Depositions

A deposition is a sworn, out‑of‑court interview where a witness answers questions from the lawyers while a court reporter records everything. It happens during discovery, long before trial, and it’s meant to lock in the witness’s story. Both lawyers are present, both get to ask questions, and both receive the full transcript afterward.

Statements made in the depositions were leaked to Wesley:

Witnesses for the Boys 

Brian Newland 

1. Called me a thief and vandal 
2. Slandered my family 
3. Said that I send “dick pics” 
4. Said that I steal from carriages 
5. Said that I do hard drugs 
6. Insults my music 

Lisa Phillips 

1. Called me a thief and vandal 
2. Said I assaulted an imp 
3. Said I tried to fake evidence of kidnapping victims 

Justin Cooley 

1. Called me a thief and vandal 
2. Make fun of my receding hairline 
3. Called me a dipshit 
4. Said I do hard drugs 

Michael Estep 

1. Called me a thief and vandal 
2. Said I look like wrestler  
3. Said I’ve been called a thief before 

Shawn Cooley 

1. Called me a thief and vandal 
2. Encouraged people to send me pound cakes 

Shawn Grooms 

1. Called me a thief and vandal 
2. Called me a hunchback 
3. Trauma from the drama led to my divorce 

Randolph L. Walters Jr. 

1. Witnessed Tassi singing about kidnapping women  
2. Saw her smoking firemoss excessively 
3. Called me a thief and vandal 
4. Called me a son of a bitch 
5. Said I look like comic strip character  
6. Said she was having sex with my wife.  Repeatedly. 

Witnesses for Tassi 

Shedon 

1. Witnessed the raid 
2. Had a bag put over his head 
3. Heard insults made by Michael Estep 

Mama 

1. Witnessed robbery at the Sweet Leaf Cafe 

Rhonda Grooms 

1. Ex-wife of Shawn Grooms 
2. Divorce had nothing to do with Tassi’s music 
3. Music is artistic expression and opinion, not fact 

Ko’bal 

1. Witnessed the raid 

How a trial works 

Pre‑trial motions 

Arguments about what evidence and witnesses are allowed. 

Jury selection 

Both sides question jurors. 

Opening statements 

1. Plaintiff lawyer Roberty A. Klingler representing The Adam’s County Boys 
2. Defense lawyer David Osborne representing Potassium “Tassi” Sorbate

Witness testimony  

The side with the burden of proof calls witnesses first  

Plaintiff The Adam’s County Boys 

For each witness, the questioning goes in a strict sequence 

1. Direct examination — by the side who called the witness 
2. Cross‑examination — by the opposing side 
3. Redirect — limited follow‑up by the original side 
4. Recross — sometimes allowed, but only on new issues 

Then that witness is done. 

After the first side finishes all their witnesses, they “rest.” 

Then the defense begins its case and calls its own witnesses, following the same pattern. 

Rebuttal and surrebuttal 

If the defense raises something new, the plaintiff can call additional witnesses to rebut it. 

Closing arguments 

1. Plaintiff 
2. Defense 
3. Plaintiff gets a short rebuttal (because they have the burden of proof) 

Jury instructions 

Judge explains the law. 

Jury deliberation and verdict

Wesley approached the party and let us know that Tassi was being sued by some towns guards or something. He had received a leak of a deposition, a statement that witnesses make before a trial, and he let us have a look. We made it to court and as soon as we walked in the plantiffs asked for a recess which really annoyed the judge. It was granted reluctantly. Tassi's lawyer had some issue and he just bailed from the court leaving Bik as her new lawyer and us passing notes to her.

Brian Newland made his statement and we took our turn and we really had something ahead of us. We asked the man who pretended to be so innocent if he was aware that his brother was sending out painting of his genetals to women in Springreach. We asked him about the break in and his small music career.

next was Lisa Phillips we questioned her on the warrantless break in and also the fact that they kidnapped Shedon and tossed him into a bag. A bag they said was to stop him from easing sending but...that wouldn't have stopped that spell. We questioned their need for vigilante justice in the far of proper channels. Are they going to watch someone outside of their jurisdictions on the basis of hearsay and rumor. We asked them if they understood that as public servants being able to make parody and commentary was entirely allowed.

Justin “Baby-Faced, Baldin’, Dipshit” Cooley was next. We aske him is he realized that other people have it worse and despite his receding hairline that he should get over it. He said that it was not up to him how other people dealt with things. He was hurt by the comments. We asked him if he realized that he looked like a "dipshit" and if he was sure that he wasn't one. We asked him if there was drug testing for "The boys" he said no. He was not awarte of any drug tests. He was not an ordained and justified part of the city legal force. They were funded by donations which we interpreted as "protection money" and pointed out that they had no real jurisdiction and they responded with they had "moral" jurisdiction.

Michael Estep 
We said that Michael looked like a wrestler and he didn't like that. Not that the wrestler he was compared to was a bad wrestler. It was more that the wrestler was a heel in the company and that was a bad look. We caught him in an easy trap. He let his wife get taken by the guards for her crimes, but when it was a personal matter he made sure to break into my home.

Shawn Cooley
We let him know that he had gone out of his way and broken the law by the standards of Springreach and now that he was being bullied by the city he was upset. He wasn't sure if pound cakes he was getting int he mail were safe to eat. He said that he loved lemon pound cakes (Everyone does) and we said he could learn spells to check poisons and purify foods. In a city like Springreach learning spells is rather easy. We nearly convinced him to leave and go to college to drop the charade alas we didn't manage it due to a poor choice of words. We got on the record that he was not a guard.

Mama Cakes
We asked why they Boys were in her area asking for protection money. She said they were thugs. That she was being extorted for money. She was very excitable she only spoke in shouts actually. She confirmed that what they were doing in criminal.

Shawn Grooms
He had nothing to say and we didn't even call him.

Randolph L. Walters Jr. 
We noted how he may have been gay. He cried that he was a happily married man. We asked him he understood Tassi was talking about his dad and not his mom when he said he was a son of a bitch. He said that he was ashamed of the song and how people thought his kid was Tassi's child. We pointed out that Tassi would have been four when his daughter was born. He called one of us a "bitch" and we noted that he said it despite the fact he hated being called a son of a bitch.

He got pissed and got up to fight us! So we decided to fight back!

We killed them all and the judge said we could keep whatever was on their body so long as we removed them from the courtroom.

We were called not to battle, but to judgment. A strange arena, where words are sharpened and truth is weighed as though it were coin. Tassi stood accused for her voice, for turning lived events into song, and for placing power beneath scrutiny. We spoke where we could, offering structure to her defense, though it became clear that such proceedings are less about truth and more about who may endure long enough to claim it. Even so, the rhythm held. Questions were asked. Doubt was sown. The wheel turned slowly, but it turned.

It was not the court that ended the matter, but the man who sought to control it. Randy Walters abandoned the illusion of order and chose violence, and in doing so revealed the truth beneath the proceedings. What began as accusation ended as conflict, and conflict resolved itself in the only language it truly understands. The officers fell. Tassi was declared innocent. The room returned to stillness, though it was not the same stillness as before. There is a pattern in this: those who grasp too tightly at authority often hasten their own end. I do not celebrate this. I simply observe it. The song she wrote will outlast them. That, perhaps, is its own form of judgment.

I will note, for the sake of completeness, that in his final moments, Randy Walters proved himself… remarkably consistent in character. There are many names one might give such a man. I find myself settling, with uncharacteristic certainty, on one that requires little philosophy to understand:

“A son of a bitch.”