A Pile of Petitions¶

Talk to Aldous again and select the task ‘Gather Evidence for an Important Trial’ to get the details. Apparently Fournival’s misdeeds have finally caught up with him, and stands trial for a ‘litany of crimes’ including bribery, fraud, abduction, and the selling of secrets, and collusion with Salvation… typical merchant crap, but methinks it’s not what Fournival has been doing, rather who he has been dealing with. The stakes are high-nothing less than the death penalty awaits Fournival, and as things stand, the odds are against him. Your task is to gather ‘evidence’-in this case testimonies pertaining to Fournival’s character, good and ill. You’ve got several days to gather whatever ‘facts’ you can. Essentially, you have to talk to various characters and collect petitions from them… it’s a good old fashioned popularity contest!

This quest can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. You gain nothing by seeing Fournival put to death, and very little from seeing him acquitted. Still, little is more than nothing, so if you want something, you might as well try to get him off the hook. You need evidence strongly in favor of Fournival, and to that end, you can just collect as many petitions as you want and turn only the good ones in. There’s no point in going into detail about seeing him found guilty, as for that outcome all you need to do is rest at the Gran Soren Union Inn for a few days until the trial is concluded.

The first petition can be obtained from right in the castle. Fedel, your friend of lost letters, makes significant profits by dealing with Fournival and doesn’t want to lose this income. So… he wants to believe he’s innocent, and that’s apparently enough for him to give you ‘Fedel’s Petition’. Not really any proof of innocence here, just a greedy guy trying to keep another greedy guy out of prison so they can continue to be greedy together… It’s like the government here in America. Anyways, score one for Fournival.

Leave the castle and visit Fournival’s house, around which you’ll find Symone. She, too, wants her father to remain healthy… you know, because she’ll be a penniless orphan without him? Oh, and also probably because of the whole family thing, too. This self-interest causes her to write up a petition as well. Score two for Fournival. Inside you can find Fournival, who claims to be innocent. He’ll also promise to sell to you at cost for the rest of his days if you get him acquitted.

Next stop, visit the Gran Soren Cathedral and talk to Geffrey. This holy man knows too well Fournival’s faults, but still doesn’t think that he’s bad enough to deserve the punishment in store for him. He’ll hand you a petition, too. That’s three in favor of Fournival.

Now visit the Craftsman’s Quarter where Jasper, Pip, and Sara will be if you helped Fournival evict them. They have some opinions of Fournival, and none of them good. Each one of them will hand you a petition in favor of Fournival getting the axe. Ouch. Three for, three against, in one swing.

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Bias holds sway in Gran Soren, visit various individuals to get petitions for Fournival’s acquittal (left) or condemnation (right).

Forging the Facts¶

For the next bit of evidence that actually might actually count as evidence, you’ll need to check your stash. If you forged (or simply didn’t turn in) the Chamberlain’s Affidavit or the Gift Ledger you found in Fournival’s House earlier (way back when you first entered Gran Soren, after completing the Pawn Guild, if you remember), both serve as evidence. The Chamberlain’s Affidavit counts as evidence in favor of Fournival, the Gift Ledger, against him. Still even at four for, four against.

Honestly, you’ve already done more than enough work to see this trial play out any way you want it to, but if you just must do everything, you still have options. Reynard, the wandering merchant you saved immediately after leaving Cassardis the first time has some tricks up his sleeve. Find him (if you’re lucky he’ll be in Gran Soren, but he could be in a variety of places-let thy map marker be thy guide…) and he’ll seem delighted in the diversion offered by an inquest. He’ll offer to sell you ‘writs of affidavit’ to influence the trial in any ways you wish. After you buy one, whether you purchased an affidavit petitioning innocence or guilt, the next one-again, regardless of the influence, will cost more, as follows:

After purchasing all you can, or care to, it’s time to move on to the final means of influencing the trial.

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If biased testaments aren’t enough, you can always resort to forgeries of such (left) or by escorting character wtinesses to the capital (right).

Escorting Evidence¶

Head over to Windbluff Tower and talk to Ser Daerio, who also has benefited from Fournival’s lack of scruples. The fact that these guys view Fournival favorably is the best evidence you’ve found so far that he’s a bad guy… but in any event, he’ll decide to vouch for Fournival. Sadly, he can’t leave to give testimony, so he’ll send one of his soldiers - Ser Castor - who is lurking around here somewhere (again, follow the map-marker) to speak for Fournival in his stead. Talk to Ser Castor to start the escort mission-traveling from Windbluff Tower to Gran Soren shouldn’t be too terrible of an ordeal. Take him to Gran Soren and talk to Aldous, selecting the option ‘Gather Evidence for an Important Trial’ to complete this escort quest.

One escort mission in favor of Fournival, so you know what’s next… that’s right, one unfavorable one. Why would you even bother doing this extra work for a conviction that’s so easy to secure is beyond me, but it’ll be covered anyways. Return to Cassardis, where you’ll find Ansell- the gardener you rescued from prison a while back. This snooping peasant overhead Fournival making illegal dealings when he worked back at the castle, and he’s willing to risk returning in order to testify. Start his mission and make your way back to Gran Soren, a trip that goes much quicker if you simply use a Ferrystone. Ansell is an annoying guest-he’ll whine if you run too far ahead (which means, if you move, pretty much) and when you make your way halfway through the Estan Plains he’ll whine about not being able to go on and lose almost all of his health, so be sure to baby him as you travel. When you reach Gran Soren, talk to Aldous and he’ll see that Ansell is retained for the duration of the trial.

Fournivals Fate¶

You now have had more than enough opportunities to gather whatever ‘evidence’ you could have cared to gather. Again, it’s easy as pie to get him convicted-you merely have to wait. To acquit him, however, you should hand over three pieces of evidence (or more) in favor of Fournival… or rather, three pieces of favorable evidence more than unfavorable evidence. The easiest way to do this is to get petitions from Fedel, Symone, and Geffrey. After that, turn them into Aldous and rest four days at the Gran Soren Union Inn. When the time runs out, you’ll be prompted to inquire after the verdict. Head out into Fountain Square and a cutscene will trigger, where Fournival’s verdict is read out loud by some dweeb named Ambrose. After the verdict is read, go talk to claim you reward and start on the next quest… if he was acquitted be sure to seek Fournival out, as he’ll now sell the ‘Magnanimous Cloak’ Accouterment. Not a great item, but there’s no other way to get one.

Anyways, you’re done with this task, and hence, the first two of Aldous’ directives. This allows you to start two more missions-‘Recovering a Stolen Item’ or ‘Assisting Ser Mercedes’.