LonellamaMV and lostcity99 v. crustyceans

***lonellamaMV and lostcity99 v. crustyceans*** was the third legal case in Newport history and the first case heard by the Court of Common Pleas in the Imperial Age. On July 21 (Day 2, Year 2 AK), former Emperor lonellamaMV and his wife, former Empress lostcity99, sued crustyceans for griefing their bunker during a Purge Night. Fundamentally, the case considered the nature of private property and the definition of griefing. Ultimately, *lonellamaMV and lostcity99 v. crustyceans* was settled out of court after being conducted in accordance with the judicial system outlined in Article IV of the Imperial Constitution. Empress crustyceans later appointed lostcity99 as her Imperial Magistrate and enacted Imperial Edict XIV as part of the settlement.

## Background

According to *The Newport Report*, prior to the Purge Night of July 20–21 (2:1-2), Emperor lonellamaMV and Empress Consort lostcity99 constructed an obsidian bunker underneath Oldtown in which to hide from legal assassination. During the Purge, crustyceans, ratatoing8990, and Elasthiccgrl305 used locator maps to find the Emperor in his bunker, which was underneath public property. They subsequently dug down and broke the obsidian walls protecting lonellamaMV. At 4:50 am on July 21 (2:2), Emperor lonellamaMV was assassinated by crustyceans, immediately transferring Imperial power to the next in the line of succession: lostcity99. Sixteen minutes later, at 5:06 am, lostcity99 was also assassinated by crustyceans, leaving crustyceans to claim the title of Empress.

## Case

On July 21 (2:2), lonellamaMV and lostcity99 filed a lawsuit against crustyceans for griefing. As the new Empress had not yet appointed an Imperial Magistrate, the Court of Common Pleas decided to appoint ratatoing8990 to serve as Interim Magistrate. The former Imperial couple were represented by attorney crista7777, who had also served as Imperial Magistrate during lonellamaMV's reign. At the beginning of the case, crista7777 delivered the following opening statement:

As we are all aware, [lonellamaMV] and [lostcity99] were assassinated last night by crustyceans. What you don't know is the foul play that went down to do so. What was an equal opportunity for anyone to kill the Emperor and Empress turned into an unfair scam of technicality. Last night, as lostcity99 and [lonellamaMV] were hiding in their Purge-resistant bunker, crustyceans collapsed through a hole in their roof and attacked the unsuspecting couple. Under normal Purge rules, this would seem nothing unexpected; however, some key points led the turning point for their demise.
1. [lonellamaMV] and lostcity99 built their shelter with the intention that it was indestructible according to the Purge rules of griefing. They didn't build during the Purge, and no one should have been allowed to break blocks.
2. [crustyceans] used a [locator] map to find the exact location of the two players, rendering their defenses useless. In such case, no player that stays in the Newport city limits will ever have a fighting chance of survival.
My clients [lonellamaMV] and [lostcity99] stand affirmed that crustyceans is in the wrong for griefing their private property during the Purge. They are suing for change with no request for money from crustyceans... and I don't mean pocket change.
Initially, defendant crustyceans refused to plead "guilty" or "not guilty", prompting the Court to assume a "not guilty" plea. crustyceans argued that strict griefing rules would invalidate the end goal of Purge Night: "The point of the Purge is to have transfer of power. By these rules, I could make a cobblestone bunker in the middle of the street the day before so I log on right there and say 'no one is allowed to kill me'." The defense also argued that the Imperial couple's bunker should not be considered private property, as it was constructed underneath a public road.

The Court also considered whether crustyceans's use of locator maps during the Purge was unwarranted. Plaintiff lonellamaMV argued that locator maps "[defeat] the purpose of creating things like [the bunker], which is dumb and not fair". crustyceans countered that locator maps are "part of the game". The debate on locator maps was subsequently derailed by Interim Magistrate ratatoing8990, who said, "This Court will not consider whether or not to ban locator maps, as these maps were decidedly not illegal during the incident, meaning that argument is irrelevant. The Court will only consider whether or not [crustyceans] is guilty of griefing private property."

Before any closing arguments were made, both parties reportedly settled the case out of court during a recess. As part of the settlement, Empress crustyceans appointed lostcity99 as her Imperial Magistrate and promised to issue an Imperial edict clarifying the definitions of private property and griefing. On August 4, the last day of crustyceans' reign, the Empress issued Imperial Edict XIV to fulfill her promise.