Archive: Jakoora accused of crimes against Elvenkind

[Raona]

This is an archive of a series of postings to the public in-game noteboards, related to a specific subject with lingering ramifications. As there is a cap to how many messages can be posted to the notice boards, such messages are now transferred here, that new players may refer to them to better understand the history of the events.

Thelemas: The Crime of Jakoora
Sat Feb 16 03:26:06 2008
To: The inhabitants of Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Berdusk and Daggerford Language: elven
On behalf of the Elven nations, those Elves who venerate the Father and the
the blessing of the Feywarden, the following proclamation is made...

The Father of Elves returns Elenthis to his bosom, his mercy without limit,
his love without end, the sadness in his heart when one of his children was
turned away from him beyond mortal comprehension. Let none speak of Elenthis
as anything apart from Tel'Quessir, one of the true People.

The Elven nation, existing as an eternal and indivisible union among all
Elven peoples, extending geographically wherever an Elf may step foot, speaks
out against a great injustice. The orc-blood Jakoora, leader of a group of
mercenaries known as the Burning Blades, has slain an Elven child. It is our
contention that she did so willingly, for nothing more than her own benefit,
at the behest of the Drow such that she might learn their murderous secrets.
It is unacceptable to the Elven people that this monster continues to walk
the world in freedom. Whether she is repentant or not is not for us to
decide, and is in fact immaterial to the issue at hand. The question is
whether a crime was committed. Assuredly it was, and the most heinous of
crimes, the most dreadful. To slay a child in cold blood for personal profit
is an action completely at odds with civil society.

If a crime has been committed, the question then turns to the appropriate
response. The Elven nation does not trade in revenge, to slay Jakoora might
appease the hearts of some, but to repay evil with evil is not the Elven way.
The Elven people are not as numerous as they once were, but our influence
extends in all directions, we have been friends of the humans since they
first walked upon Faerun. Waterdeep itself has a large and thriving Elven
community. Our people live openly and freely in Silverymoon and Daggerford.
We keep safe the forests of Ardeep, Tethyr, the High Forest, and Cormanthor.
The time has come for those who would call themselves civilized to stand for
law, for just recompense for crimes committed. That Jakoora walks openly in
these cities is an affront to Elves everywhere, as well as to any who believe
in justice.

The Elven nation, with the blessings of the Feywarden, hereby requests that
Jakoora be barred from Waterdeep, Daggerford, Silverymoon, Berdusk, and any
other city of the Lord's Alliance which has stood with the Elves in the past.
If this will be done, the Elves will allow Jakoora to live with whatever
peace she can find, and await whatever fate remains for her after her death
to those Gods or Goddesses who might judge her. We do not ask for revenge, we
do not make this action out of an irrational fear, or with the cloud of
emotion. We ask merely for justice. If Jakoora is to act outside of the
bounds of civilized behavior, let her be barred from civilization. The Elven
nation is eternal, and spreads among the Elven people themselves. It
recognizes no jurisdiction marked by arbitrary boundary. There is no river
over which it is safe to commit crimes against Elves. There is no toll road
past which justice comes to naught. These ideas are philosophical in nature.
We shall find no court in our favor in the Underdark, where this heinous
crime took place. We do not cry out for blood, but for consideration of the
life that was lost, an Elven child, a precious thing as any child is
precious, a life full of promise cut short for greed, for avarice, for cruel,
blind desire of power.

Let justice be done, calmly and rationally, and all good and law-abiding
people rejoice. Those who call Jakoora a friend and stand by her, we do not
mark you as enemies. It is not our place to judge the heart of Jakoora, but
as mortals and guardians of our people, we are forced to judge her actions.
To let this crime pass without mention would be a disservice to the life
lost, to the family of the child, and to all notion of Elves as a people
deserving to be treated justly, not merely as targets who must suffer
criminality. We do not ask that Waterdeep punish Jakoora on our behalf,
recognizing that the humans of that august city can not act as the watch of
all Faerun, but neither must they willingly accept Jakoora into their city,
into their shops. Orcs, Drow-bloods, Goblinkind, all are barred without
having committed some specific crime. All we ask is that Jakoora be similarly
barred, removed from the city upon entrance, banned from trade, and left to
whatever dark life it is that she shall find upon the road.

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Raona: On Jurisdiction and Reciprocity
Fri Mar 7 12:48:36 2008
To: Waterdeep Language: common
My fellow citizens of Waterdeep, members of the elven community, and others
interested in such matters of law -

I write to explain as best I can my understanding of the various types of law
that hold sway in our realms, and how jurisdiction and reciprocity might be
understood to apply to each. This is in response to a letter penned by
Thelemas, seeking the assistance of Waterdeep, amongst other locales, in dealing
with a crime committed by the half-orc Jakoora.

Try as I might, I rarely come to properly understand Elven matters, be they
matters of law or otherwise. Thus I speak here only as an authority, in some
measure, on human law, and specifically on the system of jurisprudence in the
City of Waterdeep. Even in this I am offering my own understanding, not a
ruling of the Lords, who at all times hold ultimate sway within these walls.

When communities of individuals come together to form a village or City, they do
so for a variety of reasons: including collective defense, ease of access to
trade, and close and frequent interaction with others beyond their family. The
latter is both a boon and a liability, however, in that such close interaction
often invites the potential for conflict. To manage that risk, local laws are
often passed to govern the acceptable means by which individuals within that
community might interact. These laws are a contract, of sorts, between the
people that choose to reside in that locale: an agreement that as a condition of
residing in said place, they must observe these clearly delineated local laws.
The locale raises the resources needed to enforce these laws from the local
populace, in their name and best interest. They place jurisdictional limits on
these laws, as their purpose is to prevent conflict within the community, not to
solve all the realm's problems, or even to govern the moral behaviour of the
local citizenry whilst they be outside the city. Such limits are set in order
to keep the work of the law enforcement agencies well-defined and manageable -
within the resources of the city.

Make no mistake, there are many crimes that appear in almost all local statues -
theft, murder, and the like. One might well point to these as examples of
universal standards of law, a general code of moral right and wrong that holds
everywhere, from the Mere of Dead Men to the Yuirwood, from Cormyr to the
planes. However, such law is not the law of any city or town - it is a larger
thing than that, and enforced by far larger entities - by churches, if not the
whole of a people. That local laws might reflect such Universal notions is
hardly surprising, but should not be interpreted to mean that local laws intend
to enforce it. It is beyond their charter to do so, except where the populace
has agreed otherwise, and for pragmatic reasons that is rarely the case. No,
the purpose and purview of local laws is to govern the actions of those within
the locale in which they apply; not without.

In some situations, one locale may seek the aid of another in dealing with a
crime committed locally. Take as an example a citizen of the Deep who commits a
crime in Berdusk, then flees home to the Deep. Berdusk is not at liberty to
retrieve this fugitive from within the sovereign walls of the Deep, but neither
should they be expected to simply drop the matter. The right course of action
involves their asking that the local authorities (in this case, the Waterdeep
City Watch) apprehend and hand over this individual, that they may be tried for
their crime in Berdusk. In considering such a request, the Deep might ask that
reasonable evidence against their citizen be first produced, and perhaps ask for
certain guaranties of a fair trial - not some mob lynching, but something
similar to what the individual may have gotten in Waterdeep. Then, in their
best interest and with the idea that Berdusk would consider doing the same were
the situation reversed, they might apprehend and turn over the individual in
question.

All this said, then, I pose to Thelemas and those who share in his demand upon
the City this question: is Waterdeep to understand from this request that
reciprocity between two entities of compatible reach is being sought, and the
offer implied that the next time there be an elven fugitive from Waterdeep law,
those in question would consider handing over an elf to face justice at the
hands of the City? If so, precisely what locale or entity do you speak for,
that the City may properly consider your demand?

It is my personal view that most likely the entity or entities for which
Thelemas speaks, and the laws to which he refers, are not those of a mere
locale, but a whole people, or pantheon. I would urge that he seek out other
churches to ask for their aid in the matter to which he refers.

In humble service to the City of Splendours,
Lady Raona Corbin of Tyr
Acting Commander of the Waterdeep City Watch