1 Alvissa: <sigh> 40 silver nobles then. Here you go.
1 Prison Guard: {to a guard standing by a locked door} Release the prisoners!
2 Alvissa: {to the newly released fellow party members} You guys owe me. Again. I had to bail you out!
3 Kyros: What'd you go and do that for?! We were about to escape!
4 Alvissa: Oh yes, very legal.
4 Mordekai: It would have saved me having to steal our money back before we skip town!

Bail is property or a sum of money deposited to a court as a guarantee that a person will return for trial if freed in the meantime. The bail money is returned when the trial is over, assuming the accused actually returned.

I thought I should explain what normally happens, since I don't think we'll get to see that process here.

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2015-01-23 Rerun commentary: This implies, then, that the authorities still want to try Kyros, Mordekai, Lambert, and Draak for some crime or other. Indeed, we'll see this play out over the next few strips. (I've just read ahead to refresh myself on what actually happens. *snicker*)

It's great rereading these comics again so many years after I wrote them. It's almost like reading someone else's story for the first time.