Pardon my tardy reply to this. Much like I often go deaf and ignore
shouting, so do I ignore the public news boards since rarely is there
any news to be found here. However, several people have sent me messages
saying I have been accused of something and asking me if I intend to
respond. My first thought was not to. It is my experience that people
will believe what they want to regardless of the facts they are
presented with. Some people chose not to believe that Yhog killed King
Zuljin ten years ago, despite the overwhelming evidence that he did. He
was in the realm approximately at the time King Zuljin was killed, he
was killed with a mace, Yhog was known to be upset with certain trolls
who lived in Hashan and the fact that King Zuljin allowed those 'lizard
spies' to remain, and of course the fact that the dead King's spirit
identified Yhog as his killer. I imagine that those who ignore the
means, motive, and opportunity possessed by Yhog will leap at this new
theory while others who know me will scoff at the absurdity of the
accusation. I have feeling that sorting through the various threads of
this situation will make for a long missive. Interested parties, please
bear with me.

Let me first reply to the theory of my involvement in King Zuljin's
death. It is false on its face and I deny what I have been accused of.
About fifteen years ago I had just finished overseeing the design and
construction of the Spirean Road. At that time, a young and unknown
troll named Yhog approached me after having seen the new road and told
me he was seeking help to rebuild the home of his people. I was among
the first, if not the first, person he asked for help and counsel in
this task. He asked me if I would undertake the design of a new city and
offered to pay me outrageous sums of gold and credits both for my
expertise in building and for the support of Spinesreach in this
endeavor since such a complex undertaking was beyond him and his people
and they are our allies. Of course, my aide did not need to be bought
and I never accepted any payment. Being busy with my guild and with my
duties in my city, I had to refuse his offer to head the project and
instead assumed a secondary role, both in designing things, offering
advice on how to mobilize his people, and being a Spirean liaison. I
think it is safe to say that we are friends. Yhog possesses his own
unique, enthusiastic charm and I am not immune to it. The idea that I
would betray that, or that I would betray the allies of my city, is
beyond comprehension. I've killed people and kicked people out of my
city for hunting trolls in the past. Those who know me will tell you
that I am loyal and that I value loyalty above everything else - to the
point that I have even been compelled to kill family when they have
broken their oaths. But, even if I were capable and willing, the
suggested plot makes little sense.

Turc, I suppose you don't know that the shady man betrayed the Syssin
and continues to profit from his betrayal by marketing his knowledge of
venoms? The Syssin send him to the Underking constantly and he has died
by my hand more often than by any other Syssin. This is the man you
suggest with whom we conspired? Yes, there is a man who I would trust
with my life in a plot like this. And of course there is you. I can't
even get dance lessons from a Daru. I'd have to be a fool to engage in
what you suggest with you, knowing that eventually you'd either expose
me or blackmail me. I like to think that I am not a fool and this is one
of the stronger arguments you'll need to overcome to convince people I
have done what you say I have. Also, fifteen thousand gold isn't exactly
much. I can make that much in a day or two. It isn't even one blackjack
hand. I am perhaps one of the wealthiest people in the realm. I'd like
to think that you'd say I took all of these risks, betrayed my friends
and allies, threw away my life of public service, and whored myself out
to you for something like five hundred thousand gold. What you propose
is analogous to Sigfried and Geryon paying Cuchulainn to kill the Mayor
of Arbothia with a tower shield. However, I am sure that those who want
to see this as a reasonable circumstance will do so. I would think the
deeds Turc has confessed to have broken some laws of his guild or city.
I am curious to see what kind of punishment awaits him. Unless being
sorry makes it all okay. Zealots are known for their forgiving nature,
after all.

As I considered this accusation, I asked myself "Why am -I- being
accused? Why now? What has changed that brings these things about?" I
think of these questions and I don't have any good answers, but I have
some speculations that I will throw out. The stated reason for all of
this coming out now is because Turc's guilty conscience was too heavy
for him to bear any longer. Not knowing Turc personally, I suppose this
is plausible. However, from what I have witnessed of his somewhat jovial
banality, bound by grief is a description I find hard to attribute to
him. After all, he killed the fiancee of one of my guild members and
mailed her head to him. It stands to reason that, considering his gentle
and just nature, seeing lizardfolk killed would drive him to do what he
says he did and live the last ten years of his life oppressed by guilt.
But thinking about that head he sent in the post...could that be a
reason for this accusation? At the time Turc posted his shame, he was
engaged in a silly feud with one of my (former) guild members and I
refused to solve his problem for him. Is this something to get back at
the Syssin? That doesn't seem very reasonable, but then Turc is Turc.
Yhog has been seen in the realms again recently. Is this something to
clear him at my expense? Perhaps, I suppose. Turc mentioned Lady
Auresae. Not too long ago, Lady Auresae and Lord Arion suggested,
supposedly in jest, that they were planning to raise an army so that
they could invade Spinesreach and burn the Spire of Artifice while Lord
Severn sleeps. I was recently appointed as Ard-Dhasani and perhaps this
is in furtherance of that plan or in retaliation for the subsequent
defiling of Her shrines? Or perhaps it simply to foster discontent
amongst Spireans (of which there has been none), trolls, or the realm at
large? I can only speculate as this all makes little sense. I imagine
time will reveal more as we see what action this accusation is used to
justify.

After Yhog killed King Zuljin, he left the realms. The trolls of Hashan
asked Spinesreach to see justice done. It was our desire to hold an
inquest or a trial, but Yhog's absence made this impossible. With Yhog
absent, the trolls took what closure they could and have declared Bokag
of Mostyn, Zuljin's captain, their king. Spinesreach is not loyal to any
particular troll, but to trolls as a whole. I understand that in their
society they choose to address conflict in ways that I do not, such as
determining leaders and succession through combat and physical strength.
Despite these differences, Spinesreach has always supported, and
continues to support, our troll neighbors as they seek to determine
their own future and they know this even if others choose to cloud the
issue.

Penned by my hand on the 22nd of Lanosian, in the year 164 MA.