"...I kid you not. He walked right into town, and he only had one hand. One. Hand!.." "...they say he tore it off at the wrist. The mad bastard ripped off his own hand..." "...I heard it was part of some blood-cult ritual, he sacrificed his flesh - for power..." "...they built him a new one, its made of soulforged ironwood, they say it feels like the real thing..."

Crown v. Cormac D'Arneau M. Facts: An argument between Cray Vincint and Cormac Randolph occurred outside of the Dancing Mermaid. Cormac was pestering Cray for payment, telling him he demanded money that Cray owed him. Cray refused to pay. As Cormac continued to press Cray, insulting him and demanding money, the situation escalated. Cormac then lunged at Cray and was initially held back by bystanders, but Cormac then broke free. In the pursuant chaotic scuffle, Cormac strangled Cray but was again stopped by bystanders, inclusive of Magistrate Azzen. Further verbal altercation occurred at the prison. Issue: Is Cormac guilty of attempted murder and assault under statutes 1.06 and 1.09? Decision: Firstly, it was brought forth by the accused's associates that Cormac was under influence by a curse at the time of the incident. Magical inspection - including by that of the defense - proved that while the subject was cursed at the time, this curse affected no magical influence over his cognition. All parties all but stipulated that Cormac was guilty of assault under 1.09 save for the varying degrees of mitigating circumstances involved. While it was argued that Cormac was not guilty under 1.06 attempted murder because he did not, in fact attempt to kill Cray Vincint, this possibility was countermanded by multiple witness statements and multiple statements by the accused including at time of trial. While perhaps obvious at some level, it should be noted, perhaps for later precedent, that some level of intent may separate attempted murder from assault in the same way that murder itself is segregated into multiple levels (see statutes 1.01, 1.02, 1.04, and 1.05). Cormac is found guilty under both statutes. However, given the circumstances of the crime (and the varying levels of instigation by other parties) and Cormac's record of service to the Jewel, sentencing was given outside the standard guidelines. Cormac was fined the sum of 50,000 gold and cursed for the period of one year with the following stipulations: Cormac must serve at the request of the Crown and the Defender General as requested. Cormac must abide by all laws of Peltarch. Cormac must, absent uncoerced self-defense, not engage in a hostile act against Cray Vincint. Any violation of these terms will result in a branding and disfigurement of his face only removeable by serving a full one year continuous jail term in Peltarch's prison.