Katznaa’i vs Sigil: Campaign Diary

Back in the City Courts, M’narr is researching cases and precedents in the Guvner library with his attorney, Berith Mormo. Ragados and 12-Bar, freer but considerably poorer than they were a few minutes earlier, go to the nearest tavern to deal with their problems with alcohol. They pass the Singing Fountain, a fountain known for the beautiful singer that minds and tends it, and head down into the Twelve Factols Tavern. Seeing the singer sets off Ragados thinking about Daniphe again. 12-Bar orders the tavern’s special brew and sings a new song about Daniphe. He rolls a 29 on his performance check and brings the house down. Whole tavern’s rapt. Once the applause dies down, an old boy tells 12-Bar that he saw an elf just like Daniphe recently, after his lodger (an old guy with an eyepatch) invited her home for a meeting.

Ragados is confused with that. So he takes a walk to the court and collects M’narr’s possessions from Berith. M’narr is then taken to the Prison, where the Mercykillers read him the prison rules and give him a brief tour of the gallows. He’s taken to his cell. His cellmate is, of course, a Githzerai. And a talkative one! They’ve been in prison six years now, got done for fighting. Still waiting on a trial date though. Thanks to some wrangling from Berith, M’narr’s trial is tomorrow. Does the law always contain such inequities, M’narr wonders?

The next day, Ragados and 12-Bar go tavern hopping around the Hall of Speakers, looking to learn more about the Signer with the eye patch that spoke to Daniphe. Just like the last time the pair went “researching”, they get absolutely trashed; but they learn that the old Signer was called Mhavor, he was in a fringe group of Signers, and that he hasn’t been seen in several days. Mhavor hired Daniphe? How odd. Over in the Lady’s Ward, the Athar’s prosecutor lays out the murderous negligence of M’narr, pushing for the death penalty.

The next morning in the City Courts, Berith pulls M’narr into a broom cupboard. Berith’s going to do his best to plead insanity on M’narr’s behalf, but is there any act of violent self-harm M’narr could do to add weight to the arguments? Pluck out his eyes, stab himself somewhere, cut off a finger? M’narr calls for a knife and when it arrives, the gith stabs himself in the eye. Berith is surprised, but pleased.

The final day of the trial and Ragados and 12-Bar are both present to testify and hear the verdict. The judge, a bearded devil, finds M’narr criminally insane. The punishment: to be held in the Gatehouse’s wing for the Criminally and Irretrievably Insane for 75 years or until cured of insanity, whichever is longer. Amid the uproar, Berith leans over and whispers to M’narr “Oh, did I say you’d be out in a few months? Whoops. I meant never. Yes, that was it. Never. Goodbye, Aide Katznaa’i.” Ragados and 12-Bar can only watch in stunned silence as M’narr is removed and shipped over to the Gatehouse.

“Welcome, it’s M’narr, isn’t it? Welcome, we heard about you yes. You don’t have to be mad to work here, but it helps! Anyway, it’s your lucky day! You were supposed to be sharing a cell with Tim, but last night he decided he’d had enough of his insides and didn’t want them near him any more. So you’ve got a room to yourself! In you go.”

The cell door slams. The screams of the insane are all that can be heard. Somewhere out beyond the padded walls, 12-Bar really, really wishes he’d cast counterspell when he had the chance.

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