RULER: Citrine | EX-CONSORT: Jasper -- NEW CONSORT: CORAL

[dramatispersonae]

"As a ruler, I have many responsibilities, and one that I am -- at least, to the best of my knowledge -- relatively known for is my willingness to hear people's cases and provide some form of legal ruling on them. It has always been important to me to be fair, merciful, and kind. Of course, I need not do this all by myself.

In this game, I will present to you some suits and ask you to discuss between yourself and the team you are partnered with to rule on their situations and their requests."

Guinevere finishes speaking, and you find yourself in a tent with one other team.

RULER: CITRINE
CONSORT: JASPER

((OOC: For various reasons, I need to move along the teams reeeeelatively at the same pace at various points, so there may be occasional delays for some teams. I apologize in advance if this happens!))

Comments

ROUND 1

[dramatispersonae]

A wealthy man has gone away to war and left behind his wife. It has only been three months and the war isn't over, so he isn't expected to return yet, but all her neighbors have been receiving letters and money from their spouses and she has received nothing, and her marriage contract gives her no rights to the wealth of his estate until he dies. She has sent letters to the front and received no information at all, nor have any of her attempts to learn more of his situation brought any news. She can only assume that he has died, and in light of that, wishes to both keep his estate and remarry a man of her acquaintance. Should she or should she not be permitted to either or both of these?

DISCUSSION

[dramatispersonae]

Re: DISCUSSION

[mirroredvalue]

[Sigh.]

Again? Really?

Re: DISCUSSION

[aprettygirl]

I'm sensing a running theme...I hope there's a twist.

Re: DISCUSSION

[firstflower]

[just...tilts her head to the side.]

Re: DISCUSSION

[soft_reset]

There's no official recognition he has died.

DECISION

[dramatispersonae]

Re: DECISION

[aprettygirl]

As her husband has left her unsupported and failed in his duty, grant her half of her husband's estate, with the other half remaining in the possession of her husband or her husband's line; in exchange, she can manage the whole. Give her a probationary period -- longer than three months! Say, a number of years, something long enough to allow for the husband's return if he lives, or near-certainty of his death. If that period is up and her husband has not returned, review the status of the estate: if it has flourished under her care and no relative of her husband's has made a claim upon it, then the whole of the estate will belong to her, uncontested. If it has not prospered, the half in contention will go to the Crown.

If her husband has not returned at the end of the probationary period -- which again, should be long enough that there will be little to no doubt of his death -- then she is also free to remarry.

ROUND 2

[neverhesitate]

Three months pass, and the war comes to an end.

Her husband returns from the war. He finds himself at quite a loss; his wife is still his, but quite unhappy with him and in ownership of quite a bit of his property by rule of the crown, which has overridden his marriage contract. This time, he brings the case -- unfair loss of property and violation of legally binding contracts. Who owns the property that was granted to her? Who owns the wealth it brings in? By rights it should be his, but it was handed over to his wife, and yet it was only meant to be handed over on his death. This is a legal mess. He was too busy to write, he claims, but there's no reason to assume him dead. How do you rule on this?

DISCUSSION

[neverhesitate]

Re: DISCUSSION

[firstflower]

Why doesn't he want to share?

Re: DISCUSSION

[trope_attack]

Umm... now what?

Re: DISCUSSION

[aprettygirl]

What a careless man. Of course there is a reason to assume him dead, if it's a wartime situation and there is no communication of any sort from him.

Re: DISCUSSION

[soft_reset]

Hm... I suppose the only fair thing would be for 'the crown' to repay the property and money that was taken from him.

Assuming they won the war, they should have the resources to do this. After that, the wife and him can work out the minor differences themselves.

DECISION

[neverhesitate]

Re: DECISION

[aprettygirl]

Is the Crown allowed to question the husband and investigate his wartime circumstances? Is there a known potential cause for his inability to write when other soldiers could, or has it been left at 'he was too busy'?

Also, what kind of stipulations on spousal support and finances were there in the original marriage contract? Did it really allow for leaving a spouse unsupported indefinitely without penalty?

[aprettygirl]

Given that other soldiers were perfectly capable of writing home and meeting their obligations, and the husband's lack of cooperation in answering questions that would have allowed the court to make a fair and informed decision, the Crown will not return the property granted to his wife.

The two cases can also be used as a platform to begin lobbying for adjustments in future marriage contracts that allow for the wife's legal assurance of protection and security, and don't leave everything weighed in the husband's favor. Of course the conservative nobility will tear their hair out over it, and it will be a slow process with quite a lot of opposition, but a kingdom really ought to move forward with the times.

PARTNER SWAP

[neverhesitate]

A wind fills the area, bringing a sense of both sadness and heart-pounding excitement -- you can tell the feeling's not yours, can tell it's external much in the way of viewing someone else's memory -- and when it fades, the "Consort" team that was previously here no longer is. Instead, a new team is here; you know instinctively that you are now partnered with this other team as the game continues.

RULER: CITRINE
CONSORT: CORAL

((Jasper, please exit this post and go play in THIS post instead. ))

ROUND 3

[neverhesitate]

As you expect, there's a sudden murmuring around the nobility, concerns about how much the government is likely to stick themselves into the people's affairs... The actual people in the case, however, accept it.

Another three months pass, making nine altogether. The woman gives birth to a healthy baby boy. She claims that it is the child of the original husband, conceived right before he went away to war; the original husband agrees. However, her lover claims the child is actually his and wants to take the son as his own. The birth registry requires that it have one female parent and one male parent, or will be listed as her child with an unknown man and be declared illegitimate to ANY possible inheritance. How do you rule?

DISCUSSION

[neverhesitate]

DECISION

[neverhesitate]

ROUND 4

[neverhesitate]

It is decided and the child is taken to the previous husband's estate to be raised as heir to that estate, with care given by a wet nurse, servant, the intention of tutors etc.

After ANOTHER three months -- what an intense year this has been for this trouble-causing family -- another woman shows up with a newborn baby and claims that the original husband had married her while he was abroad, and got her with child while there. This new woman has one of the original husband's rings, which is something as close to proof as she is capable of. She has come with the intent to live with him in married bliss in his estate. The husband denies it and says that while he was out, the ring was stolen from his belongings and he had never been infidelious to his (original) wife. She wants her marriage to him to be considered legal, to live on his estate, and raise the child as heir to the estate; otherwise, she wishes an ongoing stipend for raising the child and quite impressively large financial recompense. However, she has no money and status, and he claims that she did all this under false pretenses and doesn't want to marry her. In addition, she argues that although the child of his first wife might be three months older, hers is as valid and deserves to be considered a potential heir to the estate (should, you know, something happen to the eldest child). How do you rule?

DISCUSSION

[neverhesitate]

DECISION

[neverhesitate]

RESULTS

[neverhesitate]

The woman leaves with the child and the ring. The man seems to quiet down and focus on what's in front of him -- possibly because the crown made it clear he was under supervision.

Go to Endgame