The office hadn't been used in forever; it was just dusty and miserable looking. Aside from the....extremely questionable proceedings that had gone on with Tassleholf, it had been a long time since Rhy'Din actually had a real, honest-to-some-deity trial within its limits.

In as such, the clerks who were paid to do a job that barely existed, had their work cut out for them.

There were two upcoming trials, one of Mr. Horaetio Arc'err, and another for Mr. Vivo Mortis, though the accused in the second had yet to turn themselves in. The problem was, there weren't any lawyers in the realm aside from those of DCH. And they couldn't very well appoint two lawyers from the same firm to stand as both prosecution and defense; furthermore, the mere idea of giving anyone from DCH a prosecutor's position was enough to make every single person tied to the government break out in a cold sweat.

"We're screwed," Bobby said, looking through dusty file folders. "We used to have about twenty lawyers practicing in the city. Now, we've got the sharks and that's it."

"Keep looking," Jack (his identical twin) replied. "Maybe one of them is still around."

"Any luck with the court-appointed shrink?"

"Yeah, some. We've got that Figmund Sroid person, and there's another one too....a Doctor Elena Dumova, who's still practicing."

"Nightstar's out, since she's already therapist for the defendant."

"Yeah. Ready made expert witness for the defense." Jack sat down and started drawing up the papers. "Judge Wright wants this case moving, so we'd better start serving papers today."

Bobby shook his head, still sifting through the dust. But finally he came across one. "Well, here's a possibility. Hasn't practiced in eight years, but his bar certification's still on file." He flipped through the folder, expertly picking out information. "Huh. No formal schooling, sat the bar independently, passed on the second try. High marks in both the written and oral exams the second time through, and there's a note in here that the ethics board was highly impressed with him. He might be prosecutor material."

"Oh?" Jack grinned, though he didn't look up from the legalese he was writing. "I'm gonna go with Dumova as the court appointed psychologist. She used to practice here in the city and we have her records fairly well intact, if it ever comes up in court. Who's gonna be the court appointed for the defense?"

"Dewey, I'd say. DCH has nothing to lose or gain in either trial; it doesn't tie into their multidimensional plans. So, they won't likely be pulling any bullcrap. But if the defendant wants a different representative, then the Governor is just gonna have to import one and put them before the bar so they have license to practice. Until then, though, there's no reason Dewey can't act as counsel through the arraignment."

"I'm gonna have to get the judge to sign off on these tonight and serve papers tomorrow."

"Yeah. Send Tom with the postman, to ensure they get there." Bobby shook his head and set down the dusty jacket. "First real trial we've had to organize in years. We'd better buy a lot more coffee."

"Yeah, really. Hey, so who's gonna be our prosecutor?" Jack pointed to the file, but didn't get up from his desk.

Bobby tapped the cover and the plot thickened. "Harold Lowe."

To: H. G. Lowe, Esq.

As pursuant of Rhy'Din Codified Ordinance, sec. 0111265.54 (all those holding license to practice law in the realm of Rhy'Din are required to become officers of said court in the time of need, as well as fulfill all duties of court-appointed attorney for those who meet the requirements), you are hereby required to represent the People in the People vs. Horaetio Renne Arc'err.

Failure to do so will result in revocation of your law license and a bench warrant will be sworn out for your arrest. The defendant's arraignment is to be set in the near future, so as to give you time to familiarize yourself with the case beforehand and recommend whether the defendant should be given bail or held on remand.

You are hereby required to report to this court within a period of five days, wherein you will be given all public records relating to this case so as to build the case on behalf of the People.

Signed, Judge Bill Wright Rhy'Din Municipal Courts