Malevolence Manifest

I was not mentally steeled for last night. After the arena fights, we headed to the Respite to share conversation and to perhaps enjoy a night of more responsible consumption of alcohol. This was inaccurate. Around midnight, again, Ohm turned into a pensioner of an even more advanced age than last time; no time was wasted to get into a verbal altercation with another aged gentleman in the tavern. The two exchanged fierce insults, mainly concerning mothers and sisters, and eventually resulted in mutual threats of physical violence. Conn Dhuine's intervention and my presence as a "young woman" were sufficient to avert Bartholomew from taking a potentially drastic course of action. Ohm, who had started to laugh at everything, probably due in part to some fiendish ploy by Nakor, did little else at the time. After calming down, Bartholomew revealed that he was in possession of a map. It was likely between 1000 or 2000 years old, but may have been copied several times over; nevertheless, the damnable prince could not stand such a fine historical object being in someone else's possession, and he convinced him to hand it over in return for a share of whatever was found there, due to be collected either by Bartholomew or his living descendants. They verbally confirmed this agreement in sight of two witnesses, not counting Ohm.
 
Just before leaving the Respite, Ohm shouted an obscenity at Bartholomew, who retaliated by throwing an empty bottle at him, which hit him. Ohm visually and verbally answered this by evoking very potent fire magic which burnt the man to a crisp where he stood. Desperate to become an accessory to premeditated murder, Nakor transformed Bartholomew's body into that of a young blue dragon, and exclaimed that another dragon had been slain by the ""dragonslayers"" of Harasan. This caused bewilderment and confusion, and I convinced Gimgen to clear out the tavern; this turned out to be very temporary. Where I pointed out irregularities and highly deviant behaviour from someone who was supposedly a blue dragon, Gimgen only saw supporting evidence to the claim that Bartholomew was one. The crowd later stormed in and began moving the "corpse" of the "blue dragon" to the adjoining square. I will now stop recapitulating in detail. Nakor decided to turn into an Angel of Blatant Evidence Tampering and hurled massive fireballs at the corpse, enveloping the "dragon" in blinding fire and leaving nothing left. It is not my wont to utilise crude language. But this display, this miscarriage of duty, this abuse of trust, this refusal of due process, this fucking manifestation of pure malevolence, is unlike anything I have personally witnessed being committed by what I believed to be a man driven by good intentions, however flawed his methods were and how obnoxious his personality could be. I remarked four days ago that Nakor seemed to tacitly endorse cruel displays when it suited him: now I see the logical continuation. Every day, he preaches and screeches about an imperative to destroy evil everywhere. But never has he looked inwards; he himself is possessed by ill intent. He exploited the murder of a man and managed to spin it into a tale of bravery and heroism, elevating his ego to the centre of attention, and destroying Bartholomew's reputation: consequently leaving his only surviving child with a tainted falsehood of his father. In the official statement I authored, the name of Bartholomew was deliberately absent. A futile effort, and my one extraordinary communiqué to the emir hinges on an a very loose interpretation of Frankonian law, the Eternal League's bilateral agreements with the Republic, and the jurisdiction of the State Inquisition. And even then, the threat of legal recourse is inadequate to this despicable and abhorrent cunt of divine detritus. End usage of crude language.
 
Ohm committed murder. Without Nakor's great lie, Ohm would have faced justice in the fashion of the Eternal League, who, like many other Leagues, have a customary method of financial compensation for murder: the diya. But Nakor's grand manipulation started mere seconds after the murder. And who would believe my version of events, that of an inexperienced career diplomat of an insignificant background, whereas the other party is a prince belonging to one of the oldest dynasties in the known world? In most corners of Terrasynt, nobility as an institution sadly carries weight. The accords of distinction and merit run silent. Unless Conn could claim an even more high-strung heritage, he too would be dismissed.
 
Also, manipulating Ohm, whose memory currently seems in line with that of an octagenarian, into believing that he genuinely did slay a dragon, is just another demonstration of low character. Absolutely shameless. And my charges being framed as hysterical nonsense by the lout is infuriating. It takes a lifetime to establish a reputation and moments to bring it down; Damocles has shown that brilliantly.