Aphrodite v Persephone

{if Court round == 1}
You see a tall woman walk in, her bright red toga having rose petals fall off of it onto the ground behind her. "Aphrodite, please keep your glamour under control." She retorts, "the. other. flower. user. is. right. there." wildly gesturing at the defense, to which Persephone frowns. "And I keep telling you that that's not a glamour effect, unlike yours. Turn it off, now." "Ugh, fine" Aphrodite rolls her eyes and snaps her fingers, rose petals fading. "As for you Macaria, please take your hood off." You see the now apparent woman pull her hood back, exposing her round face framed with wavy golden hair, eyes brown.

"She gets a lawyer? Why don't I get one?" "You technically could have, you just never bring one." "I don't suppose one will be provided for me?" "I seriously don't know why you bring that up, that's never been a thing." "Ugh, FINE." Aphrodite finally settles in her seat, and the judge proceeds to say, "Today's case is on the matter of who this cleric next to me is truly dedicated to, as evidence has been brought forth by the prosecution as to question their loyalties to the defense. The prosecution will be the chaotic Aphrodite and the defense will be Persephone."

"Per agreements dating back centuries between the two here today, this trial will occur over the course of five rounds. The first will be on the matter of oppression, the second on the matter of passion, the third on the matter of nature, the fourth on the matter of dedication, and the fifth on the matter of methodology." She looks up from her notes, seeing if either side has a response. "Let the trial begin." You feel yourself subjected to a truth spell, and find yourself unable to resist its effects. Whatever you state, it must be the truth.

Aphrodite stands up and approaches you, "Cecillia, you and I both know that the city you were born in isn't exactly the most glorious on women's rights. You were born barely better than property, after all. If you had the opportunity to overthrow such a regime, would you take it? Or would you rather flee the country if you could?" Hearing this question, you can see Macaria talking quietly with Persephone.
{elseif Court round == 2}
At your answer, Aphrodite takes her seat and the judge says, "That concludes round one." Macaria stands up, approaching you. "Miss da Vecci, we all have desires, strong ones being framed as passions by many. However, many claim that temperance is also a boon, which requires one to reign in one's passions in favor of pragmatism. For example, someone whose parents are highly influential nobles but also press in on their children unfairly may have no way to properly channel their passion against their parents, thus most would argue that temperance is required. Would you say that such difficult situations should be met with action regardless of obstacle?" Aphrodite simply has her jaw drop slightly, seemingly want to interject. {if Prosecution points > 0}However, the Lady of Passion simply does some counting on her fingers and smiles to herself, remaining quiet.{else}She proceeds to furrow her brow, as if deep in thought.{endif}
{elseif Court round == 3}
Macaria returns to her seat, and sits down. {if Defense points > 1}Aphrodite stands up and snaps her fingers, changing outfits. No longer wearing her toga, she is now wearing . . . something. To be honest, you're not certain you recognize the type of clothing she's wearing. Her shirt is certainly strange, but still . . . mostly covers her, although you're not sure you could say that skintight qualifies as covering, her breasts bulging out from the shirt. There's an image on the shirt, of a burlap sack with potatoes pouring out of it, and it reads "I would still be sexy if/I was only wearing a potato sack." Below that is a skirt, for what little it covers, only going down to her mid-thigh. Her socks are black, coming up just below her knees, although are of a much sheerer material than you've ever seen for socks. Her shoes have an inch or so heel, although high-heeled shoes are pretty rare; you've only really seen nobility wear them. However, given the rest of the outfit, you doubt that's the explanation for the shoes. "Aphrodite, dare I even ask what this is?" the judge asks. "Oh this? This is something I wear to blend in when I visit Terra. Comes in particular handy in the United States." "United States? Did the Holy Roman Empire rename itself or something?" Aphrodite simply smiles, for some unknown reason. "Nah, they were founded roughly around the time the Holy Roman Empire dissolved though interestingly enough." "Dissolved? What in Nyx's name are you talking about, Aphrodite?" "Oh that? I tend to keep that to myself. I only tell my secrets to those I get closest to, I can blow their minds in more ways than one." She winks in your direction. "It's round three, right?" The judge sighs, realizing she had been successfully distracted. "Yes, it's round three. You may proceed." Aphrodite proceeds to approach you.{else}The judge states, "that concludes round two." Aphrodite stands up, approaching you.{endif} "So, we know that nature is important, right? Obviously if the critters along the ground can't survive, we won't have an environment anymore. But is it truly the most important thing out there? What about your right to own property or have control over your own life outside of a man's involvement?" You internally wince at this remark, it hitting you all too close to home, having been raised in Cyllian. "I'm sure you already know since you've followed Persephone for so long, but are you actually committed to that whole nature thing over all else?" You glance over to the defense side, where Macaria is currently attempting to calm Persephone down, whose eyes clearly have a fire in them. Seems Persephone got mad.
{elseif Court round == 4}
{if Prosecution points < 2}{if Prosecution points < 1}"Well, can't say I didn't try." Aphrodite shrugs her shoulders, and sits down, snapping back into her toga.{else}{if tempAlpha = true}{if tempBeta = true}Aphrodite smiles at your answer, swaying her hips as she saunters back to her chair, her small skirt not covering much. "Remember, Cecillia, I can blow your mind in so many ways."{endif}{endif}{endif}{else}Aphrodite saunters back to her chair, relatively confident.{endif} "Well, that concludes round three. You may proceed with round four, Macaria." {if tempAlpha = true}{if tempBeta = true}Macaria gets to the point where Persephone is at least mostly calm, then looks towards you.{endif}{endif} Macaria stands, and approaches. "Miss da Vecci, we all know that going through with your word is important. However, some don't always follow through with their word. Would you say that it's important to finish something once you've started it? See it through to the end, even if something more lucrative appears?" Glancing over at Aphrodite, she appears to be giggling, although it's hard to tell with her hand covering her mouth.
{elseif Court round == 5}
Macaria takes her seat, returning to discussion with Persephone. "That concludes round four." Aphrodite stands up, traversing to you. "Cecillia, say there was a powerful man that you hated and you set out to do something about it. An example of direct action would simply be assassinating him in public. Indirect action, on the other hand, could be seducing him and using that position as leverage for further action. Would you say you favor direct or indirect action?"
{elseif Court round == 6}
"And that concludes the case of Aphrodite v Persephone in the matter of the cleric to my left."{if Prosecution points > 2} "I judge Aphrodite to have won this case. {if Prosecution points > 4}However, due to the cleric in question's total betrayal of Persephone, they are ordered to forfeit all gifts Persephone gave her on initial dedication. {elseif Prosecution points > 3}However, her new cleric is ordered to forfeit the spell Persephone granted her on initial dedication. {else}However, due to her still partial loyalty to Persephone, she may keep the spell Persephone initially granted her, although she may reclaim the boons of ability she granted her on initial dedication.{endif}{else} "I judge Persephone to have won this case. Aphrodite is ordered to surrender all current claim to her cleric.{endif} All parties may return at once." And with that, she returns to weaving. Both groups: Aphrodite, and Persephone and Macaria, vanish from the court, although you feel that things have changed surrounding you.
{else}
Apologies, but these chapters only work well in game mode - too much chapter bloat if I separate it into the five rounds and aftermath.

Below, however, is a small teaser taken from somewhere within the page:
Aphrodite simply smiles, for some unknown reason. "Nah, they were founded roughly around the time the Holy Roman Empire dissolved though interestingly enough." "Dissolved? What in Nyx's name are you talking about, Aphrodite?" "Oh that? I tend to keep that to myself. I only tell my secrets to those I get closest to, I can blow their minds in more ways than one." She winks in your direction. "It's round three, right?" The judge sighs, realizing she had been successfully distracted. "Yes, it's round three. You may proceed."
{endif}