Genn Wintord
UP: Catskills
In an unexpected turn of events, the Lord
General Jetrin Valek has been arrested on charges of accepting
bribes, abuse of power, accessory to murder and behavior unbecoming
of an officer. In addition, Lieutenant Wendell and a local
noble, James Winters, have been arrested on related charges.
Sir Geoffrey has ordered that the day-to-day rule of Trinsic
be returned to the local council as soon as an orderly transfer
can be assured.
In the final days of the General�s rule,
there was a stirring among the assigned Order Guards that
something was not as it should be. One guard, William, felt
so strongly that he enlisted the aid of the fine citizens
of Trinsic in order to gather evidence against Valek. In what
turned out to be a well-timed gathering, the General was discovered
in a hidden room above the barracks arguing with James Winters
about the murder of Sara Braccalese. The General departed,
but not before Winters was captured along with a very large
collection of weapons, gold and incriminating documents. The
documents in this room were instrumental in locating the additional
evidence required to convince Sir Geoffrey of the need to
issue an arrest warning immediately. Since then, we have found
out a bit about what has really been going on in Trinsic.
Apparently things had begun to unravel
for the General following the murder of Sara Braccalese. The
investigation of the murder was carried out in such a haphazard
manner that raised the suspicions of all those close to Valek
that he was forced to act more rashly than in the past. Shortly
following the murder, the General�s well-liked Lieutenant
Finn was given a field demotion and returned to Britain without
explanation. It has since become apparent that this demotion
and exile was in direct response to Lieutenant Finn�s suspicions
concerning the General. Conversely, Lieutenant Wendell was
given a field promotion to Major in return for his support
and silence. Sir Geoffrey has since reversed Wendell�s promotion
although Sergeant Finn�s demotion will stand.
�All guards of His Majesty are held to
a high standard and His officers to an even higher one. It
is commendable that Sergeant Finn would follow his conscience
in this matter, but that does not excuse the fact that he
was not willing to report such a gross misconduct out of some
feeling of loyalty for his former commanding officer. We continue
to have the utmost confidence in His Majesty�s forces. This
situation just underscores the need for all men, no matter
their station, to remain vigilant against evil.�
As with Private Drepler, the disposition
of justice to members of the military will be a closed affair
although all are expected to receive life sentences. James
Winters has already been sentenced to a life of labor in the
mines north of Minoc following his conviction for the murder
of Sara Braccalese.
But strangely enough none of this answered
the questions that brought these men to Trinsic. Who was the
mysterious contact in Trinsic? What was the reason for the
betrayal at Cove? Presumably the docks being built in the
Cove area had something to do with it, but no direct evidence
has come forth. James Winters has been able to show that he
had no knowledge of the situation in Cove until after the
fact, so these questions must remain unanswered for now.
From the Town Cryer - The Journal of Ultima Online,
Friday, July 16th 1999
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