Fate of a Child (Times of Choas)

Judge 1: "Lord Kamos, of the Green Swamps. You stand before the entire council of Kamo's nobility, royal family, and priesthood to discuss the fate of Princess Zera's child. You may proceed with your opening argument."

Kamos: "Thank you, nobles, priests, and the royal family, for allowing me to speak. I understand that I am a foreigner and that I am not the real father of Zera's child, but I am a half-orc. My people pride themselves on fighting for life, for justice, for peace, and I, in good conscience, cannot allow such injustice to happen and not stand up. I cannot stand by as a baby, who has yet to take a breath, be killed without a fight. It goes against everything I stand for, and in fact, it stands against everything you fight for as well. Your people, your culture, your gods value life and justice, but where is the life and justice in killing this child? What crime did it commit that is so heinous that it has to die?"

Judge 1: "Indeed, our culture values justice and life, but sometimes justice is cruel, and life is evil. This child is not an ordinary child but a child made from lust and by a traitor to this nation. Keeping the child means keeping a traitor's blood flowing. Such an act would be an egregious abomination to the history of the throne, of our people, and to our gods."

Kamos: "I agree that Katose was evil, but he is dead. His child may have been conceived through lust, but I wish to raise the child with love. I promise to make the child better than her father. Better than the past rulers of this kingdom. Better than anyone in this hall. She will be like a sunflower and a dragon. Strong, fearless, but fair and beautiful."

Judge 2: "Sir Kamos, we understand that you desire to raise this child as your own, but that is not a legitimate argument. So, unless you have a strong argument regarding why we should, then we will conclude this meeting and condemn it."

Kamos: "Well, in case you leave no choice. I have with me a declaration stating that, since Princess Zera is my wife and she is with child, the child is under my care and protection. This is also further evidenced by the fact that my wife was forced to be unfaithful. Thus, the fate of the child is left to me, and me alone."

Judge 2: "That means nothing. Your declaration is nothing more contract. "

Kamos: "Oh, but you fail to see, is that my homeland recognizes this contract, and if it's broken, they have reason to break the alliance you have worked so hard to build. This means that if you kill the child against my wishes, then I can legally divorce Princess Zera, and the Green Swamps will divorce from the alliance."

Judge 1: "That is outrageous! The Green Swamps would not break our alliance over some dead kid."

Kamos: "Oh, but it would, because as I have stated beforehand, my culture values life and justice, and those who do unjust acts of violence to children are seen as monsters and must be killed. See, my culture has a habit of fighting over orphans and spoiling them. Princess Zera's child is fatherless. I wish to fulfil that role, and since I am married to the princess, that means the child is legally mine."

Judge 2: "You do not inherit that child. The Druid Circle of Kamo gets the final say as Katose died with no heir. Thus, his people get his inheritance. Not you. Also, it is still within the princess, so she also gets final say."

Kamos: "Then why am I here? You seem determined to kill this child, and you have legally stripped away all my claims on the child. So why are we still talking?"

Judge 1: "Because we are trying to convince you, since you seem very much against this. You are also the most vocal about this situation, but since you have no more arguments, we will end this debate."

Kamos: "Now hold on. I am not done, because if you go through with this, then I will leave and talk about how you sacrificed an innocent child to the Green Swamps. They will know of the corruption and lack of morality, and second-guess their alliance with you, and everything I ever worked hard for will be for nothing. Everything you have done to make this alliance happen will be for nothing, and if you even dare to throw me into prison, then word will spread, and the half-orcs will want to know why you jailed Princess Zera's husband, and when I tell them that it's because I dared to stand up for an unborn then they will burn this place to the ground. Because there are still half-orcs who are looking for reasons to kill humans, there are still half-orcs who are racist towards humans. There are still half-orcs who think an alliance with Kamo was a bad idea and will lead to the downfall of our nation. Do you wish to give them more reason to hate you?"

Judge 1: "We do not concern ourselves with those. They are a minority among your people at all in levels of your... society."

Kamos: "At first they were, but from what I hear, the queen is becoming more open about her feelings about Kamo and humans as a whole. They are not as friendly as the king's thoughts."

Judge 2: "This conversation is straying from the subject. Sir Kamos, do you have any more pathetic arguments as to why Princess Zera should keep the child?"

Kamos: "All I have to say is that if you go through with this, think of the principle you are setting for your country and its future. Think about the women who are in similar situations as the princess. You're telling them that their child is a burden and that it is alright with your gods to kill them because they weren't born the right way. Think of the people who were born this way. What are they to think of themselves? Lucky or unlucky? Glad to be alive or question their existence? Think of what you're telling future generations, that according to you, it is better to sacerfice a person in the name of convenience than to allow them to live and raise them to be better people. This is not a debate over a mere child but one of royalty. From this point on, you are saying that no life is worthy, even if they're of royal blood. That they only get to live because of a group of fools, like you allowed them to."

Judge 2: "That is enough, sir Kamos! This council is about done listening to your treasonous attitude and your empty threats. Now leave us."

Kamos: "I refuse."

Judge 1: "What? You can't refuse. The council judge told you to leave."

Kamos: "I wish to hear the logic behind your judgment."

Judge 2: "This is nonsense. This is a blatant disregard for our system. We can not allow you to do that. Guards take him away."

King Kamtoe: "Let him stay."

Judge 1: "My lord, this foreigner is insulting our way of life. We have a reason for doing things. We cannot have him be an exception."

King Kamtoe: "He will not be treated as an exception. I fundamentally disagree with him. However, if he does not speak out, then I say let him at least hear how we come to a decision. Do you agree with these terms, Sir Kamos?"

Kamos: "I do."

King Kamtoe: "Then, let us move on to the next phase of this debate. Judges continue."

Judge 3: "Nobles and royals. We have heard Sir Kamos speak. However, I think we can all agree his arguments severely lacked a logical conclusion and seemed like he was relying on his passion for raising the child as his best evidence. However, I do agree that we should be more careful about how we go about this and the precedent this will set if we go through with this. Though at the end of the day, I vote kill. "

Judge 4: "I hate to say this, but Sir Kamos might be right. If we kill this child, then the half-orcs will break the alliance pact. Their culture values all kinds of life. Thus, if we kill the child and Kamos tells them, then there goes our biggest ally. I vote keep."

Judge 1: "I vote kill."

Judge 2: "I vote kill as well."

King Kamtoe: "I vote keep."

Noble Representative: "The noble houses ask that the child be spared. On account 34 to 29 margin."

Judge 1: "My lord, I thought you said you disagreed with Sir Kamos. Why did you change your vote?"

King Kamtoe: "I disagreed on his debate strategy and his approach to the topic, but not his stance. He proves that he loves a person whom he has never met. Risked everything for a face he might not even see. Fought as if he were alone, against all of us. He has proven to me that we are not worthy of such a being as him to roam our halls. His love and his compassion are why I declare that my grandniece be spared."

Judge 1: "The spares have won. Sir Kamos of the Green Swamps, husband of Princess Zera, your desire to have the child be under your care will be granted."