Plaintiff wrote... Well all she hears of the rape is rumours. The elves never approached her directly, if they approached the guard at all, which they likely did not.
They said they did report it to the guard and nothing happened. And if rumors were swirling around town, then it's obviously being talked about. If they didn't report it themselves, someone else may have.
But even so, if an Elf murdered a human, that Elf would probably be executed. But if a human murdered an Elf, the punishment would probably be more lenient simply because the roles are reversed. And we see this in-game, actually.
Kirkwall's shown in the past that it isn't a place where Elves receive proper justice, what with the local Magistrate protecting his own ass by keeping his son locked up rather then recusing himself from the position of Magistrate temporarily. The fact that he goes out of his way to hire Hawke -- even trying to bribe him with the notion of a Magistrate's support -- rather then telling the City Guard information they need to know says that he cares little about true justice.
Especially given his remark "I care for justice Fereldan, not unbridled slaughter". Gee, I wonder who had committed slaughter of people and even admitted such? Ah that's right, Kelder.
Whether he legitimately cares for his son and not his job is arguable, but he was never fit to preside over that case in the first place. He could be considered a person to make appeals on his son's behalf, but he was never fit to be the one to decree what punishment Kelder received.
However, it seems that he just wants to ignore the situation entirely, chalking up what the Elves say as being "ridiculous stories" simply because it came from the mouths of Elves.
Kelder should've been executed or placed in an asylum under lock and key with 24/7 guard, but he wasn't. He had kidnapped and murdered
dozens of Elven children and escaped numerous times from prison.
And this line of thought -- "What human would punish a human for crimes against Elves? None" -- is even believed by Varric, Merrill, and Fenris. The latter you could chalk down to biased sourcing, maybe. But if Varric says it's not going to happen, then you can be certain that it wouldn't happen. Because he has connections all throughout Kirkwall and very little news -- if any -- escapes his ears.
The law is corrupt and Elves receive no justice. If they don't report crimes, it's not because they don't want to. It's because they have so little faith in the system that's supposed to protect them that they feel they need to take matters into their own hands.
Mages are the same way, especially in the Gallows. Whose word do you think would be taken as being true? A Mage's or a Templar's? Especially when there is no Seeker presence to report to, who are supposed to be the watchers of the watchmen?
This is why Alain joined the rebellion that Thrask wanted to wage against Meredith and her like-minded cronies. Because the Circle system was not the way it should be and he could only think of one way that he could end the abuse he had suffered -- fighting back, taking matters into his own hands.
Plaintiff wrote...
Kirkwall is a nasty place, unreported rapes probably occur daily. We know they're a frequent occurence in the Gallows, and the guard has no power to do anything about that
Of course they don't. The guard isn't responsible for what goes on in the Gallows or other Circles. The Templars and Seekers are. The guards should be able to take Templars that abuse their charges -- the Mages -- in for prosecution though.
If a person has no faith that his/her word will be considered in regards to a crime that happened to them or someone close to them, then a person has very little reason to report it if nothing will come of it.
This is what happens with the Elves and the Mages.
Rumors or not, they should be investigated. If the accusation is that a guard raped an Elven woman, then that guard should be put on mandatory leave pending an investigation.
Sure, it's going to be hard to prove it. But that's no excuse for not even trying to investigate, which is what the City Guard did. The City Guard didn't bother to investigate. Aveline may have said she was going to, but the Elves probably felt that they couldn't place their trust in her if the people that are under her command refused to do their job.
Plaintiff wrote...
It would be one person's word against another's, with no evidence
That depends on the nature of the rape and how injured the Elves' sister was. It's never told to the player.
Even psychological exams can tell you some things pertinent to an investigation. But I doubt Thedas has anything like our psychological exams. But sometimes, rape victims have some very clear signs that they were raped.
Plaintiff wrote...
And regardless of who Aveline believes, she does not have the legal power to determine who is guilty or innocent. Her job is merely to bring them in, where they will then be subjected to the due process of law by the Viscount or whoever is in a position to make those judgements.
Magistrates (who are -- shock of shocks -- humans).
I again reference Varric's claims, for the sake of discussion. See here for
Varric's remark and push it back about 30 seconds for all the remarks made by companions at that part -- though the video doesn't have
all the remarks made during the quest itself.
Plaintiff wrote...
The law in Kirkwall is clearly corrupt and biased, but Aveline doesn't have the ability to do anything about that. Guard Captain is not a position of great power.
Indeed the law is corrupt and biased.
She might not have that much official power, but Hawke certainly does have enough clout with the Viscount to begin changing things. Or would, if Dumar wasn't a figurehead noble and Meredith wasn't the overseer of what gets authorized and what doesn't.
But even so, Aveline is willing to openly defy the Viscount's wishes in favor of her own -- seen when Seneschal Bran brings her a parade suit of armor.
She's clearly not afraid to voice her opinions. She may not be able to do much, but she came off as the type of person that would speak as loud as she could until someone began to create rules that were fair to the citizens.
Plus, she can order her men to investigate, whether they want to or not. And she can say that all evidence should be brought to her for reviewing, if she felt her men were still biased.
I don't actually consider her a great Captain of the Guard myself, despite what the game would have us believe. I actually think she's ill-fit for the role, based on what happens in-game in various quests.
She's a good commander of forces, but I don't consider her a person that's a good upholder of the law when her friends aren't the subject of it. I understand she's willing to bend it for her friends, which I don't chastise her for. It's for the other things I do. Sometimes I even view her as idiotic.
One point I'll cast in her favor is that she began recruiting Elves into the Guard -- seen by Lia, so we can assume she did it elsewhere with other Elves.
But that point also disappears once I realized that she doesn't place Nyssa under protection detail after her escaped husband -- who is believed to have become mentally unstable by Nyssa -- contacted her, when Aveline will have heard everything Nyssa said on the matter.
Modifié par The Ethereal Writer Redux, 02 juin 2012 - 01:47 .
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