be present at these proceedings? If you do not have such a candidate, we can ask the arbiter at pre-trial hearings for one to be appointed to you."

[Alexander Nighthawk]

"No I have one already picked out. Her name is Rachel Illiander." Alex says as he streches his arms. "May I ask why I have been detained?"

[Kaelon]

A light chuckle came over the Inquisitor's voice. "Why, Marshal Nighthawk," she began, "you have been detained, arrested with violating the Public Order in abrogation of the Sacred Three, and you are charged with that violation, as well as for attacking an unarmed group of civillian protesters at the Imperial Citadel earlier, in abrogation of Justice."

"Rachel Illiander shall be summoned," said the Inquisitor as she muttered an arcane phrase that Nighthawk could neither hear nor understand. Within moments, Rachel would materialize on the other side of the bars.

(OOC: The character, Rachel Illiander, may now join this thread.)

Without pausing, the Inquisitor continued. "Advocate Rachel Illiander," she began, without verifying that the woman had materialized. "Marshal Nighthawk is charged with one count of disrupting the Public Order, and one count of Offense to Justice by attacking a group of unarmed citizens with disproportionate arcane power. It is my duty to inform you that under Allerian Law, an Inquisition to uncover additional evidence of any wrong-doing that your client may have committed is mandated. As a representative of the State, I am charged with carrying out this Inquisition and shall do so using magical means, rather than the traditional physical and psychological torture. Do you have anything to add?"

[Alexander Nighthawk]

Alex immediatly started laughing at the mention of the inquisator using magic for her questioning. He looked at her with his bemused smile on his face. "What child doubt your own skills at breaking me? Or do those traitors wish for you to implant something in my head that will make me seem guilty?"

Alex then looked to his advocate. "Lady Illiander it is a pleasure as always to see you. Though I would have rather had a meeting with you under better circumstances." Alex said as he bowed his head to his advocate to show her some respect while he remained seated on the floor.

[Ahana]

As the light faded into small crystalline fragments of illumination, it left behind the frail and studious form of the woman assumed rightly to be Rachael Illiander, Former Professor of Law and Politics at the fallen Institute of Higher Learning.

It was clear, both from her wide-eyed expression and the wooden dough-covered spoon that she held in her right hand, that the professor had been taken quite by surprise by her summoning. 'Ahh..' was the first sound to escape her mouth, issued in a quiet staccato that betrayed her shock at having her location shift so suddenly. But the elderly professor wasn't one to be domineered by surprise. Her light-blue eyes flit briefly across the room as the Inquisitor began to speak, registering only the smallest inkling of surprise within their sparkling depths. Even here, even now as Rachael stood across from the former Lord Regent, deep in the bowels of the dank dungeons; Even garbed in an odd rust-colored daisy-print dress that was spattered with bursts of flour along with the tiny, flour gilded hand-print of a child, the grey-haired professor commanded a form of casual elegance and dignity that was rarely seen in the common ranks of mortal women.

'Marshal Nighthawk.' said Professor Illiander as she returned Alexander's nod with as much of a curtsey as a woman her age could manage. 'I would have to concur.. both the timing and the manner could do with improvement.' The creases that normally beset the aging woman's face deepened as she frowned quite openly at the Inquisitor. 'I do..' she answered the girl, clasping both of her hands behind her back as she stepped forward. 'I am utterly astonished to find this Inquisition taking place at all. Marshal Nighthawk is a heralded and esteemed member of the Allerian Military and has risked both life and limb for the good of the Empire on more occasions then can be counted. Seperately, I wish to inquire as to why the interrogation protocol is being shifted for the Lord Regent.'

[Kaelon]

The Inquisitor stepped into the light, revealing her visage clearly for the first time during the preliminary discussion. She was a tall human female, attractive in an unassuming, humble manner. She wore a simple black cloak over a deep red, low-cut neck. Around her neck a golden medallion with the symbol of the Rakrya identifying her status as one of the members of the ruling body of the Empire could be clearly identified. Her black hair had streaks of silver, though her deep green eyes seemed to sparkle with an unnatural radiance. Her lips curved into a smile and she nodded lightly.

"Marshal Nighthawk was found disturbing the public order in the Imperial Senate Chambers," she said, "and furthermore, attacked a group of defenseless mages with disproportionate arcane power. These facts are beyond question, and this evidence in its own would suffice to brings him to trial. However, it is believed that he is conspiring in a crime-in-process, and therefore, Article 129 of the Articles of Imperium, consistent with the Annarian Code, would mandate an Inquisition."

"No one is above the law, Madame Advocate," said the Inquisitor. "Not even a celebrated hero like Alexander Nighthawk. Though, the circumstances of his fall from grace sadden us and make us all wish that perhaps he would not have acted so hastily in recent memory, we must still serve the interests of Law, Order and Justice without reservation."

"As for your second question, Article 129 calls for an 'Inquisition of the Accused to determine sufficient cause of probability of the existence of a crime, at the Inquisitor's sole discretion.'" The Inquisitor knew that Professor Illiander was more than familiar with the article, and seemed to only articulate it for Nighthawk's benefit. "The Articles of Imperium do not specify a mechanism for inquisition; it has been practice in the Third Empire to employ psychological torture. In the Second Empire, physical torture was the rule. It stands to reason that methods change with the times. That being said, arcane inquisition should prove less damaging than any previous mechanism, should Alexander Nighthawk cooperate with my probe of his mind."

"You have been served notice, Advocate," said the Inquisitor as her head turned to face Alexander Nighthawk. "You may observe these proceedings according to Allerian Law. Is the accused prepared for the Inquisition?" She stretched out her hands and seemed to begin the incantation of a powerful spell.

[Alexander Nighthawk]

"Just one question child." Alex said with a curious loook on his face. "How is my advocate suppose to know what you have or haven't found if you are going to use magic?"

[Kaelon]

"That is not your advocate's concern," she said. "You should know that as well as anyone, Marshal. Inquisitions are for the benefit of the State, not the accused. You and your advocate will become aware of what we have discovered when we file charges against you in the courts of justice."

"I promise you," the Inquisitor warned auspiciously. "If you have no resistence, you shall experience no pain. If you attempt to resist my probe, you may suffer greatly. The choice is yours; either way, we shall get what we need."

[Alexander Nighthawk]

"Please let us get this foolishness over with young one." Alex said bored out of his mind with all of this. "Begin." Alex said wonder exactly what it was they wanted to know.

[Kaelon]

The Inquisitor stretched out her long fingers, and unleashed a bright wave of intense blue bolts of lightning that pierced through the cage and directly at Alexander Nighthawk's mind. The sensation was extremely intense, that the former regent could feel a bursting heat beginning to pierce his brain. It was a strange, sweet pain that seemed to both chill and flame his spirit. But as the power burrowed, three more bolts of lightning came out of the mystic Inquisitor's fingers and shot out at his chest, regulating the beating of his heart.

Alexander's pulse began to slow, its standard pace retarded by the foreign energy invading his body. But an Archmage as skilled as Alexander could instantly recognize the spells permeating his being. As his heart began to slow down, he could hear a whisper in his mind.

"Tell me of your plan to overthrow the Rakrya," it spoke. Apparently, it had already uncovered some details that Alexander had preferred to keep hidden, or so it might have thought.

[Alexander Nighthawk]

Alex's eyes suddenly went rather quizical. "Child how can I overthrow something that doesn't have power to begin with. I mean have you yet seen a terms of surrender or anything in writing that states I turned this empire over to these traitors to the Crown?"