Though never a particularly cheery group to begin with, the mood in Azorius was particularly grim when news arrived that the Azorius candidate was no more. If anyone in the guild regretted the death of the Dimir boy as well, it was primarily because they suspected no one in his home guild would be permitted to remember his passing.

It was in such a melancholy mood that Allard encountered the form for the upcoming Rakdos trial for the first time. He read it once, then twice. His eyes scanned it helplessly for a third time even as he levered himself from his seat and found himself running at breakneck speeds to the guildmaster's private sanctorum.

~*~

"They can't do this. I- we can't let them do this."

Isperia's eyes were half shut, and her booming voice was as impassive as her face. "Is that so, lawmage? On what grounds may we deny them this trial?"

"On what grounds-" Allard sputtered for a moment at the nonsensical statement. "On the grounds that it's murder! On the grounds that it's an excuse to prey on the helpless Gateless! Why on earth would we allow it?"

"For the same reason I did not immediately wipe away the false memories Dimir gave our champion. For the same reason Golgari was permitted to take the corpses of the fallen for their grotesque little game. Aurelia is still angry that Lavina was...harvested in such a manner. Well. Angrier than usual, in any case."

"The only people who were being harmed by that were the champions, though," Allard replied, barely keeping his tone civil. "'Bring the Lord of Riots blood untouched by corruption.' That blasted demon is demanding innocent lives! How can we allow that?"

Isperia's eyes opened fully, and Allard felt the full force of her anger weigh upon him with the chilly, unmovable weight of a glacier.

"We can allow it, lawmage, because we must allow it, as vile as it may be! It does not give any particular advantage to the Rakdos competitors, even though they may have fewer qualms about the procedure than you or I. It is therefore within the boundaries of the edicts created for these trials. It does not mandate that they take their...offerings from among the Gateless, and they would be well within their rights to kill a member of Rakdos, if a pure-hearted individual actually exists in that hellhole! As such, we allow it. We have...there is no other option for those who follow the law."

There was a long silence.

"This is wrong," Allard whispered.

"Wrong. But fair. And when demons have a say in the appointment of a ruler, that may be the best we can do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Requirements

-To obtain the Rakdos signet, you will have to bring the lifeblood of a pure-hearted individual as an offering to Guildmaster Rakdos. 

-In addition to that requirement, this is the song task! You will have to match your entry with a song from my pre-approved list in terms of lyrics, mood, or theme. To see the list, check out the previous page. Comment below to select your choice, unless you're Carl or Ray, in which case you're to quiver in terrified anticipation until Sarah does so and lets you know your assignment.

Kills: None! Well, no competitors at least (unless you really want to.) Three tributes will be getting byes into the next round. The rest will go up for votes, and one will be eliminated

Due Date: Tuesday, March 28 at 10 PM EST

The Songs!

Sinister Kid- Reserved for Elijah Karsur

All These Things That I've Done- Reserved for Iracun Rumpig

Mary Had A Little Lamb- Reserved for Heccan Kirkeus

Brighter Than Gold- Reserved for Mikaela Gavreel 

Fire- Reserved for Calais Agate