Lawyers in Haven
--- start-multi-column: MainBody
number of columns: 2
column size: [69%, 30%]
border: [off]
shadow: offMegallo Manyak
Megallo Manyak is a small, bookish individual, with thin graying hair and a wispy beard. He has practiced law in Haven for over thirty years, and is fairly tight with the current set of judges. He is friends with Cardallo, and will receive a +15% preference from him. Neither of the two Judges of the Ethical Way like him and he receives -5% from each. With the others, he is neutral.
He is nearing his 40th wedding anniversary, and is definitely a homebody, seldom (3%) visiting either of the legal hangouts.
Keyan Dorin
Dorin is the nephew of Dagnir Saurul. He is tall and leonine, with a great shock of golden hair, and black eyes. In any cases tried before his uncle, he receives a +20% bonus. With Cardallo, who hates the elf judge, he has a -25% penalty. With all others he is neutral.
Seldom can he be found other than at his office during the day, but in the evenings he is usually (75%) at the Loft in Erinhir.
Eldorato Imbethang
A typical elf physically, Eldorato Imbethang is medium tall, slender, brownish hair, brown eyes. His idealism rating is 10 where elves are concerned. The elven judge gives him a +10% preference. Cardallo dislikes elves in general, for a -15% penalty. With all others, he has no adjustments.
He tends to frequent The Hanged Man (65%), but may occasionally be found at The Lying Lawyer (30%).
Huiel Farris
Huiel Farris is tall, lean, dark-haired, with penetrating eyes. who has excellent connections with all the High Judges, and receives preference from all (a difficult feat, to say the least): +15% from Cardallo (who feels Huiel is no one to cross), +5% from Dagnir, +10% from Ellian (with whom he is romantically involved) and Herven, and +20% from Mindal.
Probably one of the finest legal minds in Haven, his schedule is usually so filled that there is only a 25% chance that he will accept a new client, although he makes no distinction as to class or ability to pay - if you hit him at the right time, you’ve got a good lawyer.
Huiel is frequently (80%) found at The Lying Lawyer in the evenings, shop talking with others in the legal profession.
Meron Glyptes
Meron Glyptes is the lawyer of choice it seems, for every half-orc, tiefling, or lowlife who gets into trouble in Haven. He is a relatively handsome tiefling, with a slightly less obvious horns than usual, rather chunky, dark hair and black eyes.
Unfortunately, although he is probably the best lawyer in the city he deals at a tremendous disadvantage with all of the judges because of his racial background. Dagnir, the elf, costs him a -40% penalty. Mindal dislikes him, but tries to be relatively fair, only -20%. Ellian feels he should be disbarred, a -30% penalty, but Herven is a bit fairer, realizing that the law must provide at least opportunity of representation to all (and who else would take an tiefling for a client?), -10%. Cardallo feels that in any cases involving Meron’s clients he should receive a bribe (-20% if none is offered, half normal buying percentages if he is bought).
Many of his fellow lawyers respect him for the ability he displays, but they wish he would “just go away”. He is not allowed in either The Hanged Man or The Lying Lawyer (Yes, Virginia, there is bigotry in Haven).
Burley Stonecastle
Slender for a halfling, Burley Stonecastle seems to have an excess of energy for this usually sedate folk. In court, he is attentive to all that happens, and is sharp in questioning witnesses.
Most of the judges like him, and he has a +10% preference with all except Cardallo, who dislikes the little man intensely (-15% penalty).
Burley lives in The Dell, and may be found of an evening at the The Leaf and Jar in The Dell. He prefers halfling clients, but will accept as client anybody he believes is innocent, or getting a raw deal.
Riklas Longstrider
More of an investigative specialist than a trial lawyer, Riklas Longstrider is generally employed by the other lawyers of the Maze to check out information and witnesses for their various cases.
Few judges wish to allow him in their Courts, but if he does have a trial before them, they bear him no malice.
He is of normal centaur build, with reddish hair and blue eyes. He lives outside the city walls from the Horse Gate, and, like Meron Glyptes, is not allowed in either The Hanged Man or The Lying Lawyer.
Herbert
Herbert is a portly, well-dressed man of middle years, with a shiny bald pate and gray eyes. He tends to specialize in civil cases, and has an excellent record in them, since he will split his fees with the judge involved. He limits his clientele to the more wealthy of the city, and seldom (10%) will he accept a criminal case.
Any time Cardallo sees Herbert’s name as lawyer of record on a civil case, he arranges to preside. Herbert has never failed the judge’s expectations, and gets a healthy +60% preference from him. If any judge is presiding but Cardallo, he functions at a penalty of -10%, since all of them know of his deals with Cardallo.
He is basically colorless in personality, and rarely, if ever, patronizes a tavern, preferring to spend his evenings at home with his family.
Argli arn Skibur
Of the Iron tribe of dwarves, Argli arn Skibur shows it in his courtroom procedure. He is steely hard. Of average height for a dwarf (but built like an arena wrestler, and exceptionally strong for his size), he has bright red hair and beard (not uncommon among the Iron tribe) and bright blue eyes. His beard is always curled and beribboned (one of the few vanities he has), and reaches to his belt.
He tends to accept only dwarven clients, but will take others if sufficient remuneration is offered (fee structure 5).
High Judge Cardallo is afraid of this man, one of the few in the city that he respects, and gives him a +15% bonus (Argli felt Cardallo had been influenced unduly in a trial one time, and swore he would break every bone in Cardallo’s body if he ever had any evidence that, at any trial at which both he and Cardallo worked, Cardallo took bribes or unduly favored either side - Cardallo believes him implicitly. None of the other judges particularly favor or dislike the dwarf, but because of his reputation for honesty and righteousness, all do give him a +5% bonus.
Gordon Vickery
A good, average lawyer. Gordon Vickery wins the share of cases his ability entitles him to, and draws neither bonuses nor penalties from any of the judges. His reputation comes from winning a very messy murder case in which his client (actually innocent) was totally implicated by circumstantial evidence.
Vickery is tall, stocky, with brown hair and blue eyes. He is frequently (90%) found at The Lying Lawyer. He might be a better lawyer, but he has an incredible taste for alcoholic beverages, and is not uncommonly poured into a bed in one of rooms upstairs at the inn at the close of business.
Summary
The following table rates several of the lawyers found in Haven including their race, reputation, idealism, ability, and fee schedule. Modifiers due to relationships with the various high judges are also provided.
| Name | Race | Reputation | Idealism | Ability | Fee Schedule | Lucius Cardallo | Ellian | Herven Ault | Dagnir Saurul | Mindal Thievesbane |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Megallo Manyak | Human | 4 | 2 | +20% | 3 | +15% | -5% | -5% | — | — |
| Keyan Dorin | Half-Elf | 6 | 6 | +15% | 2 | -25% | — | — | +20% | — |
| Eldorato Imbethang | Sindoran Elf | 3 | 4 | +25% | 3 | -15% | — | — | +10% | — |
| Huiel Farris | Human | 8 | 10 | +30% | 3 | +15% | +10% | +10% | +5% | +20% |
| Meron Glyptes | Tiefling | 2 | 6 | +50% | 3 | -20% | -30% | -10% | -40% | -20% |
| Burley Stonecastle | Halfling | 4 | 7 | +20% | 3 | -15% | -10% | -10% | -10% | -10% |
| Riklas Longstrider | Centaur | 2 | 8 | +10% | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Herbert | Human | 5 | 1 | +5% | 5 | +60% | -10% | -10% | -10% | -10% |
| Argli arn Skibur | Dwarf | 4 | 4 | +20 | 4 | 15% | +5% | +5% | +5% | +5% |
| Gordon Vickery | Human | 5 | 7 | +15% | 3 | — | — | — | — | — |
Creating a Lawyer
A lawyer’s idealism rating governs the clients he will tend to accept. The ratings run from 0 to 10, and the lower the number, the more restricted his clientele would tend to be (0 would probably only accept rich nobles or wealthy guildsmen and merchants as clients; 10 will take any one as a client, regardless of ability to pay, and would probably be quite interested in cases of “profound social significance”).
Lawyers are rated as to ability (the lawyer’s chances of affecting the outcome of the trial, either favorably or unfavorably), reputation (what everybody else thinks the lawyer or barrister can accomplish), fee structure, and idealism (what sort of cases the lawyer will accept).
| Adjustment | Reason |
|---|---|
| +1 to +5 | for winning a case of reasonable notoriety |
| +1 or +2 | for maintaining a good record over a six month trial schedule +1 for 75% win record +2 for 90% win record (this must be for 5 cases or more) |
| + 1 to +3 | for “the right connections” |
| -1 to -3 | for being involved in a scandal (whether intentional or not) |
| -1 to -5 | for a stupid loss in a notorious case (GM’s discretion on “stupidity”) |
| -1 or -2 | for having a very bad record over a six month trial schedule -1 for 75% loss record -2 for 90% loss record |
| -1 to -3 | for “guilt by association” (defending the second most notorious thief in [[organization/the-black-hand |
The lawyer’s effective courtroom performance (Ability) is rated from -25% to +50%, with a good lawyer rating +25% to +30% (the ranges from +40% to +50% are saved for Perry Mason types). If the lawyer is a player-character, he will start with +5% for standard training in magistracy, and +15% if he is a master magistrate (totally untrained should be rated at -15% to -25% depending on character CHA). For each case a player-character wins (a win is an acquittal, nothing less, when one is acting as a defense lawyer, or any conviction when one is prosecutor), increase ability by +1%. For each loss, decrease by -1%.
A lawyer’s reputation, although usually correlated strongly with his actual ability, also could be the result of a long string of cases where his uncle was the judge. This reputation rating, rather than ability, is what the player-characters know of the lawyer they’re trying to hire. Reputation is rated from 1 to 10. A player-character lawyer will start with a reputation of 1, or 2 if he is a master magistrate. If a lawyer’s reputation should drop into negative numbers, he is finished in that city, and should probably move away.
These adjustments are primarily for player-characters functioning as trial lawyers. The GM is advised to use discretion in awarding such to players, particularly those for notorious cases. A “notorious” case would be one involving the alleged murderer of Duke Fernando, the rapist of the High Priestess of Eollana, etc. The theft of farmer Jones’ cow just doesn’t qualify in Haven.
Legal Fees
| Rank | Criminal | Civil |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 5 to 50sp [roll:1d10 * 5] | - |
| 1 | 1 to 10gp 1d10 | 20% |
| 2 | 5 to 50gp [roll:1d10 * 5] | 25% |
| 3 | 10 to 100gp [roll:1d10 * 10] | 33% |
| 4 | 100 to 1,000gp [roll:1d10 * 100] | 50% |
| 5 | 1,000 to 10,000gp [roll:1d10 * 1000] | 65% |
Fee structure for NPC lawyers (player-characters get to charge all the traffic will bear) is figured for both criminal and civil cases. The civil column relates to the percentage of the final award the lawyer will charge for his fee. There are, for game purposes, no contingency cases taken by NPC lawyers - any lawyer will charge a minimum fee in any civil case (the criminal fee 1 level below his normal schedule).
Participants in civil cases will normally find themselves paying assorted court costs - filing fees of various amounts. Usually the lawyer is charged for these and collects back from his client. In any civil case, there will be 2d6 writs to be filed, and these will cost 1d20sp each to have filed. These seldom appear all at one time, but are spread out over the waiting period before the case is actually tried.
--- end-column ---
World Anvil Metadata
Id: da3ccb78-bf9b-40ae-8405-bab3fe8ea07a
Entity Type: Article / article
Category:
Tags: fcoh
--- end-multi-column
--- start-multi-column: PreviousNext
number of columns: 2
column size: [50%, 49%]
border: [off, off]
alignment: [left, right]--- end-column ---
--- end-multi-column