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