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| - Mini-story. Gorak Spartacus, mage, villan, Immortal, entrepeneur. He stood silently in the low box, looking up at the many High Lunicians above him. For once the court was silent, and every eye in the audience was staring at his face. An eerie whistling blew through the seats, and a breeze bristled through the floorboards. He was standing on the dusty ground of the desert terrain, his feet bare and bleeding. Draped across his left shoulder, only just covering his privys, was a scarlet red robe. The edges were tattered and ripped, and the back was severely burned. A man in a bland shirt,pantaloons and a powdered wig stood in the highest box and shouted out what seemed to be a list of crimes. "I don't have John in my name, it's just "Gorak Horatio Spartacus". And may I also see my father? I was told he would be here today." he said. A man in Immortal robes stood up in one of the lower robes. He had a stone grimace on his face, and was holding a long staff. "I am here, my son. Don't think I am proud of you. To me, you are not my son." "No father, I am not. I am the son of a human, a human who cared for me, who stayed by me. Not like you. You faked suicide, you killed my mother!" "Silence! This is a formal hearing and I will not discuss family affairs!" the judge shouted from his podium. There was chattering in the crowds, with several oddly-dressed barristers shouting out curses. "YOU ARE AN ABOMINATION TO OUR RACE!" "YOU'VE EATEN MY CAT!" "SILENCE! THIS IS MY COURTROOM!" the judge belowed. Everyone in the room went silent. "Remember, we cannot hurt or curse this man. At the moment he is a free prisoner. He is not convicted until he leaves through those doors. Will the first witness please stand?" A scantily dressed woman came up to a gilded podium. She was wearing only underwear, and had thick leather boots on her feet that banged on the steel floor. Her dark har was tied back in a bun, exposing a scar convincingly covered by make-up. She stood at the podium with the utmost confidence, with a determined look in her eyes. "This man is a snake," she said in a smooth french accent, "a snake by nature and by appearance." Gorak looked down at himself. His figure was thin and spindly, although his skin was brittle and sore. He turned and sat on the chair behind him. "I was living in Gielinor, on White-Wolf Mountain. I had a small under-ground shack, cosy but isolated. When Spartacus found me, he came in through my steel chimney, making himself into a bolt of Electricity and sneaking in. He prowled round my house as if it were his own, and then tried to attack me when I tried to defend myself. I used my power, Sound Manipulation, to absorb any electrical attacks he made and stored it. After a while, I was cornered, and used that energy to fire a blast of sound at him. I contacted the Immortal authorities, but when they came he had somehow slithered off." There was an air of uneasyness in the lower boxes that surrounded Gorak. The silence made a strange tingling go through him, electricity crackling through his veins. People in the stands stood and walked towards the exit, some with their respective powers manifesting. One woman was holding balls of fire in her hands, another was floating several metres above the ground while shouting down to a friend about something supposedly private. The woman, who Gorak now remembered as Clarissa, stepped down from the box and took her seat. "Interesting, very interesting. Can the second witness please stand?" said the Judge. A tall man in Immortal-robes shuffled up to stars to the podium, a facemask covering his facial features. He stood at the stand, and, with a remotely British-sounding accent stated his claim: "I am Arasiovik Hellenius, son of Tibernicus Hellenius of Ariassan. I have just returned from an exile to the deserts of Gielinor on the charge of 'Theft of Lunician artefacts'. While I was in the desert, I had to learn to cope with my surroundings. I do not know why, but I was able to sustain myself much longer than any other Immortal I know. Anyway, to the point, I was attacked in the desert by several Lunician creatures, which I later found to have been summoned by Gorak using forbidden magic. If I hd no been able to fight them off, he would have left me to die on the desert floor." "Can we really trust the word of an ex-convict? And if we can, then how can we trust a man so callous he presents evidence against his own nephew!" shouted a man from the crowd. At that moment, Gorak's father stood up and looked at the offending barrister. "I object!" he objected, "Arasiovik is my half-brother, by father. He has had little-to-no involvement with Gorak's life and thus is justified to make a claim against him." "Father!" Gorak shouted in offence. Custodis looked back at his son with a look of utmost sorrow in his eyes, an apologetic glance. Gorak could see that in his father eyes lay no love for him, not anymore. Arasiovik stood down from the box and burst open the court doors, striding into the sun-light. A man in similar robes ran forward and closed the doors behind him. "Please, no more witnesses!" shouted Gorak with tears in his eyes. "I remove any question of my guilt, I am a killer and a scoundrel! Curse me so, not with 50 years but with the full thousand! You have given me enough interrogation to commit the ultimate punishment on me, the loss of respect from my father! " "I'm afraid that's not possible. There is one more witness we have to hear." Gorak looked towards his father once more, but found that his seat was empty. Looking up, he saw that his father was the third witness. He was sweating slightly, and he altered his amulet. "I am Custodis Draco Hellenius, son of Tibernicus Hellenius and Maria Democritus, widower of Esmerelda Spartacus and father of Gorak Hellenius Spartacus. Gorak was born on the 4th of Pentember, 67(5th). He was trouble from the day he was born." What evidence are you here to present, Mr. Hellenius? May the court take into account that the current witness was the culprit behind The Incident, as well as as several cases of impersonation." Once more Gorak looked up at the stand as his own father prepared to give testimony. The sand under his feet burnt into them as the stares all around pressed like needles into his mind. "My statement, milord, is that my son was the key reason that... The Incident... occurred. Had it not been for Gorak, I would not have lost control that day and 30,000 humans would still be alive on Gielinor." The room erupted into a hustle of chatter as the evidence was deliberated by the barristers. No one was looking at Gorak any more... except his father, whose stone stare upon his only son felt as bad as the repugnation from the rest of the commons. "Enough!" announced the Judge. "I will settle this case now. We will have a vote upon the severity of punishment. All those for the rounded sentence of 50 years in the Abraskia Harbendharjh, say Aye." There was a resounding "Aye" from the croud. Custodis was among their number. "Then it is settled. You will be contained." And with that he banged the gavel on the desk and left. Two strongmen arrived and dragged Gorak away, as he and his father continued to lock their gazes well into the darkness. Next Time: Gorak's Experience
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