Attorney of the Supernatural

[Catullus64]

In the latest plot development in my group's game, we've learned that our Warlock's (Hexblade) Patron has some personal connection with the dungeon in which we currently find ourselves, and as a result our warlock has been feeling involuntary flashes of homicidal rage. Desiring more information, and being a mite concerned about the homicidal rage thing, my character, a Rogue lawyer, suggested that the Warlock try allowing her patron to speak through her so that we can talk to it. She agreed, and we ended session.

Now, the thing I'm interested in is how one would go about treating this Warlock pact and dungeon business like a legal dispute. My DM usually gives me pretty wide rein to make stuff up about in-universe legalese, so it would be possible to treat this pact like an ordinary contract dispute. I'm looking for fun ideas for arguments, proposals, any neat little tricks to make this discussion with an ancient nebulous entity more, well, lawyerly. Advice from real inter-planar lawyers especially welcome.

[Unoriginal]

What do you want to dispute, exactly?


The Warlock got the spark of power. The transaction is done, and it's the entirety of how many contact the entity and the Warlock need to have. If they have a closer relationship, it's up to the DM and the Warlock to determine what it is, but the "homicidal rage" stuff can either be a) the entity intentionally doing it, which might be against the pact or not or b) the entity doesn't do it on purpose and it's just a side effect of the connection.

[Tiadoppler]

It really depends how the initial Warlock/Patron contract was defined. Which Patron did the Warlock choose? Do they communicate regularly?


If it was a one-time deal (trading the Warlock's soul for a spark of power, for example), then you could argue that this new situation (possession/homicidal urges) is beyond the scope of the initial contract, and the Patron has harmed the Warlock. If the Patron has harmed the Warlock outside the scope of the contract, then the Patron could be asked to stop/give some sort of restitution. This all depends on how Lawful the Patron is. A Great Old One might not care, or even notice that they're manipulating a mortal's emotional state.


If it's a continuous relationship between Warlock and Patron (the Patron occasionally communicates/asks for favors in exchange for a "warlock spell subscription"), then this might be entirely within the bounds of the initial contract. The Patron is empowered to request, manipulate, or even force the Warlock to perform certain tasks.


Edit:
It may also be a challenge to find a "court" to hear this "case" and enforce any decision. The Patron is not necessarily going to be willing to compromise/agree to anything if there's nothing in it for them. This might be a good chance for another member of the party (who's been wanting to multi-class) to make a second deal with this Patron: "I'll be your Warlock, and provide (listed) services for you, and in exchange, you will provide me with Warlock powers, and no longer attempt to influence (Party Member) or myself through emotional manipulation or mind control."





In my current campaign, one of the PCs is a Fiend Warlock who gained power as part of a cult/evil mass empowering ritual thing when he was a (troubled, delinquent, war orphan out for revenge) teenager. That ritual involved the sacrifice of one of his friends by the cult leader, and the newly empowered Warlock immediately ran off, hid, and tried to avoid further contact with Fiends (and adventure in general).

Unfortunately, using fiendish power for generally good purposes has provoked his Patron, and the Warlock is now "on the run, with stolen power" from the forces of his Patron. This is an example of a one-time deal: the Warlock has power, it's "paid for", and it cannot be taken back by the Patron without finding and killing the Warlock.

[Fayd]

First, before you nag an extremely powerful extraplanar entity, it might be good to make sure that they're actually involved and that this isn't some other power interfering.

Ok, so fun fact, I'm actually an attorney. This is not legal advice, and you are not my client. I make no guarantees about the accuracy of this information for this or any plane of existence, known or unknown, factual or fictional; it is late, it's been a long week, and I am tired. But this is a fun thought experiment.

One major thing is that if there is actually a dispute, it needs to be adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction. This is a thorny legal issue no matter the plane, so good luck. That said, speaking generally, it would really depend on the pact; I realize you specified but it could be useful to other players so: if it's the Archfiend, I'm sure there are ...courts... you can take your case to in Hell, but I would counsel you to perhaps try seeing if a court in Mechanus or even Celestia would take the case. A Celestial would be much the same. Venue shop, as it were. If it is the Archfey, given the usual monarchy is both the head of the executive and judicial branches, you would appeal directly to whichever Royal figure is appropriate. If it is the Great Old One, good luck. I have no idea what court could, or would, hear the case. Try Mechanus?

Finally, it may also be that magical contracts such as a warlock's pact are self-enforced through the will of Magic itself, and so a deity who oversees magic would probably also suffice as a court of competent jurisdiction.

Given that you stated that it is the Hexblade, assuming you're following the lore of Xanathar's, it should be fairly simple: take it to the Raven Queen. Or maybe some competent court in the Shadowfell, though I think you'd get the most fair judgement from the RQ. It will be important to understand how the laws of the jurisdiction where you bring the case treat contracts specifically and cases generally. Furthermore, does the contract dictate whose laws apply? Does binding precedent exist? Is there a code of laws, with sections devoted to contract interpretation? Is there an appeal process? What are the rules of procedure in the venue?

This is of course if the agreement does not already have some clause dictating where, when, and how disputes are to be resolved. It may mandate the venue, or even force binding arbitration or mediation before an actual lawsuit may be filed.

That said, you're going to want to ask for the true and correct terms, and true and correct copies, if available, of each and every contract agreed upon by and between the Warlock and the patron, the patron's agents, current or former, any entity to which the patron is or was an agent, and any entity previously or presently affiliated with the patron. This should be requested from both the Warlock's temporal reference frame and the patron's. If you're actually in a court and there is a legal process of "discovery" this should be surprisingly easy to do.

Determine if there are any breaches of the contract on either side. If there is a dispute, as you have said, it is likely that one party is alleging there is a breach of the agreement. Likely the patron, though that may be up for debate. Find the specific term to which a breach is alleged, and argue that it is not in breach. If this is impossible, see if the agreement has any clauses that can be used to cure the breach. If there are none or such cure is unable to be performed, attempt a settlement and negotiate a new agreement. Of course, this new agreement may well be between YOU and the patron, which is an entirely different ballgame. But a great way to multiclass!

Another point, if the patron asks if they may "have your name" do not respond; if read literally that may transfer ownership of your name to the patron, and that could be bad.

[Catullus64]

Determine if there are any breaches of the contract on either side. If there is a dispute, as you have said, it is likely that one party is alleging there is a breach of the agreement. Likely the patron, though that may be up for debate. Find the specific term to which a breach is alleged, and argue that it is not in breach. If this is impossible, see if the agreement has any clauses that can be used to cure the breach. If there are none or such cure is unable to be performed, attempt a settlement and negotiate a new agreement. Of course, this new agreement may well be between YOU and the patron, which is an entirely different ballgame. But a great way to multiclass!
.

We do have on hand the contract which we accepted from a different employer to recover some artifact from this Dungeon, which my character made a point of drawing up. Since the Warlock's name is on that contract, as well as anything she signed with her patron, this could actually backfire if the two contracts end up conflicting, especially since the Warlock's contract definitely precedes the party's. I will definitely be sure to request a written version of the Warlock's contract with her patron, but I guess it's up to my Persuasion checks to make it do that, since it has no incentive to do so on its own. Good thing I took the Diplomat feat!

The advice about the Raven Queen is useful. I'll have to check with my DM about whether we are using the fluff from Xanthar's or not, but my character is unlikely to know anything about the Raven Queen or sentient weapons or anything like that, so I'm dependent on what the player playing the Warlock chooses to tell me.

[Fayd]

Another thing to keep in mind: the point of contract law is to provide some amount of certainty to transactions, so damages and remedies are usually limited to liquidated damages (damages explicitly put forth in the contract, such as “if the Party of the second part should cause a breach of paragraph V.F.1. of this agreement, the party of the First Part shall gain all rights, ownership, and title to the immortal soul of the Party of the Second Part until such breach is cured or the Party of the Second Part dies, at which case this transfer of ownership becomes irrevocable”), compensatory damages to restore the parties to the expectation interests they had at contract formation, typically with an exchange of some manner of currency, and in rare and extraordinary cases, specific performance, an injunctive remedy where the court orders the contract to be fulfilled at the threat of contempt of court.

[XmonkTad]

If you're looking for an interplanar court, Phlegethos (layer 4 of hell) has the infernal courts, which adjudicates Faustian pacts.

Actually, do you have anyone who can cast ceremony? You could have them perform a special ceremony for a trial or something.

Also "protection from evil and good" should help keep unwanted homicidal rampages under control. Pretty sure an elder evil counts as a fiend?