Quote Originally Posted by Turkish Delight View Post
Hinjo arresting Shojo would have been a crucial test for his Paladinhood. On the one hand, his uncle clearly broke the law and should probably go to jail according to a standard 'Lawful' outlook. On the other hand, to do so when there are 30,000 Hobgoblins led by an epic Lich Sorcerer about to storm the city and Shojo is the glue keeping it all together is downright irresponsible.

Would he see the city sacked for the sake of the letter of the law, or would he do the sane, responsible thing and only bring charges when the battle is over? Shojo should have accepted his resurrection, and Hinjo should have set the matter of his past actions aside until the victory had been won.
At the same time though, I'm curious as to what Shojo could have possibly done anyways, had he been brought back. Would it have been a bit of a moral boost for the soldiers? Yeah, perhaps it coulda been. But the fact of the matter is that the only reason he had any control over the populace was by faking senility. The bickering nobles thought they had true power and control anyways, and so did their loyal subjects, or at least those amongst them who were privy to said information. What we have, then, are a few possibilities, assuming that Shojo is resurrected.

1.) Shojo breaks character. He reveals himself as the brilliant, manipulative, wise, just ruler who might not exactly follow Lawful Good principles, but follows Good ones nonetheless. What sort of role does he play? He cannot possibly command the battle, having no martial class to speak of, or even levels in anything other than commoner classes. His control over the nobles slips completely as they realize he's been playing them the fool, and might even go so far as to temporarily band together for the sake of taking out their greatest obstacle. They certainly won't have any hand in participating in the plans of a liar and a cheat. The nobles would LOVE to spread this information throughout the populace, sowing mistrust in the overall government and winning over soldiers, commoners.. hell, maybe even some of the paladins. In either case, before we get to all that, Hinjo still sees this as a terrible enough offense to jail him, giving the Nobles all the ammunition they need anyways and even possibly casting Hinjo as a usurper to the throne, a tactic they'd already utilized, to a much greater effect.

Either way, I don't see Shojo having any authority. His lifespan would be increased by a few years, if he's not quickly and efficiently killed by any of their ninjas anyways.

2.) Shojo returns and once more plays senile. He still lacks any authority or commanding presence over the people. The nobles are still unwilling to submit to the will of a senile fool, one they have tolerated only so far as they have needed to. He still cannot command the Guard, having to play senile in order to even remain breathing. More soldiers are actually cut off from the main forces to actually help protect Shojo, weakening forces (perhaps by a less-than-marginal amount, but their best and brightest would be following him anyways.) Hinjo, the real battle commander, wouldn't listen to him anyway, especially if he's threatened to throw Shojo in jail regardless of whether or not Shojo tries to convince him to play senile otherwise.

Shojo is dead, yes... and this provides the people with Hinjo, a leader who actually has many qualities that Shojo lacks. Hinjo is a military strategist and skilled warrior. He can better martial the defenses of the City, and afterwards is better able to stand the seafaring life until they can find something to do. He can assist the Order and work with them without needing to throw on the senility ploy again. The Sapphire Guard and the general populace are absolutely under his rule and follow his whim, disregarding Kubota and the other nobles along with their devoted lackeys. Once the nobles are reigned in, or even if they aren't, the Azurites have a just, honest, brilliant, and compassionate leader to follow who knows how to defend them from any sort of attack an enemy would martial, one who can keep the people together. If Shojo was still around at that point, the Nobles would have much more support, and any one of them would have much greater incentive of grabbing the throne while the going was good, starting a multi-sided civil war that would end the Azurites, or at least diminish them to the point of being unable to assist the Order or continue as a civilization.