Domonkos vs Drakula

**Domonkos versus Drakula**, unofficially known as "Vlad's Trial", was a court case that took place before the Battle of Camlan. Lord Kozma Domonkos, Abbot of Tihany, accused Count Vlad Drakula of tyranny and associated charges.

## History

### Background

Vlad Drakula was a notorious count of Transylvania. While presenting himself as a charismatic leader and the defender of his people, he also gained a reputation of being a vicious and sadistic tyrant who tortures innocent people and practices forbidden magic, including drinking human blood. As Vlad and the Order of the Dragon were busy fighting the Golden Horde, rebellion was brewing in the Empire of Hungary. Kozma Domonkos, Abbot of Tihany, organized a rebellion with the twofold purpose of overthrowing the tyrannical Count and introducing Christianity to Transylvania. After the Order of the Dragon helped Olga of Kiev take back her old castle and avenge her parents, Vlad hosted a celebratory banquet in the Castle of Bran. However, Batu Khan, the leader of the Golden Horde, made a secret pact with Domonkos, and the Horde took the Empress of Hungary hostage, demaning that they will only release her if the Order of the Dragon disbands and Vlad is put on trial. What followed is a three-fold war between the Order of the Dragon, the rebels led by Domonkos, and the Golden Horde, which lasted several years. Ultimately, Vlad and Domonkos had to make a temporary truce to defeat the Golden Horde and it was decided that Vlad should be put on trial on neutral grounds.

### Trial

The trial took place in England, in Winchester Hall of Justice. The charges were Tyranny, Mistreatment of commoners, Enacting terror in the country and Dark magic in the name of Chernobog. The trial was chaired by Judge Dindrane, with a jury of four members present.

Kozma Domonkos, in the name of the prosecution, presented the charges and called upon three witnesses. Dame Aldriona recounted her dreadful visit to Vlad's banquet where the Count treated the servants extremely poorly, even cutting off the foot of one of them named Gaius. Aldriona also admitted that she rescued a number of peasants and servants from Transylvania, including the two other witnesses, Gaius and Nikolai. Gaius showed that his foot was, indeed, cut off by Vlad, and Nikolai recounted the tragic tale of Vlad eviscerating his parents, to the horror of the audience.

Vlad, defending himself, summoned four witnesses. Renfield, Vlad's personal manservant, explained that Vlad was always a good and kind master to him, though some of the Jury suspected that Vlad put him under a magical enthrallment and he was not speaking the truth. Olga of Kiev recounted that Vlad was a kind host that gave her a home after her parents were slain by the Golden Horde, and then he helped her avenge their deaths, and during that time she never saw Vlad unjustly mistreating anyone. Sir Waldwin recalled that Vlad always behaved like a gentleman at banquets, showing no signs of mistreating anyone. Finally, Rurick of Ruthenia, an expert on pagan religions, explained that the Faith of Chernobog is a perfectly harmless religion that in no way equals to black magic.

### Sentence and aftermath

The Judge and the Jury found Vlad guilty on the charge of mistreatment of commoners, based on solid evidence of mutilation and execution of innocent peasants. However, he was found not guily on the charges of tyranny, for reasons of unclear definition of the term "tyranny"; of enacting terror in the country, for reasons of unclear definition of the term "terror" and the justifiably increased military presence in the country due to the war with the Golden Horde, and of the charge of dark magic for lack of evidence, as worshipping pagan deities is not against any international law, and there was no evidence of any act of dark magic beyond that.

As Vlad was found guilty of only one of the four charges, he was allowed to reclaim his castle and his title as Count, but was sentenced to be in house custody for the rest of his life, forbidden to leave the castle. Domonkos was appointed as the new leader of Transylvania. Before the sentence was carried out, Vlad was allowed to participate at the banquet in Camelot. He was last seen storming out of the castle after a bard, who witnessed the trial, performed a mocking song, "Death to Drakul", to entertain the guests.

Some say that a century later Vlad is still alive in the Castle of Bran, but is magically unable to leave it. It was either the dabbling in black magic that turned him undead, or a druidic curse made him immortal. Either way, the legend still lingers around, and the peasants of Transylvania avoid the castle, considering it haunted and speaking the name "Count Drakula" with fear.

## Behind the scenes

The court case was played as a mini-larp at the Easter 2022 Camelot camp, the morning before the last banquet before the time skip.

### Participants

* Count Vlad Drakula (player: Ernő Vincze)
* Lord Kozma Domonkos (player: Zakharias Särnquist)
* Judge Dindrane (player: Stella Sandelin)
* Dame Aldriona (player: Malin Axeling)
* Gaius, Transylvanian servant (player: Viktor Eriksson)
* Nikolai, Transylvanian peasant (player: Nils Blomquist)
* Renfield, Vlad's personal manservant (player: Anton Gråberg)
* Olga, Princess of Kiev (player: Anna Bäckström)
* Sir Waldwin (player: Felix Kennmar)
* Rurick of Ruthenia (player: Erik Wallén)
* Jury (players: William Lindblom, Elof Eriksson, Laura Johnsson, Olof Alm-Keys)
* A bard (player: David Jenssen Bergkvist)