Mithras was not a happy person. This trial was opening old wounds and bringing up perennial arguments.

Mithras didn't often think of himself as a god. He worshipped the concept of justice, and thought of himself as a high priest and the courtroom his temple. And right now, someone was taking a dump in the middle of his temple.

Leroy has just concluded his arguments. They revolved heavily around "the proper way we did things at the beginning" and "why it's dangerous to let the mortals get too much control." Horse twaddle as far as Mithras was concerned. Time moved on and the law had to keep up with it. Players were pouring into the world making this new age exciting and different. Some of the old powers didn't like different. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes pressure to keep it that way. Despite the inspired arguments by Elgebert Coppertwist, he could feel this case slowly moving in Leroy's favor. There were forces lining up for immediate appeals. Mithras was like a warrior fighting a battle without a sword. He needed a compelling reason to rule in favor of the newer laws, and against tradition and "the old laws that were obviously better back in the old days."

In the next step the five judges would come to a consensus on how the gods would rule on this case. He was surprised when a little mortal stood up in the back of the room, and strode confidently to the front of the court. He paused, casually lighting a cigar as the five gods glared at him.

Anbay leaned forward, "Sit down mortal, you risk being smited."

Billy inhaled and blew a smoke ring that floated up into the air, "Nope. Don't think I will. I have a few things that need saying. Consider me a friend of the court."

"We did not ask you to speak. Sit down."

Anbay was technically a god of justice, but his area of influence was paperwork and the correct filing of reports. His smites were more like a bad papercut. He had been hoping to see Marduk strike the mortal down. Marduk also oversaw storms, and had the best smites of the gods assembled, but he seemed amused by the mortal and was just watching him.

"And I didn't ask you to convene court in my town and put one of my workers on trial. Yet here you are."

Billy began to pace, addressing the audience as much as the judges.

"You didn't talk to me, and you didn't talk to ACME. Therefore, I see no reason why I have to ask permission to talk in my own town."

Mithras stood, "I see reasons to allow William Horvacs of the ACME Corporation to speak. You have the floor, William, I suggest you make good use of your time."

Billy smiled his best smile, "Thank you, you're honors. I'll keep it brief."

"I've been listening to what's said here, and I've heard a lot about the 'laws of the gods,' 'sacred contracts' and 'ancient treaties.' As if somehow all those old contracts negate the current contracts under discussion. That's dangerous grounds gentlemen, very dangerous grounds. How does any business get done when current agreements can be nullified because they don't match older ones?"

"Maybe I see things differently, because I'm a mortal businessman. And make no mistake, I and the corporation are here to do business. We're going to feed the Legion, build your roads, expand your trade and open up new lands and resources. We can't do that with shifting laws. Laws are the ground our contracts stand on. You can't get things done if we have to do business on shaky ground."

"Now, I won't presume to say how the court might decide this case, but I'll offer a few thoughts. Don't look at the two claimants. You might be tempted to dismiss the words of some hulking mortal butcher in favor of an ancient being of great power. Being old doesn't make you right. Being powerful doesn't make you right. Look at the law."

"My bosses might actually disagree. Mr. Vernon and Mr. Willy would be delighted to find out that ACME corporation can ignore their current obligations simply because ACME is an ancient, immoral, and powerful legal entity that has more clout than any single mortal. The thousand other corporations that have been let loose on your world would be really happy too. Right now, we play fair, and we honor our contracts, because that's the law. But they’d be happy to not be held accountable. If you start changing the law, we'll fight back, and you won't see many contracts honored by anyone. We probably wouldn't even have to pay taxes."

There was a small tussle in the back as two people struggled to hold a third in his seat.

"If the law changes because someone powerful bought up a contract, then maybe gods and Fallen Angels should stay the hell away from mortal contracts. You can't have two sets of laws and then mix them together and let the powerful side win."

"Millions of players expect a level playing field. And trust me, if there is any nightmare you don't want to experience its millions of crafty, ingenious players finding out that the world isn't playing fair. You think you've seen wars? You haven't seen anything yet."

"And yes, I already hear those replies. No matter how many Tier 1 players there are, what do you have to worry about? But they aren't going to stay that way. They'll get tougher and tougher. Even a group of my workers gave a Fallen Angel a run for his money. Just think what real players might do?"

"And one more very important point: The Butcher is under contract to me - and through me to ACME corporation - for the next five years. He's mine until that contract runs out. I'm not turning him loose without a fight." Billy turned, and walked out of the courtroom, flicking his ashes at Leroy. Mithras watched him go, a slight smile on his face. Anbay was angry; Marduk amused; and the other two thoughtful.

Mithras rapped his gavel on the table. "We will return by nightfall with our verdict." As gods, players, workers, and beings of all types stretched and began discussing the latest twist in this trial, Mithras leaned back in his chair with a slight smile on his face. He'd hoped for a sword. What he'd been handed was damned big hammer, and he intended to use it.

=*=

"You can let me go now. I'll behave."

Hermes and Artemis looked dubious, but relaxed their hold on Hades. Hermes smirked at him. "That line about taxes get to you, did it? I don't mind if you cause a scene, I just wanted to hear what William had to say. He has some very good points."

"He did. And I'll have a few to make soon as well. I hold only two things dear: Death and Taxes. And push comes to shove, I loved taxes first."

A small imp was approaching the trio. Artemis glared at him with eyes that had put fear into the minds of dragons and armies alike, "This might be a poor time to approach us, minion."

Impy ignored her, ducking under her hand and seating himself between Hades and Hermes. "It's always a bad time to interrupt, isn't it? And yet it's also my job. Lord Hades is so difficult to get ahold of, and I have a question about taxation and I was hoping he'd do me the favor of helping me understand the laws better."

Hades looked down at the little imp with the thick glasses and a stack of files under his arms. "Let me get this straight. You are Impkray, minion and accountant to the Fallen Angel Lemechial, and you wish me to examine some of his book keeping to make sure he's paying his taxes correctly? And you'd owe me a favor?"

The imp nodded, "Yep, a big favor. Oh, and on an un-related subject, do you still have those quaint ‘whistleblower’ rules in place? Asking for a friend."

Hades eyes glowed and he smiled, showing pointed teeth. A legal pad and a very sharp pencil appeared in his hands, "I'm never too busy to look at a few numbers. Let's see how I can help you out."

Hermes cast a spell that would keep away prying eyes and ears, "Artemis dear? I think we can leave these two alone for a bit."

=*=

The warding stones at the gates to Gadobhra had seen better days. One was chipped and scored by lightning, and the other actually had chunks missing from its structure. But they still functioned. Ben was comparing the runes he could see to some drawings in one of his uncle's journals.

If he was understanding this correctly, the smaller stones around the perimeter slowly converted any type of mana into Arcane Lightning and fed it to the larger monoliths. They also kept the powerful spell of Aversion radiating out from the perimeter. Only creatures with the strongest of wills, (or those under a powerful effect that suppressed negative emotions), could approach the city without turning around and marching away.

Some of the crazy things that Lyle had talked about were starting to make sense. The poor druid was still plagued by dreams that were coming to him every time he slept.

From reading his new books through the night, Ben had a good idea of how the stones worked. Talking with Lyle and looking at the runes had confirmed a few things. But he decided he needed to try a few experiments before talking with Billy. Ozzy had explained that they needed to secure Billy's position. One way was claiming the old ruins for ACME.

From his ring Ben produced several large coils of thick, multi-stranded wire, copper tubes, and several sizes of what might be lanterns if you didn't look too closely. Time to get to work.