When constant war between fiefs plague the realm long ago, priests instead of rulers dispense justice. The Court of Saint Lawrence was one of the most famed, for he had brought justice impartially, even to lordlings and a certain prince! The open-air Court of Saint Lawrence is next to a crossroad nearby from a farming community; it was said that a Duke was taxing the people far over the limits set by the king, and a bailiff was killed. The Duke took the opportunity as an excuse to enslave the people, stripping of whatever little rights they already had as serfs. Yet Saint Lawrence investigated the claims and pinpointed the murderer of the bailiff, which was the Duke himself, and sentenced him to judgment. The haughty Duke laughed at the priest even as there was a sudden roll of thunder, and a sudden darkness, and the Duke himself became a lump of rock.
Ever since, it is said that only true justice must be dispensed at the court, lest a curse befall the people. All respect the priests who now judge cases at Court of Saint Lawrence.
Recently, the harvest near the Court of Saint Lawrence have been poor, the vegetation yellowing way before autumn and people fall to sickness easily. Have it got to do with a case of a young lady being hang for withcraft just a month ago?
- The priests are convinced that their judgment is right, and so does the villagers. A group of adventurers have helped to unearth convincing evidence about the witch, who lived at the edge of the marsh. The adventurers led a couple of the priests and villagers to ambush the witch as she conducted a demonic ritual at night. Based on that, the witch was hang. However, if the PCs examine the site of the ritual ground, it seems that she was trying to place a ward against demons, not banish them. Was it a honest mistake or were the previous band of adventurers leading the priests of justice on?
- The woman hang was really a witch, but the witch laid a curse on the community before she was hang. The curse was that for every crime or act of injustice committed by the village, it will be revisited back on them in full. To add insult to injury, she would haunt the Court at night, near the stone which supposedly was the Duke. “You accuse me of unrighteousness, but look to yourself!” the villagers would hear her hissing. Truth is, the villagers were using false weights when selling grains, turning beggars and vagabonds out of their town and even turning a blind eye to an injured wander, leaving him to die and there are rumors of smuggling of certain drugs. Could the curse be somehow removed? Should the curse be removed?
- The witch’s hanging was done in rightly – she was a witch and was practising the forbidden arts. However, the recent ravaging of the land has nothing to do with her case. Rather because it was not followed through thoroughly. She had accomplices and they were highborn lords and ladies. The priests feared their wrath and closed the case with the hanging of the witch. Yet there is ample evidence that many others were involved. Are the villagers’ plight due to this, or something else related to the cult which the highborns and the witch were involved in?
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