Harrow hears the exchange as background noise. It's more than enough to break the flow of his sentences, but hardly more than he had been managing on his own.

"If it's true that's bad. I'd wish I'd never tried. I can try to think of times I was acting Good if that would help, Your Honor, they say it helps even though you already know it all, but. Everything else. Seems kind of unimportant, if I got a lot of people damned."

He still shakes when he moves, but he squares his shoulders and looks the angel in the eye. "Leaves of falling gold. If it's true and you need to destroy it, tell the Order "leaves of...""

"Out of an abundance of caution, the Court will remind all advocates that this trial is not a vector for information-gathering about the mortal world, and per standard rules you are all prohibited from making use of that information until such time as it is learned from an independent source."

"Can I object to that? Um, Your Honor?

I decided while alive that I wanted to trust Lawful Good with what happens to my research, I think they should be allowed to use the password even if..."

"You are not a party in this action, but I will listen and may respond.

In this case I'm not releasing Heaven from the rule for several reasons. Foremost among them is that one of Pharasma's objects in designing the sorting process is to observe what each alignment is able to do when it has a dedicated society and plane. Your knowledge, like your capabilities, should be used in and from the plane of your own alignment. Second, mortal judgments about which alignment to trust do not carry more weight than their beliefs about their own alignment. They can be and sometimes are misled about the true nature of Law or Good. Relatedly, you did not entrust your secrets to Lawful Good as a category. You entrusted them to a specific paladin order about which you had information suggesting reliability of judgment. For these reasons, in addition to long precedent,I will not alter the rule limiting use of information disclosed here.

For what it is worth, Harrow, you never believed you needed to use this password while alive. If you were correct in your decision of where to place your secrets, you may be able to continue trusting them into the future."

"But they think their job is to make sure it doesn't get misused to spread Malediction! They don't know I might be getting people damned if this works, I don't think anyone knows that! They need to be warned..."

"Harrow, they probably don't need to be warned. Mr. Vulpes's horror stories are extremely selective and very unlikely to come true. You did Good work.

I'd like to note that every single word Harrow just said was rooted in concern for others and trying to avoid Evil outcomes. Including the password, which he set up while alive and explicitly does protect against Evil outcomes beyond the ones he specifically foresaw. While a decedent's words before this Court are not themselves the substance being judged, they are often demonstrative of their actions or perspectives in life, in re Tomlinson, and in this case the record reflects that everything Harrow did was for exactly those reasons. Good reasons.

Nirvana also objects to any ruling based on Hell's predictions of dire consequences. When the decedent asked the Court directly whether it was true, the Court did not have an answer. And was correct not to, because we don't know. Nobody knows. We cannot base such a weighty decision on unforeseen Evil consequences when those consequences are speculation."

"It is not speculative if it's based on expert opinion using methods resting on a reliable foundation. Tarot Readers Ass'n v. Merrell Dow, 2786. The affidavits establishing the reasoning are before the Court. The soul sales are the most undeniable-- Hell will absolutely receive more souls by that means than it does now, and it will have Harrow to thank.

And I must remind you that Benediction was never completed. Any consequences at all are either prediction or speculation, and no other party has attempted expert opinion. Would you forego all argument that the consequences are Good?"

"Yes! If you're offering, Nirvana will absolutely stipulate to ignoring all Good and Evil consequences on the grounds that we don't know if there are any, and look entirely to Harrow's motives and intent. Which, as he just very effectively demonstrated, are extremely Good."

"Before we discuss any such stipulation.

Your Honor, may I ask the decedent some brief questions?"

"That is not ordinarily part of the proceedings. You may suggest questions for me to ask."

"Then I'd request that the Court ask the decedent about his motivations in interfering with Pharasma's judgments. In particular, I'd ask that the Court question the decedent on whether he recalls stating that "Pharasma has no business damning anyone." Finally, to explain whether he imagined using Benediction on himself, if it were to exist in time, and what he was thinking when considering it."

"Very well.

Harrow, please answer regarding whether you considered yourself to be challenging Pharasma's judgments. In hearing your testimony, this Court is primarily concerned with your decisions and motivations."

"I do remember saying that. And I, uh, may have used stronger language." Harrow winces. I wish she'd go to Hell herself, he doesn't bother quoting. Everyone in this room already knows he said it.

"I remember thinking that Pharasma was doing Evil, hurting people that is, every time she sent someone to an afterlife they wouldn't have picked. Mostly because of all the torture, but even sending someone to Heaven whose family is in Axis. And I don't know if she just doesn't understand what it means to send someone to an eternity of Hell, or if she does and she wants them to be hurting, like Asmodeus does.

I did think about using Benediction on myself. Who wouldn't? Not- not very seriously. I didn't expect to have it in time, and didn't expect to need it anyway. I was never Evil. It was just, why take the chance if you don't have to?"

"So it's fair to say your opinions of Pharasma's judgments were that "any god who would do that doesn't deserve to stay out of Hell herself" and that you enjoyed the fact that your work was "spitting in Her eye?" And that in your individual case you considered judgment a risk you'd prefer not to take?"

"I- yes, I did say those things. I was never sure, still not really sure, if that was my endorsed opinion and reason for trying. As opposed to just how I felt sometimes. But I did say that."

"Your Honor, Nirvana contends that this demonstrates more than ever that Harrow is Good."

"With all due respect, this I gotta hear."

"Are the parties are prepared to make concluding statements? If there are no further issues we need to return to, we can begin with Nirvana."

Myra hops up to perch on the back of her chair. There's no need to take a deep breath before a speech, especially when one is both dead and a bird.

"Of course, Your Honor.

Nirvana believes we do need to return to the question of Harrow's alignment outside of his work on Benediction. Not everything we've discussed was of world-changing scope, so it's important to note that his everyday life was Good. His neighbors knew him as generous with his wealth, he would always step in to resolve a fight between strangers, and when a friend needed help he'd come immediately and wouldn't ask questions. Hell may claim he was Neutral during his time as an adventurer, but he saw his job as fighting Evil or dangerous creatures and protecting the innocent, and he followed through on that. We've had relatively little dispute about Harrow's life in general, but it's important to note that in every legal issue we argue, it's about a disputed action by an otherwise Good man.

And attempting to save others from Hell is absolutely a Good act.

The statements the Court asked Harrow about were to the effect that if Pharasma sends people to Hell, then Pharasma is in error. He believed, out of concern for his mortal fellows, that they should not be subjected to the Abyss, or to Abaddon, and certainly not to Hell.This is an extremely common Good belief. On behalf of Nirvana, I can confidently state that he was right. This should not be controversial! Pharasma does not claim to be Good. This Court has acknowledged that in in re Euthyphro and every case that cites it. Pharasma does not even claim to understand Good, not to Her own satisfaction; in several respects that is why we are here. As the Court correctly quoted, one of the objects of the sorting process is to observe each alignment in its own dedicated afterlife plane full of people who best fit that alignment. An Evil plane containing people like Harrow, people always and primarily moved by the welfare of others, that would be a bad fit. This Court's duty is to sort Harrow to a destination that matches his character. And there are whole planes full of people more Good than Pharasma. Harrow belongs in an afterlife designated for people with his compassion. He belongs with Good.

Everything about the sociological effects of Benediction, as likely or as speculative as they may be, is a sideshow. This is about Harrow. It is extremely obvious from what decisions he made and how he made them that he was and is Good. If some of his predictions were wrong, if he truly did serve Evil in life, Your Honor heard him yourself. He would regret ever trying to develop the spell. But if he was wrong about his predictions or even if he was insufficiently careful when making them, then so be it. The decision he thought he was making was clearly Good. This Court should judge character, not moral luck. In re Kiyamvir cuts both ways.

But if the Court does desire to analyze that sideshow, it will not change the outcome. The effects too are Good. Benediction's existence will remind everyone that there is hope and mercy, that nobody is so far gone that they might as well go further. And every person rescued is one less person subjected to pain and torment or to destruction. In life Harrow saved many from harm. That is very correctly counted as Good. The same is true of Benediction. It will do Good in precisely the way he hoped.

There may indeed be negative effects as well. But Harrow took pains to minimize those. Every risk he thought of, and some that he didn't. It is not an easy thing for anyone to limit their cleverest work just in case it could do harm. In re Altman, 2625. Doing it anyway, for the purpose of protecting others, shows consciousness of and desire for Good even at personal cost."

She ends her address to the judge and smiles at Harrow.

"Axis largely agrees." The whirling ball of gears orients itself facing Myra, before turning back to the judge.

"With several additions. First, although the decedent rarely faced Law-related dilemmas, his everyday life was Lawful. He followed the laws of each jurisdiction he entered, he strove for consistency in his own decisions and beliefs, and when he did need to hide an important secret after his own death he did so by finding a trustworthy partnership and availing himself of existing rules. Each of these is Lawful, under in re Hobbes, in re Noitilov, and in re Twain, respectively.

As for the Benediction issue, I will note that Nirvana has not argued that Benediction is a Good-aligned spell. The argument was for the Goodness of the decedent's action in inventing it. And this is correct. This Court should not rule on wide-reaching issues if the question presented can be resolved on more ordinary grounds. In re Ashwander, 347. Regardless of the alignment of Benediction, the decedent himself never cast it. This difference matters because if such a sweeping holding were appropriate here, Hell is correct that the decedent would be partially responsible for a great number of strongly aligned spells and it would overwhelm questions about his individual characteristics. But because that is not before the Court, the only matter at issue here is his actions in life. His choice to attempt to develop Benediction is Good for the reasons Nirvana articulated.

That said, Nirvana's description of the decedent's life is not necessarily complete. In every adventurer's case we litigate the wrongs often committed when doing violence with little oversight. And Hell has already alluded to the decedent's conduct as a man of means, citing in re Marley for the implication he was miserly. Axis will not press this issue except to note that it does believe the decedent's conduct in both those arenas did more Good than harm.

However. The Good delegates have acknowledged that the decedent's animal testing was in fact Evil. And the decedent knew this, though he did not know the degree. Under in re Pascal, actions that carry a realistic chance of unbounded harm are strongly Evil. Axis believes that it would be fair to apply the Paizo rule of thumb here. Many magistrates disregard this rule as being too quick to change an alignment merely for casting a spell, but those concerns are not present when the spell at issue is a significant Evil action. Here there were three occasions on which the decedent risked causing a potentially-infinite amount of suffering, prior to the scry in which he confirmed it was finite. Under Paizo, three is likely sufficient to make an otherwise Good soul Neutral. But under the same rule, three such acts when separated by months or years would generally not make an otherwise Neutral soul Evil.

Thus: Lawful Neutral. This is an area of broad judicial discretion. But the rules as written suggest that this series of sins would leave the decedent Neutral regardless of whether his other actions added up to Good or Neutral. If the Court does not rule on any overwhelming implications of Benediction--issues which Axis believes will not arise until the first trial of an actual caster--then it should follow Paizo. Limiting the decision to the decedent's actions and motivations in life, the Court is presented with a generally Good life, marred by a handful of major sins, and a rule of law recommending a finding of Neutrality. Because of the rabbits."

"Heaven agrees with Axis's reasoning for Law." Unnael stands and her every word is a declaration. "And would add that if the Court does think it appropriate to analyze the Benediction issue, this will necessitate a finding for Good.

Benediction will, as Harrow did dare to expect, cripple many of the forces of organized Evil on the mortal plane. It will rescue all those subject to a soul contract at the time it becomes available, as those almost invariably do possess the access and willingness to seek out the escape, rendering the entire exchange a clear loss for Hell. Or Hell might, if it considers it a lesser sacrifice, simply stop soliciting such sales as soon as it thinks a successor is within one lifetime of completing Harrow's work. This too would deprive Evil of a tool it values highly.

The gods of Evil will be even worse off. Asmodeus's entire philosophy is that He and Hell are inescapable and the best His followers can seek is to be a good slave. As soon as there is a clear and accessible escape, His entire church will know this for a lie. Will Urgathoa even bother choosing clerics, if She cannot consume their souls when they reach Abaddon? Will Zon-Kuthon be able to control his people, when his threats are empty? The demon lords of the Abyss are well known to be dubiously reliable with their promises of advancement to the faithful, but with Benediction can they even make the offer? When this spell exists, Heaven's mortal allies will trumpet it to all the hopeless. Those few who serve Evil knowingly, some of its most valued servants, will flock to forsake it.

Heaven can and does thank Harrow for his service in breaking the power of Evil.

But all that shows is that Harrow is Good for deciding to develop the spell. Benediction itself is also Good. That is not a hard question.

First, the Court has already found it persuasive that the primary purpose of every casting is the effect of helping another. As Elysium has argued, this is either straightforwardly Good for Good reasons or it is somehow complicated. And it is not complicated.

Hell's argument that Benediction is anathema to Pharasma is spurious. Yes, it does interfere with this sorting. But that does not make it Evil. There have been trials of paladins or other adventurers who foray into Hell, and sometimes they rescue captives. That too brings the rescued to a plane that does not match their adjudged character. If anything, that frustrates Pharasma's goal more, because it rescues people who have already been determined to be Evil rather than people who only might be. But no court has held that this makes it an Evil act. If this Court were to rule that Benediction is Evil because it evades judgement, it would need to rule the same about paladins acting on behalf of Heaven against Hell. That would be as unsupported as it is facially implausible.

Heaven does not take a position on whether the Court should determine the alignment of Benediction. But if it does, the result it clear. Benediction is Good, and Harrow is Good.

Heaven's one point of explicit disagreement with Axis is the effect of the Maledictions he purchased. Those are Evil spells and did have some harmful effects. But even by the rule set forth by Paizo, proximity in time is a strongly weighted factor. These were separated by years, years in which Harrow continued to live a life dedicated to pursuing what he believed to be Good. It is further mitigated by the Good purpose that Harrow had in mind at the time, and by the fact that the most substantial harm risked did not come to pass. Paizo suggests it takes multiple spells to make a Good soul Neutral, and by Axis's count there are only three relevant. The Court has broad discretion on this question. In light of the extensive mitigation present here, far beyond any other Malediction, the Court should use that discretion to find that it does not make Harrow Neutral. In life he did the work of Lawful Good, and Heaven would be proud to call him one of us."

Vulpes strides into the well encircled by the desks. "If I may, Your Honor? Those arguments contained several misstatements in need of clarification."

He gets a nod and begins, gesturing widely with one clawed hand flaring toward the gem-encrusted wheel.

"First, Axis is mistaken about the alignment of Benediction not being before the Court. Axis's proposed rule that it is not before the Court until the first trial of an actual caster must be rejected. It is well established that soliciting another to perform an Evil act is substantively the same as doing it oneself. Here, the decedent did not pay other casters, but he went to far more extreme lengths in an effort to cause it. Treat it the same as any other inchoate action: we can call it attempted because he engaged in conduct that would constitute the action if he succeeded, or we can call it conspiracy because he worked with others toward the object of completing the conduct, but either way he is responsible for Benediction as if he had cast it. Less responsible, perhaps, but in light of the intended scope and the sheer number of people he intended to Benedict, that makes little difference. This goes double because Paizo, whatever limits on that rule courts choose to apply, still stands for the proposition that it takes remarkably few instances of an aligned spell to affect outcome.

Is Benediction Good? Then so is Harrow. Is it Evil? So is he. In either case, that ruling will be necessary to the decision. Ashwander does indeed recommend that the Court should avoid far-reaching grounds when a simpler decision will do, but it does not authorize ignoring squarely presented issues simply because they are important. This is such a case."

He pauses and leans back against his own desk. Glances around the others forming the three walls of the well, while he leans on the fourth.

"If we had any observers not familiar with our law, they might be convinced by the claim that rescuing someone from Hell is a Good act. To that I say first that all the decedent's work did in fact serve Evil, and will do so more when it is completed, and second that the law acknowledges that rather than merely compelling it.

To begin, all Heaven's predictions are baseless and speculative. This Court is limited to the facts before it. We're all familiar with the decedent's thoughts and actions, and to some extent the surrounding context, but nothing in the record suggests how the Good churches or nations would react to the existence of Benediction. Certainly there is no support for the statement that Evil polities would collapse. Hell moves to strike that entire portion of Heaven's argument as speculation not supported by the record.

The only evidence submitted on that subject is Hell's expert affidavits. Those opine the exact opposite. Heaven contends that Evil deities will no longer benefit from choosing clerics, but that is utterly false. My own master, Asmodeus, in addition to being Lord of Hell and several other things, is god of devious contracts. A mortal who wishes to ask Him to empower them because they believe there is an escape clause is in some ways thinking more along His lines than someone who seeks a higher place in the tyranny.  This of course means that Asmodeus can see better through more of His mortals' eyes, can make better use of them, and so on. Right now, such people are not available to Him. His pool of potential clerics is limited to the best matches among those who are also already resigned to Hell. With the existence of Benediction, many more will be willing to ask. I suspect something similar is true of other Evil deities, but as only Hell has sent a delegate and expert affidavits I must acknowledge that my suspicion is not in the record. Regardless, Asmodeus in particular will be vastly better off even if some of His favored minions escape Him.

And of course, the prospect of selling one's soul will become a vastly different proposition. One much more favorable for Evil. Wider reach at a much lower cost, and if Hell only claims those who die at a time not of their choosing, the expert testimony does expect that would be most of them.

Good's mortal forces will face the opposite effect. They are largely funded by the wealthy trying to change their alignment in fear of this Court. When they can simply avoid judgment at a time of their choosing, that ends. So too does any other Good that mortals do for the sake of remaining Good. Recall the decedent's own words-- of course he considered avoiding judgment, who wouldn't. Because why take the risk. The knowledge of Pharasma's judgment, combined with the popular belief that Evil afterlives are best avoided, is a strong force for Good. The decedent will nullify that. In particular he will nullify it among the powerful, heralding a new age of oppression and tyranny.

For all these reasons, Hell fervently hopes in the name of Evil that Benediction does come to exist."

Fiery eyes soften and turn toward the subject. Vulpes speaks almost conversationally.

"And Harrow, since this may or may not be the end of our acquaintance, thank you for your service."

"Of course, Harrow's services to Hell represent reasons why trying to develop Benediction is Evil. Hell's position is that the spell itself is also Evil, and that this predominates.

In this case, we've had relatively few comparisons to the actual facts of existing cases. Partly this is because it's an issue of first impression with little law to rely on, but partly it's a failure of advocacy which Hell is happy to remedy.

Heaven is correct that no case has litigated whether a paladin's act of removing a soul from Hell is Evil because it frustrates Pharasma's goals. This is not surprising: the sort of adventurer who could feasibly invade Hell has almost certainly performed many morally charged acts, enough that one debatable one will not make the difference. And the sort of paladin who actually does that is not likely to be a closely fought case. If Your Honor desires an answer, yes, the act of removing a soul from its assigned afterlife is in fact Evil, subject to mitigation based on purpose and context.

The court discussed a similar question in in re Alighieri, 1300. A mortal escorted through Hell at first felt pity for the souls he observed, gradually lost that pity, and never in fact attempted to aid them. Nirvana argued successfully, over Hell's objection, that this was Good. The souls were where they belonged and Alighieri's acknowledgement of this counted toward Good. Conversely, someone who does the opposite is doing Evil.

We see similar reasoning in the well-known case of Erecura. While that was not a holding by this Court, it was a judgment rendered by Pharasma Herself and shows directly how She assigns alignment. "It is appointed to mortals to die once, plus or minus a resurrection here and there, and after that to face judgment." Unknown, 927. Erecura, of course, stole from Pharasma the secret of true immortality. This act inevitably interferes with the appointed sorting. Pharasma chose which plane is the "proper place" best fitting that act, and Pharasma chose to send Erecura to Hell.

Pharasma's edict is clear: it is Evil to interfere with these judgments. If a party of mortal adventurers appeared right now and seized the decedent, this would at their own eventual trials count in favor of Evil. Benediction is the same: it evades judgment entirely and arrogates to the mortal the decision of which plane should be their destination.

To rebut Good's arguments, the question certainly does not turn on the pleasantness or otherwise of the afterlife in question. Abaddon frequently attempts to seize and devour souls bound for other afterlives, and this is Evil. It is Evil even if those souls are otherwise bound for the Abyss or Hell and would prefer nonexistence. But the closest analogy is in the buy witch-soul token line of cases. Each of those cases refers to a mortal who sought, for purposes of rescue and mercy, to obtain title to the soul of a friend who had sold theirs to Hell for power. Some of them succeeded. The courts near-unanimously found that this was Evil. Despite the decedents' Good motivations, the act itself was still engaging in the soul trade. And engaging in the soul trade is Evil, in large part because it interferes with the sorting of souls. For the same reasons, Benediction is Evil. It is exactly the kind of thing that Pharasma will not stand for, and that the case of Erecura demonstrates She considers Evil."

Inh looks around the courtroom and stares at Vulpes until he takes his seat. She doesn't get up from her own. "Guess it's my turn."

"Okay. Fine. I can buy that Pharasma is against this. Not proven, but believable. Elysium's argument is as follows: so what.

The story of Erecura is non-precedential. By the time Pharasma decided where to send her, she was already a demigod, not a mortal who would get judged by this Court. And she's ruling as Queen of Dis now, not nameless victim number whatever. Do those differences matter? Maybe! There's no record from that case, no reasoning that we can follow for whether or not it actually means that Pharasma thinks people shouldn't mess with trials. But again: even so, so what.

Same response for Alighieri. That guy had a long, complex, interesting life. Same reason Hell says those adventurers don't really count. And there were plenty of reasons why Alighieri ended up in Heaven. Hell is flagging one particular thing that Nirvana said was Good from a certain point of view-- nothing in that case said it was an especially important thing, it didn't determine the outcome, it's basically dicta. And again: either way, so what.

Because all this points toward is what Pharasma thinks. Pharasma doesn't have edicts, She has opinions. If She wanted an actual law saying the thing Hell is arguing for, She could have made one. She didn't, and common sense says sorting mortals into the aesthetically matching buckets isn't a moral question at all. I mean, sending them to eternal torture is. But the proper matching-ness is ethically whatever. This Court does it, but this Court isn't aiming for Good.

If you want case law, you can have case law. In re Earendil and in re Nimmer, two of what are known in Elysium as the "fuck Pharasma" cases, both held that disrespecting or even flouting divine opinions isn't per se Evil. Nimmer is especially relevant here. When alive, Nimmer wound up arguing a case like this one directly to the Supreme Judge for some reason. While doing that, he disobeyed Her direct order, in a disrespectful way I might add, and at his own trial Evil tried to make some hay out of that. Didn't work. There's a statue of him in Elysium now. Has the word "FUCK" carved on the base. Bottom-line Pharasma, She might have some legitimate authority, but that's all it is. Authority.

In re Earendil helps too. Disobey a direct order if you feel like it, and if it's for a good enough reason the authorities can just deal. Here, there isn't even a direct order. All he's flouting is a divine opinion that isn't even a morally charged one."

"Heaven agrees that if the Court does choose to rule on the alignment of Benediction and does not consider it Good--"