Obviously, the trial was more to make people<span style="font-style: italic">feel</span>better than it was to actually provide any reasonable ability to argue innocence or guilt. The guilt had been determined well before anything was aired to the public, and prisoners were usually prevented from speaking in their own defense with a gag if need be. For Xarius, the charges were simple. He'd performed a summoning, and instead of the angelic herald of of Sarenrae that should have come at his command, a wretched demon claiming to be a succubus had emerged from the magic circle instead. The creature was definitely of demonic origin- the evil of it rose like a stench in the pristine halls of Xarius's home temple. There were many explanations that could have been made to a group more inclined to mercy than his fellow priests, but when Xarius made them his peers rejected him. The only consolation in those dark days was that, though her mortal servants shunned him as a heretic or secret demon-worshipper, the goddess herself hadn't withdrawn her warm, comforting presence at the back of his mind.<br/><br/>The priests' guild held their own, private trial, at which Xarius had protested his innocence to no avail. The charge was gross heresy, and the main evidence the gagged and bound demoness at the paladin's side. Formally, he was convicted and stripped of his status as a servant of Sarenrae, and then handed along with his 'familiar' to a bulky, humorless squad of Imperial guards for civil prosecution. And when the priests said someone was guilty, how could the state disagree with the donation of a fresh body for the mines? And so Xarius was put in the dock, the imperial solicitor reviewed the evidence and reviewed parts of the priestly disbarment, and obligingly the court returned its foreordained sentence of exile for life to the silver mines came down. And that was that.<br/><br/>They even held a second, separate sentence for Delia. Humiliatingly, the prosecutor implied that she wasn't even a true succubus, but the bastard whelp of some other demoness playing at a status beyond her abilities. Delia didn't clearly remember some things, but she was fully certain she was a succubus- and from the little grin on the prosecutor's face, she suspected he knew it. Being a demon- being a half demon and not painfully and exhaustively repenting- was itself a crime here in this place. Of course, the verdict returned, exile for life to the silver mines along with her 'master'. The Empire wasted little time; still chained and gagged, the two were put on a wagon, guarded, and trundled northward through the heart of the Empire to northerly ports. Traveling day and night with little chance for true rest, the smell of salt in the air one dawn told the pair they were near their destination. As it happened, a small caravel was readying itself for a jaunt across the Stormy Sea while the weather allowed, laden with supplies and a few other prisoners. Xarius and Delia were loaded aboard at the last of the cargo, and soon the bobbing of the ship grew more pronounced as the ship set sail for their new home.<br/><br/>What little of the ship they could see was a simple, three-decked ship, perhaps eighty feet long and a quarter as much wide with a single tall mast and sails draped from it. The top deck was where the sailors worked, and two hatches led down. The prisoners were taken through the rear hatch down one level, and into a set of heavily walled rooms. Delia feels it hardest- as soon as she's shoved through one cell and the wooden door shut behind her, a leaden silence and anti-magic field shuts down many of her senses. Xarius is put in the cell next door- she can barely sense that much- and from then on, the two's world consists of their small six foot by six foot rooms.<br/><br/>The first few days at sea are the worst, with the bobbing enough to make tender stomachs queasy with the bobbing of the waves. After their first 'meal'- hard, stale bread and slices of something that might years ago have been cured meat- they were chained to the wall hand and foot for safety's sake. Delia gathers from the way the guards' faces look and how they act around her that one of the other prisoners (How many were there? Ten doors- but how many cells empty?) caused a scene while being fed and bid to upgrade their diet with a guard. Thus, the prisoners were all bound uncomfortably tightly and chained to a wall, with only a small circular hole for sunlight to remind them of the outside world. It's a pitiable, miserable existence, and one that lasts for another two monotonous days as the transport sails on out into the open waters.<br/><br/>When it comes, salvation arrives with almost no warning. Delia and Xarius both feel a gossamer-soft, warm touch on their cheeks, feeling like a perfumed breath on their face. A giggle sounds, at the very limit of hearing. Words seem to whisper in their ears, with just a slight press of a moist tongue against their ears and then a feminine whisper almost too soft for sound:<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">”No ending here, unless <span style="font-weight: bold">you</span> make it-<br/>If you want your freedom... go and take it.”</span><br/><br/>Another evanescent giggle (could it be from Xarius's goddess? If not, who?) fades into the prisoners' heartbeats- and then comes the impossible, blessed sound of slight mechanical clicking as chains and manacles fall off in a pile at the two prisoners' feet separately and simultaneously. They're still in a dank cell, but now... the prisoners are unbound. And there was another click... from their doors.<br/><br/>((Welcome to the game! Some general things: Put actions/dice rolls either in spoilers or double parentheses. If you think you need to make a skill roll to do something, do it! If not, I will probably roll  myself if need be to keep things moving, but my general rule is that I will only roll dice when it really matters and when failing would have significant narrative consequences. Currently, you're aboard a prison transport with an unknown number of guards, an unknown number of fellow prisoners, and no equipment at all. How will you go and take your freedom?))