The justice stopped where he was, some paces down the lonesome central path that made up the only means in and out of the hold. He canted his head, ever so slightly back, his leather riding boots grinding into the grit of the floor as de Brey continued. His reaction, in comparison to that of the priest, was quite different. To the orc who could see him, there was no flush of red to his old face, there was no range of emotions or sudden indignant outrage at he, a judge, being challenged upon his judgment, or even the slightest twitch that would pull at the corner of a cheek. No, instead the justice maintained a certain focused bearing, while the younger man recoiled slightly at the outburst.

It was a tidal wave of words and emotion, perhaps held back longer than it should have been, and it shocked the much less seasoned of the pair. This was no surprise, truly, this priest was maybe well one of a handful that were sprinkled throughout the region and was too uninitiated to expect someone would reply to their resolved execution to come with such a thing. He folded the scroll and listened, looking over the obvious disparity in the two men before him aghast; the justice, however, remained where he was until the outburst ended. Then, with a decided pivot, he went from being mid stride to standing, to facing the other direction and all but taking his time to return until he stood imposing at the bars that held back the man and his radically different compatriot.

Hands tracing the outline of his close cropped white upper lip and beard, the slate stare held upon the prisoner who spoke up for a moment, but only a moment long enough. Behind his back he folded his hands against one another, the rich purple sash across his chest and official garb displayed more prominently.

"Then you will have no issue proving your innocence and valiance by performing the tasks set before you by the temple. Truly if your cause is as righteous as you think it and our god has seen to it that you are worthy of a second chance, this will be trivial." He replied in the characteristic manner he had displayed, leaning in ever so slightly after, he broke for a moment, "If not, your cowardice will be self-evident for all to see."

"But..." The justice began as he returned to standing just short of rigidly, "Only time will tell, will it not?"

The question was not aimed at any of the prisoners this time, instead it focused on the priest who had kept his eyes on the exchange. He nodded silently, in response as the justice then passed him by, pushing aside the large iron door and announcing only as he departed, "You will see to them being let out, Marthan. Be sure to deal with the elf too, she is your charge now as well."

Outside the sound of the militia idly going about bantering, with their work of offloading the wagon having long since been done, fell more quiet. For Gorosk, who had the minor luxury of a window behind him no bigger than his own head and barred, the justice casually mounted his steed and rode off without any sense of urgency toward the village. This left the four of them and their newfound warden of sorts there to themselves, in the after effects. It took not long for Marthan to reply either, seeing to it that the militiamen were called in, this time sans nearly as many chains, shackles, and weapons. Each door was opened for its inhabitants and they were permitted out, still under watchful eyes of the faux soldiers.

Once they were brought outside, at last free and in the daylight again for the first time in days, some cases weeks, they were almost casually returned their equipment - barring their weapons. It was only then once each chest was emptied that the men at work hauled it back upon the wagon while the priest oversaw. Or more accurately, stood awaiting them all to finish their individual shades of work. Some looked at the sorry four with some amusement while others were much more wary. The bolder ones among them clearly had mutterings of a "pool", betting of some variety, about each but none of them spoke directly to the lot before them. Rather it was only the priest who did, watching as they went about ensuring nothing was amiss.

"Forgive me, not all of your things are here as you can tell, His Honor ordered the men to keep hold of your weapons until we returned to the village. I am sure you can understand his reasoning."

[hider=Effects]
Each character sees a return of all of their equipment and inventory except for their weapons and shields. No other items are missing and nothing is any worse for wear than it was when they were first jailed.
[/hider]
[@BangoSkank][@Hellion][@Lauder][@Lord Wyron][@TyrannosaursRex]